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ABSTRACT
We explore the notion of “sacrifice zones” to reflect critically on the trade-offs between Science & Technology (S&T) policy and inclusive development in South Africa. We draw evidence from one of the country’s flagship projects, the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) radio telescope, currently under construction in the semi-arid Northern Cape. The SKA embodies a key tension in the country’s S&T policy, that between the promotion of astronomy, based on national and global priorities (the development of science), and the advancement of local development concerns (science for development), in which the dominant assumption is that local interests are either subsumed or superseded by national and global public goods. Given the extent to which the priorities of local residents have been overlooked in the name of the greater good, we argue that a fruitful way of recasting this relationship is to regard the region around the telescope as astronomy’s terrestrial “sacrifice zone”; this opens up an important space for engaging with issues of mitigation. We conclude by raising questions about who should take responsibility for mitigating the trade-offs in policy and practice, if a more sustainable and inclusive development agenda in the areas affected by the SKA is a real concern.
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No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
Notes
1. In mid-2019, reflecting the emphasis on innovation, the Department of Science & Technology (DST) was renamed the Department of Science & Innovation (DSI). We have retained the “DST” term in the text where the documents and policies we cite were issued under this name.
2. MeerKAT, as described further below, is the South African designed 64-telescope array that is the precursor to the SKA proper.
3. This point derives from research by two postgraduate students in the DST/NRF Research Chair in the Sociology of Land, Environment and Sustainable Development: Boitumelo Malope in Loeriesfontein and Stef Borchardt in De Aar, both Karoo towns that are adjacent to or nearby major renewable energy projects that are designed to feed into South Africa’s national electricity grid rather than address local energy challenges.
4. This history and its scientific legacy raise fascinating issues to explore further in relation to contemporary debates on the decolonisation of knowledge which are beyond the scope of this article but which we flag for further analysis.
5. See www.cosmopolitankarroo.co.za. Here we wish to acknowledge in particular participants at the workshop on “Karoo Futures? Global Science, Astronomy and the Square Kilometre Array (SKA),” hosted by the Chair at Stellenbosch University on 22–February 23 2018, which led to the – 2019 special issue of the Journal of Southern African Studies 45 (4), entitled “Karoo Futures: Astronomy in Place and Space.”
6. See https://www.skatelescope.org/news/founding-members-sign-ska-observatory-treaty/. Accessed March 26 2019. In October 2020, the 13 member countries were Australia, Canada, China, Germany, France, India, Italy, The Netherlands, Portugal, South Africa, Spain, Sweden and the UK; the seven signatories to the March treaty were Australia, China, Italy, the Netherlands, (newcomer) Portugal, South Africa and the UK.
7. See https://www.ska.ac.za/science-engineering/meerkat/. Accessed February 22 2019.
8. While most of the antennas are to be built on the land owned by the state, the design calls for the erection of some dish antennas along three “spiral arms” that will extend outwards from the core site into the surrounding countryside, over which the state will secure servitude rights from the farm owners. provides a graphic representation of what is planned.
9. Data from each telescope are sent to correlators, a network of high-speed computers that combine and synchronise the signals from multiple telescopes. See https://www.skatelescope.org/signal-processing-2/. Accessed March 28 2019.
10. Similar issues have been discussed by Jon Agar in “Science and Spectacle” in the case of the Jodrell Bank observatory near Manchester (Agar Citation2014). Chapter 5, “Clearing the Ground,” addresses the implications of policies restricting radio interferences for the region around the telescope.
11. For instance, see https://theconversation.com/astronomy-for-africa-the-ska-will-lead-to-brain-gain-7289. Accessed March 28 2019.
12. See http://www.dirco.gov.za/department/african_renaissence/index.htm. Accessed February 22 2019.
13. For more information see https://www.ska.ac.za/science-engineering/avn/.
14. List of participating countries, can be found here https://www.skatelescope.org/participating-countries/. Accessed October 29 2019. The financing of the SKA is a subject for further research. In 2016, the SKA Board of Directors put a cap of 674 million euros for the first phase of the 2-phase project (“Frequently asked Questions about the SKA.” https://www.skatelescope.org/frequently-asked-questions/. Accessed October 19 2019) but there are concerns about escalating costs. In July 2019 the New Zealand government announced it was pulling out of the project because of concerns about delays and mounting costs, see https://physicsworld.com/a/new-zealand-pulls-out-of-the-square-kilometre-array-after-benefits-questioned/. Accessed October 19 2019.
15. The implementation of the international project since 2012 has been a phased one. The period between 2012 and 2018 saw the further development of the national investments in infrastructure already made by both South Africa and Australia, including the completion of South Africa’s 64-dish MeerKAT in 2018. Phase one of the SKA proper in South Africa, currently gearing up, will see the expansion of this investment to a total of some 200 antenna dishes in and around the core site. Phase two is projected to start in the late 2020s and will see the extension of the array to the eight African countries that joined the project through the AVN programme.
16. In 2011, the four towns combined population was 14,560 (obtained from RSA Citation2011). The total population of the 3 local municipalities most directly affected by the SKA and the Karoo Central Astronomy Advantage Areas was a little over 45,000 in 2011 (see Walker et al. Citation2018, 159).
17. The build involved first the construction of KAT-7, as part of South Africa’s bid to host the SKA, and then the 64-dish MeerKAT, once the bid had been awarded.
18. The spiral arms are part of the design of the SKA but, at this stage at least, the affected land is to remain in private ownership; here the servitude agreements will cover the SKA’s rights of access to the affected farms to instal and run additional antenna dishes.
19. See for instance http://savethekaroo.com/. Accessed February 21 2019.
20. For more details about the land acquisition process see http://www.ska.ac.za/about/land-acquisitions/. Step 5 defines the conditions under which the right of expropriation can be exercised.
21. For a discussion on this in relation to the national politics of land reform see Walker (Citation2019).
22. One example is the now retired pastor of the United Reformed Church (URC) in Carnarvon. See https://www.pa.org.za/write/message/185/. Accessed October 29 2019.
23. See https://www.skatelescope.org/africa/. Accessed October 29 2019.
24. Considering 2008 as the start of operations in the Northern Cape, the project mobilised an annual investment of approximately 24.4 million ZAR. See http://www.ska.ac.za/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/ska_investment_northern_cape_2017.pdf. Accessed March 11 2019.
25. Nationally, as of 2017, the HCDP distributed 943 grants entailing a total investment of 446 million ZAR (Gastrow and Oppelt Citation2019).
26. See http://www.ska.ac.za/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/ska_investment_northern_cape_2017.pdf. Accessed March 11 2019.
27. We would argue that the issue of the responsibilities of the international SKA, which is largely invisible at this stage, also arises but that argument goes beyond the focus of this article.
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Davide Chinigò
Davide Chinigò is Research Fellow in the Department of Sociology and Social Anthropology, Stellenbosch University. His research addresses the social impact of astronomy in South Africa.
Cherryl Walker
Cherryl Walker is SARChI Research Chair in the Sociology of Land, Environment & Sustainable Development at Stellenbosch University, with the Karoo as primary research site.