Programme Director
The Minister of Higher Education, Dr Nzimande
The Western Cape Judge Present, Justice Hlophe
The Chairman of the trust, Mr Tim Murray
Dignitaries present
Ladies and gentlemen
All protocol observed
It gives us pleasure as the KwaZulu-Natal Ministry of Economic Development and Tourism to be part of this occasion where we are meeting to celebrate the contribution that has been made by the sugar industry in our province in ensuring that we have a nation that is only educated but that can hold its own in the global competitive environment.
Programme Director, it has been proven over the years that education is the key to the success of any nation. It is because of this reason that all nations that are successful today are those which have invested heavily in the education of their people. Education is, therefore, not only a tool for personal empowerment, but it has become a vehicle for social change and can open a confluence of endless possibilities for any nation.
Critically, as a government we have a responsibility to ensure that we build an economy that creates opportunities for all. It is for this reason that economic transformation remains one of the focal points on our agenda. However, the issue of empowerment and redistribution is not an end on its own. We need to decide what kind of an economy we want. Currently, we seem to have an economy which is very low on innovation and is characterised by players, particularly the previously-disadvantaged, who play an intermediary role.
Obviously there could be many reasons for this. However, the fact of the matter is that growing economies and those that are competitive are innovating economies, where the preoccupation for economic players is more about coming up with new ideas, products and systems that help grow the economy than perpetually playing the middleman role without actually altering either the appearance or content of those economies.
Indeed, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), in its 2010 Ministerial Report on the OECD innovation strategy released in May highlights innovation as the key component to long-term sustainable economic growth and development. An excerpt from the report reads:
Work at the OECD has drawn attention to elements requiring greater emphasis in today's complex innovation landscape, as part of a wide-ranging approach to strengthening innovation:
- Human ingenuity and the entrepreneurial spirit are the essence of innovation. Empowering people to innovate calls for broad and relevant education as well as the development of wide-ranging skills that complement formal education. Curricula and pedagogies need to be adapted to equip students with the capacity to learn and apply new skills throughout their lives
- Firms are the essential means of translating knowledge and ideas into jobs and wealth. Small and medium-sized enterprises, especially new and young firms, are particularly important for innovation and job creation, as they exploit opportunities that have been neglected by more established companies. Governments must put in place policies to support new and innovative entrepreneurial efforts
- Science is vital to innovation, especially to generate “step changes” such as the discovery of the transistor or vaccines. Fundamental R&D, mostly undertaken and funded by governments, provides the foundation for future innovation. The internet is one outcome among many
- Government support for platforms that enable more actors to engage in innovation networks is an essential underpinning. High-speed broadband connections, for example, allow actors to collaborate, make a wide range of data and information available and provide access to powerful analytical tools that facilitate the creation of new value
- Improvements of markets and networks for exchanging and diffusing knowledge and intellectual property are needed, along with an effective system of intellectual property rights with new collaborative mechanisms, such as licensing markets, patent pools and clearing houses.
The broad concept of innovation emphasises the need to reach across the boundaries of ministries, institutions, sectors, fields of training, academic disciplines, regions and countries. Policies that are vertical in nature and target a particular field, sector, technology or location no longer suffice on their own. They need to be complemented by a horizontal – whole of government – policy approach to innovation.
Achieving this is far from simple, but it holds the promise of greater coherence, better performance and a structure more appropriate to the central role of innovation in society today. It calls for coherence and complementarities between the local, regional and national levels. It requires stable platforms for coordinating actions, a focus on policies with a medium- and long-term perspective, and leadership by policy makers at the highest level.
It follows, therefore, that if we want an innovating economy, then we need to invest in education. Because of the recent economic downturn, there is a temptation to cut back on investments in education and trying to prioritise certain other needs. The advice from OECD, which our government has internalised, is that if we want guaranteed future growth and an economy that is sustainable in the long term, we must invest in education today. The dream of an equitable society will remain just that, if we do not invest in education today.
It is because of our understanding of this fact that since the birth of democracy, our government has invested huge resources to empower our people with quality education. At the same time, our government has also made the call to all sectors of the society to partner with us to ensure that we empower those who are less fortunate with education. This is not only to address the effects of our dark past which was characterised by inequality and exclusion of the majority from opportunities to acquire good education, but because it is our duty to collectively build a South Africa of our dreams.
We are therefore heartened by the fact that the South African Sugar Industry has heeded this call and is doing its bit to provide quality and sustainable education by providing bursaries to our people. This gesture by the South African Sugar Industry is not only an act that should be applauded but is a practical demonstration that social responsibility and the pursuit for a sustainable business are not mutually exclusive. In fact, Programme Director, we would like to contend that no business can succeed when the community it is operating in is suffering from deprivation. By investing in the education of our children, the South African Sugar Industry is not only assisting in creating brighter prospects for our country, it is also investing in the sustainability of its operations. It is contributing in the skills development drive which will ensure that our economy is competitive.
What makes us all the more excited about this initiative from the South African Sugar Industry is that most beneficiaries are from needy families. Indeed, it is a known fact that there is an unhealthy nexus between deprivation and lack of access to education. By providing our people with skills, the South African Sugar Industry is also assisting in breaking the vicious cycle of intergenerational poverty. But more importantly it is also assisting in giving our economy a much needed stimulus for growth. As all of us know, our economy is suffering a critical shortage of skills in the engineering and scientific fields.
As we have stated, education has become one of the critical interventions that any country can invest in, in order to ensure a bright future for its people. While South Africa is today a free country, however, we are still saddled with a number of challenges which are as a result of poor and deliberate policy choice made by apartheid architectures to deprive our people of quality education.
The impact of these policies in the economy of the country cannot be overemphasized. Not only have they hindered the country from realising its true potential, but they have ensured that many of our people are relegated to the outer fringes of economic activities. One of the biggest structural challenges facing our country today is the challenge of unemployment. South Africa today is amongst the countries with the highest unemployment rates in the world, with almost a quarter of our population swelling the jobless ranks.
But what is even more alarming is that most of our people are not employable because they do have the requisite skills that are needed by our economy. While the economy of our country has in the past two years experienced one of longest periods of growth, many of our people did not enjoy the fruits of this economic expansion because they did not have the necessary economic tools to take part in the economic opportunities created.
It is because of this reason that South Africa is amongst the countries in the world that have disproportionate distribution between the number of tax payers and the number of people who are in the State Social Net. There is no doubt that this situation is not sustainable. If the pool of people who are economically-active is shrinking, the reality is that in the final analysis government will find it hard to sustain our people who rely on state assistance.
The reality, Programme Director, is that the South African economy is now open to the vacillations of global economic conditions. In this regard, one of the immediate challenges facing the country is for South Africa to register a double digit growth rate so as to create employment. It therefore goes without any saying that in order to compete with other countries we need a cadre of personnel that can take this country on a higher economic pedestal.
In a fast changing world of rapid technological development, education has not only become a precious resource, but it has come to define the future prospects and fortunes of countries. Compounding the situation is the challenge of brain drain where skilled personnel, particularly from struggling countries are lured by rich countries with fat packages to work for them.
Not has this entrenched inequalities in an unjust and imbalanced world, but it has served to preserve the status quo for the rich countries and has ensured that developing countries remain perpetually poor while rich countries continue to thrive. In this regard, developing countries such as South Africa are facing the double challenge of creating new pools of skills while preserving the existing reservoir of skills. As government, we therefore believe that this initiative by the South African Sugar Industry, will not only help create a bright future for our country, but will also ensure that our country will be able to compete on an equally footing with the rest of the world.
We have no doubt that some of the recipients of these bursaries will contribute to the economic well being of our country. We would like to salute the South African Sugar Industry for taking such a bold step to invest in the future of our country. The economic meltdown which brought the global economy to its knees a few months ago has shown that the interests of business and the state can longer be separated. While all companies exist primarily to serve the interests of their shareholders, however it is also their duty to uplift the community in which they operate. Social responsibility is therefore a good business decision and not a burden to the bottom line. We hope that this gesture will inspire other business fraternities to invest in the education of our children, understanding that the returns that will accrue out of their investment will secure a bright future for all of us.
I thank you.
Source: Department of Economic Development and Tourism, KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Government
