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Date: 06/04/2005
Source: Department of Home Affairs
Title: Gigaba: Opening of the National Advocacy Conference


Address by Mr MKN Gigaba, Deputy Minister of Home Affairs, at the opening of the National Advocacy Conference of the Joint Enrichment Project (JEP) at the Birchwood Hotel in Boksburg

Director of Ceremonies
Ms Linda Shange, Director of the Joint Enrichment Project
Mr Herbert Mkhize, Executive Director of Nedlac
Leaders and representatives of different youth organisations
Distinguished delegates
Ladies and Gentlemen

In a lecture delivered to new MK recruits in the eighties in Novo Catengue, in Angola, Prof Jack Simons said:

Our revolution will carry out the tasks that the bourgeoisie failed to accomplish. We will:

* sweep away the garbage of feudal-colonial racism
* liberate the economy from the political controls that hamper the growth of production forces
* overcome the boycotts, sanctions and isolation imposed by the international community on the Afrikaner regime
* open up doors to our people and trade in Africa and elsewhere
* improve living standards for all in town and country
* make South Africa a decent, civilised home for all who live in it.

Contained in this lecture is the full gamut of the difficult and important tasks that victory over Apartheid would have to face, given our understanding that in the fullness of its meaning, freedom entailed both political freedom as well as economic emancipation, and fulfil these tasks that Prof Jack Simons so lucidly spelt out.

To do this would make South Africa a country that belongs to all who live in it, black and white, as the Freedom Charter instructed, and united in our diversity, as the Preamble of our democratic Constitution states it.

When 1994 occurred, such were the historical challenges before the democratic government summed up in the Reconstruction and Development Programme that constituted the new government’s programme of action for fundamental social transformation.

Reflecting on the period from 1994, the first decade of freedom, the government said that:

The attainment of democracy in 1994 presented government with twin challenges: significant institutional transformation and at the same time introducing new policies in line with the democratic Constitution. Secondly, the Government had to deal with the legacy of Apartheid within South Africa, whilst at the same time facing new challenges of integrating the country in a rapidly changing global environment.

Summing up this first decade, the government says in its assessment, Towards a Ten-Year Review, amongst others that:

* whereas the democratic state enjoys legitimacy across society and is thus able to exercise authority, its “capacity to deliver social services requires improvement with greater capacities at national departments and some weakness at provincial and local government level”;
* “Significant progress has been made in de-racialising social services and extending the social safety net to all South Africans. Different programmes, which respectively address income, asset and human resource poverty, are taking effect and showing improvements in the lives of people. However, the persistence of poverty, arising largely from unemployment and the Apartheid legacy, and the difficulties in health demonstrate the magnitude of the challenge. Whilst service delivery and social grants are reaching an ever-increasing proportion of society, poor people and the social fabric that ensures their survival continue to be vulnerable. Overall, there have been improvements, but the challenge remains daunting”;
* despite the massive progress made to turn our economy around during this decade, unfortunately, “the country’s skills base, the volatility of the exchange rate and the interest rate, the cost of inputs such as transport and telecommunications, lack of competition in the domestic market, and poor perceptions of Africa and southern Africa are holding back higher rates of investment”.

Further in this regard, the government made the very sharp observations, both the first that where government acted alone in implementing its programmes, it made speedier progress, and that unless the challenges of the economy such as unemployment and capital investments in particular are urgently addressed, social services already delivered face the danger of reversal and even elimination as the poor cannot afford to sustain them.

In relation to the latter point, the government has raised the concern that whereas millions of our people now have access to social services, there has also developed a dependency syndrome, in terms of which millions of people depend on social grants for their sustenance, which is unsustainable as, in many instances, social grants have begun to erode the resources available for education and health.

Therefore, in this ten-year review, the government then makes the fundamentally important statement that:

The overriding challenge in this regard, if the country has to move to a higher trajectory of development, is employment creation and reduction in the number of citizens dependent on social welfare. At the same time, the reach and efficiency of social security need to be continually improved.

Clearly manifest in this assessment of the first decade to which we have decided extensively to refer is the very fundamental fact that the government is brutally frank about the challenges that remained as we concluded the first decade and ushered in the second.

This assessment spoke both of the urgent need, during the second decade of freedom, both to liberate the overwhelming masses of the poor from dependency on social grants through creating employment opportunities and providing them with sustainable livelihoods and, at the same time, sustain an effective, efficient and accessible social security system to alleviate poverty among the poor, as a step towards eradicating it.

However, I must hasten boldly to mention that one of the remarkable failures during the first decade was the failure to pay serious attention and make decisive interventions in the situation of the out-of-school youth, those that had missed out on education during apartheid and those that were graduating with Grade 12 certificates.

Addressing the closing ceremony of the celebration of ten-years of freedom at the Athlone Stadium in Cape Town on 11 February 2005, President Mbeki said that:

“During the next decade we should work harder to banish from our lives, racial and gender discrimination. We still have a lot of work to do in this regard, to realise our constitutional injunction that 'South Africa belongs to all who live in it, united in our diversity’...

“At continental and international level we will, in the next decade, continue to work for the renaissance of Africa and the creation of a better and equitable world; a world without discrimination and marginalisation; a world without poverty and underdevelopment; a world whose development and prosperity benefits all of humanity…”

This closing ceremony of the celebrations of our ten years of democracy means we have to intensify our work to overcome poverty and underdevelopment in our country. It means we have to ensure that when we celebrate twenty years of freedom, we should do so as a developed, prosperous and truly united nation, with the safety and security of our people, including women and children, guaranteed.

In his State of the Nation address in February 2004, the President had said that:

“Almost ten years after its liberation from white minority rule, our country still faces many challenges. Many of our people are unemployed. Many of our people continue to live in poverty. Violence against the person in all its forms continues to plague especially those sections of our population that are poor and live in socially depressed communities.”

The burden of disease impacting on our people, including AIDS, continues to be a matter of serious concern, as do issues that relate to the fact that many of our people, including the youth, lack the education and skills that our economy and society needs.

There are still many of our people who live in shacks and others who have no access to clean water, proper sanitation and electricity. Imbalances and inequalities that impact on fellow citizens on the basis of race, gender and geographic dispersal continue to persist.

Later on when he addressed the First Joint Sitting of the Third Democratic Parliament in May 2004, he said:

“At the core of our response to all these challenges is the struggle against poverty and underdevelopment, which rests on three pillars. These are:

* encouraging the growth and development of the First Economy, increasing its possibility to create jobs;
* implementing our programme to address the challenges of the Second Economy; and,
* building a social security net to meet the objective of poverty alleviation.”

The government thus set the following strategic targets and objectives for the second decade of democracy, contained in Vision 2014, to:

* reduce unemployment and the levels of inequality by half,
* reduce poverty by half in accordance with the United Nations Millennium Development Goals,
* provide skills required by the economy,
* ensure that all South Africans are able fully to exercise their constitutional rights and enjoy the full dignity of freedom,
* render compassionate service to the people, and
* position South Africa strategically as an effective force in global relations.

In this regard, and in linking the growth and development of the First Economy with addressing the challenges posed by the Second Economy, while continuing to provide the social security net to meet the objective of poverty alleviation, especially in regard to the most vulnerable, the government is adopting a sustainable approach to development, aware of both the mammoth responsibilities of the democratic state as well as the fact that the market mechanism alone and its “trickle down” effect cannot comprehensively address the challenges of eradicating racism, sexism, exclusion and poverty and underdevelopment.

The growth, development and modernisation of the First Economy, to generate the resources requisite to address the Second Economy challenge includes ensuring that the parastatals lead the process to invest in the social and economic infrastructure, to steer them away from the narrow profit motive that drives private capital.

The Second Economy, which constitutes the structural manifestation of poverty, underdevelopment and marginalisation our country, requires a conscious intervention through such programmes as the urban renewal and rural development programme, the Expanded Public Works Programme, the expansion of the micro-credit and small enterprises, the adult basic education and training, the development of social and economic infrastructure and even the National Youth Service.

In January 2003, presenting the 8 January statement, the President made the remark that, “Again because of the excellent manner in which we used people’s power at the government level to create better possibilities for economic development, today, more than at any other time, our economy is well placed to achieve higher rates of growth and development, generating the additional wealth we need to improve the quality of life of all our people.”

As well as the above conviction, that we have generated the additional wealth we need to improve the quality of life of all our people, government is also of another firm conviction that during this, its third term, and throughout the second decade, there is no need for new and major policy interventions.

Accordingly, the major task for government ahead is to ensure the vigorous implementation of these policies, applying the adage, Spend two days planning, and five implementing!

Of vital importance, therefore, linked to the above matter, is the question whether the government has the capacity it needs better ably to implement all its policies and programmes!

Due regard is being given to this matter of raising the capacity of government to required levels.

In addressing this, we are attending also to the important question of enhancing government implementation through, among others, raising the skills levels of the public sector; strengthening in particular the local government sphere; integrating the system of governance, achieving seamless cooperation both within and among all spheres of government; and refining the system of Monitoring and Evaluation.

Better to address all these challenges of transformation require that we continue to strive for national unity, a new patriotism and united action.

In implementing its programmes, and guided by the notion of a People’s Contract, the government will continue to embark on Izimbizo programmes, taking the government to the people, to draw or their experiences and wisdom, and to act in partnership with them to bring about fundamental change in their lives.

Having declared 50 years ago in the Freedom Charter that, The People Shall Govern, we have proceeded to put in place a variety of systems and processes to ensure that the people do actually participate, in one way or the other, in that process and those systems of governance.

Other than through Izimbizo programmes, we have made it possible for and invited ordinary people, for non-government organizations and other stakeholders in our society to make their inputs into legislation, policy and other programmes of government.

In reality, there is a greater possibility today for advocacy and lobbying, given that the government is ready and open to such an exercise.

Of course, particularly because of its disproportionate command of huge resources, capital has greater capacity to advocate and lobby for its positions compared to, on the other hand, especially pro-poor NGOs and youth, women and children’s organisations.

Particular challenges face the youth of South Africa, however, themselves to seize these opportunities of democracy to advance the socio-economic condition and uplift the standard of their lives.

Speaking during the ANC's 75th anniversary in 1987, former ANC president Oliver Tambo said:

“Our glorious youth and students have continued to hold high the banner of struggle. Because they have dared to fight for and bring our emancipation so near, our youth have become eminent targets of the enemy’s forces of repression.”

Systematically, millions of youth were, as a result of these callous policies of Apartheid, denuded of the very basic means to thrive in the social and economic system, leading some commentators, to the vehement protest of young people, wrongfully to make the allegation that these youth were a ‘lost generation’ - because they lacked education and skills, and did not have access to economic opportunities.

Indeed, this was confirmed by scientific surveys conducted by both the Community Agency for Social Enquiry (CASE) and the Census '96, both of whom declared the situation of the South African youth to be dire, an observation that had significant implications for the paradigm of development in this country.

Ten years since 1994, the question is what the situation of young people is and what the challenges that still face them are!

The hallmark of the previous decade was the attainment and consolidation of freedom and democracy in our country, which, whilst it ushered in enormous political and social changes, unlocked many opportunities that had not existed before. Freedom is priceless!

As well as creating many opportunities, which the youth can and must seize, it ought not to be forgotten that, as we have alluded to it above, the generation of youth that ushered in the new epoch lacked the requisite capacity to be able to seize the opportunities presented by this new democratic dispensation.

Accordingly, it must be said that for the youth most effectively and ably to seize the opportunities of democracy, everything must be done to raise their capacity and competencies in all fields in which they are involved.

This is vital in order to harness the enormous talent and creative intelligence of the youth, to formulate and propose new initiatives for the pursuit of a better life for all and actively participate in the solution of all problems facing our people.

In this regard, the need for the youth to speak and act as one, to be organised and act in unity, has never been greater.

It makes sense therefore that we should seek to use the occasion of this Conference to answer the questions whether,

* there is such a untied youth voice in South Africa today, especially with regard to youth development; whether it is sufficiently united to have the strength required for it to be a force that would compel even the most indifferent to youth development, not only to listen, but to do something about this;
* the youth sector is united, whether it possess the requisite capacity and resources to lobby and advocate for youth programmes and policies, and is sufficiently coordinated to be able to act and speak as one person;
* government youth development institutions are as strong as they ought to be, both singly and collectively, whether their relations with each other are strong enough to be able to pursue an integrated youth development agenda and whether they have strong relations with the non-government youth sector at all; and
* the youth sector knows what to do to engage and advocate for youth-friendly budgets, policies and programmes within government departments which often pay scant regard to the goal of youth development.

The point we are hereby trying to underscore is that the youth sector needs better integration, cooperation and united action in pursuit of the goals of youth development.

It needs to develop a full and comprehensive grasp of the system of government, including the Cabinet Clusters, the Clusters of Directors-General, the departments and government policies, to understand how they function and how then the youth can and must impact on them.

One gets a sense that there is no serious effort from the youth sector, largely unfamiliar with governance, more clearly to comprehend how the government system functions and what capacity and methods need the youth sector develop in order more effectively to engage government and seize the opportunities of democracy.

The truth is that the new epoch of government requires more than marches and shouting from the roof-tops, it requires a suave, smart and intelligent engagement with government to yield results.

Accordingly, the youth sector needs to develop the capacity to engage in a smart and comprehensive advocacy programme, having a full and comprehensive grasp of the systems spawned by the new epoch of democratic governance, taking advantage of the fact that in addition to the National and Provincial Youth Commissions and Umsobomvu Youth Fund, the President has even established the Presidential Working Group on Youth, to engage him and advice government on youth development.

As is evident even in the programme of this Conference, there is no session that will focus on this matter of the government system, which determines government policy every week, feeding into the Cabinet, informing government priorities and culminating into government programmes.

Perhaps, if we may advice, it would be important to agree, as part of the programme of action that will emerge from this Conference that there must be an engagement with the Directors General and Cluster Convenors of the various government Clusters of the DGs and the Ministers, especially the Social and Economic Clusters, to determine what they do and how they function, to engage them on how they can engage with the youth sector and to sensitise them on youth development matters.

The vital importance of youth development cannot be over-stated and neither can this dream be allowed to fade and to die.

Gradually, the centuries of colonial and apartheid injustice are being unravelled. But, the greatest challenge that remains facing this country's youth has to do in the main with reversing their economic marginalisation, in order to integrate them into the mainstream productive economy.

And this will be a positive outcome of their own efforts and struggles, which should include a sustained advocacy programme.

Thank you very much, once more, for the invitation to make some modest remarks at this important Conference.

Best wishes on your deliberations, we keenly await your resolutions.

Thank you!

Issued by: Department of Home Affairs
6 April 2005

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