We have to be globally competitive, science minister says in defence of SKA budget
On Wednesday, Science and Technology Minister Mmamoloko Kubayi-Ngubane defended the government’s decision to allocate a large slice of the science vote to the Square Kilometre Array (SKA), saying it was an investment that would bolster SA’s international competitiveness and boost economic development.The SKA will be the world’s most sensitive radio telescope, capable of detecting very faint radio signals emitted after the big bang. It is an international project that will ultimately have thousands of dishes in Africa, with their core in Carnarvon in the Northern Cape.There will also be more than one-million antenna in Australia. The Treasury has set aside R2.2bn for the SKA in the medium-term expenditure framework, making it the biggest single science project supported by the government. The total science vote over the period is R24.7bn"We operate in a global community and have to look at global competitiveness. We need to see it as a worthwhile investment, and something we should p...
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