Speech by the Premier of the Northern Cape Mme Dipuo Peters at the official launch of the Container Libraries: Kimberley

Programme Director
Members of the Executive Council
Members of the Provincial Legislature
Management and representatives of government departments
Leaders of industry
Ladies and gentleman
Members of the media

As a multicultural society, South Africa is often referred to as the rainbow nation. This is because South Africa consists of a diversity of linguistic, religious and cultural communities. As government we have responsibility to promote the rights of communities through the equal distribution of resources and an equitable rendering of concrete services to all our communities. To accomplish these public services such as public libraries need to support this intention.

The need for public libraries to comply with the constitution is clarified in various legislation and policies. Such policies point out those libraries shall acquire, preserve and make available the widest rage of material reflecting the plurality and diversity of society.

Ladies and gentlemen, it is important to reflect and understand the context in which public libraries developed in this country. By its nature apartheid endured cultural separation which was reinforced by the Group Areas Act which then, enforced the racial zoning of land, Separate Amenities Act, by which the provision of separate buildings and services for people of different racial groups was legalised. You may also recall the Bantu Education Act which increased the differences in literacy levels between population groups. Public libraries in South Africa developed with in this divisive cultural background and the legacy of segregation and apartheid policies.

The first public libraries only started opening their doors to all races in the 1970s. However it was not until the end of apartheid in 1994 that equal access to all public libraries by all populations was guaranteed by the constitution. The new laws guarantee all persons equal, not discriminatory access to public services such as public libraries. South African public libraries have been democratised in the sense that they are open to all races and this, in itself, gives communities the opportunity to make their needs known.

Ladies and gentlemen, although public library services have become free to all and equal access is guaranteed to all communities by legislation, there is a decrease in the number of learners who make use of such services. This, therefore, makes it difficult but not impossible for us to achieve redress, let alone maintain existing services. I therefore call on all parents to encourage their children to make use of such services.

The National Treasury has set aside an initial amount of R1 billion over three years (2007 to 2010) to expand and transform the provision of community and information library services. The funds are administered by the Department of Arts and Culture as a conditional grant to provinces based on approved business plans. The Northern Cape has designed a plan that will cover aspects of human capacity development, infrastructure development, provisioning of relevant library materials, the creation of toy libraries and the establishment of a Library Information Management System which will enable the province the capture and manage data in aid of credible decision making and appropriate interventions in certain instances for many years to come.

The goal of the grant is to enable the South African society to gain access to knowledge and information that will improve their socio-economic situation. Through the strengthening of capacity at municipal level we will ensure that quality services are rendered in community libraries. Second to that, we will promote a culture of reading, library usage and the importance of lifelong learning. In so doing, we will have created a totally transformed community library service in support of building a caring society that will value our children and youth, value learning and education and support the entrenching of a democratic state as a lasting legacy to all our people.

The purpose of the grant is to have transformed urban and rural community library infrastructure, facilities and services through this recapitalisation programme which will see the placement of 40 containers in so many local communities across the province. This is one of our key projects in the recapitalisation programme.

Previously disadvantaged communities are targeted, primarily with an emphasis on the collaboration between different spheres of government to deliver these services. The Department of Education and the different municipalities perform a critical role in this regard both in terms of the location and the services to be offered in these container libraries. Up to 5 000 titles can be loaned from this library as well as a wide range of DVDs, CDs and art prints. At a later stage, the internet services as is available in the ordinary community libraries will be made available through the container libraries.

The Northern Cape has been allocated an amount of R24 million in this first year (2007/08) with an expected budget in excess of R40 million in the second year (2008/09), an allocation which gives an indication of the scope of the project. In a fast developing knowledge-based society and indeed an economy such as is the case in South African, the niche that libraries occupy against this background can hardly be underestimated. Information is knowledge and knowledge is power. We are placing this at the disposal of communities from Riverton and Longlands to Onseepkans and Raaswater, from Vioolsdrift and Spoegrivier to Legaganeng and Tsineng through the provision of this container service.

We believe that we are opening the doors of learning and culture through the promotion of access to information and knowledge. We are all responsible for the transformation of education and learning in our country and this is but one small contribution which will impact so much on the lives of ordinary people. Education is a societal issue, one that should occupy the attention and energy of all our people.

The situation in the world has changed radically over recent years. More and more people live in democratic societies. A number of protracted conflicts in Africa have been brought to an end and mechanisms are in place towards a peaceful resolution of conflict. However, the process of globalisation presents many challenges, particularly to countries in the developing world, serving to entrench disparities in wealth and influence. This places poor countries in a vulnerable position. African countries are particularly prone to foreign pressure and interference as rich countries seek to gain access to the continent's substantial mineral and energy resources.

This makes it imperative that we empower our people to protect and defend their own dignity, resources ranging from indigenous knowledge to land, as well as issues of human capacity and development. Knowledge is this weapon. As Comrade OR Tambo once said: "A nation, a movement, people that do not value its youth, does not deserve its future". This is precisely why we embark on projects such as these - we value our youth and we strive for a better future for all!

Let us all use this facility to promote the diversity of our nation and to empower ourselves with the necessary knowledge and skill that will ensure that our theme of building a reading culture, reading towards 2010 becomes a reality. It is also my wish that this library should assist users with information in languages spoken in their communities, and in so doing we will be promoting multi-cultural library services. This library should also promote services in appropriate media and languages so as to create awareness in different communities, especially communities that are not proficient in English.

In conclusion ladies and gentlemen, for South African libraries to continue playing a significant role in their communities, it will be essential that they become more relevant and representative of all the communities they serve. A suitable approach for public libraries to achieve this objective will be to adopt a multi cultural approach to the services they offer, whereby the cultural and linguistic needs of all South African communities are taken into consideration.

I thank you

Issued by: Office of the Premier, Northern Cape Provincial Government
19 February 2008