Date: 03/06/2004
Source: Limpopo Provincial Government
Title: S Moloto: Response to Limpopo State of the Province debate
RESPONSE BY LIMPOPO PREMIER, MR SELLO MOLOTO, TO STATE OF THE PROVINCE DEBATE IN THE PROVINCIAL LEGISLATURE, Lebowakgomo, 3 June 2004
Speaker and office bearers of this house
Honourable Members
Leader of Official Opposition
Leaders of other opposition parties
Distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen
Hardly a week ago, accounting on the state of the province, we spoke to strategic issues and critical programmes that are to be undertaken by this government, in response to the challenges that lie ahead -- the challenges that amongst others include unemployment, poverty, disease and related social ills that continue to afflict humanity today.
We moved from the basis that there is a strong foundation that has been laid in the past ten years, and therefore ours is to fill the gabs of strategic nature stemming from this foundation. Members might have observed that we didn't dwell much on issues relating to education, health, housing and other essential social services. Our understanding stems from the fact that our people's message was loud and clear when they said they need accelerated pace of delivery at all levels of government i.e. national provincial and local level. We take it that we are at one on this score.
Mr. Speaker,
We all consider ourselves fortunate that we have come this far with our democracy. All of these achievements have been made possible because of the hard work and toil of our predecessors. In this regard we would like to take this opportunity to pass our sincere gratitude and appreciation to the good work and visionary leadership provided by Dr. Ngoako Ramatlhodi in the past ten years of his stay in the province.
Equally, we are overwhelmed and humbled by the positive accolades and complements coming from the opposition benches. We think it marks a very good start, noting that every one of us is embracing a notion of building people's contract to fight poverty and create work.
Mr. Speaker,
It should be noted that most of the milestones which we have achieved are anchored around the institutional mechanisms provided in the Chapter 9 of the our constitution, i.e. the Auditor General, Public Protector, Gender Commission, Human Rights Commission, Electoral commission and other institutions such as National Prosecutions Authority and Public Service Commission to mention but few.
As a further measure of consolidating this democracy and strengthening the capacity of government, the system further provided for the establishment of such institutions as the Youth Commission, Office of Status of Children, the Disabled persons and several others.
More and more of these units are developing a capacity to meet the expectations of defending this democracy. To many South Africans, and the world at large, these institutions have acted with an amazing sense of impartiality, vigour and determination in discharging their duties. The fact of the matter is that every South African can today approach them and be given the best of attention and assistance so required.
In the same vein, it is commonly known that the basis of the South African law is premised on the principle of presumption of innocence until proven guilty and therefore it is the responsibility of the criminal justice system and judiciary to prove any allegation otherwise. Our attitude to all the allegations raised in this debate is therefore informed by this principle. We would therefore like to take this opportunity to invite all members of the House and the public at large to approach the institutions mentioned above in cases where any wrongdoing is suspected.
Accordingly, the views we have expressed about morality and the need for every one of us to take an active interest in advocating and educating people about acceptable morals still stands. United in action we must work hard to defeat and permanently eradicate this decay of our moral fibre.
Mr. Speaker,
We appreciate and acknowledge the contributions made by honourable members regarding the creation of employment and the fight against poverty, and we would therefore like to assure this house that those views will be incorporated into our plans as we forge ahead in this battle.
Honourable Holford, we have said that we will be convening sectoral summits in mining, agriculture, tourism, manufacturing, construction and other sectors, in the next three months. The private sector is an important role player in this regard. This is done with the understanding that government alone cannot defeat unemployment, and therefore a greater involvement of the private sector is supreme in our endeavour to create employment and fight poverty in our province. Government will continue to pursue its policy of Public Private Partnership in order to enhance capacity in the provision of services to the people.
The advice by Honourable Kekana regarding the extension officers / fieldworkers meant to provide support and capacity to SMMEs in order to reach out to the far-flung areas of our province is most welcome. This is something, which we will look into and find appropriate ways of incorporating into our broad strategy.
Mr Speaker,
Honourable members from the opposition are sceptical about the sustainability of the jobs that will be created through the Expanded Public Works Programme. Our conception of this programme is that it is going to be linked to intensive training and support as part of the overall SMMEs development strategy.
It is envisaged that after the incubation period the participants in this program would have acquired the necessary experience and capacity to enable them to compete for jobs even outside the confines of this programme.
Mr. Speaker
We are certain to meet the December 2005 deadline in our overall land reform programme. So far we have passed halfway mark of resolving the 5809 land claims lodged with the Land Claims Commission.
On the other hand, Honourable Holford and members, this government has committed itself to creating a safe and secure environment for all its citizens, this assertion extents to both the farmers and farm workers as an integral part of the community of Limpopo. Guided by the National Crime Prevention Strategy we are confident that we will succeed in rooting out all forms of crime, particularly violent ones, within our community.
We have also taken note of the concerns raised by the Hon. Reverend Shipalane about over-populated prisons, laziness of civil servants, nepotism in the awarding of tenders, allocation of RDP houses, tarred roads and related matters.
It will, however, be wrong to attribute all these acts of immorality as a consequence of human rights. We remain steadfast that the solution to all these social ills is the restoration of moral fibre and value systems of our society. In this context, an intense programme on rehabilitating and educating society remains the cornerstone to our success in overcoming this malady.
Our judicial and criminal justice system will continue to deal with any one who finds oneself on the wrong side of the law. We would like to assure you Reverend Shipalane, that our government will not tolerate any form of impropriety.
Honourable Manda,
A lot has been done regarding the redeployment of educators in the province. The remaining 1000 excess educators will be absorbed into vacancies that have been identified. This process is expected to be completed not later than end of this current financial year. Equally, the concerns around the issue of temporary educators will be looked into by the relevant department.
As we said in the State of the Province Address last week, the Traditional Leadership and Governance Act, Act No: 41 of 2003 has been passed. Chapter 6 of this Act provides for the establishment of the national commission whose role is to deal with issues of succession and related disputes. Any dispute including those contained in the Ralushai Commission will therefore be dealt with in terms of Section 25(2) of this Act.
The Ralushai Commission, like any other study commissioned by Government will continue to serve as a governance tool or reference point. We will continue to refer to this important report as and when we appoint or deal with any other matter related to traditional leadership in the Province.
In this regard, we wish to convey our sincere gratitude to Prof. Ralushai and his team for the job well done. We hope the above exposition closes the debate on the release of Ralushai Commission.
Mr. Speaker,
As we celebrate the Youth Month, we intent to finalise the appointment of Youth Commissioners. This will be constituted by a team of young men and women who will usher in the second term of office this important platform for youth development.
Mr. Speaker,
Indeed, our 2010 Soccer Bid has been a continental one, and without repeating what we said, we would like to take this opportunity to thank particularly African Countries that have supported us. This includes Nigeria, which decided to withdraw its bid in favour of our country. We will implore the Nigerian delegation, currently in the province to explore possible areas of cooperation in the context of bi-national commission, to convey to their government and people, our sincerest appreciation for what they have done for us.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Honourable members for the constructive contributions made in this debate. It is inspirational and elating that the whole province has embraced the notion of building a social contract to fight poverty and create work.
We would like to end this response by reiterating the noble words of advise by one of the finest brains of this province, comrade Lawrence Phokanoka nine years ago, when he said, " No one of us should make a mistake of occupying the wrong side of history". This is history in making, and we must occupy the correct side of that history.
Let us walk the talk, for immense challenges and hard work lie ahead of us.
Si ya thokoza, Inkomu!
Issued by: Office of the Premier, Limpopo Provincial Government
3 June 2004
Source: Limpopo Provincial Government
Title: S Moloto: Response to Limpopo State of the Province debate
RESPONSE BY LIMPOPO PREMIER, MR SELLO MOLOTO, TO STATE OF THE PROVINCE DEBATE IN THE PROVINCIAL LEGISLATURE, Lebowakgomo, 3 June 2004
Speaker and office bearers of this house
Honourable Members
Leader of Official Opposition
Leaders of other opposition parties
Distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen
Hardly a week ago, accounting on the state of the province, we spoke to strategic issues and critical programmes that are to be undertaken by this government, in response to the challenges that lie ahead -- the challenges that amongst others include unemployment, poverty, disease and related social ills that continue to afflict humanity today.
We moved from the basis that there is a strong foundation that has been laid in the past ten years, and therefore ours is to fill the gabs of strategic nature stemming from this foundation. Members might have observed that we didn't dwell much on issues relating to education, health, housing and other essential social services. Our understanding stems from the fact that our people's message was loud and clear when they said they need accelerated pace of delivery at all levels of government i.e. national provincial and local level. We take it that we are at one on this score.
Mr. Speaker,
We all consider ourselves fortunate that we have come this far with our democracy. All of these achievements have been made possible because of the hard work and toil of our predecessors. In this regard we would like to take this opportunity to pass our sincere gratitude and appreciation to the good work and visionary leadership provided by Dr. Ngoako Ramatlhodi in the past ten years of his stay in the province.
Equally, we are overwhelmed and humbled by the positive accolades and complements coming from the opposition benches. We think it marks a very good start, noting that every one of us is embracing a notion of building people's contract to fight poverty and create work.
Mr. Speaker,
It should be noted that most of the milestones which we have achieved are anchored around the institutional mechanisms provided in the Chapter 9 of the our constitution, i.e. the Auditor General, Public Protector, Gender Commission, Human Rights Commission, Electoral commission and other institutions such as National Prosecutions Authority and Public Service Commission to mention but few.
As a further measure of consolidating this democracy and strengthening the capacity of government, the system further provided for the establishment of such institutions as the Youth Commission, Office of Status of Children, the Disabled persons and several others.
More and more of these units are developing a capacity to meet the expectations of defending this democracy. To many South Africans, and the world at large, these institutions have acted with an amazing sense of impartiality, vigour and determination in discharging their duties. The fact of the matter is that every South African can today approach them and be given the best of attention and assistance so required.
In the same vein, it is commonly known that the basis of the South African law is premised on the principle of presumption of innocence until proven guilty and therefore it is the responsibility of the criminal justice system and judiciary to prove any allegation otherwise. Our attitude to all the allegations raised in this debate is therefore informed by this principle. We would therefore like to take this opportunity to invite all members of the House and the public at large to approach the institutions mentioned above in cases where any wrongdoing is suspected.
Accordingly, the views we have expressed about morality and the need for every one of us to take an active interest in advocating and educating people about acceptable morals still stands. United in action we must work hard to defeat and permanently eradicate this decay of our moral fibre.
Mr. Speaker,
We appreciate and acknowledge the contributions made by honourable members regarding the creation of employment and the fight against poverty, and we would therefore like to assure this house that those views will be incorporated into our plans as we forge ahead in this battle.
Honourable Holford, we have said that we will be convening sectoral summits in mining, agriculture, tourism, manufacturing, construction and other sectors, in the next three months. The private sector is an important role player in this regard. This is done with the understanding that government alone cannot defeat unemployment, and therefore a greater involvement of the private sector is supreme in our endeavour to create employment and fight poverty in our province. Government will continue to pursue its policy of Public Private Partnership in order to enhance capacity in the provision of services to the people.
The advice by Honourable Kekana regarding the extension officers / fieldworkers meant to provide support and capacity to SMMEs in order to reach out to the far-flung areas of our province is most welcome. This is something, which we will look into and find appropriate ways of incorporating into our broad strategy.
Mr Speaker,
Honourable members from the opposition are sceptical about the sustainability of the jobs that will be created through the Expanded Public Works Programme. Our conception of this programme is that it is going to be linked to intensive training and support as part of the overall SMMEs development strategy.
It is envisaged that after the incubation period the participants in this program would have acquired the necessary experience and capacity to enable them to compete for jobs even outside the confines of this programme.
Mr. Speaker
We are certain to meet the December 2005 deadline in our overall land reform programme. So far we have passed halfway mark of resolving the 5809 land claims lodged with the Land Claims Commission.
On the other hand, Honourable Holford and members, this government has committed itself to creating a safe and secure environment for all its citizens, this assertion extents to both the farmers and farm workers as an integral part of the community of Limpopo. Guided by the National Crime Prevention Strategy we are confident that we will succeed in rooting out all forms of crime, particularly violent ones, within our community.
We have also taken note of the concerns raised by the Hon. Reverend Shipalane about over-populated prisons, laziness of civil servants, nepotism in the awarding of tenders, allocation of RDP houses, tarred roads and related matters.
It will, however, be wrong to attribute all these acts of immorality as a consequence of human rights. We remain steadfast that the solution to all these social ills is the restoration of moral fibre and value systems of our society. In this context, an intense programme on rehabilitating and educating society remains the cornerstone to our success in overcoming this malady.
Our judicial and criminal justice system will continue to deal with any one who finds oneself on the wrong side of the law. We would like to assure you Reverend Shipalane, that our government will not tolerate any form of impropriety.
Honourable Manda,
A lot has been done regarding the redeployment of educators in the province. The remaining 1000 excess educators will be absorbed into vacancies that have been identified. This process is expected to be completed not later than end of this current financial year. Equally, the concerns around the issue of temporary educators will be looked into by the relevant department.
As we said in the State of the Province Address last week, the Traditional Leadership and Governance Act, Act No: 41 of 2003 has been passed. Chapter 6 of this Act provides for the establishment of the national commission whose role is to deal with issues of succession and related disputes. Any dispute including those contained in the Ralushai Commission will therefore be dealt with in terms of Section 25(2) of this Act.
The Ralushai Commission, like any other study commissioned by Government will continue to serve as a governance tool or reference point. We will continue to refer to this important report as and when we appoint or deal with any other matter related to traditional leadership in the Province.
In this regard, we wish to convey our sincere gratitude to Prof. Ralushai and his team for the job well done. We hope the above exposition closes the debate on the release of Ralushai Commission.
Mr. Speaker,
As we celebrate the Youth Month, we intent to finalise the appointment of Youth Commissioners. This will be constituted by a team of young men and women who will usher in the second term of office this important platform for youth development.
Mr. Speaker,
Indeed, our 2010 Soccer Bid has been a continental one, and without repeating what we said, we would like to take this opportunity to thank particularly African Countries that have supported us. This includes Nigeria, which decided to withdraw its bid in favour of our country. We will implore the Nigerian delegation, currently in the province to explore possible areas of cooperation in the context of bi-national commission, to convey to their government and people, our sincerest appreciation for what they have done for us.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Honourable members for the constructive contributions made in this debate. It is inspirational and elating that the whole province has embraced the notion of building a social contract to fight poverty and create work.
We would like to end this response by reiterating the noble words of advise by one of the finest brains of this province, comrade Lawrence Phokanoka nine years ago, when he said, " No one of us should make a mistake of occupying the wrong side of history". This is history in making, and we must occupy the correct side of that history.
Let us walk the talk, for immense challenges and hard work lie ahead of us.
Si ya thokoza, Inkomu!
Issued by: Office of the Premier, Limpopo Provincial Government
3 June 2004
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