Johannesburg - Parliament’s Select Committee on Education and Technology, Arts, and Culture has welcomed the progress made on the Department of Science and Technology’s Decadal Plan, “as it supports technological innovation and scientific research for the benefit of all South Africans”.
The Decadal Plan addresses the department’s efforts to position all government departments to adopt innovation and technological advancement.
In welcoming the Decadal Plan, the committee chairperson, Elleck Nchabeleng urged the department to brief it frequently on developments in line with the committee’s responsibility to conduct oversight on government departments.
Nchabeleng said government departments should indicate a standing item on their programmes and budgets as to how they will accommodate and encourage innovation in line with the Decadal Plan.
“The committee is pleasantly excited by the work that seems to have been put into the plan. We need to move to adopt and implement. This is particularly important if one looks at the possible disruptions that technology is likely to bring to industries,” said Nchabeleng.
The committee also noted Eskom’s proactive steps to engage with the Cape University of Technology (CPUT) to reskill its workforce at the Komati power plant.
CPUT will soon set up a multimillion rand renewable energy training centre in Mpumalanga ahead of the decommissioning of Komati power plant in September.
“These are the kinds of initiatives that should excite our young people. Opportunities are being provided by government; all that young people have to do is take them up. The same sentiment relates to the transition to low carbon emissions as a result of our climate change nationally-determined commitments.
“Truth is, climate change and technology innovation will radically change the future of industries. When that happens we need to ensure that the impact is not so bad as reducing working South Africans into redundancy,” Nchabeleng said.
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