Date: 21/10/2005
Source:Ministry of Education
Title: Pandor: Shanduka Foundation Golf Day


Opening remarks by the Minister of Education, Ms Naledi Pandor, at the Shanduka Foundation Golf Day, Eagle Canyon Golf Estate, Johannesburg

Cyril Ramaphosa
Distinguished guests

At the outset, allow me to express my gratitude to the Shanduka Foundation for their fine gesture in extending an invitation to me to be part of this important milestone in your calendar.

I consider it a great honour to be among people who are contributing towards sustainable educational initiatives, aimed at improving the learning environment of previously disadvantaged learners.

Government is committed to providing access to quality education for all and committed to introducing free compulsory basic education.

But government cannot work alone.

To respond to the call of the Freedom Charter, that the doors of learning shall be open to all, we need the assistance of foundations, like the Shanduka Foundation, to organise events of this nature, to raise much-needed funds and to assist schools with the provision basic facilities.

Constructive partnerships need to be built between the government and the corporate sector. The hosting of this Golf Day provides us with a concrete example of the importance of public-private partnerships in our efforts to turn our education system around.

The corporate sector has a unique role to play in this regard. You know all too well the devastating consequences of the under-investment that was the dominant feature of the education system we inherited.

You know all too well that South Africa is a country of huge disparities in wealth, standards of living, and life expectancy - it is a society in which an increasingly competitive first-world economy coexists with widespread poverty and unemployment.

You know all too well that it is vital that South Africa continues to build a strong and productive skills base that will enable us to expand our economy and to compete in a globalising world. And education is the key in this regard.

For it is through sustained educational development that we will create the intellectual base and the skills needed for social and economic transformation.

Comrade Cyril, you will agree with me that public-private-partnerships play an integral part in the delivery of a range of services. Without forging a strong public-private partnership, the overall programme of providing classrooms would remain substantially incomplete.

In other words, ladies and gentlemen, it is through projects and partnerships, such as this