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Cape Town - President Jacob Zuma says more of South Africa's wealth is created through the internet or telecommunication.
A 37 000km fibre-optic cable has been laid by the private and public sectors in the past five years and this will be significantly expanded in the years ahead.
He said in his State of the Nation address that South Africa was proud of its successes in science and technology. The construction of the first telescope of the 64-dish forerunner to the Square Kilometre Array, the MeerKAT, would be completed in the first quarter of 2014.
He said the government's incentives to boost manufacturing had yielded returns.Footwear
The Automotive Investment Scheme, which was launched in 2009, has approved a total of R3.8bn worth of incentives for about 160 investment projects and these sustained more than 50 000 jobs.
The companies will be developing sedan cars, minibus taxis and buses.
Zuma pointed out that the government had stabilised the clothing, textile, leather and footwear sector, which had been shedding jobs.
Several industries had been designated for local content. These include buses, canned vegetables, clothing, textiles, leather and footwear and other goods.
In the past two years alone, Zuma said, more than 20 000 minibus taxis and 330 buses were assembled locally, drawing investment and development to South African cities.
Emerging
In the next five years, the state would procure at least 75% of its goods and services from South African producers.
The president said South Africans had to work more intensively to develop emerging or black industrialists."Many of the aspirant black industrialists complain about the difficulties they experience in obtaining industrial finance, supplier and retail markets, and technical production support.
"The National Empowerment Fund, the Industrial Development Corporation and the Small Enterprise Finance Agency will continue to provide finance to viable black-owned businesses to promote industrialisation," he said.
