By Akani Nkuna

Deputy Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation Dr Nomalungelo Gina on Saturday launched South Africa’s inaugural National Science Month, calling for science, technology and innovation to be placed at the centre of the country’s development agenda.

Gina, who delivered the keynote address at the Vaal University of Technology, said the new initiative marked a shift from National Science Week to a broader, month-long programme aimed at deepening public engagement with science.

“We must significantly raise public awareness of the value of science in everyday life, while elevating science, technology and innovation as key drivers of South Africa’s socio-economic development,” she said.

The department has run National Science Week since 2000, but Gina said science, technology and innovation had become increasingly central to addressing complex global and domestic challenges.

She said South Africa needed a more sustained public engagement programme to help build awareness of science’s role in economic transformation, industrialisation and national competitiveness.

Gina said South Africa’s investment in research and development remained low, at about 0.61% of gross domestic product, well below the National Development Plan target of 1.5%. She said this lagged far behind leading innovation economies, with South Korea investing more than 4.5% of GDP, Israel more than 5%, and the OECD average sitting at about 2.7%.

The launch was held under the theme: “Science, Technology and Innovation Are for Everyone.”

Gina said the theme was intended to show that science and innovation belonged to all people, regardless of ethnicity, class, gender, belief or location, and must serve society as a whole.

The launch included a science exhibition made up of 132 stands and more than 100 exhibitors, including universities, science councils and entities of the department such as the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, the National Research Foundation, the Technology Innovation Agency and the South African National Space Agency.

“Create and harness new technologies to resolve societal challenges such as social inequality, social justice and ecological sustainability; promote informed decision-making and public access to scientific knowledge; and instill a culture of deliberate knowledge exchange between scientists and the public,” Gina said.

She said National Science Month would also be used to tell South Africa’s science story, including work in space science and astronomy through major projects such as the Square Kilometre Array and the Southern African Large Telescope.

“We must also tell the public about the contributions of some of our country’s most advanced scientific infrastructure platforms, including iThemba LABS in the Western Cape, which is the largest particle accelerator-based science facility in the Southern Hemisphere, generating radioactive isotopes for medicine and conducting materials research,” she said.

Gina also highlighted the SANSA Space Weather Centre in Hermanus, describing it as Africa’s only 24/7 operational regional space weather warning centre.

She said National Science Month should be used to inspire young people to pursue careers in science, technology and innovation.

“Drawing from these breathtaking examples of South Africa’s science, technology and innovation capabilities, my message to the learners here today is simple: your dreams are valid, and you must never allow anyone to tell you that you cannot become a scientist,” she said.

INSIDE EDUCATION

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