Hon Chair, hon members, fellow South Africans...
IsiXhosa:
... ndiyanibulisa ngolu rhatya, molweni.
English:
Hon members, yesterday I visited Ndarala Village in Mount Ayliff. After driving for 3 hours on gravel with no network, to a community that has no access to radio, television or basic necessities like water. Which begged the question; what does Science, Technology and Innovation mean to these South Africans as we discuss the budget allocation today? They are probably not watching as we speak. We cannot keep on dreaming of a future of yesterday 25 years later, when the President wants to make us believe that giving young people tablets is the future.
The physical, digital and biological merging of things is happening. In the wake of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, South Africa is inundated with inequality, poverty and unemployment. On one end, ten million South Africans are unemployed of which 55% are young people and are facing these challenges daily. On the other end, there are people that are experiencing the age of digitisation through developing apps that will make life easier, driven by innovation, skills and jobs with ease. In this budget we must aim to build one South Africa for all and avoid widening the gap between insiders and outsiders.
Here are the realities that we seem to forget, for the 25-year-old innovative unemployed graduate, Bathandwa from Ntabankulu, who managed to conquer the challenges of our broken education system, the Fourth Industrial Revolution is inequality on steroids, because of the lack of access to Information and Communication Technology, ICT, infrastructure. The absence of such infrastructure means a lack of access to information and opportunities. This is the reality of many young South Africans who have to take two taxis just to access the nearest internet caf, definitely not new. The Fourth Industrial Revolution for the 35-year-old bank teller, Nolizwi of Ngangelizwe Township translates to retrenchment due to the age of digitisation. The 74-year-old Mme Mosabadi in Matatiele will not access quality healthcare with new advanced technology because it is expensive and not available in our clinics or hospitals. It is during this time of excitement and uncertainty, that we must embrace the good work done by the Department of Science and Technology with their stringent budget.
I must also remind our government of a greater responsibility of ensuring that these South Africans are not left behind. The Fourth Industrial Revolution is not just essential to compete globally, but to drive socioeconomic development in South Africa, particularly in areas that are still struggling with the second and third industrial
revolutions. My visit to Mount Ayliff yesterday proves just this fact. In order for the department to continue doing it's excellent work we need to allocate adequate funding and R8 billion is surely not enough.
This department is more than just about high tech innovation, it should also be people centred and that is very important. When we begin to think of science, technology and innovation in this way, the Fourth Industrial Revolution becomes a wave that is not only led by and beneficial only led by unbeneficial to the industry but, it becomes a movement that is equally led by the ordinary South African citizens and in their own communities. However, the youth, the budding engineers and aspiring entrepreneurs, cannot thrive in an environment that does not support innovation. Listen to this; there is no electricity in some places, the poor quality of our education, ICT infrastructure, Wi-Fi and broadband access and worst of all the poor allocation of these budgets.
South Africa's success will be determined by our ability to generate knowledge and innovative ideas with the appropriate infrastructure, financial support and incentives to sustain the phases our innovation process. Lastly, I just want put it to this committee that the DA's proposals can strengthen our innovation systems and
make them effective drivers of growth and development. Therefore, we propose the following because we are here with solutions not talking: Skills development and innovative centres communities, where Bathandwa does not have to catch two taxis, just to access internet for 20 minutes, before running out of credit. Funding for science and technology based organisations as entities that operate in our communities.
Government must subsidise entrepreneurs who conduct scientific research and run centres of innovation. Science and innovation collaboration with different departments, to develop our learning outputs including our basic and higher education systems. Budgets to include refineries so that, Tsepho in Randfontein can be able to study something that is going to ensure that they refine the goals that they take behind these [Inaudible].
It is at a time like this that the people of South Africa are counting on us to not only speak about our imagination but to translate what we imagine and innovate it into a tangible socioeconomic opportunity for all South Africans. I thank you [Applause].