The good and the ugly!

On November 10, the day before the publication of this edition of ANC TODAY, an important and exciting event of great importance to the future of our country took place not far from the small Northern Cape rural town of Sutherland. This was the official inauguration of SALT – the Southern African Large Telescope.

SALT is one of the largest telescopes in the world and the largest in the Southern Hemisphere. It is modelled on and was built with the active cooperation of the Hobby-Eberly Telescope (HET) at the McDonald Observatory in Texas, USA. HET is now one of the partner institutions that own SALT.

Because it was built later and could learn freely from the HET experience, (which was inaugurated in 1997), SALT is better than HET in a number of areas, making it currently the most advanced Large Telescope in the world. Because of this, Professor Phil Charles, Director of the South African Astronomical Observatory (SAAO), has written that “in so many different ways, southern Africa is now, once again, at the forefront of astronomical technology and research.”

Professor Charles correctly refers to Southern Africa, and not just South Africa, because Namibia hosts “the world’s most sensitive high-energy gamma-ray telescope, the High Energy Stereoscopic System (HESS).” Commenting on HESS, Professor Okkie de Jager of the Unit for Space Physics of North West University, says:

“As the world’s most powerful very-high-energy gamma-ray instrument, (HESS) has gone where none have gone before to open up new views of the energetic Universe and reveal more of its secrets. Born out of the most violent processes in the Universe, gamma-ray sources have been difficult to observe clearly till now, because we have not had the instruments to explore their very high energies.”

SALT and HESS are about astronomy – the scientific study of the material world outside the earth, and the relationship of the earth to this material world, the Universe. As we said in Sutherland, this science, including the work that will be done at SALT, asks such fundamental questions as:

• what was the universe like when the first stars and galaxies were forming?
• what kind of worlds orbit other suns?
• how are the stars in nearby galaxies different from those in the solar neighbourhood?
• what can these stars tells us about the scale and age of the universe?
• how do quasars and gamma rays outshine trillions of stars like the sun?

All these questions might appear to be irrelevant to those we ask ourselves daily as we strive to achieve the very immediate objective of creating a better life for all our people. However, the Freedom Charter addressed this issue when it said that “the doors of learning and culture shall be opened.”

Astronomy constitutes an important area of learning whose doors have been opened even wider by the creation of the Southern African Large Telescope. Integral to SALT is the launching of an important educational initiative encompassing our schools and institutions of higher learning, focused on expanding our country’s pool of scientists, engineers and technicians.

In this regard, Professor of Astronomy, Dr Eric Wilcots, of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, one of the SALT partners, said that the SALT Observatory is “a beacon for Southern African science. It is meant to inspire a new generation of African scientists, which will be the lasting value of SALT to Southern Africa...

“Students and faculty from across the (Wisconsin-Madison) campus are benefiting and will continue to benefit from the university’s investment in SALT. We now have a student exchange programme with the University of Cape Town and we will be initiating an exchange with the University of the Western Cape in November...

“(SALT) is meant to showcase the capability of Southern African scientists and engineers -- and it has done that. Keep in mind that there are only a handful, perhaps as few as three, black South Africans with Ph.Ds in astronomy. While we (in the US) have problems with an under-represented minority in science, South Africa has an under-represented majority.”

Astronomy requires proficiency in such diverse fields as mathematics, physics, electronics, materials fabrication and various aspects of engineering, space science, computer programming, and so on.

To respond to this, already, a collaborative post-graduate National Astrophysics and Space Sciences Programme to train students in astronomy, astrophysics and space science, has been established by a number of our Universities. The students do their practical work at Sutherland and other observatories in our country. They can also be awarded Stobie-SALT Ph.D. scholarships to complete their doctorates in the USA and the UK.

SALT, SAAO and the Northern Cape Department of Education have also begun an intervention in the provincial schools targeting teachers and learners. This is focused on strengthening the teaching of mathematics and physics, building science laboratories in the schools, providing further training for teachers, including attending teacher-training courses at the University of Wisconsin, providing bursaries, establishing science clubs and a maths and science academy in Sutherland, and generally inspiring our youth to interest themselves in maths, science, engineering and technology.

To improve cooperation with other African countries, which has already started, SALT has also facilitated the establishment of the Working Group on Space Sciences in Africa (WGSSA). SALT is described as “Southern African” to underline the determination of the SALT Partnership to extend the benefits of the SALT project to the countries of our region.

All this confirms what Professor Wilcots was talking about when he said that “(SALT) is meant to inspire a new generation of African scientists, which will be the lasting value of SALT to Southern Africa…”

Development in the modern world is driven by knowledge. Knowledge-workers have become even more critical players in the fundamental effort to achieve a better life for all. SALT will make a critical contribution to helping our country produce these workers in the large numbers that we need.

Again as Professor Wilcots said, the construction of the SALT Observatory had succeeded “to showcase the capability of Southern African scientists and engineers.” Contrary to all expectations, 60% of the SALT construction budget was spent in South Africa. A report in the Academy of Science of South Africa magazine, “Quest”, says:

“The telescope was built by South African industry and involved civil, structural, mechanical, electrical, electronic, optical, software and consulting engineers. Most of its major sub-systems (such as the telescope structure, tracker, and dome) were designed and built by South African companies. SALT’s employment policy specifically supported black economic and technical empowerment.

“Local industry gained experience in developing sophisticated components and sub-systems, either by manufacturing them locally or by collaborating with companies abroad in building the specialised components. Science and engineering students were involved during SALT’s construction to gain work experience in this large, complex, high tech project...

“60% of SALT’s components were made in South Africa...All the software that controls the mirror alignment was written by a South African company. The drives, controls, and software for the dome, structure, and tracker, and all the fibre optics, air ducts, fans and valves were sourced from local companies.”

For us as South Africans, SALT communicates the truly inspiring messages that:

• our country has reaffirmed its place among the front ranks of the eminent scientists who are helping humanity to understand the Universe, of which our planet, the Earth, is part;
• our industry, scientists, engineers and other professionals have demonstrated that they can compete successfully against the best in the world;
• we have proved that it is perfectly possible for government, the private sector and academia to work together successfully to realise the most complex projects;
• we have provided an outstanding example of the efficacy of international, mutually beneficial cooperation in response to the process of globalisation, rather than destructive competition at all costs, even where this relates to matters of intellectual property; and,
• we have shown the direct relationship between basic scientific inquiry and meeting the more immediate intellectual needs that derive from the imperatives of our programme for reconstruction and development, which reaffirms the need for us to provide resources both for basic and applied research.

Everything we have said can never succeed fully to communicate the heart-warming and immensely elevating experience gained by spending time at the Southern African Large Telescope in Sutherland.

Similarly, it would be difficult to describe the warmth, enthusiasm and sense of self-fulfilment of the thousands of ordinary South Africans and school children of the Namaqua district who gathered at a sports field in Sutherland to watch the SALT inauguration ceremony on a large video screen, and later interact with and listen to the Premier Dipuo Peters and ourselves, as we spoke to them after the commissioning ceremony.

As we sat among the hundreds gathered at the Observatory, the site of the official ceremony, including our many international guests, and later the thousands in the public rally in Sutherland, we could not but be moved by the dominant spirit of hope, joy and peace communicated by both gatherings.

However, when we left the inspiring precinct of the Sutherland Observatory, the town of Sutherland and the Hooglands Karoo, once again we came face to face with an ugly face of our reality that seems determined to impose itself on our country as its dominant feature.

I refer here to the sporadic criminal violence allegedly provoked by our national socio-economic challenges, which some in our country, whether consciously or not, seek to defend as justifiable “anger and frustration” provoked by supposed failures of our government.

In the days immediately preceding the commissioning of SALT, this violence found expression in the burning down of public property, such as municipal offices in Merafong Municipality in the Carletonville area, and the burning of Metrorail passenger train coaches in the Gauteng Province.

Every genuine patriot who engaged in struggle to liberate our country and people from apartheid tyranny is “angry and frustrated”, given the pervasive stubbornness of the colonial and apartheid legacy that has meant continued poverty and underdevelopment for many of our people.

Nevertheless these genuine patriots understand very well that it will take a protracted struggle to eradicate this legacy. Constantly, they remind themselves of the words of the African patriot and revolutionary from Guinea Bissau, Amilcar Cabral - tell no lies: claim no easy victories!

The genuine patriots who fought for our liberation will tell no lies to disguise the challenges we continue to face, arising from more than three centuries of white minority rule. They will make no claim that it is easy to eradicate this legacy, because they know that this would be a lie.

The genuine patriots who fought for our liberation know that it can never be their task as revolutionaries to join hands with the forces of reaction to oppose a popularly elected government that is led by their own movement.

They are determined never to take it upon themselves to advance the right wing agenda, based on the assertion that the legacy of colonialism and apartheid is a product of the acts of commission and omission of the democratic order.

The genuine patriots who fought for our liberation, who are engaged in struggle to strengthen the democratic state as a social instrument to serve the masses of the working people, know that the destruction of public property, valuable assets owned by the people, can only serve the interests of those who want to weaken the democratic state, against the interests of the people.

It is the task of our movement to mobilise the people to protect public property, which is held in trust by the state for the people. We should not allow hooliganism to pose as legitimate public protest, resulting in the destruction of social investment paid for with the people’s money and undermining the right to the free expression of views by the citizens.

We should not be diverted from this task by claims of “anger” that are regularly advanced to justify criminal behaviour. For their part, the law enforcement agencies must act firmly to enforce the law, ensuring the safety and security of all citizens and property.

SALT is yet another outstanding example showing the progress our country is making as it engages the challenge of reconstruction and development. The ugly violent activities we have seen, which have included the destruction of public property, private houses and looting, should not be allowed to sully the achievements of the democratic order born of the heroic struggles of the people.

Social cluster

Milestones achieved in meeting people’s needs

The most recent update on progress in implementing the programme of government highlights the detailed work being done to tackle poverty and develop the country’s human capacity.

This includes the extension of comprehensive social security to all those who need it, improving access to comprehensive health care, meeting the increasing challenge of housing and human settlement, and broadening access to quality education.

Briefing the media last week on the programme of the social cluster, Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang said that, while challenges remain, “I can state with confidence that the social cluster has worked hard and achieved many milestones”. We publish below edited extracts of the briefing.

Comprehensive social security

Good progress has been made on the extension of the child support grant. The overall target set by government was to reach 3.2 million children by 2006. At the end of September 2005, more than 2.7 million children had been reached. Of these 1.1 million are aged between seven and eight years, over 970,000 are aged between nine and 10 years, and over 660,000 children are aged between 11 and 13 years.

A remaining challenge is to meet the targets for provinces such as the Eastern Cape, Free State and North West, where, despite major efforts, targets have not been reached. The Department of Social Development will be intensifying its efforts to assist these provinces.

The Department of Social Development is setting up the structures of the South African Social Security Agency that will take over the management of social grants from the provinces at an appropriate time. The agency is currently building its capacity and expertise base with the assistance of the Netherlands government. It has also developed a new service delivery model to assist with quality in its service delivery.

The department earlier entered into a partnership agreement with the Special Investigating Unit to address corruption in social grants. To date, over 300 public servants have been arrested and thousands more cases will be investigated over the next two years. Some 270 officials have been prosecuted, of which 83 cases have been finalised, all resulting in convictions. It is expected that another 423 officials will be arrested in November 2005. All convicted officials are required to sign an acknowledgement of debt in terms of which they are obligated to repay the money unlawfully received. They will also face internal disciplinary measures.

Nine-thousand eight-hundred officials will be suspended from the social pension system, which will result in an estimated saving of R224 million. In addition, approximately R2 million will be recovered from government officials.

Many assumptions are being made about the growth of numbers of people accessing grants and the massive fraud experienced in the system. To assess the impact of social grants on communities, government has commissioned research on perverse incentives. These incentives refer to behavioural changes in communities, such as an alleged increase in teenage pregnancies relating to the child support grant and potential fostering of children by biological family members to access the foster care grant.

The National Sanitation Task Team is now operational and government is well on its way towards meeting its target of replacing 35,000 buckets with appropriate sanitation technology by 1 April 2006. By the end of August, more than 11,700 buckets had been replaced.

Government has revised the national target for eradicating the bucket system from 2006 to 2008. The National Treasury has approved R1.2 billion towards achieving this target. Key challenges include the increasing demand for services in mushrooming informal settlements on urban fringes, and the lack of dedicated human resources and skill for sustainable implementation.

Comprehensive health care

Progress has been made in implementing our transformation agenda in the health sector of this country. The promotion of healthy lifestyles campaign is gaining momentum and more and more communities are initiating and participating in projects to improve their health. During August and September numerous healthy lifestyles events were held in all provinces – 21,000 community members attended the events, 2,000 were screened for blood sugar, blood pressure and body mass index, and over 15,000 people participated in health walks.

The healthy lifestyles network has broadened from 14 to 24, mainly from the private and non-governmental organisation (NGO) sectors. The Department of Health is working closely with the University of Cape Town to develop a monitoring system to evaluate the impact of the healthy lifestyle programmes including the Move for Health campaign.

Efforts to improve interdepartmental and inter-country coordination to address malaria in the country has met with some success, as can be seen in the reduction of reported cases and fatalities. The total number of reported cases for the period July to August 2005 is 247 with two fatalities. During the same period last year, 930 cases were reported with four fatalities. This indicates a 72% reduction of cases and 50% reduction in deaths.

Improving education access and quality

The recapitalisation plan for all 50 Further Education and Training (FET) colleges for capacity building remains well on track. The new funding framework allows for greater alignment between resource allocation and national human resource development needs. The National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NFSAS) is in line with the national human resource development targets set out in the National Plan for Higher Education.

Since April this year, 401 schools have been provided with water, 983 schools with sanitation facilities and 167 with electricity. The number of schools without water has declined from 4,774 in September 2005 to 3,926, indicating that 848 schools have been provided with water since September 2004. The number of schools without sanitation facilities has declined from 4,300 in September 2004 to 2,912 in September 2005.

Housing and human settlement

The National Housing Strategy received a financial boost in September with the approval of R17.4 billion over the Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) period. Government is fast-tracking implementation by:

• piloting innovative partnerships to upgrade informal settlements;
• accrediting local municipalities to deliver housing;
• building capacity;
• unbundling legislation and administrative measures which stifle housing delivery.

The restructuring of the national and provincial housing departments have commenced. All mandates of housing institutions and all legislation impacting on the new housing plan are being reviewed.

Subsidy bands have been collapsed and more beneficiaries can now access housing. A memorandum of understanding has been signed with four major banks to invest R42 billion in low cost housing over the next three years. A subsidy mechanism for the people earning more that R3,500 and less than R7,000 has also been established to enable more South Africans to access housing.

More Information:

• Social Cluster update, November 2005

More Information:

• Justice, Crime Prevention and Security Cluster report, November 2005

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