Conversations with leaders
Science and Technology Minister Naledi Pandor is leading the country’s scientific revolution
South Africa's investment in science and technology is bringing it international renown and will ultimately lead to innovations that will improve the lives of South Africans.
From the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) to renewable energy and growing the number of researchers the country produces, Minister of Science and Technology Naledi Pandor and her department are ensuring that South Africa makes the most of science as it looks to the future.
Speaking to PSM, Minister said the Department of Science and Technology (DST) is all set to launch the 64dish MeerKat radio telescope in preparation for the first phase of the SKA.
Once complete, the SKA will be the world's largest radio telescope with a square kilometre (one million square metres) of collecting area.
It will enable astronomers to monitor the sky in unprecedented detail and survey the entire sky thousands of times faster than any system currently in existence.
The SKA telescope will be co-located in Africa and Australia.
Minister Pandor is confident that the DST will meet the deadline of 31 March 2018 for the launch of the MeerKat.
“I have told my department that 31 March is the date and it will not shift. On that date we intend to launch. From all reports to date, we are on course,” she said.
The SKA project has entered its final pre-construction or detailed design phase before construction of SKA phase one commences in 2018.
Minister Pandor explained that when South Africa won the bid to build the SKA, part of the obligation for South Africa and Australia was that they had to demonstrate their scientific competence by building a precursor to the SKA.
Australia is building the ASKAP, a low frequency range telescope, and South Africa is building the MeerKat, a 64dish medium frequency range radio telescope that will be used by scientists for research.
International interest in Meerkat
“We have over 55 research groups from different countries that have booked to use the MeerKat.There is a lot of excitement out there and researchers are asking us about our visa arrangements for skilled scientists.
“On completion, we will begin SKA phase one. We have purchased more land from land owners in the Northern
Cape and acquired various land which will make up SKA phase one,” she explained.
In SKA phase one 94 additional telescopes will be built to add to the 64 that are currently being built.This will substantially increase the range.
“The really exciting part is post-2022, when SKA phase two comes into being and we talk about the 3 000-telescope built programme, we will become a Star Wars country. It's exciting that our country can handle such a mega project. I have met with ministers from partner countries and they are very impressed with South Africa.”
Benefits for local communities
To commence building the Meerkat, infrastructure had to be provided. This meant bringing in engineers, scientists and others to the site.
“We had to construct roads and the local community had to work on building these roads,” said the Minister. The DST also provided young people with scholarships. “When we were trying to identify young people for scholarships we discovered that schools in the area did not offer mathematics and science because they did not have teachers. We ensured that we got mathematics and science teachers employed by the Department of Basic Education.”
The DST also helped to train teachers who were teaching these subjects.
“We now have young people, who are recipients of SKA bursaries, studying technology and engineering throughout South Africa,” she said.
The DST also created a science centre in Carnarvon, in the Northern Cape, not only for schools but also for the community to get information about the SKA.
The centre provides hands-on experience to help young people learn more about science. It's also used as a maths and science training centre.
In addition, young people in the area will also be given the opportunity to develop skills and eventually work on the projects.
“The project team took 300 young people from towns surrounding the site and placed them at an FET college in Kimberley, where they are training to be technicians and technologists. They will work as technicians on the site once the project has been completed,” said the Minister.
Opportunities in astronomy
Minister Pandor says astronomy is one of the oldest sciences and young people need to be made more aware of the opportunities that it can bring.
She explained that astronomy helps us to understand the universe and earth.
“It was astronomers who needed processing capabilities and came up with the idea of the internet, developing web-based products and using radio waves to build great communication capabilities. In the process of carrying out an old science, exciting discoveries have emerged.”
Minister Pandor encouraged the youth to enter into astronomy as it's also a doorway to engineering, mathematics, physics and information technology.
Producing more researchers
The Minister said that every time she meets young people, she is amazed by the level of talent that the country has and this needs to be capitalised on.
Science and technology is a major driver of innovation in a society as it creates new ideas and products and services.
Science is a way of introducing elements that will change a society and address its difficult challenges.
“To promote innovation, you need what I call ‘knowledge workers'.These are young people who are trained in processes and methodologies. Science is a process; it's not a subject matter, it's investigative thinking and following stages of investigation very carefully.
“The reason we invest in human capital is to develop young people who will generate ideas for South Africa and for the continent.This is vitally important to our country.They say all of us have creative abilities but to benefit from our research capabilities we need to catch you early.”
According to Minister Pandor, the number of researchers that have been produced has remained static because of resources, but the department is working hard to address this.
The department and all of its entities are currently producing over 2 400 PhDs annually. Its target is in line with the National Development Plan, which states that South Africa should be producing 5 000 PhD graduates annually by 2030.
“This is a big ask and we are working hard to try and meet these numbers to meet the target. We have around 3 000 masters, but not all masters graduate to PhDs. We also have a large number of honours.”
Support for researchers
The department invests about R1.2 billion in grants annually for post-graduate students.
It spent R495 million in the 2016/17 financial year for emerging and established researchers, including post-doctoral academics, which resulted in over 4 000 researchers being supported.
“Of these researchers, 35 percent are black and 39 percent are women. We are worried about transformation, but we are seeing change.”
Added to this is R550 million which is a strategic investment in the Research Chairs Programme and the 14 Centres of Excellence.
“Then we have awards we provide for research equipment and infrastructure. In the last financial year
R340 million was devoted to this.”
The DST also provided R630 million to the country's research facilities that are recognised as national research facilities, such as iThemba labs in Cape Town. The size of the investment in these facilities is substantial.
“In addition, R400 million is invested into SKA, a big infrastructure programme in our country.”
The Minister says that some of the challenges the department faces are a lack of resources and the fact that South Africa has set itself a target of one percent of GDP in research and development by 2018.
“At the moment we are at 0.78 percent of GDP funding, which is a huge challenge.”
Another challenge that the DST faces is a lack of human capital in the research field because the majority of black people were not allowed entry into the fields where numbers are lacking.
The department is working hard to increase the number of PhDs, however, a major problem is where they will be employed.
“We need to expand the architecture for innovation in South Africa. We cannot rely on seven entities, 31 universities and eight institutions. I want to see more centres of biotechnology and institutes for cancer research. I want to see investment in centres that look at non-communicable disease to understand why we have diabetes and several cancers in women, for example.
“My department has a strong view that we need to expand and make a national system of innovation. While we have made a number of new interventions in science since 1994, the system has stayed the same.”
Renewable energy key
Minister Pandor added that renewable energy is very important in South Africa.
The country has one of the best solar radiations and should be using these rays to good effect.
“We should be a leading country in solar energy because we will meet our reduction of emission target. Coal has bad emissions. Developing solar energy also means that we will make new discoveries in more appropriate technology because the panels we have now tend to be big.
“People want smaller panels which can also store energy. There are loads of opportunities in renewable energies.”
The Minister stressed that South Africa has vast potential in the science sector and that the country does not fully understand the scientific talent it has.
“The capacity that we have in the country is amazing. I hope to change the conversation and celebrate some of our success through science.”