Mpahlwa, launch of the South African National Space Policy
6 March 2009
Chairperson
Rep of Ambassador for Nigeria, Mr Nuhu
Rep of Ambassador for Algeria, Mr Imed Selantnia
Industry leaders
Representatives of Academic Institutions
Members of the South African Council for Space Affairs
Members of the Media
The Department of Trade and Industry and other government Departments
Distinguished guests
Ladies and gentleman
I was most fortunate to come across an African proverb recently that says
"You don't have to be tall to see the moon." What does this mean? It could mean
quite literally that a child can see the moon as clearly as the tallest person.
But I think the true teaching of this proverb is that irrespective of who we
are, if each of us put our mind to it, all of us have equal potential and
ability to be a part of the greatness of our world and the universe beyond.
And it is in this context, especially for your role in allowing our citizens
to be part of the greatness of our world and the universe beyond that I want to
thank all of you for gracing with your presence, this landmark event in the
history of our space endeavours. Today we launch the South African National
Space Policy. This policy emanates from the primary space legislative
instrument; the Space Affairs Act, which mandates the Minister of Trade and
Industry to develop the policy to be followed by our country and guide
participation in this arena. In having the privilege to preside over a process
which has successfully delivered on the mandate of the Act, I must say that it
would have been most difficult to do so, if we had not received the most
extra-ordinary co-operation from other government departments and key sector
stakeholders, I thank you all.
Ladies and gentleman even though it has been a legislative imperative for
South Africa to develop its own policy it has equally been a practical
requirement. Our country has been involved in space activities for the past
five decades and as a result we have a number of institutions and programmes
that play a significant role in the scientific study, exploration and
utilisation of space. Up until now, this scenario however, has evolved in a
un-co-ordinated manner thus posing challenges for the strategic and cohesive
focus required for this field.
It was therefore of great importance that we addressed these shortcomings
because space technology has turned out to be one field of high technology that
exerts the most profound influence on modern society. And its continuous
development and application has become an important endeavour in the
modernisation drive of countries all over the world. The use of the outer space
environment has grown substantially to the point where we as government,
industry, the military and, indeed, the public at large now depend on
satellites and their associated ground systems to provide numerous socio
economic benefits.
In fact, I think it is quite ironic that space technology provides so many
benefits to society yet we hardly even notice that those benefits are derived
from satellite systems. (At the risk of making you feel like school children
and the even greater risk of being accused of condescension, may I ask how many
of you have used space lately. Whether the space application is on-line
banking, cell phone use, watching an international sporting event or using a
global positioning system (GPS) for directions to a particular location, the
global society is making increasing use of such services in their daily
lives.
Space technology also finds applications on earth in a wide variety of
products and processes that have purely terrestrial uses. These so-called
spin-off benefits from space are numerous, but, to mention just a few, they
include applications in health and medicine, security, industrial productivity,
transport, public safety, household and recreational items.
In the future, the use of satellite services in tele-health and
tele-education is also expected to grow, bringing numerous benefits to rural
communities and reducing the inequalities between rich and poor. Some of the
developing nations such as the East Asian countries (India, Indonesia, and
Malaysia) have started to benefit immensely from such space applications.
Additionally, space technology allows developing countries to "leapfrog"
certain stages of development. For example, communications satellites allow
communications between any two points in a country without the need to install
ground-based infra-structure. This property of space systems also provides
important societal benefits in areas such as disaster management, where
ground-based communications infrastructure is often unusable.
For us, a further advantage is that it is high-tech sectors such as this
sector with its advanced manufacturing capabilities that will enable us to
achieve a wide ranging innovative economic basket of goods and services. Hence
as a country our primary goal is to acquire the appropriate space-based systems
for wider socio - economic benefits as well as our independent access to
space.
However, activities in the space arena need to be done in accordance with
the legislative framework that guides all actors on how they should engage in
space. It is in this regard that we are proud that we now have a policy that
provides guidance to all South African public and private sector stakeholders
undertaking space activities and encourages better co-ordination and
co-operative governance amongst the stakeholders.
Ladies and gentleman, the policy is grounded on an important principle of
utilisation of outer space for peaceful purposes. The exploration and use of
outer space is the province of all humankind, and the peaceful uses of outer
space are the shared aspiration of humanity. And of particular significance for
us are the advances in science and technology that have made it possible to
explore and harness resources in outer space for the benefit of mankind. For
instance, outer space is playing a growing role in, among other things,
promoting scientific research, developing telecommunications and protecting the
environment, and all aspects of people's everyday life as I mentioned before
are closely linked with it.
So, as more and more countries become reliant on space, there will be
greater pressure on the space environment and it will be incumbent on all users
of space to preserve the earth's orbital space environment for peaceful uses by
all nations. In crafting our space policy and our regulatory environment we are
guided by this principle. For this reason our next legislative step will be to
ensure ratification of the Convention on International Liability for Damage
Caused by Space Objects and the Convention on the Registration of Objects
Launched to Outer Space. By ratifying these important international
instruments, South Africa is demonstrating its commitment to be a responsible
user of the space environment.
But, as I indicated earlier, it is also the quite direct role this sector
can play in our economic development that is of significance to our national
life. In this regard, the National Industrial Policy Framework vision
encourages the long term intensification of the country's industrialisation and
movement towards a knowledge economy. Given our socio-economic disparities, our
fundamental task is to develop and continuously modernise our economy.
In practice this means that while space activities were essentially public
goods at the beginning of the space age, the role of industry is expanding. It
is therefore in the best interest of government to ensure that industry is
encouraged to develop innovative applications that contribute fully to an
advanced economy and to alleviate societal challenges. Therefore the promotion
of a domestic space industry is one of the cornerstones of this policy. This
will be achieved by maximising the participation of domestic industry in the
national space agenda and creating a supporting regulatory environment.
Domestic industry is also encouraged to pursue appropriate strategic
international industrial partnerships, as one of the means of enhancing
industrial competitiveness.
Evidence suggests that countries that largely leave it to industry in this
sector to produce goods and services tend to perform better, on balance, than
those that do not. Therefore, leaving the production to industry allows
government to concentrate on what it does best which is providing public goods
and services to the population at large and elaborating and enforcing effective
rules of the game for the industry.
I am therefore pleased to announce that the dti is developing a space
industry framework, which is a scoping exercise to identify South African
capabilities and potential in this industry whilst also considering the already
established industries such as aerospace, defence, electronics, avionics and
information communication technology (ICT), amongst others. The magnificence of
space is that it overlaps with a whole host of other fields as I have
mentioned. The framework will also help ensure that entrepreneurship and
innovation are encouraged, that barriers to entry and the burden of regulations
are minimised and that leasing from international companies is discouraged.
Certainly too, space activities involve huge investments and high risks. And
even though the South African space industry is still very small its potential
economic and strategic importance is as boundless as space itself. It is
therefore government's intention that ownership of the policy should rest
equally across public and private actors.
The policy also encourages co-operation with other nations in respect of the
mutually beneficial and peaceful uses of outer space, with a focus on extending
the benefits of space technology to the African continent, through pursuit of
co-operative activities with other African countries. In June 2008, a
Declaration of Intent was signed between South Africa, Algeria and Nigeria on
African Resource Management and Environmental Constellation (ARMC). The ARMC is
a constellation of low-earth orbiting satellites where the data generated is to
be shared by the participating Parties for their mutual benefit. South Africa
is extremely excited by this development as it marks the beginning of regional
space co-operation in Africa and will truly be a sterling example of an African
initiative to resolve Africa's challenges.
But Space, ladies and gentlemen, is an unbounded arena and hence our country
finds it imperative to establish co-operative and mutually beneficial
international relationships. Thus we will seek to strengthen existing
partnerships and new opportunities for co-operation with the world's renowned
space faring nations. We will also place priority on building relationships on
the African continent and on south-south relationships.
Finally, I think we are all aware and concerned that without correct
implementation our good intentions may come to naught or be undermined. We will
certainly therefore work very hard to ensure that this policy is implemented
through the relevant government departments and agencies according to their
respective mandates as guided by this policy. In practice we will therefore all
have to embrace both the spirit and letter of co-ordination and co-operative
governance. This approach will also allow us to optimise the use of resources,
whilst the dti with the assistance of the South African Council for Space
Affairs will monitor and evaluate that implementation.
I am confident that such co-ordination and co-operation can be achieved.
This confidence is derived from the fact that the process of producing and
finalising this policy involved various governments departments, and
demonstrated so well in practice, the spirit of co-operation and co-ordination
that this policy sets out to achieve. And I need at this point to particularly
thank the Council on Space Affairs for their truly sterling work in bringing us
this far. Additionally, some of you here today provided feedback on the policy
document and I want to thank you sincerely for your input(s) that helped bring
about this document.
In conclusion, I have noted that many of the distinguished government
departments and industry experts who must play a role in meeting these
challenges are in this room today. Although we often serve different societal
interests, we are meeting here today with one common goal: to share information
about how space based activities may solve many of our country's and
continents' challenges. It is an endeavour that has fascinated mankind for so
many centuries. In fact it is an extra-ordinary endeavour as Socrates points
out when he says that "Man must rise above the earth-to the top of the
atmosphere and beyond â for only then will he fully understand the world in
which he lives." I have no doubt that all of us gathered here at the base of
Africa have our role to play to allow mankind to fully understand the world in
which we live.
Thank you.
Issued by: Department of Trade and Industry
6 March 2009
