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Date : 21/03/2004
Source: Mpumalanga Provincial Government
Title: N Mahlangu: Human Rights Day celebrations


KEYNOTE ADDRESS BY PREMIER NJ MAHLANGU AT THE MPUMALANGA PROVINCE HUMAN RIGHTS DAY CELEBRATIONS, Embalenhle Stadium, Secunda, 21 March 2004

Programme Director
Honourable Members of Parliament
Honourable MECs and Members of the Mpumalanga Provincial Legislature
Distinguished guests
Ladies and Gentlemen.

WE meet here today to celebrate Human Rights Day. A day that has a profound significance to the African National Congress and all peace-loving people of the country.

Our Human Rights Day, March 21, was born in struggle. Lives were lost in a struggle against "the badge of slavery" - "the pass".

Carrying a "pass" as many people of a darker pigmentation will tell you, meant that Africans would be treated as human beings who were less than human. It meant a denial of human rights and human dignity. It meant a life of perpetual subservience.

The struggle against the badge of slavery was therefore a struggle against slavery itself. It was a struggle for human rights and human dignity, for an egalitarian and humane South Africa.

Thousands of patriots and democrats who identified with the cause for which the African National Congress proudly stands lost their lives, in the trenches, fighting for basic human rights, which they were denied them in the country of their own birth.

On 21 March 1960, apartheid policemen shot dead 69 men, women and children who were peacefully protesting outside the Sharpeville police station.

They were killed because they dared to demand a basic human right: to walk the streets of the land of their birth freely, without a passbook.

As we celebrate our Human Rights Day on March 21, we must therefore focus on the tasks of rebuilding and transforming our country to create a caring and people-centred society.

All those who love and cherish peace, prosperity and human dignity should therefore celebrate Human Rights Day.

All those committed to the perspective of human rights for all must be part of the process of defining this important national holiday as a day on which we all commit ourselves to work together for a better life for all.

This is the tribute we should pay to the Martyrs of Sharpeville, of Soweto and the countless others who died in the long struggle to ensure that all our people enjoy full human rights.

As we remember the past struggles for human rights, we need to move into the next decade as defenders and upholders of human rights.

The right to vote, the right to move freely without a pass, the right to strike and freedom of speech; the right to land; the right to education, the right to strike and protest; the right to organise; the right to a fair trial; the right to trade; the right to associate; the right to freedom of movement, the right to food, the right to shelter, the right to safe and sustainable environments.

The right to water, healthcare, social security and education.

These human rights are inalienable: they cannot be bought or sold. All of these rights formed an integral part of our struggle. We have a proud history of defending and advancing human rights.

From the first forms of protest in this country, those who came before us struggled for the realisation of these and other fundamental rights of all human beings in South Africa.

As a result, human rights are today at the cornerstone of our democracy. Our Constitution is founded upon "human dignity, the achievement of equality and the advancement of human rights and freedoms".

Our Constitution includes a Bill of Rights, which details those rights that are guaranteed to all our people.

The Constitution and legislation we have put in place since 1994 are a great leap forward for this struggle.

Every year our government makes solid progress towards these goals.

But the struggle for the achievement of human rights in South Africa is far from over. Indeed, this struggle will not conclude until the promise of dignity and freedom from poverty, malnutrition and disease has been realised.

Human rights and fundamental freedoms cannot simply be proclaimed, or legislated from on high.

It is only when people themselves engage in social action to give meaning to the words enshrined in our constitution that human rights will become the living thread from which out social fabric is woven.

In other words, the advance, protection, defence and consolidation of fundamental human rights can only be the outcome of ongoing struggle: every day, in every community, in every sphere of human activity.

The organisation of the people to act as their own liberators, to themselves transform the prescriptions of the Constitution into a living reality is the basis of this ongoing struggle.

Our ongoing struggle for democracy, human rights and an end to poverty is part of a global struggle: the struggle of all humanity to create a world in which dignity and peace reign supreme.

You will remember that when we came here to ask you to vote for us we promised to come back and report about progress we are making in creating a better life for all.

All of us are concerned about the plight of our people, particularly women, children, the disabled, the youth and the unemployed.

We are passionate about ensuring that each one of you is lifted out of the grip of poverty and want and move into a better life.

Over the past 10 years we have, all of us, worked hard to lay the basis for the advances we must make to meet the goal of a better life for all.

Today security pensions, disability grants and child support grants are paid on an equal basis to every qualifying citizen in the province irrespective of colour, race or creed.

This has clearly improved the lives of our people.

Through careful planning the number of social grant beneficiaries has grown rapidly from 164 894 to 395 722.

These include old age benefits, war veteran's payouts, disability, care dependency and child support grants.

And through the partnership with the traditional leaders access to grants and social security pensions have improved in this province.

The offices of traditional authorities are being used as service points with trained permanent staff available to assist grant applicants.

Currently the Province annually funds more than 430 non-governmental and community based organisations to render social welfare services in partnership with government. These include funding organisations for the disabled in the province.

This program is rendered in all 17 municipalities and 12 693 individuals have benefited from the services rendered through this program.

In the past 10 years more houses were built to accommodate the poor of our province. A total of 113 771 units were built and transferred since 1994 to the 31st March 2003.

More than 6 000 new houses were built since April 2003. More than 700 housing projects have been allocated to emerging contractors.

More than 156 287.72 hectares of land which was unlawfully, immorally and unjustly taken from the people of the province by the previous regime, is back in the hands of the rightful owners or their descendants.

We built more classrooms so that children in this province can have access to better education.

We introduced school-feeding schemes in poor areas. We gave financial assistance to those in need in universities and technikons.

In this decade we have increased the number of classes by more than 4 800 classrooms. This means that we were able to accommodate more learners.

In this decade we transported more than 24 000 learners on 240 routes at a cost of R58 million. In the next financial year we plan to transport 33 803 learners at a cost of R62-m.

We have enhanced the provision of learner support materials, infrastructure, scholar transport, scholar feeding and the general quality of teaching and learning.

In our quest to improve effective teaching and learning and the implementation of Outcome-Based Education, the Department of Education has spent more than R581-million to purchase Learner Support Material in the last decade.

We constructed extra healthcare facilities.

There are 239 fixed Primary Health Care facilities and 80 mobile clinics in the province. Since 1994, 19 new clinics have been built and 7 clinics are in the process of construction.

In the Nkangala district we built the Moloto and Mmamethlake Health Care Centres and the Verena, Lefiso, Phake, Seabe, and Nokaneng clinics.

We also upgraded and renovated Mmamethlake, Kwamhlanga and the Witbank hospitals.

The latter is currently in its second phase of upgrading. The next phase of upgrading Witbank hospital is expected to commence in the coming years.

In the Gert Sibande district we spent more than R140-million to build the Piet Retief hospital, which we hope to complete in the next financial year.

We also built health centres at Amsterdam, Perdekop and we are in the process of erecting a clinic at Bhuga. We renovated and upgraded the Ermelo and Embhuleni hospitals and we will soon start work on the Evander hospital.

In the Ehlanzeni district we upgraded the Tonga, Shongwe, Rob Ferreira and Themba hospitals. We hope to further upgrade these facilities in the next financial years.

In the Sekhukhune district we have upgraded the Groblesdal and Philadephia hospitals.

We also brought health facilities closer to the people of Moutse west in the deep rural areas of Greater Marble Hall municipality by building a clinic there.

The clinic will be operational quite soon. We have also started to erect a clinic in the Moutse East area.

Ladies and gentlemen, combating HIV and AIDS is still one of our top priorities. That is why we budgeted more than R36,3-million to further strengthen the provincial HIV and AIDS Programs.

Our plans to establish at least one major hospital and one hospice per district are on course. We have presently identified 12 sites to be used to pilot the anti-retroviral programme.

There are 27 completed hospitals in Mpumalanga and two under construction, 21 hospitals and 19 clinics are providing Nevirapine.

In the 2004/2005 financial year we plan to increase these sites at which Nevirapine is provided to 55 sites and R35-million has been set aside to deal with HIV/AIDS programs during this period.

We expanded the infrastructure to provide services like water, sanitation and roads.

We have managed to provide free basic water at 6000L per household per month to 588 007 households during this decade of democracy. Only a few of our municipalities have not yet rolled out this program.

We have installed meters in most municipalities including Thaba Chweu, Albert Luthuli, Nkomazi, Thembisile and Dr JS Moroka.

In order to deal with the water-scarcity problem gripping our province, a 500ml-diameter pipeline is being constructed from Rand Water Board in Mamelodi to Ikangala Water Board around Ekandustria.

We are presently providing free basic electricity to 78 461 households in the province.

Over the past 10 years we have provided water to more than 2 407 000 households. We have also provided electricity to more than 345 553 households.

I am proud to say R10 million is being utilised to bring water to the rural people of Ntoane and install metres in their homes.

The same is being done for the people of Kgobokoane at a cost of R4-million. Work is proceeding in both cases as I speak.

Since 1994, more than 486km of tarred roads and bridges were constructed at a cost of more than R372 million. Over 2 190km of gravel roads were laid at a cost of R86-million and 1 342km have been repaired and resealed at a cost of R76-million.

We are currently constructing the first phase of Moloto road after completing the second phase, which is about 16km long.

You will remember that this Moloto road has been dubbed a killer road of the province. The third phase completed next financial years.

Another deep rural tarred road being constructed is the Mgobodzi road in the Nkomazi municipality.

The other important intervention we are making is the construction of the Kgobokwane-Dennilton tarred road at an estimated cost of R27 million.

In the current financial year, our government implemented 16 community projects amounting to R13,4 million in the Province. During the construction of these projects 485 job opportunities were created and 352 people benefited from training.

Some R15 million had already been spent on these projects, which are the Department of Public Works main economic development and job creation projects.

Programme Director, today more women are found in leadership structures. Land, health and housing programmes have favoured female-headed households.

But discrimination and abuse still take place, and women are found in very large numbers among the poorest sections in our society.

Young people have benefited from the environment and programmes of freedom: from the improvements in the education system; from the outlawing of discrimination in access to professions; from the opening up of opportunities in sport and culture and from the provision of electricity, water and other services to millions of households.

But too many young people are unemployed, and millions of them come from poor households.

As government we pledge to take more and more young people through learnerships so they can gain skills and work experience in order for them to access jobs; and intervene to ensure proper functioning of skills development authorities.

Our progress in the past 10 years clearly demonstrates that in the past decade we have made marked progress in creating a better life for our people.

But together we can and will do more. Saam sal ons meer kan doen. Mmogo re a kgona, mme re ka dira go le gontsi. Sibambisene soke singakgona begodu singenza okunengi. Kamoka re ka kgona, ra dira le go fetisa.

The journey that we have thus far travelled gives us confidence that we shall reach our goal of a society that cares.

We must make a pledge today that nobody anywhere should be subjected to ill treatment.

We must promote human rights by preventing the abuse of the elderly, women, children and the disabled.

We must defend and respect the material property of others. We should flush out criminals and thugs who steal, rape' maim and kill.

Let us remember that everybody, including children, must enjoy the rights as enshrined in the Constitution.

Children have rights too. Tell those who assault and injure children, women, the elderly and the disabled to please stop it. Every child has the right to basic nutrition, shelter, basic health care services and social services and should be protected from maltreatment, neglect, abuse or degradation.

What it means is that no-one has the right to degrade a child.

Children must be respected.

However, the right of chastisement is still there as long as there is no grievous bodily harm.

All of us must help create a culture of learning and teaching. If we see pupils loitering in the streets during school hours, we must be concerned.

We should, together with the teachers and the school Governing Body, create a culture of learning and teaching.

We must report criminals. They are few and we are many. Let us stand together. We must volunteer to work in police stations man roadblocks. During this month of Human Rights as community members we need to give freely of our time, our skills and resources to really help those whose rights are being trampled.

I know that as a concerned citizen you are committed to this. Over the past decade we have, all of us, worked hard to lay the basis for the advances we must make to meet the goal of a better life for all.

At the centre of this are the related objectives of the eradication of poverty and the fundamental transformation of our country into one that is non-racial, non-sexist and prosperous.

Therefore as we meet here today to celebrate Human Rights Day, let us not forget that our central mission remains the creation of a democratic, non-racial, non-sexists and prosperous province.

Substantive progress has been made towards the achievement of this goal.

We have put in place a legislative, policy and institutional framework for the deracialisation of all aspects of our society, the eradication of gender discrimination and the empowerment of women.

A firm foundation has been laid for the building of a better life and for true equality and human dignity for all.

Remember, YOU defeated apartheid. And you HAVE to be part of this process of building a new society.

It is important for all of us who are eligible to vote to do so on April 14 so that we can defend and protect our freedom and democracy from those who want to take the country back to the days of apartheid oppression and white privilege.

I thank you.

Issued by: Mpumalanga Provincial Government
21 March 2004

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