Chairperson, scientific and technological developments continue to make life easier, interesting and fascinating. It is hard to imagine modern life without cellphones, television sets, the Internet, etc. However, in the South African context, we continue to be consumers of technological advancement. We are not doing much to participate in the creation and innovation of such tools. Much blame has been allocated to our education system and whether this is legitimate or not is an issue that can only be debated with expert opinions.
The lack of creative innovation is not only a South African problem, but the whole African continent is lacking in this regard. It amazes me that CAT scans were originally innovated in this country. It does not make sense that over the years we have lagged behind and become mere consumers of very expensive products. Even more annoying is the fact that we live in a part of the world that is rich in many valuable materials, for instance our mineral wealth, but because we have lacked so much in developing our capacity for innovation we export most of our raw materials, only to import them back as products at a very high cost. This does not only costs the end user or consumer but paralyses our many attempts at creating job opportunities.
However, with the establishment of agencies like the Technology Innovation Agency we can only hope that we are on the right track. Over the years we have taken slow baby steps, but I urge those at the helm of such agencies that it is now time for us to see giant leaps on this front. Of course it needs a shared and concerted effort from various stakeholders, primarily from the two departments of Education, which must continually ensure that our children are stimulated and encouraged to take up the study of science. We are most certainly not in an isolated space and we have partners that we can learn from, like Brazil. Moreover, we have the responsibility to ensure that we resolve the challenges that have seen us suffering from the worst brain drain in South Africa and in Africa as a whole. We must recognise the potential and skills among our young scientists and make South Africa the ideal place to work in. In the meantime we must be prepared to source brains from elsewhere while we develop our own potentia1. The UCDP supports the Budget Vote.