Chairperson, hon Minister, hon Deputy Minister, hon members, ladies and gentlemen, the Square Kilometre Array telescope will be one of the largest scientific research facilities in the world and will position South Africa as a major hub for astronomy in the world. The SKA will benefit South Africa, Africa, the world and the radio-astronomers' community to explore the origins of galaxies and probe the edges of the universe.
The MeerKAT, the SKA and the findings of Sediba will attract scientists, engineers and paleoanthropologists to come and work in Africa. This is an opportunity for Africa and South Africa, in particular, to expose young males and females from historically disadvantaged backgrounds to science and related matters. Through SKA, the country will enjoy all the direct benefits of a powerful radiotelescope, capital operations and maintenance costs, job creation during the construction, extensive skills development opportunities and sharing information with the world's best scientists and the engineering community.
South Africa, as one of the shortlisted countries, is currently building a pathfinder telescope. The MeerKAT will act as the pre-cursor for SKA but whether we win (which is possible) or not (which is unthinkable), the country will benefit from having a high-powered data network that will link the telescope site in the Karoo to the control centre in Cape Town. It's vital to manage the MeerKAT project properly, because that will build confidence with the International SKA Site Advisory Committee.
We must profile this bid as an African bid because, while the project is situated in South Africa's Karoo region, in the Northern Cape Province, there will be outlying stations in Africa. The SKA will spread to countries like Namibia, Madagascar, Botswana, Ghana, Kenya, Zambia and Mauritius. This augurs well for the African Renaissance programme.
It is encouraging to know that newly qualified engineers have no problem in joining and even leading SKA and MeerKAT teams. It's crucial for African scientists and engineers to benefit from this world-class cutting-edge technology development.
The most important factor is to keep the community of the area informed and involved in the project. The project team must consider a stakeholder forum as an important part of the project, not as a distant matter that does not require immediate attention. The team, however, should avoid a lengthy consultation process that might delay project completion.
The MeerKAT and SKA projects will yield some positive results for the community in the area and the country at large. Let me highlight some immediate benefits for the community. Firstly, local business and the hospitality industry will benefit from the influx of constructors of the telescope. Secondly, MeerKAT and SKA will bring much-needed infrastructure into the area, like roads, water and power. There will also be job creation in the laying of underground optic fibre cables and there will be additional maths and science educators in the area, which is very important. Thirdly, the communities of Klerefontein and Losberg will enjoy much-needed business and job opportunities during the construction period. Finally, these communities will also enjoy the benefits of having a cyberlab in their area.
We understand the requirements that made the Karoo area qualify as a suitable place for SKA, but at the same time the community must enjoy equal access to a radio frequency that is even better than before. Sentech and SABC are busy building low masts to ensure there is no loss of service like television, radio and other alternative communication means. It is important to ensure that the community receives a better service than before, not the other way round.
The Youth into Science and Engineering Programme is the right thing to do. Congratulations to the department. What is also important is the involvement of the departments of Basic and of Higher Education to encourage youth into science at an early stage. The programme will help diversify the scientific community so that it will reflect the demographics of this country. Yes, it requires patience, but failure to try is not an option.
The challenge that we need to address is that MeerKAT and SKA are not profiled and publicised enough outside the normal communication channels of the scientific community. We should prepare all South Africans for the fact that a huge project, bigger than the 2010 World Cup, is coming to Africa. We are still waiting for the volcano ash to clear, then all of us will see this project. This is not a project for scientists only. We must rally all South Africans behind it. Indeed South Africa, your time is now.
The Technology Innovation Agency is envisaged as the institutional mechanism that has the competency to assist the National System of Innovation, NSI, to mine the existing body of knowledge and to stimulate the generation of new knowledge in order to develop technology-based products and services that have the potential to be commercialised and distributed locally and abroad.
The TIA intends to advocate the "working together" mentality through building on existing innovation capacity by integrating the management of different technological innovations, incubation and diffusion initiatives in the country. The entities and programmes that will be incorporated into TIA are the biotechnology innovation centres, health centres, energy security grand challenges, Innovation Fund, national Advanced Manufacturing Technology Strategy, Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Strategy of SA, and the Tshumisano Trust.
It is important that while the TIA is repositioning and restructuring the current portfolio, the project that addresses social needs, like the HIV and TB pandemics, continue to deliver results. The reconfiguration should not delay the work that needs to be done in order for the country to move forward in terms of innovation.
Partnerships and working relationships with other relevant departments and institutions are crucial for TIA to bring along even other departments on the journey of creating attractive, world-class and large-scale innovation projects. If we work as one organism, not in silos, the country stands to benefit greatly.
TIA has six product offerings that are aimed at maximising socio-economic benefits. These offerings are of great importance for technology development, innovation capacity-building, technology nursery programmes, and promoting a much-needed national culture of innovation transfer for a country like South Africa. Indeed, we hope that TIA will be able to solve the issue of the innovation chasm and the fragmentation of funding instruments, which was evident in the NSI. The ANC supports the Budget Vote. I thank you.