Hon Chairperson, thank you and good afternoon. Minister, in the previous tenure as Minister of Higher Education, you created fantastic catastrophe when you failed to set us on a path of fee-free decolonised Higher Education. Today you started off by speaking about the many wonderful things you would like to do but let me remind you how this department over the years has made many commitments. One of those is to establish a state pharmaceutical company, but till this day we have not seen or even heard of a proposal for such a state-owned pharmaceutical company.
There are a number of reasons why a state-owned pharmaceutical company must be established, and one of the reasons is that we cannot allow multi- national pharmaceutical companies to monopolise our indigenous knowledge as they would through the new Indigenous Knowledge Bill and sell it back to our citizens who are the rightful owners at inflated prices.
In Cuba and other parts of the world, state-owned pharmaceutical companies have proven to be a great success. But ownership of the nation's intellectual property is only half the story, because through the establishment of a state-owned pharmaceutical company, along with the necessary research institutions, our capacity for local production will be greatly increased. This is just one example
of how science, technology and innovation can help develop and industrialise the country, while at the same time creating jobs.
But this approach can be applied across the board. However, if science and technology is to play a role in the development of the economy, we need a state which is not dictated to by capital. South Africa is not a developmental state. A developmental state is when state drives its development and not capital driving the development, as is the case here. Because the reality is that nearly every major technological innovation since the 1800, whether we are talking about the internet, GPS or rocket engine was a result of state involvement. It is why this government must develop policies that allow the country to acquire new technologies.
In order for South African companies and SOEs to acquire or borrow new technologies, foreign companies that operate in South Africa must be incentivised and compelled to transfer technology. This can be done through legislation around intellectual property, as well as through tariffs and tax breaks. State-owned entities must also be encouraged and directed to buy companies across the world that own valuable technology so that the technology becomes our property.
For centuries, Europeans, plundered the collective intellectual property of societies and privatised it for the purpose of profit. Yet, today the west uses obscure and abstract intellectual property laws to prevent the development and industrialisation of the rest of the world, like they are currently doing with Huawei.
We must find ways around this or we will condemn ourselves to permanent underdevelopment, Technology transfers, acquisitions and borrowing as we have explained is one way around this. These new technologies must form the product base of South African industrialisation, and must be focused around technologies of the third and fourth industrial revolution.
In questions for the written reply of the Minister and Trade and Industry, it was revealed to us that not a single component or piece for microchips or computers is produced in this country, yet South Africans use microchips and computers everyday. The Minister then goes on to explain that one reason for this is because; we do not own the necessary intellectual property. This must change, and technology transfer is the start.
But acquiring new technologies means nothing if we do not have the skills to both produce those technologies and deepen innovation
using those technologies, and this is largely dependent on our education system. That is why we welcome the joining of the Departments of Higher Education and Science Technology because our capacity for knowledge creation will be a product of our higher education system, but it will be dependent on our basic education system as well. And in reality, our schools are not producing people with the necessary skills to innovate and develop.
You have spoken about a scientist who would have been a first black astronaut, but it is not because of our education system, it is despite our education system. Our children cannot read in Grade 4, while in Shenzen, in China, children of that age are already learning basic programming. At primary and high school education level, children must be learning the basics of coding, and electronics, and they must develop the ability to problem solve and think critically. So that by the time they enter the higher education system, they have the basics and their skills only need to be refined and focused.
But poor planning is not the department's only problem. You have corrupt individuals and their bloated egos and we are also losing valuable skills. Barlow Manilal former CEO of the Technology Innovation Agency, met 91% of the targets for his Annual Performance
Plan, achieved four successive unqualified clean audits, and was able to retain the entities ISO 9001 status. Yet, his contract was terminated prematurely because he refused to bow to the demands of the delinquent Chairman, Edward Kieswetter, who now, unfortunately, oversees the country's entire revenue collection process.
Minister, how could you approve such decision? During a time when all public institutions are on a decline and under Mr Manilal's leadership, the Technology Innovation Agency was the exception, producing stellar results, but because white monopoly capital poster boy, Edward Kieswetter says he must go simply because Mr Manilal wouldn't allow a friend of Mr Kieswetter to get a tender.
In fact, after he was fired, that person had the option either to get the tender or to become the new CEO, Fuzlin Levy. So, I think Minister, if you were a catastrophe in Higher Education, I see you being an even bigger catastrophe in Higher Education, Science and Technology. This department clearly does not have a vision and sufficient leadership which is why the EFF doesn't have an option but to reject this Budget. Thank you very much. [Applause.]