Date: 12/11/2002
Source: Gauteng Provincial Government
Title: Shilowa: Address at the NCOP
SPEECH BY GAUTENG PREMIER MBHAZIMA SHILOWA AT THE NCOP, Cape Town, 12 November 2002
The President of the Republic
Chairperson of the NCOP
Honourable members
In less than two years' time it will be the end of the current term of government and the end of the first decade of freedom and democracy in our country. As we move closer to that time we must answer the critical question of whether we are succeeding in our efforts to build a democratic and united nation and to uplift the quality of life of all our people.
During this year we have made further advances towards our goal of a better life for all. Many more of our people, particularly those who were for many years subjected to apartheid neglect and injustice, have experienced a great deal of improvement in their quality of life.
Last month we released a mid-term report of the Gauteng Provincial Government. It shows that we have been very successful in implementing our programme that focuses on sustainable economic growth and job creation, quality service delivery and good governance.
Many of our people who had spent decades living in slums and squalor now live in decent homes built on land that belongs to them, thanks to our housing programme.
We have improved the quality of public education so much that many parents who had lost confidence in the public schooling system are now enrolling their children with public schools. The matric pass rate has been improving every year, even exceeding our targets.
We have extended healthcare services to many of our people who previously did not have access to healthcare. More children have benefited from our immunization programme, resulting in a dramatic decrease in infant mortality rates.
More of our people, who qualify to receive social security grants, but for various reasons have not been on our social security system, are now receiving their grants.
While our achievements so far do not in any way represent the completion of our historic task of social and economic transformation, we can say with confidence that when our people turn out in their millions to celebrate the first decade of freedom in 2004, their freedom will mean much more in practical terms that it did in 1994.
We are, however, aware that more work still needs to be done before all our people can truly lead a better life. Many of our people continue to face the challenges of poverty, unemployment, underdevelopment, crime, illiteracy and disease.
While we have made significant progress in the area of economic growth and development, the spin-offs from our projects will only be realized in the medium to long term. We have therefore been forced to look at short-term solutions to the poverty that continues to ravage our people.
This year we launched a new community-based public works programme known as Zivuseni, whose aim is to both contribute to the renewal of our public and community assets and create short-term jobs to help alleviate poverty.
The programme also aims to improve service levels, build local capacity through skills development and mobilise public and private sector resources to improve community facilities. This includes the maintenance and upgrading of provincial social assets such as schools, hospitals, clinics, libraries, multi-purpose community centres and sports and recreational facilities.
We believe that the unemployed and the poor should not be seen as just recipients of social security grants but also as people capable of gainful and constructive work. This will enable our social security system to more effectively target those in need - the aged, people with disabilities and children.
To date 114 projects have been initiated throughout Gauteng comprising the following: 53 schools; 31 clinics; 13 hospitals; 10 waste buy-back centres; 6 once-off clean-up projects and 1 furniture restoration project. 30% of these projects have already been completed while the remaining 70% are still in progress.
More than 4200 people have been engaged in the various projects since the start of the programme, and we expect to engage 2500 more in the next quarter starting in mid-November 2002.
Many of the people who worked on the Zivuseni projects have acquired technical skills that will increase their chances of getting employed in some of our more long-term projects. Some of the beneficiaries have chosen to form themselves into small groups and use the skills they have acquired through their involvement in Zivuseni to start their own businesses.
We are in discussion with local authorities to see how we can expand the programme in the next financial year to cover more areas and absorb many of the people who have enrolled as potential beneficiaries.
The Gauteng Provincial Government also contributes more meaningfully to poverty alleviation by creating short-term jobs through the use of labour intensive methods in the building of houses, schools, construction of roads, sports grounds, and other recreational facilities and public infrastructure.
Since 1999 we have created on average 20 000 jobs per annum through our infrastructure development programme. This year the number has increased dramatically since we have introduced a rule that all our infrastructure development projects, including the building of new housing units, should be 60% labour intensive.
The Johannesburg World Summit on Sustainable Development has drawn the attention of world leaders and representatives of various sectors that participated in the discussions to the urgent and important issues of sustainable development.
Gauteng has had the honour to be the host province. We had the opportunity to draw the attention of the world to some of the things in our province, which required urgent action to reverse the degradation of the environment and resources. The world was able to see that while the rich and wealthy produce the most waste, and consume the most resources - in particular water and energy - unfortunately the poor live close to waste dumps, close to mine dumps and are forced to drink unhealthy water.
Most importantly, we were able to rally the people of Gauteng around the issues of sustainable development. Many of our people now have a better understanding of what sustainable development means. They also understand that, like all the other people from all over the world, they have a role to play in the implementation of the Johannesburg plan.
In Gauteng we are already working on our own plan to take forward sustainable development, focusing on the issues that relate to our province. Our programme to extend water and sanitation services to all Gauteng residents by 2006 should be seen as part of our own contribution to sustainable development.
Our economic development plan, which includes transforming Gauteng into a globally competitive smart centre, is located within the context of the New Partnership for Africa's Development.
MEC for Finance and Economic Affairs Jabu Moleketi is currently on a mission to Nigeria to explore areas of economic co-operation between our province and our Nigerian counterparts. He is accompanied by Gauteng Economic Development Agency head Charles Jonker and a group of business people from the ICT, property development and tourism sectors.
In the coming year we will have more interaction with our counterparts from the continent in line with our country's commitment to NEPAD.
As part of our commitment to cooperative government, we will be holding a provincial conference that brings together the Department of Local and Provincial Government, local government and the Gauteng Provincial Government to agree on strategies and to plan, coordinate and implement programmes aimed at improving the lives of our people.
One of the challenges facing the NCOP is how to better coordinate our work between the three spheres of government and the legislatures. We are concerned about the increased inability of provinces to influence programming and to link provincial weeks to provincial programmes.
Failure to deal with this issue will lead to the NCOP seeing itself more and more as an upper house instead of a house that brings together the interests of different legislatures without undermining or making such legislatures irrelevant.
It is our humble suggestion from Gauteng that a mechanism should be put in place to allow for more consultation among the presiding officers of our legislative bodies to ensure that they perform their functions more effectively and fulfil their constitutional role.
For more information contact: Thabo Masebe on 082 410 8087
Issued by Office of the Premier, Gauteng
12 November 2002
Source: Gauteng Provincial Government
Title: Shilowa: Address at the NCOP
SPEECH BY GAUTENG PREMIER MBHAZIMA SHILOWA AT THE NCOP, Cape Town, 12 November 2002
The President of the Republic
Chairperson of the NCOP
Honourable members
In less than two years' time it will be the end of the current term of government and the end of the first decade of freedom and democracy in our country. As we move closer to that time we must answer the critical question of whether we are succeeding in our efforts to build a democratic and united nation and to uplift the quality of life of all our people.
During this year we have made further advances towards our goal of a better life for all. Many more of our people, particularly those who were for many years subjected to apartheid neglect and injustice, have experienced a great deal of improvement in their quality of life.
Last month we released a mid-term report of the Gauteng Provincial Government. It shows that we have been very successful in implementing our programme that focuses on sustainable economic growth and job creation, quality service delivery and good governance.
Many of our people who had spent decades living in slums and squalor now live in decent homes built on land that belongs to them, thanks to our housing programme.
We have improved the quality of public education so much that many parents who had lost confidence in the public schooling system are now enrolling their children with public schools. The matric pass rate has been improving every year, even exceeding our targets.
We have extended healthcare services to many of our people who previously did not have access to healthcare. More children have benefited from our immunization programme, resulting in a dramatic decrease in infant mortality rates.
More of our people, who qualify to receive social security grants, but for various reasons have not been on our social security system, are now receiving their grants.
While our achievements so far do not in any way represent the completion of our historic task of social and economic transformation, we can say with confidence that when our people turn out in their millions to celebrate the first decade of freedom in 2004, their freedom will mean much more in practical terms that it did in 1994.
We are, however, aware that more work still needs to be done before all our people can truly lead a better life. Many of our people continue to face the challenges of poverty, unemployment, underdevelopment, crime, illiteracy and disease.
While we have made significant progress in the area of economic growth and development, the spin-offs from our projects will only be realized in the medium to long term. We have therefore been forced to look at short-term solutions to the poverty that continues to ravage our people.
This year we launched a new community-based public works programme known as Zivuseni, whose aim is to both contribute to the renewal of our public and community assets and create short-term jobs to help alleviate poverty.
The programme also aims to improve service levels, build local capacity through skills development and mobilise public and private sector resources to improve community facilities. This includes the maintenance and upgrading of provincial social assets such as schools, hospitals, clinics, libraries, multi-purpose community centres and sports and recreational facilities.
We believe that the unemployed and the poor should not be seen as just recipients of social security grants but also as people capable of gainful and constructive work. This will enable our social security system to more effectively target those in need - the aged, people with disabilities and children.
To date 114 projects have been initiated throughout Gauteng comprising the following: 53 schools; 31 clinics; 13 hospitals; 10 waste buy-back centres; 6 once-off clean-up projects and 1 furniture restoration project. 30% of these projects have already been completed while the remaining 70% are still in progress.
More than 4200 people have been engaged in the various projects since the start of the programme, and we expect to engage 2500 more in the next quarter starting in mid-November 2002.
Many of the people who worked on the Zivuseni projects have acquired technical skills that will increase their chances of getting employed in some of our more long-term projects. Some of the beneficiaries have chosen to form themselves into small groups and use the skills they have acquired through their involvement in Zivuseni to start their own businesses.
We are in discussion with local authorities to see how we can expand the programme in the next financial year to cover more areas and absorb many of the people who have enrolled as potential beneficiaries.
The Gauteng Provincial Government also contributes more meaningfully to poverty alleviation by creating short-term jobs through the use of labour intensive methods in the building of houses, schools, construction of roads, sports grounds, and other recreational facilities and public infrastructure.
Since 1999 we have created on average 20 000 jobs per annum through our infrastructure development programme. This year the number has increased dramatically since we have introduced a rule that all our infrastructure development projects, including the building of new housing units, should be 60% labour intensive.
The Johannesburg World Summit on Sustainable Development has drawn the attention of world leaders and representatives of various sectors that participated in the discussions to the urgent and important issues of sustainable development.
Gauteng has had the honour to be the host province. We had the opportunity to draw the attention of the world to some of the things in our province, which required urgent action to reverse the degradation of the environment and resources. The world was able to see that while the rich and wealthy produce the most waste, and consume the most resources - in particular water and energy - unfortunately the poor live close to waste dumps, close to mine dumps and are forced to drink unhealthy water.
Most importantly, we were able to rally the people of Gauteng around the issues of sustainable development. Many of our people now have a better understanding of what sustainable development means. They also understand that, like all the other people from all over the world, they have a role to play in the implementation of the Johannesburg plan.
In Gauteng we are already working on our own plan to take forward sustainable development, focusing on the issues that relate to our province. Our programme to extend water and sanitation services to all Gauteng residents by 2006 should be seen as part of our own contribution to sustainable development.
Our economic development plan, which includes transforming Gauteng into a globally competitive smart centre, is located within the context of the New Partnership for Africa's Development.
MEC for Finance and Economic Affairs Jabu Moleketi is currently on a mission to Nigeria to explore areas of economic co-operation between our province and our Nigerian counterparts. He is accompanied by Gauteng Economic Development Agency head Charles Jonker and a group of business people from the ICT, property development and tourism sectors.
In the coming year we will have more interaction with our counterparts from the continent in line with our country's commitment to NEPAD.
As part of our commitment to cooperative government, we will be holding a provincial conference that brings together the Department of Local and Provincial Government, local government and the Gauteng Provincial Government to agree on strategies and to plan, coordinate and implement programmes aimed at improving the lives of our people.
One of the challenges facing the NCOP is how to better coordinate our work between the three spheres of government and the legislatures. We are concerned about the increased inability of provinces to influence programming and to link provincial weeks to provincial programmes.
Failure to deal with this issue will lead to the NCOP seeing itself more and more as an upper house instead of a house that brings together the interests of different legislatures without undermining or making such legislatures irrelevant.
It is our humble suggestion from Gauteng that a mechanism should be put in place to allow for more consultation among the presiding officers of our legislative bodies to ensure that they perform their functions more effectively and fulfil their constitutional role.
For more information contact: Thabo Masebe on 082 410 8087
Issued by Office of the Premier, Gauteng
12 November 2002
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