Date: 14/03/2005
Source: Mpumalanga Provincial Government
Title: Makwetla: National Council of Provinces
Address of the Premier of Mpumalanga, Mr Thabang Makwetla, at the National Council of Provinces, KwaMhlanga Legislature
14 March 2005
Honourable Chairperson and Deputy Chairperson of the NCOP
Honourable Members of the NCOP
Chairperson and members of SALGA
Distinguished Guests
Ladies and Gentlemen
We are gathered here today as servants of the people in order to once again give meaning to our commitment that we are a government that is in daily and respectful contact with the people. Contact that enables us to listen to the people, investigate the problems and challenges that they encounter, and assess the progress or otherwise of the advances we have made in creating a better life for our people.
Allow me Chairperson through you to convey on behalf of the people of Mpumalanga our warm welcome to the National Council of Provinces.
I am particularly honoured to receive you at one of South Africas inspirational regions, Kwa-Ndebele, where apartheids ethnicity policy of Bantustans was brought to a halt, rendered unworkable and defeated.
Taking Parliament to the People
We wish to commend you on this excellent and important initiative of Taking Parliament to the People. We are again reminded of the words of our recently departed stalwart and immediate past Chairperson of the NCOP, comrade Joyce Kgoali, when she said (and I quote)
"Taking Parliament to the people has been conceived within a context of the need to engage with and bring on board the ordinary South Africans, as we go about doing our Parliamentary business".
She further added (and I quote)
"This programme should serve as a vehicle to place Parliament where people are, ensuring visibility of this important institution even to the most rural parts of our country. Ordinary South Africans, including women, youth, senior citizens, school children, traditional leaders are able to interact with and inform Parliament of their daily experiences." We believe that through this kind of interaction with the people we can gain a clearer understanding of our possibilities and constraints with regard to the processes of pushing back the frontiers of poverty and under-development.
At the same time, such initiatives nurture our young democracy by providing us the opportunity to reach those people who would otherwise not be able to participate in law making and oversight processes of our country.
Taking Parliament to the People is indeed an innovative programme that builds on the consultative tradition of the Freedom Charter, adopted by the historic Congress of the People in Kliptown in 1955. This initiative offers our people in the different provinces a platform for articulating their needs and aspirations.
We believe that this initiative will also contribute greatly to raising the profile of the NCOP within our communities.
As the Deputy President reminded us last year, the NCOP is the custodian of intergovernmental relations and cooperative governance in our country. An effective NCOP that fulfils its mandate and reflects the interests and wishes of our people will be a huge asset in our own efforts to achieve people centred development here in Mpumalanga.
The setting
Honourable Chairperson, in the next few days our duties will once again bring us face to face with the gross neglect and deprivation caused by years of deliberate discrimination by some towards other human beings.
Among the issues we will be confronted with, are poverty, job creation, rural development, challenges faced by children, women and people with disabilities.
But then we will also hear heroic stories of resilience and resistance to all these hardships by ordinary folks, our many unsung heroes and heroines in our marginal communities of South Africa.
Kwa-Ndebele, the area where most of our work will take place this week, is a microcosm of our country,
Source: Mpumalanga Provincial Government
Title: Makwetla: National Council of Provinces
Address of the Premier of Mpumalanga, Mr Thabang Makwetla, at the National Council of Provinces, KwaMhlanga Legislature
14 March 2005
Honourable Chairperson and Deputy Chairperson of the NCOP
Honourable Members of the NCOP
Chairperson and members of SALGA
Distinguished Guests
Ladies and Gentlemen
We are gathered here today as servants of the people in order to once again give meaning to our commitment that we are a government that is in daily and respectful contact with the people. Contact that enables us to listen to the people, investigate the problems and challenges that they encounter, and assess the progress or otherwise of the advances we have made in creating a better life for our people.
Allow me Chairperson through you to convey on behalf of the people of Mpumalanga our warm welcome to the National Council of Provinces.
I am particularly honoured to receive you at one of South Africas inspirational regions, Kwa-Ndebele, where apartheids ethnicity policy of Bantustans was brought to a halt, rendered unworkable and defeated.
Taking Parliament to the People
We wish to commend you on this excellent and important initiative of Taking Parliament to the People. We are again reminded of the words of our recently departed stalwart and immediate past Chairperson of the NCOP, comrade Joyce Kgoali, when she said (and I quote)
"Taking Parliament to the people has been conceived within a context of the need to engage with and bring on board the ordinary South Africans, as we go about doing our Parliamentary business".
She further added (and I quote)
"This programme should serve as a vehicle to place Parliament where people are, ensuring visibility of this important institution even to the most rural parts of our country. Ordinary South Africans, including women, youth, senior citizens, school children, traditional leaders are able to interact with and inform Parliament of their daily experiences." We believe that through this kind of interaction with the people we can gain a clearer understanding of our possibilities and constraints with regard to the processes of pushing back the frontiers of poverty and under-development.
At the same time, such initiatives nurture our young democracy by providing us the opportunity to reach those people who would otherwise not be able to participate in law making and oversight processes of our country.
Taking Parliament to the People is indeed an innovative programme that builds on the consultative tradition of the Freedom Charter, adopted by the historic Congress of the People in Kliptown in 1955. This initiative offers our people in the different provinces a platform for articulating their needs and aspirations.
We believe that this initiative will also contribute greatly to raising the profile of the NCOP within our communities.
As the Deputy President reminded us last year, the NCOP is the custodian of intergovernmental relations and cooperative governance in our country. An effective NCOP that fulfils its mandate and reflects the interests and wishes of our people will be a huge asset in our own efforts to achieve people centred development here in Mpumalanga.
The setting
Honourable Chairperson, in the next few days our duties will once again bring us face to face with the gross neglect and deprivation caused by years of deliberate discrimination by some towards other human beings.
Among the issues we will be confronted with, are poverty, job creation, rural development, challenges faced by children, women and people with disabilities.
But then we will also hear heroic stories of resilience and resistance to all these hardships by ordinary folks, our many unsung heroes and heroines in our marginal communities of South Africa.
Kwa-Ndebele, the area where most of our work will take place this week, is a microcosm of our country,
Advertisement
EMAIL THIS ARTICLE SAVE THIS ARTICLE FEEDBACK
To subscribe email subscriptions@creamermedia.co.za or click here
To advertise email advertising@creamermedia.co.za or click here
