I think today hon members have shown that they take a deep interest in the work of the Department of Science and Technology and are ready to support us to advance our work in developing research and innovation in South Africa. I hope the chairperson of the portfolio committee will remain true to his promise that they will adjust the budget towards the final vote in June to ensure that my department has more resources to do its important work. [Applause.] I think hon members must not be afraid to use the powers they granted themselves through legislation to actually ensure that they do support critical areas of development in our country.
In response to the hon members, may I begin by thanking each one of them for their contribution to this debate before I attempt to respond to some of the matters that have been raised. Allow me to say to the hon J C Kloppers-Lourens of the DA that the Deputy Minister did speak to the role we are attempting to play in respect of youth in science, particularly education research. Perhaps I should also encourage hon members to actually visit the exhibits we have prior to our budget debates and have a look at the work that is being done by the various research councils. If members visited the HSRC exhibition stand, they would have seen the wide range of publications emerging from research that has been done into education, looking at everything from mathematics performance right through to science and into curriculum change in South Africa. It really gives us a rich fountain of material for looking at how we might respond to some of the challenges we confront in the education sector.
Of course, we need to do much more. I am sure the hon member would agree that the challenges are far deeper than any of us often want to admit and they require a whole gamut of solutions, not just one, in order to address what is essentially a complexity deriving from a very difficult history. But we agree with the hon member that we must strive for quality and strive for improving our performance.
The department does participate in the community forums that exist within the Northern Cape, and are looking at the whole aspect of the SKA and its potential impact on residents close to the proposed site. I will certainly take more of an interest. Some members of the SKA project office are present. I hope, dear colleagues, that you heard that you are being dictators and are being very nasty to the communities out there. You must do better than you have done up to this point. We will certainly follow up on the concerns that have been expressed and ensure that we are responding positively to communities with whom we should be working far more closely.
Allow me to say that the role of our department is actually to initiate research, to support innovation and, hopefully, to arrive at innovative products that have the potential for take-up in the commercial space. However, we cannot move into commercial processes. That is done by the Department of Trade and Industry and the Department of Economic Development. Therefore, hon S K Plaatjie, the Joule is an initiative that should be picked up by the powers who have the economic muscle to work with industry to ensure that our innovations are taken up into the commercial space in South Africa and worldwide.
You would have seen, given your interest in electric vehicles, that the DTI has recently released a position paper on electric vehicles, indicating what they see as the future and what role they were playing in commercialising the products that emerge as we invest in renewable energy sources and new vehicle forms in the motor industry. So, I think it would be a good idea for you to look at that position paper because it gives you an indication of where the DTI sees us going with respect to electric vehicles.
My own view is that we need to do much more as the department to invest in greater efficiency in the energy that supports the new vehicle forms that we might create. That is really where our resources should be devoted; that is our business - increased efficiency and looking at new methods of providing fuel sources to any cars that might be produced.
We certainly agree with the hon Dudley that we should be strengthening our ICT research portfolio. We are already working with a number of SADC countries to look at how we built this ecosystem you referred to in respect of the high performance computing centres. There are some exciting developments ahead. Unfortunately, I could not finish my speech to announce some of the work that we are doing. I am also very thrilled that reference made to the work being done to study Africa, particularly to look at indigenous knowledge systems. I think, Chief Nonkonyana, this is a very important area of work and we are thrilled about the support that we are enjoying from both the centres of excellence at the University of KwaZulu-Natal and at the University of Western Cape, as well as the work being done at the University of Fort Hare. So, rich material is being unearthed as we grow to understand more and more the opportunities that lie within indigenous knowledge systems.
I am glad to assure the hon member of the UCDP that value addition is a very strong focus of the work of our department, particularly the beneficiation of strategic minerals in our country, because this has been a gap in much of our industrial activity. The work that the Deputy Minister and I referred to in respect of titanium, the hydrogen fuel-cells development and the use of platinum as a catalyst are areas that begin to make more value out of the natural resources in our country and on the African continent. I presage a new set of industrial and economic opportunities for the African continent, where we become producers rather than the consumers you talked about.
Finally, allow me to thank you for the opportunity you have given my department to present to you. I should complain that you ought to give us more time. I agree with the hon Oriani-Ambrosini that science and technology is not taken as seriously as it should be, both by South Africans and by many on the African continent. We are trying to make it a sector of choice. We hope, with the support of Parliament, that we will achieve that ambition. [Applause.]
Debate concluded.