Chairperson, hon Minister of Science and Technology, hon Members of Parliament, distinguished guests, comrades and fellow South Africans, the first black President of the Republic of South Africa, Mr Nelson Mandela, said, and I quote:
The young people of the world must be empowered to participate in the building of the information age. They must become citizens of the global information society. And we must create the best conditions for their participation.
It is in this context that my focus in this debate is on empowering the young people of this country, both male and female, who have been disadvantaged. We know that was deliberately done. That is why we are still seeing a gap between black African scientists and white scientists.
The ANC-led government saw the need for interventions to deal with that. I will quickly run through these interventions. I am aware that we are talking about science and technology. However, one cannot separate science and technology from education. It is in that context that the Department of Education, working together with the Department of Science and Technology, saw the need to create the Dinaledi schools. The ANC-led government is proud that there is an increase. At least we can see the value of this project.
Another project was the Youth Into Science Strategy. That project was launched to assist young people to identify and have an interest in careers around science and technology.
It is disappointing that the hon member of Cope, a member of that team, asked the department what has happened with the electric car. As we are standing here, it is outside. We have viewed it. [Applause.] For me, this is not about the hon member being mischievous but it displays the level at which black Africans in particular have been deprived of an understanding of the creation of knowledge and of issues of science, technology and mathematics. I am not blaming the hon member for that.
Other projects that have been developed by the ANC-led government - I don't know if you are aware of that and that it is still functioning - is the Public Understanding of Science, Engineering and Technology, a campaign that began in 1998. The objectives of that campaign were to promote science and technological literacy and to promote the power of knowledge, science and technology in human life.
At the ANC 52nd National Conference, a recommendation was tabled that the ANC should develop a comprehensive strategy on early childhood development. In the discussion on education, it was said that people must be encouraged to do mathematics, science and IT and that we must promote and support it by offering bursaries to students and teachers. Education is one of the five key priorities of the ANC Manifesto. In the state of the nation address, the President of the Republic, the hon Jacob Zuma, also said we must focus on education. Have we done enough? [Interjections.]
The people who are saying "no" are people who know very well that the challenges of education are structural and were created about 50 years ago. That is why the ANC-led government saw the need to develop all these interventions, like Education working together with departments like Science and Technology. I am of the view that Science and Technology cuts across each and every programme of this Parliament.
From here I can see young girls and I can tell you now that those girls don't have a foundation in science and technology. They don't have a foundation in mathematics. The recommendation made at the ANC 52nd National Conference was about developing a programme on early childhood development. My emphasis will be on early childhood development. Without that, we will stand here and lament and blame each other, but we know that white people had the privilege of their children being given a foundation in science and technology.
Here is a case in point. E.tv showed two young South African men who had developed a glider. It was clear that they started at a tender age. Their parents encouraged them to ensure that they had an interest. I don't know what they were doing when they were young, but there is an indication that their parents and maybe the school encouraged them to do whatever they wanted to do. Unfortunately, I left the newspaper clip from The Herald in