Address by the Premier of KwaZulu-Natal Mr Sibusiso Ndebele to the Youth Evening of the African Renaissance held at the International Convention Cebtre in Durban

Protocol

A renaissance is about unearthing the past so it can serve as a solid foundation for the future. A renaissance is about the past giving birth to the future. In this manner the future is always a child of the past. Ladies and gentlemen, without our past we have no elders, without our youth we have no future.

We have deliberately chosen this start to our address this evening in order to address what we believe is a philosophy which lies fundamentally at the base of the African Renaissance. That is the philosophy of rebirth. If rebirth lies at the root of the African Renaissance, then we all know that none of the rebirth processes can take place without a link to the past.

We are comfortable taking this approach because as members of the youth we are ourselves part of the symbiotic chain of human life which is based on the very philosophy of renaissance, regeneration or rebirth. Without them who went before us, we would not be here. Without the past, there is no future.

If we accept this as our starting point, the next level in our discourse must of necessity be to answer the following question very quickly: What kind of past do we want to embrace, what kind of past do we want to assign the right to give birth to the future? In other words, as we are gathered in KwaZulu-Natal in 2007 what kind of Future do we want to create, what kind of future do we want to build?

In answering the above battery of questions we are seeking to establish a close relationship with the text and syntax of the African Renaissance. In understanding the African Renaissance we want to find our place in it so we can all play a meaningful role in it. It is difficult to imagine the process of rebirth without rapture, without pain. There is no struggle without sacrifice. We would not understand the warming effects of joy and jubilation if is we did not know of the throb of pain. As Marx and Engels reminded us the electric current for example is a product of positive and negative charges. Nature holds that there is a fundamental unity of opposites.

We want to embrace a past which saw the flourishing of the mathematical sciences in Africa and gave birth to the Kingdoms of Monomutapa and Great Zimbabwe. We embrace the past which served as the source of Humanity and gave birth to the human race. We want to embrace the past which gave the world the philosophy of peace through Mahatma Ghandi, Inkosi Albert Luthuli and Nelson Mandela. We celebrate Izintombi zeNgugce who stood up for the rights of women and set us on the way to gender equality. In short we must embrace the totality of our existence, while acknowledging the challenges we have faced as a people.

Our African Renaissance places the continent as the centre of our enquiry. At the end of our long journey, if there is going to be one beneficiary of this renaissance, it must be Africa. Our responsibility is to Africa, South Africa and KwaZulu-Natal. This also means Africans in Africa and Africans in Diaspora. Wherever Africans are, in them courses the blood of Africa, they are our own, they are us.

International context

On June 2004 Senegalese President Mr Abdoulaye Wade, one of the architects of this African Renaissance endorsed the Declaration of the Pan African Youth Leadership Summit gathered in his country. The Declaration of the Pan African Youth Leadership Summit included the following:
* celebrating Africa as a continent rich in human talent, with a vibrant, strong and resilient people, bountiful natural resources, and immense potential
* affirming that the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), agreed by all United Nations (UN) Member States at the UN Millennium Summit in September 2000 are especially relevant to Africa. These represent an historic opportunity to collectively tackle poverty, hunger and disease in this region and across the developing world.

Through the African Union and its socio-economic development partnership of African Development (Nepad) the youth has committed to a better future for Africa. Youth must contribute to the development of policies that affect youth and stress the importance of striving for gender equality within these Africa-wide decision-making bodies. Youth in KwaZulu-Natal must appreciate the contributions of Africa 2015, the continent-wide initiative spearheaded by United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) to utilise communications, which harnesses the talents of writers and intellectuals, sports personalities, artists, actors towards the renaissance of Africa. In particular together with the youth and the world in general we acknowledge our role in halving extreme poverty and hunger by 2015.

In order to move forward we must ask if what we have already done is contributing to the progress we so desire. For example we know the following:
* More than 26 million people living below the poverty line in Africa have improved their livelihoods as a result of micro-finance programmes.
* Since 1990, 135 million people in Africa have gained access to improved water supplies and 98 million to improved sanitation.
* By 2001, 168 countries - more than two-thirds of UN member states including 49 of the 54 African countries - were party to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women.
* Many African countries are providing anti-retroviral and other AIDS-related medications to their citizens.

In spite of these advances we still have a long way to go. Progress in achieving the MDG is slowest in Africa. Africa remains home to one third of a billion people in the world who live in extreme poverty. These people lack the basic necessities of life such as clean water, adequate food, healthcare or a decent education.

We must, as KwaZulu-Natal, be disturbed by the condition of many of Africa's youth, who are particularly susceptible to unemployment and diseases. We must be alarmed at the continued violations of the rights of young people in Africa, especially girls, due to child labour, trafficking and sexual exploitation, armed conflict and the recruitment of child soldiers. We must promise to protect ourselves and others from the spread of the HIV-virus and work for an HIV and AIDS-free new generation.

We must use culture and the media including dance, sport, the press, radio and television to work towards the achievement of the MDGs. We must be activists in the development of a new spirituality and morality which places us at the centre of the fight against crime. In KwaZulu-Natal we must be part of the Popular Front against Crime which tells us not to buy or sell stolen goods. In promoting the African renaissance we must actively celebrate Africa and its people.

National and provincial context

The struggle for freedom in South Africa saw the youth fighting for the right of all to be treated as equal citizens in our land. The youth was fighting for the right to participate meaningfully in the economy of our country. The youth was fighting for its dignity and recognition. The youth was fighting for a South Africa where young people could enjoy their youth while preparing for adult life. The youth was fighting for a normal society.

Pixley ka Isaka Seme wrote the following more than 100 years ago and I quote:
"A brighter day is rising upon Africa. Already I seem to see her chains dissolved her desert plains red with harvest, her Abyssinia and her Zululand the seats of science and religion, reflecting the glory of the rising sun from the spires of their churches and universities. Her Congo and her Gambia whitened with commerce, her crowded cities sending forth the hum of business and all her sons employed in advancing the victories of peace-greater and more abiding than the spoils of war."

This indicates to us that the struggle for the liberation of South Africa was never an isolated battle for narrow national interests. The anti-apartheid struggle sought to liberate all humanity because as Martin Luther once wrote, we believe education provides us the greatest opportunity to take advantage of the peace that we have already established. Now that the politics has returned to normal, it is time to quicken the pace of development. Our people cannot be part of the time of plenty if they are not sufficiently equipped to find jobs and to start businesses. This means getting an education which responds to the demands of the globalising economy while rooted in the local conditions.

In this regard in KwaZulu-Natal we have met and in some instances exceeded the building of classrooms and toilets over the past two years. A total of 1 571 classrooms (105% of target) were built by the end of March 2006. In line with the policy pronouncement to promote maths, science and technology, all nine Further Education and Training (FET) colleges in the provinces have been connected to computer networks. We have established 70 Maths and Science focused schools. The re-skilling of educators in maths, science and technology is ongoing and set to meet the target of achieving a 50 000 Maths and Science output by 2008.

Our economy is set to grow at 10% by 2010. We are spending billions of rand in the provision of infrastructure such the soccer stadium, the harbour, roads, a new airport and the Dube Trade Port. We are committed to an agrarian revolution which will see agriculture better land usage and that sector contribute more to our Gross Domestic Product per region. Our culture and heritage, a key defining feature of KwaZulu-Natal is already placing our country on the international map. We are drawing more tourists than any other province on a year to year basis.

By May 2006 more than 1,6 million children in this province were in receipt of child support grants. A Chief Directorate in the Office of the Premier has been put in place to co-ordinate the implementation of a comprehensive, integrated response to HIV and AIDS in KwaZulu-Natal. The Department of Health has implemented the comprehensive plan for the management, treatment and care of HIV and AIDS in line with the national Department of Health guidelines.

Through the Girl Guide and Boys Scout Movements we seek to grow to 200 000 girls and boys who have a loyalty to country and province, respect for self and live on a higher morality. We seek to open more opportunities for the youth to be involved in business as both employers and employees. We have already dedicated R5million to the youth in this province and we are opening more opportunities through Black Economic Empowerment (BEE).

This is what we owe to our youth because we owe this to our country and continent. In turn all we expect of the youth is to take responsibility for their future and in turn help us build a KwaZulu-Natal in which the future is better than today. We are already on our way, many challenges stand in the way, but there are no challenges so huge that they can stop us dead in our march towards a better KwaZulu-Natal, a better Africa.

I thank you.

Issued by: Office of the Premier, KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Government
23 May 2007