Parliament – If South Africa did not invest more in science, technology and innovation it risked being surpassed by countries with less capacity and knowledge resources in these fields, Science and Technology Minister Naledi Pandor said on Tuesday.
“Our failure to address the funding of this sector is causing us to neglect several sectors that could offer South Africa talent, new products and real contributions to growth,” Pandor said while tabling her budget vote in Parliament.
The total budget for the department of science and technology (DST) for 2016/17 stands at exactly what it was during the past financial year – R7.4 billion.
Speaking at a media briefing prior to her budget vote, Pandor said both government and the private sector should be pumping more money into this critical sector despite the tough economic conditions affecting the country’s purse strings.
“We believe that the role of the private sector in research and development is of critical importance and I wish to encourage the private sector to increase its investment in research and development, as should our government,” she said.
“We do have a tough economic climate but evidence shows that countries that increase such investment in science, technology, and innovation during tough economic times will reap greater benefits when the economic cycle turns again.”
A sizeable portion of the budget – R650 million – would be used to fund the MeerKat and SKA (square kilometre array) projects.
“The SKA will be the world’s largest and most sensitive radio telescope. Key economic benefits will include leveraging foreign direct investment, estimated at 650 million euros for phase one (2018 to 2023),” said Pandor.
She said the first 16 MeerKat antennae would be ready for science by June this year, and while this was fewer than they had planned, it was sufficient to “allow scientists to begin work”.
A portion of the DST budget is made up of parliamentary grants totaling R2.7 billion, which would be divided up as follows:
* R872 million for the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR);
* R883 million for the National Research Foundation (NRF);
* R290 million for the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC);
* R382 million for the Technology Innovation Agency;
* R125 million for the South African National Space Agency; and
* R23 million for the Academy of Science of South Africa
Pandor said her department had set a target of increasing expenditure on research and development from the current level of 0.73 percent of GDP (gross domestic product) to 1.5 percent – a target it was nowhere near meeting at this stage.
“But, I remain hopeful that we will convince the South African government of the urgent need to give attention to having adequate funding for science, technology and innovation if we wish to achieve our strategic priorities.”
Pandor added that her department was pioneering several innovations that could be used to help municipalities to improve service delivery.
“I’ve been looking at cities that have sought to make better use of science and innovation in their development initiatives and I think if our local governments could draw on some of those examples we certainly would improve the quality of life of our citizens as well as the quality of our communities.”
African News Agency
* Use IOL’s Facebook and Twitter pages to comment on our stories. See links below.