Chairperson, hon members, Minister and Deputy Minister, I would like to say that HIV and the production of the HIV vaccine are one of the most complex science issues. The reason that it is an extremely complex and difficult problem to solve is that the vaccine enhances weak natural immunity, while there is no immunity whatsoever against HIV except in one or two exceptional circumstances. Therefore, a vaccine for HIV requires a science solution. It is not a technical solution but a science solution. A science solution has to both produce and trigger an immune response and also enhance it. What I have listened to now was an embarrassment in terms of talking about the science of HIV.
I wanted to start off by saying that Minister Naledi Pandor delivered a science and technology policy and she did it very well. [Applause.] Her Deputy, Derek Hanekom, is very experienced and he has a special interest in hominid origins that makes him popular in the palaeontological, archaeological and evolutionary genetics communities. [Laughter.] Come to think of it, I think you should speak to President Zuma and share with him some understanding of the science of ancestral origins. [Laughter.]
In case you think that I have come here to praise instead to bury Caesar, let me say that I come rather in praise in order to ask a question, and it is this: Is the Department of Science and Technology supporting innovation that results in new applications to improve the delivery of water, sanitation and waste removal, alleviate poverty, improve housing, improve health, and provide quality science education? This is the question and it is a very serious one. It's a question that the Minister should answer.
My impression, colleagues, is that not enough has been done in dealing with the problems of poverty and disease in our country; not enough has been done in developing energy-efficient housing designs using modern construction materials; not enough has been done in developing new technologies for water provision, recycling, sanitation and waste removal; and not enough has been done by far ...[Interjections.] Colleagues, if you could just listen, this is the topic on which I have five minutes to focus - not enough has been done by far in the development, manufacture and distribution of vaccines for better health.
The department funds a spectrum of human and animal vaccines required by our burden of infectious diseases, following a biotechnology and biomedicine strategy. In this Minister Pandor's responsibility is the nurturing of new ideas for innovative concepts and fresh vehicles to produce vaccines.
I was going to note parenthetically that from a science point of view you must understand that vaccines enhance weak natural immunity, while HIV is a disease of immune deficiency, a concept that former President Thabo Mbeki never understood. There is no immunity whatsoever, at least in most human beings.
Vaccine production is not Minister Pandor's primary responsibility. Yet, to her great credit, she has established public-private partnerships, a policy we in the DA support. An example is the Biovac Institute, which manufactures vaccines. Manufacturing should be done by the private sector, and it has responded very well on this side, though it must be said that research and development in finding new approaches to dealing with the new strains of malaria and tuberculosis, TB, leave a great deal to be desired, perhaps because of the low profit margins associated with that.
It is not the Minister's problem that the right modern vaccines - plant- based and animal vaccines - are not getting to the right farmers in the right quantities. It is the fault of the hon Tina Joemat-Petersen's Ministry, whose agricultural extension services are in a sorry state of disorganisation. It is not the fault of Minister Pandor that the water that Deputy Minister Derek Hanekom spoke about is not getting to the places altogether, but it is the fault of the Minister of Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Minister Sicelo Shiceka, that there are all kinds of barriers.
Minister Pandor's responsibilities are with our nation's science brains. She must support the rapid expansion of our academic science graduate and post-doctoral communities and the construction of state-of-the-art biological laboratories. She must spend much more money, and I support most of my colleagues in their saying that this government must find more money to fund our science councils and improve their efficiencies. A mere R60 million, colleagues, is spent on what is called the biologics focus area at the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, CSIR. It is a pittance compared to the monumentally wasteful R10 billion spent on the Pebble Bed Modular Reactor, PBMR.
In conclusion, I would like to mention three things: malaria, tuberculosis, and HIV. As you may know, malaria is a parasitic disease, TB is a bacterial disease, and HIV is a viral disease. Solving the science problems, as is needed to develop vaccines for these three diseases, which are a burden of Africa and the South, is one of the most important things we can do. It will not be enough to have the South African science community tackling the issue, as it has to be a global effort. It is a global problem, and it is not being addressed because the North is not willing to spend the money necessary on the burden of these diseases for the South. It is a problem.
I would like to end by saying that to find the answers to that question Minister Pandor requires investment in global partnerships with the global science community, because the answer to the question is not technical, but involves the cracking of a science problem. It is not simply a technical problem.
Therefore, I would say in commendation of the work that you do in your department, that I would support much more money being given to your department so that you can support our thriving science community in doing the things that they can do best. Thank you very much. [Applause.]