The then Minister of Science and Tech-nology Derek Hanekom inaugurated a new science centre housed in two old train carriages at the Matjiesfontein Transport Museum, in the Western Cape, in April.

The science centre is intended to be part of a longer term Science and Technology Train, which Tshwane University of Technology (TUT) and other stakeholders are working towards under the leadership of TUT Department of Environmental, Water and Earth Science’s Dr Stoffel Fourie.

“The opening of the science centre brings us yet another step closer to realising our dream of making science and technology accessible to communities in rural areas that do not have access to the latest trends, or even the basics of science and technology,” said Fourie.

Meanwhile, there are a number of other science and research activities taking place in the area, involving Stellenbosch University, hardware and electronics company Acer Africa, the Hartebeesthoek Radio Astronomy Observatory, the Africa Earth Observatory Network, Inkaba yeAfrica – through the National Research Foundation and the Department of Science and Technology – and the Matjiesfontein Education Trust, among others.

Speaking at the opening of the centre, Hanekom said science centres bring people and science closer together.

“Science centres are part of democratising science and technology. The more people understand what science and technology development are about, the more accountable scientists and technology experts will be. “In other words, we can be more certain that science and technology are used to address our collective needs and promote our shared interests.

“South Africa desperately needs a stronger science sector, and it can only have one if more people are involved in science. “For all our scientific equipment and fancy technologies, it is people who are ingenious and who innovate, not machines and not even computers. South Africa needs the ingenuity that only people can provide,” Hanekom said.

He noted that the Karoo is becoming an important area for science, as projects such as the Matjiesfontein Space Geodesy Observatory, which will contribute to the understanding of the structure and evolution of the earth, and the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) radio telescope project. Two weeks prior to the launch of the new science centre, the Minister launched the first dish antenna of the MeerKAT array, the first phase of the much larger SKA project, which will take over ten years to build.

Hanekom hoped that many young people from the area would replace older scientists at the facilities as they retired. He encouraged young people attending the event to use the science centre as a window to the world, learning how the world worked and discovering the joys of science and technology. He said that studying science and tech-nology would greatly increase their career opportunities.