South Africa can be counted among some of the most technologically advanced countries in the world, says the Minister of Science and Technology, Naledi Pandor. The Minister made the comments during her address to international and local engineers and scientists at the 19th World Congress of the International Federation of Automatic Control (IFAC) in Cape Town on 24 August.
IFAC is a platform for engineers and scientists to exchange ideas and expertise on topics related to automatic control, technology, science, research, cybernetics, control systems, automation and engineering.
"Science contributed decisively in less tangible but nevertheless equally important ways. Winning the bid to host the Square Kilometre Array radio telescope, for example, filled South Africans with pride and did as much to foster national unity as did winning the rugby World Cup in 1995. 'Big' science is beneficial to any society in transition such as ours," said the Minister.
Minister Pandor said that science and technology played a decisive role in addressing the unacceptable inequality and division in country.
"South Africans excluded from basic services during apartheid now enjoy access to electricity, clean water and sanitation – boosted by the benefits of technology-transfer programmes. Affordable health services and education are now available to the majority of South Africans, for example by leveraging e-health and e-education platforms. Our investment in information and communication technology infrastructure not only narrowed, but in many instances effectively bridged the digital divide, ensuring that an information society is not only for a privileged few."
The Minister further said South Africa would be one of the champions of the new Science, Technology and Innovation Strategy for Africa (STISA), adopted by African leaders at the July 2014 African Union Assembly.
STISA will focus Africa's science, technology and innovation investment in socio-economic areas, such as eradicating hunger and ensuring food security in Africa, preventing and controlling disease, ensuring human welfare in Africa, and improving intra-African communication through investments in physical and digital infrastructure.
Enquiries:
Lunga Ngqengelele
MLO (Minister's Office)
Cell: 082 566 0446
Tel: 012 843 6799
