Chairperson, South African science is pawing at the starting line, desperate to be unleashed so it can transform this country into an internationally acknowledged powerhouse of innovation that combines the best disciplines of traditional scientific practice with our wealth of traditional knowledge.
No country in Africa is better positioned to exploit these two worlds to advantage than South Africa; but we're stuck in the mud. We tinker at the edges of what's in place because we don't trust ourselves to be bold. When the DA governs South Africa, here's what we will do to get our feet out of the mud. We will fix education, and very fast, with vision and energy.
My colleagues in the Basic and Higher Education and Training portfolios have addressed many of these issues. Science and technology would leverage the nation's information and communications expertise infrastructure to support the development of science and maths matriculants to international standards.
There will be no dumbing down of the science and maths curricula. A science pass on a matric certificate is only that. What matters in the real world of scientific endeavour is having knowledgeable people with agile and questioning minds. Our public school system is producing far too few of these.
Science and Technology's contribution to getting education out of the mud would be to use the expertise of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research's Meraka Institute to deliver computer-based curriculum content and teacher support through its South African National Research Network. This network is being rolled out to universities and research facilities throughout the country and must serve as the nervous system for the delivery to schools of the many innovative private and government development education initiatives.
The DA in power would establish focused science and maths schools at the rural universities and research facilities that are on the nodes of the network. We'd incentivise university students and lecturers to participate in teaching maths and science at these schools. We would also radically revise visa requirements to make it easier for foreigners with specialised skills to fill the gaps in our high-tech landscape and share their knowledge and expertise with our young learners, researchers and technologists. We would also promote a working environment that would encourage many of our graduates to return home.
We must aggressively develop initiatives that attract to South Africa the world's best scientific skills in what has become a highly competitive global talent grab. With encouraging these people to work in South Africa there will be little compulsion to send our graduates overseas to gain top- class research experience.
The SA Research Chairs Initiative was implemented to gain and retain excellent research leaders, but it's failing to attract incumbents. I was hoping the Minister would announce bold initiatives to address our failure to fill the chairs we already have, but instead she has extended the target and allocated more money. These aren't the problems. Making South Africa an attractive research environment is, and there is no hint of a solution from the Minister.
The DA in government would properly fund, equip and maintain all science and technology research facilities across its entities to ensure that they meet international best standards. They are currently in a fairly shabby state. We are in danger of losing research opportunities and foreign currency because our lack of care shows. You can't do leading edge research in a laboratory that is roofed with discarded election posters and pumpkins!
If we doubled the Science and Technology budget - which the DA would aggressively work towards - we would ensure that all our research facilities were equipped with leading-edge instrumentation in our chosen fields of expertise. This would help secure research contracts from around the world and encourage top-class scientists to work here and share their skills with our fledgling researchers. This would help keep many of our young graduates working in South Africa rather than being obliged to seek world-class experience offshore.
We would make sure that the Department of Science and Technology is not viewed as the Cinderella of government. It is a vital force in thrusting our expertise into its rightful place in the global knowledge-based economy. However, the ANC government expects it to do this on a pittance. We get only 0,9% of the budget allocation made to all departments. This R4,4 billion is marginally up on last year's adjusted appropriation, but it doesn't keep pace with inflation. We need more money. It is tragic that hon Minister Pandor is surrounded by colleagues who choose to pay little heed to the powerhouse for development that is at her disposal. Maybe the new national committee will help address this problem.
In his state of the nation address, the President made much of 2011 being a year of job creation. He singled out six priority areas in which to do this: infrastructure development, agriculture, mining and beneficiation, manufacturing, and the green economy and tourism. However, how we gather the knowledge that will inform growth in these focus areas was invisible. The beneficiation of our nation's mineral wealth cannot happen without scientists. The green economy is just a fashionable phrase, unless researchers can reliably inform us of what interventions can be effective in protecting our fragile earth.
In the President's 5 000-word state of the nation address only 44 words were devoted to science and technology. They were a passing mention of the need for South Africa to win the bid to site the Square Kilometre Array here.
While it may be unfair to compare South Africa with the United States, it is valid to note the level of government at which science and technology are being driven. In the United States, the charge for increased spending on science and technology is being led by President Obama. He wants a 6% increase in funding, because he understands that rebuilding the United States' economy and winning the future can be done only by out-innovating, out-educating and out-building global competitors and creating the jobs and industries of tomorrow.
President Obama has set ambitious targets to boost the production of teachers of science, technology, engineering and ,mathematics. He has committed to doubling the funding for key basic research agencies, and to raising the total amount of spending by government and industry on research and development to 3% of the gross domestic product, GDP.
South Africa has failed to reach its target for research and development as a percentage of GDP. Initially, this was set to be 2% by 2018. We hoped to reach 1% by 2008, but we are only at 0,92%. Human Science Research Council researchers, William Blankley and Irma Booyens stated:
For South Africa to have achieved its 2008 target, the country should have spent an additional R1,8 billion on research and development. As that didn't happen, we stand little hope of reaching 2% by 2018.
The 0,92% closely mirrors the 0,9% that the Treasury gives the Department of Science and Technology to dispense to its entities. Research and development is only getting what the government is prepared to put in. Government must ramp up its financial commitment to developing a knowledge- based economy that is globally competitive.
The tax rebate incentive scheme to encourage industrialists to invest in research and development floundered because it was designed by bureaucrats who failed to understand that in the real world time is money. Industrialists felt the cost of completing the forms outweighed any possible financial benefit. There have been amendments to the process, and we are waiting to see whether business feels this scheme is worth the effort - four years after it was launched.
Government must urgently boost its investment in research and development by properly funding the science and research infrastructure that exists. Two entities that have taken a serious financial knock in this budget are those best positioned to feed job-creating technological innovation. These are the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research and the Technology Innovation Agency.
Under the Medium-Term Expenditure Framework set out in last year's budget, R687 million was earmarked for the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, CSIR, for this financial year. Because economic times are tough, it has only been allocated about R631 million. The current government grant to the CSIR is barely adequate to maintain its facilities to international standards. Meeting these is critical if the CSIR's research is to compete in the international marketplace and deliver top quality solutions for South Africa's developmental needs.
The Technology Innovation Agency, Tia, has had a baptism of fire. Its integration of seven biotechnology institutions into one was aggravated by the fact that the department initially failed to secure sufficient funding to support this exceptionally complex task. Last year the Technology Innovation Agency stated that its required funding for the current financial year should be R652 million. All it is getting is R433 million. It projected that it would need R705 million next year, but it's likely to get only R455 million. This is a total shortfall in funding of nearly half a billion rand over two years.
This sets up the Technology Innovation Agency for failure to deliver on its potential. Without sufficient government backing it cannot seek matching finance from entrepreneurs keen to invest in the nation's ingenuity. The ANC-led government should not be allowed to get away with neglecting to adequately fund one of its major vehicles of enterprise and job creation.
The centres of excellence are a successful new initiative that has concentrated on top researchers and turned out excellent graduates. It's a model that needs expansion. The Minister sings their praises, but managed to give them only a 2% funding increase instead of the 4% they were promised. This is no way to reward excellence.
Under a DA government centres of competence and centres of excellence would have fully funded secretariats, technical support and internationally comparative remuneration for their directors and core researchers. This would give them operational security from which to seek project funding from government and the private sector.
I'm pleased that hon Minister Pandor, contrary to her responses to my questions in 2009 and late last year, is keen to bring the research councils under the jurisdiction of the Department of Science and Technology. We would support this.
South African scientists are committed to addressing the challenges of our fractured past. They want help to drive the solutions, not only for South Africa, but for the rest of the developing world. They want to use their home base to collaborate with international colleagues and deliver world- class innovations. We must pay them enough to keep them here. We should lighten their load by giving them administrative and technical support, and minimise the nuisance value of bureaucratic busy bodies. They need a supportive government with a light touch to set them free to express their ingenuity to South Africa's advantage. The DA will be that government. [Applause.]