Hon Ministers from other departments who are present, hon colleagues, the director-general and staff from the DST, and distinguished guests in the gallery: hallo there. I am sure I am echoing the sentiments of many across the length and breadth of our country when I state that the death of comrades Sicelo Shiceka, Roy Padayachie and Florence Nyanda is a loss to the cause of human freedom. The aforementioned comrades' lives manifested the reality that humanity was meant to be free and that there is nothing in nature forbidding the flower of freedom from blooming in its full glory. These comrades lived every minute of their lives agonising about apartheid conditions and the devastating impact on the lives of oppressed South Africans. May their souls rest in peace.
The study of science and technology is primarily about finding solutions to the objective challenges that we face as a nation. We realise the full potential of science and technology in social and economic development through the development of human resources, research and innovation. The advanced study in the disciplines of science and technology is acknowledged worldwide as a key element in building vibrant and sustainable economies in societies. So far, Africa has not fully exploited the opportunities that emerged from committed investment in research and development.
Economic development and future prosperity do not rest on independent and isolated actions and activities, but require regional interventions and planning. The critical importance of science and technology to regional development is set out in a document of the New Partnership for Africa's Development called "Africa's Science and Technology Consolidated Plan of Action". Nepad provides us with full opportunity to plan on a continental scale.
The Consolidated Plan of Action articulates Africa's common objectives and commitment to collective action in order to promote science and technology for the socioeconomic transformation of the African continent and its integration in the global economy. Africa's commitment to collaboration in science and technology was highlighted at the 2007 Summit of the AU Heads of State and Government, where members declared 2007 as the year for building constituencies and champions for science, technology and innovation in Africa.
In the past, African doctoral students tended to study abroad. Traditionally, the brain drain has been from the less developed countries to the developed countries. However, new patterns of the flow of students are now emerging, such as mobility within Commonwealth countries, South- South and North-South flows. In 2010, the SA Academy of Science published a PhD study. Even though the findings of this study cannot be considered as a proxy for the continent, here are some of the findings.
South Africa produced 1 274 and 1 171 PhD graduates in 2007 and 2008 respectively. Up to 29% of these were international graduates, primarily from the rest of the continent. While these figures may appear significant to some, they are very modest relative to comparable developing countries such as Brazil. In 2007 only 12% of doctoral graduates were under 30 years old, with the average age at graduation being 40 years. Only a third of all research and instructional staff at universities had PhDs.
In terms of job readiness, employers noted the lack of exposure to international expertise, theories and debates, methodological competence and real-world relevance as salient weaknesses in the skills and abilities of doctoral graduates.
The 2009 ANC election manifesto sets out a framework for building a prosperous, inclusive and dynamic economy. The framework is based on a vision of a fair and just society in which our diverse talents are nurtured in innovative and thriving communities. Innovation means both new ways of doing things that have actually been put into practice and developing patents or good ideas that have yet to be put into practice.
Research by the World Bank tells us that over the next two decades there will be as many as one billion new jobs in science, engineering and technology. While the old economy, based on extractive industries and resources, will continue to shed jobs, many more new jobs will be created in the new economy, which will be based on services and knowledge.
The ANC-led government invests in science to ensure that South Africans have the best opportunities to fill those new jobs. To contribute to creating decent jobs, Outcome 4, which is about supporting entrepreneurship, has resulted in 573 SMMEs in the first quarter of 2011-12 through its Technology Station programme.
In helping to create a skilled and capable workforce, which is Outcome 5, and to build human capital for the national system of innovation by the end of the second quarter of financial year 2011-12, the ANC-led government awarded bursaries to 1 275 honours, 2 771 masters and 1 574 PhD candidates. Furthermore, 2 339 researchers were supported in the same period to promote and enhance research productivity and to increase South Africa's world share of knowledge outputs.
An amount of R535 million has been spent on research, development and infrastructure between 2008-09 and 2011-12. Over the medium term R1,4 billion is being allocated. The allocation earmarked for research infrastructure will be used to provide state-of-the-art research equipment and infrastructure to the scientific community to ensure global competitiveness in research, development and innovation.
Between the financial years 2006-07 and 2011-12, government, through its implementing agency, the National Research Foundation, awarded a grant to the University of the Western Cape to acquire a 200 kV field emission gun transmission electron microscope at a cost of R10,2 million. It will be used for research in critical areas such as photovoltaics, superconductors, bioceramic coatings and metal semiconductor interaction.
Government awarded a R10 million scanning auger nanoprobe and a PHI5000 XPS versaprobe to the University of the Free State. The research focus areas for this equipment are nano solid-state lighting, flat panel displays, solar cells, corrosion of alloys and steels, drug development, biology cell structures, catalyst development and physical metallurgy.
The SA Academy of Science links South Africa with scientific communities at the highest level in the Southern African Development Community region, the rest of Africa and internationally. It promotes common ground in scientific thinking across all disciplines; encourages and promotes innovative and independent scientific thinking; promotes the development of intellectual capacity in all people; provides effective scientific evidence-based advice and facilitates appropriate action in the public interest. The total budget for the financial year 2012-13 is R17 million.
The HSRC undertakes, promotes and co-ordinates research in the human and social sciences. Its total budget in the financial year 2012-13 is R387 million. The SA National Space Agency aims to be a key contributor to the SA Earth Observation Strategy by providing space-based data platforms in collaboration with other entities that focus on in situ earth observation measurements, like the SA Earth Observation Network. Its total budget for the financial year 2012-13 is R144 million.
The Technology Innovation Agency is a national public entity that draws its mandate from the TIA Act of 2008 and is an intervention to improve research and development from institutions of higher education. Its total budget for the financial year 2012-13 is R451 million.
In conclusion, the key to achieving sustainable economic development and long-term success for South Africa lies in the ANC-led government's ability to build on our recent success in expanding investment in research and experimental development and building new industrial processes that are both locally innovative and internationally competitive.
Most local innovation is technology upgrading of core processes. Most of our enterprises operate far below the technological frontier, rather than doing basic research that is internationally competitive. Our future growth lies in increased research and development, accruing new patents and trademarks, developing new technologies for transforming traditional industries and creating new products, as well as training that will develop an acute knowledge of markets and their new needs. The ANC supports the Budget Vote.