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Date : 21/02/2003
Source: Western Cape Provincial Government
Title: Van Schalkwyk: State of the Province Address - Western Cape


OPENING OF THE PROVINCIAL PARLIAMENT ADDRESS BY WESTERN CAPE PREMIER, MR MARTHINUS VAN SCHALKWYK, 21 February 2003

IKAPA ELIHLUMAYO: HOPE, DELIVERY & DIGNITY FOR THE NEXT DECADE

Madame Speaker, Honoured guests, Colleagues, Ladies and Gentlemen

2003 has started in the same way that 2002 ended - on a high-note. I would like to warmly congratulate Cape Town, Knysna, and Montagu on having been voted best South African city, town, and village of the year.

Introduction - Ten Years of Democracy

On 27 April 2003 we will enter the tenth year of South African democracy. In the Western Cape reflections on the past decade are shaped by the politics of coalition. When the Government of Provincial Unity came to an end in January 1998, a significant constituency in the province was not represented in provincial government until December 2001. The people and communities of the Western Cape therefore remained polarised and only limited progress was made to reconcile the historical divisions in our province.

Njengoko ngoku sisondela kunyaka weshumi wedemokrasi thina siyiNtshona Koloni sesimke kwaphela kwezamandulo - sikhokela indlela esinge kuxolelwaniso lokwenene ngoRhulumente obandakanya amele bonke abantu bephondo lethu.

Now, as we approach our tenth year of democracy, we in the Western Cape have finally and fully broken with the past - setting the tone for real reconciliation through an inclusive government representing all of the people of our province.

I would like specifically to thank Minister Rasool for leading his party into this Coalition of Hope.

The Next Decade

This year, 2003, the tenth year of our democracy, will be the year of implementation and delivery in the Western Cape. It will see the tabling of a caring budget aimed at economic growth and development. It will see widely expanded minimum welfare safety nets for those most in need. It will see us deepen and intensify our commitment to clean, open and accountable governance, rooting out corruption wherever it may occur. It will see greatly increased co-ordination between local, provincial, and national Government. It will mark the turning point in our battle against HIV/Aids. It will see the continuation of our efforts to unite the communities of the Western Cape as a single family - and to prove that coloured, white, black and Indian South Africans not only tolerate one another, but succeed best when working together. It will be the year in which we lay the strong foundations for the next decade and the next generation.

These are not, however, end-goals. We must not allow ourselves to be complacent with our many successes, because the real challenge is not 2003 or 2004 - it is instead the next ten and fifteen years. A good example of this is the pass-through rate in education. Last year the Western Cape matric pass rate of 86,5% was the highest ever, but the success masks deeper challenges, like the fact that only an estimated 63% of learners who enter our public school system at Grade 1 successfully complete primary school, and that only 25,5% eventually pass matric within the 12 year period. In effect, whilst more than eight of every ten matrics in our province pass Grade 12, just more than one out of four children who start school ever make it that far within the normal total schooling term. This translates into continued low skill levels among our people, made worse by wide racial disparities, and indefensibly so.

Hierdie en ander uitdagings in gebiede soos landbou, gesondheidsorg en ekonomiese ontwikkeling moet duidelik aangespreek word in die langer termyn. Dit is hoekom ons nou, bo en behalwe die uitdagings vir 2003, ook die planne vir die volgende tien, vyftien en twintig jaar in plek moet stel. Indien 'n volwasse demokrasie die resultaat is van die afgelope tien jaar, dan sal die herstel van hoop, lewering en menswaardigheid ons uitdagings wees vir die volgende dekade.

2003 - Year of Youth Empowerment in the Western Cape

We must ensure that young people, not even born by the 1994 crossroads, will look back on 2003 as the year in which we anchored their future. It is for this reason that I am declaring 2003 to be the Year of Youth Empowerment in the Western Cape.

Ikapa Elihlumayo

As Premier I have been proud to see the differences that we as a government are already making to the lives of our people. I have visited places like Kayamandi, Ladismith and Beaufort West where our projects in partnership with local and national Government are building major infrastructure for our communities; We have celebrated with men and women in Gugulethu whose lives have been given fresh hope by our anti-retroviral triple therapy pilot project; we have marked the opening of trauma rooms in communities like Belhar and Delft; we have been honoured to open a vital and modern new hospital in Eerste River and our new Institute for In-service Teacher Training in Kuilsriver; and we have seen the difference that more than 100 new ambulances have made to our emergency services. In these and so many other ways we are deepening our democracy by improving social delivery.

Although we have had many successes, of which we are proud, our single biggest challenge is to reproduce successes of this nature in every part of our province, in every community, in every household. In order to build a World Class Province which Cares, the Western Cape Government is adopting and embracing the concept of Ikapa Elihlumayo - Hope, Delivery, and Dignity for the next Decade.

In its broadest sense ikapa elihlumayo means growing and developing the Cape - creating prosperity for all - giving new hope. It is about restoring human dignity. It is the underlying principle which will drive our policies and our actions for the next decade. It is about caring, growth-oriented budgets, about proper skilling, about broadening the economic base and reducing the income gap, about creating new business opportunities and new jobs, about expanding wage employment, and about tabling a comprehensive package to stimulate growth in our economy.

Fiscal Discipline

To reach our objectives will demand of our provincial government focus, commitment, and unprecedented levels of fiscal discipline. For Government, living within our means without sacrificing our reputation for quality, will require change. This is especially true in priority areas like healthcare, education and social security. We must not, however, fear change - it will prove a major challenge for all of our Ministers but I am confident that they will rise to this challenge and give hope to the youth and the future of the Western Cape.

To successfully address the challenges of the next decade though, we must take stock of where we stand at present, and then chart our way forward. The ten strategic policy imperatives adopted by our Government in 2002 can be distilled into five pillars:

Firstly, the 'Battle Against HIV/Aids and other Health Challenges'

In order to build a world-class health care system for the people of this province, we last year launched a consultative process with all stakeholders on Healthcare 2010 - the evolving health care plan for the period up to 2010, which will be submitted to cabinet for consideration by March this year.

HIV/AIDS and Tuberculosis (TB) are priorities for Minister Piet Meyer and this Government. The Western Cape has implemented one of the largest HIV voluntary counselling and testing programmes in Africa - there are now 240 testing sites in the province. Our Health Department has obtained commitments from 50 major companies in the Western Cape to form HIV/AIDS partnerships with our Government, and it is planned to elicit their support to dramatically increase the number of testing sites.

Our mother-to-child-transmission prevention programme has also been extended to the extent that we will effectively achieve 100% coverage of pregnant women attending public maternity services before the end of this financial year. Thus thousands of babies will be saved from HIV/Aids, and we are on target to effectively eliminate paediatric Aids (babies born with Aids) by 2004.

Furthermore, a pilot programme for triple-therapy anti-retroviral treatment was launched in Gugulethu in July 2002, shifting our focus from purely looking at prevention to explore the options for treating people living with HIV/Aids. Our Government has a moral duty to intensify, deepen and expand our war on Aids.

An important focus for 2003-2004 will be the further implementation of a home-based care programme. This programme is targeted at every frail and infirm person throughout the province. Beneficiaries will include people with chronic diseases and disability, and those affected by HIV/AIDS and the terminally ill. The programme will be underpinned by the training of caregivers.

The second pillar is 'Real Economic Growth, and Job Creation'

Any government has two primary tools with which it can bring about positive change - its budget and its people. Both are resources which must grow and develop if they are to keep pace with our needs. The key to the success of ikapa elihlumayo is to identify and expand our key growth sectors, narrow the income gap, and broaden the economic base of the Western Cape.

In line with ikapa elihlumayo, Minister Rasool and our Department of Economic Development will be adopting a sectorally driven approach to regional economic development and growth.

One of our strongest growth sectors is tourism. Last year we set our targets to attract more visitors to the Cape regions, to lengthen their period of stay, and to encourage more expenditure - on balance it would seem we have more than met these targets. For the first time we have broken through the key barrier of 1 million overseas visitors in one year. The Western Cape received well over R4.5 billion from tourists over the recent festive season - a season which saw more than 290 000 overseas tourists visiting our province. We aim to attract 3 million overseas tourists annually by 2010, and to increase international tourism expenditure by visitors to the Western Cape to R40 billion (up from R9,7 billion in 1999). Domestic visitors (more than 1.3 million of them in December and January alone) spent an estimated R865 million during the festive season.

The marketing vision of Minister Johan Gelderblom and his Department is to place the Western Cape among the top 10 long-haul tourism destinations in the world by 2010. Our targets have the potential to create more than 250 000 new jobs. A total of R60 million has been budgeted this year, R30 million by the Province, and the rest from the City of Cape Town and other local authorities, for the development and promotion of Western Cape tourism.

To achieve these ambitious targets will require much hard work and innovation. Earlier this month our Provincial Cabinet approved, in principle, the drafting of a new Tourism Bill to create better synergy in our tourism industry.

It is also important for us to brand the Western Cape as a major conference and exhibition marketing destination. In the past year we also continued our support for the Cape Town International Convention Centre which is expected to inject R25 billion to GDP over ten years, and with international delegates alone expected to spend more than R135 million in the Western Cape during the first year of operations.

Minister McKenzie en sy Departement het hard gewerk om die Wes-Kaap 'n kultuur- en -sportmekka in Afrika te maak. Met W

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