Midrand, 29 November 2000
Gallagher Estate
Minister Alec Erwin,
Minister Ben Ngubane,
Deputy Minister Ngwane-Hendricks,
Deputy Minister Mabandla,
Mr. Jacques Sellschop,
Dr. Roy Marcus
Distinguished Guests,
Ladies and Gentlemen:
I am very happy to participate in this important function where all us have come together to recognise and celebrate the advances that our companies are making.
It seems to me that there have been some significant developments since we met last year as represented by the number of our businesses that are registering exceptional results in the global market. Some of these excellent achievers are here with us tonight.
Clearly, one of the most important defining characteristics of our outstanding companies is the manner in which they have mastered and are utilising modern technology.
In this regard, I am confident that the study that the National Advisory Council undertook in collaboration with National Science and Technology Forum on the relationship between our technological advancement, economic growth and poverty alleviation will further assist all of us correctly to position ourselves so as to meet the many challenges facing our country.
In his book, The Lexus And The Olive Tree, Thomas Friedman relates a conversation he had with Mayor Birschner of Una in the rain forests of Brazil:
"As we walked through the rain forest, Mayor Birschner patted every other tree. He knew each tree species in the rain forest by its Brazilian name. After a walk we sat on a picnic table of the Atlantic Rain Forest and talked about the challenges facing the mayor. The mayor explained to me that intellectually he understood that logging (of trees) was not sustainable anymore. ."
"Now I want to ask you something." said the Mayor. "Do we have any future?"
"His question hit me like a fist in the stomach." Said Friedman, and continues:
"I knew exactly what he was asking in his question: 'My villagers can't live off the forest anymore and we're not equipped to live off computers. My father and grandfather made a living off logs and my grandchildren might make a living off the Internet. But what are all the rest of us in between supposed to do." (p330).
These awards should instil in us the drive towards even more improvement and modernisation.
That drive will also have to be linked to a sustained effort to end underdevelopment in our country, for instance by freeing our mothers and sisters in the rural areas from the backbreaking routine of gathering wood and carrying it on their heads and backs for many kilometres, from the burden of having to fetch water from wells and rivers.
We will all become richer when those who cannot live off the forest anymore are sufficiently equipped to live off computers.
When the process of our development ensures that all the people of this country are our potential customers then we will know that we have fulfilled the objectives of using technology for economic growth and poverty eradication.
In the same book that we have quoted, Friedman relates a story of a lion and the gazelle:
". High-tech entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley always like to compare their super-competitive business to the story about the lion and the gazelle in the jungle. Every night the lion goes to sleep in the jungle knowing that in the morning, when the sun comes up, if it can't outrun the slowest gazelle, it will go hungry. Every night the gazelle goes to sleep in the jungle knowing that in the morning, when the sun comes up, if it can't outrun the fastest lion, it's going to be somebody's breakfast. But the one thing that the lion and the gazelle both know when they go to sleep is that in the morning, when the sun comes up they had better start running." (p331)
The challenge facing all of us as we compete globally, always seeking the best possible ways of being among the leading companies in our various sectors, is to remember the story of the lion and the gazelle.
Every night we have to work out strategies of how to outrun the fastest of our competitors. We have to find ways of ensuring that we are sufficiently prepared to run fast so as to avoid ending up on our competitors' breakfast tables.
Clearly, one of the ways of ensuring that we are adequately prepared to outrun our competitors is to invest in research and development as well as the development of the technological skills of our people.
Our entire system of education, working together with the corporate world, has to respond urgently, correctly and adequately to this challenge. The state system must also continue to focus on the issue of research and development of appropriate leading-edge technologies and modern products.
Later on tonight we will launch the book, "The Hidden Edge". It's realisation is also as a result of a unique partnership between the Department of Arts, Culture, Science and Technology and a number of visionary South African organisations including MTN, Eskom, the CSIR, Morgan University Alliance, Sasol, and Transnet, who rose to the challenge to enable us to produce a book which is a magnificent description of South Africa's technological advancement.
We must also make the point that the partnership among ourselves generated by the Export Councils has also assisted to encourage beneficial networking, sharing information and co-operation within sectors.
I would like to say to all the companies here, that by participating in the awards process that has brought us here tonight, you are all winners.
You have subjected yourself to a rigorous adjudication process and have unselfishly allowed us to learn from your experiences and in so doing, empower ourselves to encourage the emergence of South African companies of the future.
Furthermore, they have also realised that the key to meeting the exacting needs of very demanding customers, you need to have people working in your operations who are both motivated and skilled.
I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate all those companies that have qualified for the President's Awards for Export Achievement and the Technology Top 100 Award programme and urge them to keep up their good work.
It also gives me great pleasure to declare the Reed International Smart Partnerships Exhibition formally open.
I wish you a happy and safe festive season and the great successes in the year 2001.
I thank you.