Date: 15/08/2003
Source: Mpumalanga Provincial Government
Title: Mahlangu: Mpumalanga Premier's Youth Awards
SPEECH BY PREMIER NJ MAHLANGU, AT THE MPUMALANGA PREMIER'S YOUTH AWARDS FUNCTION, Nelspruit, Friday, 15 August 2003
Programme Directors
Members of the Provincial Executive
Members of the Provincial Legislature
Sponsors
Youth Commissioners
Ladies and Gentlemen
We are gathered in this fashion so we can give credit to those young men and women who in our community have done their bit - and continue to contribute - to the upliftment of our people from the depths of poverty and under-development.
Today we are honouring those young people who have, in their own special way, assisted in making the lives of our people a little better.
During the dark days of apartheid, when the packages of being involved in the struggle included death, the youth of this country never abdicated their responsibilities.
And in the past nine years you have put shoulder to the wheel and helped us build a better life for all our people - black and white.
I know that even now as we continue in our fight against poverty and want, we shall always find in the forefront of our struggle, the struggle to transform our society to a true democracy.
The struggle to improve the living conditions of our people, the struggle to provide quality education, the struggle for affordable and proper health care.
And indeed, the struggle against corruption and crime will always rely on your willingness to confront these challenges head on.
Our main challenge today is to establish a really true non-racial, non-sexist democratic and prosperous province and country where there will be no hunger and starvation.
We need to create a country where all of us, with no exception, will feel proud to be South Africans.
I believe that all of us are proud to be South Africans, particularly now that all of us can vote for the government of our choice.
Remember that next year we will again be asked to vote for the people we want to lead us.
But to do so we will need an ID document.
These small green books allow you to access many opportunities which democracy has brought.
You can further your education; apply for jobs, access social grants and other government services, and decide how the country is run. With an ID book you can open the doors to a better future.
But without an Identity Document, many of these opportunities remain out of reach.
Working together, we have won the right and the opportunity to decide our own future.
Since 1994, we have worked hard to create opportunities that never existed before, to provide services to meet people' s basic needs, and to provide relief to the many of our people who still live in poverty.
That is why it is important that those without IDs should apply for them. We must do so as proud South Africans.
As South Africans we must be proud to be a multi-ethnic, multi-cultural and multi-faith society.
We must celebrate and draw strength from our diversity.
We must shed our petty prejudices and open our hearts and minds to people different than ourselves.
To some sections of the white youth of this country let me say this.
Nine years ago you may most likely have welcomed the changes that have occurred in our country with a certain degree of unease. On the eve of democracy some of you would have wondered whether you, your parents, your families and properties were safe from black hordes that might go on the rampage.
You would have thought that, among other things, the blacks might seek to inflict revenge for the wrongs that previous white minority governments and the white population in general might have caused them.
People fear what they don't know.
We have to find ways to reaffirm what you have in common, and that's the way you can let go of whatever fear you have.
The central work of citizenship in a democratic society is finding ways to respect other people and their differences and even celebrate the differences.
But we can only celebrate the differences if we believe that what you have in common with them is more important than what separates you.
The central challenge is to prevent shared ideals from being smothered by fear.
It is understandable. Your parents were bound to be scared.
They were worried about their future and that of their children.
Let me say this to you: Whether our ancestors came here on the Dromedaris, whether they came yesterday or walked this land a thousand years ago, our great challenge for the 21st century is to find a way to be one South Africa.
We can meet all the other challenges if we can go forward as one South Africa.
So let it be said of us then that on the last decade of our democracy we were thinking not only of our time, but also of the time of those who will come after us.
That is why it is important to create a great sense of patriotism, which is in short supply in many sections of our society.
For us to succeed as a country and a nation it is important that we share a common vision of a real non- racial South Africa.
Without this common vision all our policies about the South Africa we want, will vanish like mist in the morning sun.
Most of the problems of today mainly affect our young people. The high rate of unemployment affects mostly the youth.
Homelessness, a high dropout rate, substance and drug abuse, HIV/AIDS, crimes etc, affect the youth.
The greatest challenge facing our nation is to conquer poverty, homelessness, illiteracy and ignorance.
This challenge more so faces the youth - black and white.
We must broaden the nation's skills base; improve our productivity; and make our goods more competitive in a world that is growing increasingly smaller.
We can only lay claim to progress when the bulk of our engineers, physicists, economists and other scientists emerge from the villages and townships; from Verena, Lotsaba, Mganduzweni, Tshotshotsho, Moteti, Mathanjana and Rebone.
You must grab the opportunities that are being brought about by the new order with both hands.
The working youth is critical to our future. The economy depends on you.
With your hard work and efforts at improving your skills, you can make ours one of the most prosperous nations in the world.
Hand in hand with the many able professionals in all sectors, you have the energy to lead the nation in achieving this goal.
I call on the unemployed youth not to despair. Use the opportunities that are starting to open up in big and small businesses. But don't rely merely on others. Create the opportunities yourselves, and take advantage of government programmes to assist small businesses, including small farmers.
I know that one of the most effective and sustainable ways of dealing with criminality in our country is to restore the dignity of our people by providing them with jobs and generally improve their standard of living.
I therefore appeal to all of us here today to join the war against poverty and hunger, crime, illiteracy, lawlessness and crime, HIV/AIDS and apathy.
It was the late Moses Kotane who said: "At this hour of destiny, your country and your people needs you. The future of the country is in your hands and it will be what you make of it".
The future is in your hands. Build it through hard work today.
I thank you.
Issued by Mpumalanga Provincial Government
15 August 2003
Source: Mpumalanga Provincial Government
Title: Mahlangu: Mpumalanga Premier's Youth Awards
SPEECH BY PREMIER NJ MAHLANGU, AT THE MPUMALANGA PREMIER'S YOUTH AWARDS FUNCTION, Nelspruit, Friday, 15 August 2003
Programme Directors
Members of the Provincial Executive
Members of the Provincial Legislature
Sponsors
Youth Commissioners
Ladies and Gentlemen
We are gathered in this fashion so we can give credit to those young men and women who in our community have done their bit - and continue to contribute - to the upliftment of our people from the depths of poverty and under-development.
Today we are honouring those young people who have, in their own special way, assisted in making the lives of our people a little better.
During the dark days of apartheid, when the packages of being involved in the struggle included death, the youth of this country never abdicated their responsibilities.
And in the past nine years you have put shoulder to the wheel and helped us build a better life for all our people - black and white.
I know that even now as we continue in our fight against poverty and want, we shall always find in the forefront of our struggle, the struggle to transform our society to a true democracy.
The struggle to improve the living conditions of our people, the struggle to provide quality education, the struggle for affordable and proper health care.
And indeed, the struggle against corruption and crime will always rely on your willingness to confront these challenges head on.
Our main challenge today is to establish a really true non-racial, non-sexist democratic and prosperous province and country where there will be no hunger and starvation.
We need to create a country where all of us, with no exception, will feel proud to be South Africans.
I believe that all of us are proud to be South Africans, particularly now that all of us can vote for the government of our choice.
Remember that next year we will again be asked to vote for the people we want to lead us.
But to do so we will need an ID document.
These small green books allow you to access many opportunities which democracy has brought.
You can further your education; apply for jobs, access social grants and other government services, and decide how the country is run. With an ID book you can open the doors to a better future.
But without an Identity Document, many of these opportunities remain out of reach.
Working together, we have won the right and the opportunity to decide our own future.
Since 1994, we have worked hard to create opportunities that never existed before, to provide services to meet people' s basic needs, and to provide relief to the many of our people who still live in poverty.
That is why it is important that those without IDs should apply for them. We must do so as proud South Africans.
As South Africans we must be proud to be a multi-ethnic, multi-cultural and multi-faith society.
We must celebrate and draw strength from our diversity.
We must shed our petty prejudices and open our hearts and minds to people different than ourselves.
To some sections of the white youth of this country let me say this.
Nine years ago you may most likely have welcomed the changes that have occurred in our country with a certain degree of unease. On the eve of democracy some of you would have wondered whether you, your parents, your families and properties were safe from black hordes that might go on the rampage.
You would have thought that, among other things, the blacks might seek to inflict revenge for the wrongs that previous white minority governments and the white population in general might have caused them.
People fear what they don't know.
We have to find ways to reaffirm what you have in common, and that's the way you can let go of whatever fear you have.
The central work of citizenship in a democratic society is finding ways to respect other people and their differences and even celebrate the differences.
But we can only celebrate the differences if we believe that what you have in common with them is more important than what separates you.
The central challenge is to prevent shared ideals from being smothered by fear.
It is understandable. Your parents were bound to be scared.
They were worried about their future and that of their children.
Let me say this to you: Whether our ancestors came here on the Dromedaris, whether they came yesterday or walked this land a thousand years ago, our great challenge for the 21st century is to find a way to be one South Africa.
We can meet all the other challenges if we can go forward as one South Africa.
So let it be said of us then that on the last decade of our democracy we were thinking not only of our time, but also of the time of those who will come after us.
That is why it is important to create a great sense of patriotism, which is in short supply in many sections of our society.
For us to succeed as a country and a nation it is important that we share a common vision of a real non- racial South Africa.
Without this common vision all our policies about the South Africa we want, will vanish like mist in the morning sun.
Most of the problems of today mainly affect our young people. The high rate of unemployment affects mostly the youth.
Homelessness, a high dropout rate, substance and drug abuse, HIV/AIDS, crimes etc, affect the youth.
The greatest challenge facing our nation is to conquer poverty, homelessness, illiteracy and ignorance.
This challenge more so faces the youth - black and white.
We must broaden the nation's skills base; improve our productivity; and make our goods more competitive in a world that is growing increasingly smaller.
We can only lay claim to progress when the bulk of our engineers, physicists, economists and other scientists emerge from the villages and townships; from Verena, Lotsaba, Mganduzweni, Tshotshotsho, Moteti, Mathanjana and Rebone.
You must grab the opportunities that are being brought about by the new order with both hands.
The working youth is critical to our future. The economy depends on you.
With your hard work and efforts at improving your skills, you can make ours one of the most prosperous nations in the world.
Hand in hand with the many able professionals in all sectors, you have the energy to lead the nation in achieving this goal.
I call on the unemployed youth not to despair. Use the opportunities that are starting to open up in big and small businesses. But don't rely merely on others. Create the opportunities yourselves, and take advantage of government programmes to assist small businesses, including small farmers.
I know that one of the most effective and sustainable ways of dealing with criminality in our country is to restore the dignity of our people by providing them with jobs and generally improve their standard of living.
I therefore appeal to all of us here today to join the war against poverty and hunger, crime, illiteracy, lawlessness and crime, HIV/AIDS and apathy.
It was the late Moses Kotane who said: "At this hour of destiny, your country and your people needs you. The future of the country is in your hands and it will be what you make of it".
The future is in your hands. Build it through hard work today.
I thank you.
Issued by Mpumalanga Provincial Government
15 August 2003
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