Date: 22/02/2004
Source: Department of Public Works
Title: S Sigcau: Sod-turning ceremony for Vukuzakhe Community Centre
ADDRESS BY MINISTER SN SIGCAU AT THE LAYING OF THE FOUNDATION STONE AND THE SOD-TURNING CEREMONY FOR THE VUKUZAKHE COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT CENTRE, KWA MACHI, 22 February 2004
Inkosi uMachi
The MEC for Public Works in KwaZulu-Natal, Mr Mike Mabuyakhulu
The Chairperson of Public Works Portfolio Committee in KwaZulu Natal, Doctor Meshack Hadebe
Member of National Parliament, Ms Ruth Bhengu
Local Councillors
Ladies and Gentlemen.
This year in 2004 we are celebrating ten years of democracy and freedom. Sceptics may wonder and ask: what is there to celebrate? Our answer is always simple and direct; we have a lot to celebrate about.
Ten years ago the first President of a democratically elected South Africa, Mr Nelson Mandela, committed his government to the following values:
* Creating a people-centred society
* Expanding the frontiers of human fulfilment
* Extending the frontiers of freedom
Today it is exactly the above values that we are celebrating. In that period, these were the achievements of the government that you overwhelmingly voted into power in 1994:
* 1,6 million houses have been built
* 700 new primary health clinics constructed
* 9 million received water
* 4,5 million children fed through Primary School Nutrition Programme
* 7,4 million people are now receiving social grants including 4 million children
* 56 000 school classrooms built to ensure that no children will learn under the trees.
As a commitment to improving quality of lives, we as government will continue to reduce poverty by creating work opportunities and building sustainable communities alongside consolidation of the social security system.
In his budget speech on Wednesday, 18 February 2004, the Minister of Finance, Mr Trevor Manuel, made available additional R19,7 billion to the provinces over the next three years to improve spending on education, health and social security grants.
As result, R65 billion will be spent on education. Another R41 billion will be spent on health. The budget to fight HIV and AIDS has increased to R26,3 billion whereas social security grants received R48 billion of which R19,8 billion goes to fund the extension of the child support grant. These increases allow government to announce that as from April 2004 pension and disability grants values will go up by R40 to R740 and the child support grant will be R170 a month.
To expedite the process of transferring land to its rightful owners, and enabling those that have recently resettled on the land of their forefathers and want to pursue agriculture, government made available R750 million to provincial departments of agriculture to provide comprehensive agricultural support to developing farmers.
These are few of the many things that this government has done, to improve the lives of people. Closer to home, my Department has spent the last 10 years visiting rural areas of KwaZulu-Natal to built basic, but essential infrastructure, again to improve lives of our people.
Since 1994, the Department has spent more that R2 billion to build infrastructure like the one we are launching here today. We have created job opportunities for more than 160 000 people in the rural areas of KwaZulu-Natal, Eastern Cape, Limpopo, Mpumalanga, Free State and North West through community-owned projects exceeding 4000 in number.
The legacy of apartheid is however, bigger and deeper than we could have originally anticipated. Despite the fact that we have been growing our economy steadily over the past ten years, this economy has been unable to create enough jobs for most of our people, thereby leaving many outside the job market. In response, the President, Mr Thabo Mbeki, announced a programme of Expanded Public Works Programme to create jobs through applying labour intensive methods in most government procurement for services and infrastructure.
EPWP is one of many interventions by government to address unemployment and create necessary skills in the process. The programme is targeting to provide jobs for at least one million people in the first five years of its existence. Provinces and local municipalities will be identifying most of the work and projects available, and my Department will be co-ordinating that. Again as government we are building a contract with the people to create jobs and fight poverty.
Today we are here at Kwa Machi, to continue delivering that which we have been dutifully doing since you elected us. We are not prepared to reduce speed. We have set our sights onto the next ten years, and we know that the new stretch of the journey to 2014 start here at Kwa Machi.
We heard your cries, we responded, not only as government but as your partners in community development and growth. My department today is presenting hope to the people of Kwa Machi in the form of a R1,2 million investments for the construction of the Vukuzakhe Community Development Centre. This is the centre, I believe, where women will ply their trade and produce garments and other crafts to celebrate the beautiful heritage of this place and make income for themselves and their families.
Other than this structure which the people of Kwa Machi demanded and prioritised, I am very much aware of other pressing needs that this community is crying our for. You have said it yourself that you will want to see government mobilise further resources to:
* Bring electricity to this area
* Build a school in the area of Xambu
* Finalise the road construction of Road P58
* Build a Sportsfield and a Youth Centre at Phumuza as well as
* A Multi-Purpose Community Centre at eMbangweni
Without making promises, I am making a commitment to relay these requests to my colleagues, Ministers Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, S'bu Ndebele, and Balfour Ngconde, among others. I shall also request Minister Dumisane Makhaye of Agriculture here in the province to look at the condition of this milling facility that you claim has never worked since it was built five years ago.
We like to thank the people of Kwa Machi for their pro-activity in co-operating with government to bring about community development. The people of Vukuzakhe are really living up to their name. In a similar gesture, President Mbeki has said time and again before that a lot of our people can only be improved if government build a social contract with the communities and people themselves to create jobs, reduce poverty and improve the quality of lives. He called this gesture Vukuzenzele and reminded us that we need the spirit of Ilima to drive it forward.
It is an honour and a privilege for me to turn the first sod for the construction of the R1,2 million Vukuzakhe Community Development Centre for the people of Inkosi uMachi.
I thank you.
Issued by Department of Public Works
22 February 2004
Source: Department of Public Works
Title: S Sigcau: Sod-turning ceremony for Vukuzakhe Community Centre
ADDRESS BY MINISTER SN SIGCAU AT THE LAYING OF THE FOUNDATION STONE AND THE SOD-TURNING CEREMONY FOR THE VUKUZAKHE COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT CENTRE, KWA MACHI, 22 February 2004
Inkosi uMachi
The MEC for Public Works in KwaZulu-Natal, Mr Mike Mabuyakhulu
The Chairperson of Public Works Portfolio Committee in KwaZulu Natal, Doctor Meshack Hadebe
Member of National Parliament, Ms Ruth Bhengu
Local Councillors
Ladies and Gentlemen.
This year in 2004 we are celebrating ten years of democracy and freedom. Sceptics may wonder and ask: what is there to celebrate? Our answer is always simple and direct; we have a lot to celebrate about.
Ten years ago the first President of a democratically elected South Africa, Mr Nelson Mandela, committed his government to the following values:
* Creating a people-centred society
* Expanding the frontiers of human fulfilment
* Extending the frontiers of freedom
Today it is exactly the above values that we are celebrating. In that period, these were the achievements of the government that you overwhelmingly voted into power in 1994:
* 1,6 million houses have been built
* 700 new primary health clinics constructed
* 9 million received water
* 4,5 million children fed through Primary School Nutrition Programme
* 7,4 million people are now receiving social grants including 4 million children
* 56 000 school classrooms built to ensure that no children will learn under the trees.
As a commitment to improving quality of lives, we as government will continue to reduce poverty by creating work opportunities and building sustainable communities alongside consolidation of the social security system.
In his budget speech on Wednesday, 18 February 2004, the Minister of Finance, Mr Trevor Manuel, made available additional R19,7 billion to the provinces over the next three years to improve spending on education, health and social security grants.
As result, R65 billion will be spent on education. Another R41 billion will be spent on health. The budget to fight HIV and AIDS has increased to R26,3 billion whereas social security grants received R48 billion of which R19,8 billion goes to fund the extension of the child support grant. These increases allow government to announce that as from April 2004 pension and disability grants values will go up by R40 to R740 and the child support grant will be R170 a month.
To expedite the process of transferring land to its rightful owners, and enabling those that have recently resettled on the land of their forefathers and want to pursue agriculture, government made available R750 million to provincial departments of agriculture to provide comprehensive agricultural support to developing farmers.
These are few of the many things that this government has done, to improve the lives of people. Closer to home, my Department has spent the last 10 years visiting rural areas of KwaZulu-Natal to built basic, but essential infrastructure, again to improve lives of our people.
Since 1994, the Department has spent more that R2 billion to build infrastructure like the one we are launching here today. We have created job opportunities for more than 160 000 people in the rural areas of KwaZulu-Natal, Eastern Cape, Limpopo, Mpumalanga, Free State and North West through community-owned projects exceeding 4000 in number.
The legacy of apartheid is however, bigger and deeper than we could have originally anticipated. Despite the fact that we have been growing our economy steadily over the past ten years, this economy has been unable to create enough jobs for most of our people, thereby leaving many outside the job market. In response, the President, Mr Thabo Mbeki, announced a programme of Expanded Public Works Programme to create jobs through applying labour intensive methods in most government procurement for services and infrastructure.
EPWP is one of many interventions by government to address unemployment and create necessary skills in the process. The programme is targeting to provide jobs for at least one million people in the first five years of its existence. Provinces and local municipalities will be identifying most of the work and projects available, and my Department will be co-ordinating that. Again as government we are building a contract with the people to create jobs and fight poverty.
Today we are here at Kwa Machi, to continue delivering that which we have been dutifully doing since you elected us. We are not prepared to reduce speed. We have set our sights onto the next ten years, and we know that the new stretch of the journey to 2014 start here at Kwa Machi.
We heard your cries, we responded, not only as government but as your partners in community development and growth. My department today is presenting hope to the people of Kwa Machi in the form of a R1,2 million investments for the construction of the Vukuzakhe Community Development Centre. This is the centre, I believe, where women will ply their trade and produce garments and other crafts to celebrate the beautiful heritage of this place and make income for themselves and their families.
Other than this structure which the people of Kwa Machi demanded and prioritised, I am very much aware of other pressing needs that this community is crying our for. You have said it yourself that you will want to see government mobilise further resources to:
* Bring electricity to this area
* Build a school in the area of Xambu
* Finalise the road construction of Road P58
* Build a Sportsfield and a Youth Centre at Phumuza as well as
* A Multi-Purpose Community Centre at eMbangweni
Without making promises, I am making a commitment to relay these requests to my colleagues, Ministers Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, S'bu Ndebele, and Balfour Ngconde, among others. I shall also request Minister Dumisane Makhaye of Agriculture here in the province to look at the condition of this milling facility that you claim has never worked since it was built five years ago.
We like to thank the people of Kwa Machi for their pro-activity in co-operating with government to bring about community development. The people of Vukuzakhe are really living up to their name. In a similar gesture, President Mbeki has said time and again before that a lot of our people can only be improved if government build a social contract with the communities and people themselves to create jobs, reduce poverty and improve the quality of lives. He called this gesture Vukuzenzele and reminded us that we need the spirit of Ilima to drive it forward.
It is an honour and a privilege for me to turn the first sod for the construction of the R1,2 million Vukuzakhe Community Development Centre for the people of Inkosi uMachi.
I thank you.
Issued by Department of Public Works
22 February 2004
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