Issued by: North West Communication Service
SPEECH BY THE PREMIER OF NORTH WEST PROVINCE POPO MOLEFE AT THE MASAKHANE SUMMIT AT THE CONVENTION CENTRE IN MMABATHO ON TUESDAY DECEMBER 5, 1995.
The political transformation of South Africa, and the subsequent establishment of a democratic constitutional dispensation, came about as a result of hard work by the majority of the citizens of this country.
It is as a result of collective effort of our society that we no longer live under a system which actively pursued political and social policies which were responsible for extreme levels of poverty, under development and instability.
The basic objectives of establishing this new democratic government was to achieve for all South Africans the right to political and economic self-determination in a united country.
That right is now firmly in the hands of all men, women and children, and it is enshrined in the constitution. The feeling is strong in all corners of the country that South Africa belongs to all who live in it.
The successful holding of the local government elections of last month has consolidated the process of the democratisation of the institutions of government and has thereby made sure that at all levels of our government representatives were elected by the people, answerable to the people and for the benefit of the people as a whole.
The fact that the local structures are peopled by those who were the direct choice of the grassroots is a translation of one of the principles of the Freedom Charter into concrete reality: "the people shall govern." This is in stark difference to the unrepresentative governments of before, where leadership positions were held by elitist power hungry personalities whose election was made possible by dubious associations with certain elements in power. In contrast our institutions of government are legitimate, representative and fully inclusive.
Whereas the people have achieved political freedom, the work has only started to undo the legacy of inequality and injustice which was created by colonialism and apartheid. Past minority governments and their bantustan foot soldiers have pursued deliberate political and social policies which have resulted in massive under development, extreme levels of poverty and disease, especially in the rural areas; the creation of township ghettos where people have been denied even the most basic means of survival as a result of severely limited access to decent homes, electricity, sewerage, tarred roads and recreational facilities.
To cite a recent example there are certain areas in this province where there are whole villages who do not appear on any map; like Grasfontein and Slapa; people there lack even the most basic services: the simplest clinic, not even one public bus, not even a primary school, not even one borehole.
The state of non development in these villages is an unbelievable demonstration of how wicked apartheid was.
This state of affairs is a challenge that is facing the government and the society of this province to develop a sustainable economy and state infrastructure that will radically improve the quality of life of the close to 2 million people of the rural areas on whose shoulders the big solid rock of apartheid is balanced.
To defeat apartheid for once and for all, it is the duty of all government structures, organisations of civil society and the private sector to put in place strategies that will eradicate injustice and inequality in a progressive and principled manner.
The Reconstruction and Development Programme is the socioeconomic transformation policy framework some objectives of which are to mobilise all the people and the country's resources to address the economic imbalances and uneven development within the society, and at the same time meet the basic needs of our people. This is a dynamic and coherent policy framework, and any strategy to address the needs of our people has to be based within the parameters of this programme.
One of these RDP strategies is the Masakhane/A re aganeng campaign which seeks to mobilise government institutions and ership in the task of building a strong and imaginative socioeconomic order which will have the capacity to remove inequality and injustice.
WHAT ROLE OUR COMMUNITIES
As I have said at the beginning, our people fought hard for the removal of the unrepresentative and corrupt apartheid structures of the past, and some of the strategies and campaigns they employed was the withholding of rentals, payments for bond and service charges.
The boycotts were fully justifiable in view of the fact that the funds they were paying into the coffers of the local authorities, were used by town and city councils to bring better services to areas which were reserved for whites, and to finance clandestine destabilisation shenanigans and were not used to benefit the areas in which the ratepayers lived. The more our people paid, the more the apartheid machinery grew, yet services rendered deteriorated to unacceptable levels.
Those efforts of our people have achieved what they were meant to achieve: the removal of apartheid institution-s and the establishment of democratically-elected structures which are fully representative, accountable and transparent. The legitimacy of the process which gave birth to these local government structures is not in question.
It is reasonable for the poor and those historically marginalised to expect these new local structures to deliver houses, land, water, electricity, health care and quality education. And the delivery of this state infrastructure and community facilities such as recreation, sport and refuse removal fall within the powers and functions of the local authorities.
But it should be emphasised that it will not be possible to deliver on these basic needs unless all who have a stake in this process deliver on their share of the bargain. Communities and individuals have to meet their obligations to service providers and to take responsibility for the development of their areas.
THE DELIVERY PROCESS THUS FAR MEETING BASIC NEEDS
(i) Due to budgetary constraints and the scarcity of government resources, not all needs and expectations can be met adequately and timeously. Prioritisation is an important element in the Reconstruct~n and Development of our communities and the provision of the most urgent needs.
Thus priority has been given to villages where the shortage of water was most acute through the Rural Water Supply Project - to a total of 81 villages at the cost of R23 million. Electrification through the Agang Le Tshume Project which brought electricity to many areas including Leeudoringstad, Wolmaranstad, Sekampaneng, Dilopye, Suruman, Tsitsing, Ramatlabama, Ganyesa and many others. The creation of food plots for the cultivation of vegetables in pilot areas such as Ventersdorp. The building of and repairs to schools; the classroom building project is proceeding well in many historically marginalised areas. A clinic-building project is under way in Lomanyaneng, Motlhabeng, Sekampaneng and a number of villages where the need was most acutely felt.
The Community Based Public Works Programme has been able to create 3000 jobs, and the number is increasing with each project.
These projects are also part of the capacity building package, so that the workers are armed with life skills to stand them in good stead at the end of the projects. The stimulation of service infrastructure by way of modernising sewerage and toilet facilities in Coligny, Wolmaranstad, Bloemhof and Fochville.
(ii) Stimulating economic development
The government of national unity places great premium on the development of small and micro enterprises, and believes this sector is the vehicle to the economic empowerment of the largely unskilled unemployed of our population; To this end the government is mobilising established businesses such as the mining industry to extend certain services and products to local communities, instead of contracting them outside the province % for example welding and metal works, catering, textile works and tailoring repair to machinery, food supply, cleaning services and tuck shop contracts, we believe should contracted to local communities.
(ii) In addition, the government is in the process of restructuring the North West Development Corporation so that the corporation can give training, finance, advice and infrastructural support to emerging entrepreneurs on an improved scale. Regional offices have been opened in new regions such as Vryburg, Klerksdorp and Potchefstroom.
Furthermore, the corporation is going to have counselling services and negotiate new markets on a continuous basis for its clients.
(iii) Existing jobs were saved and new ones are definitely going to be created with the repairing and reconstructing of the major shopping malls of Mega City, Central City and Temba City.
MOBILISING COMMUNITIES
It is the duty of all residents to make the process of social development and economic empowerment a success, by paying for service charges, bond obligations and rentals. This will have a positive impact on the RDP in the following ways:
(i) It will create a climate that is amenable to foreign and local investment in housing, industry, education, electrification, health care, roads etc. (ii) It will create jobs by stimulating the building our infrastructure. (iii) It will maintain stability and peace and protect our new democracy. (iv) It will accelerate the delivery of basic services and housing, and (v) it will retard migration and encourage local development.
To meet this challenge of involving our people in their own development, creative and dynamic strategies have to be found by which local authorities could keep the trust and loyalty of the communities they serve.
Conditions and systems have to be put in place to accelerate the payment of service charges. Local authorities have to remain democratic, accountable and effective. Community participation should be guaranteed at all times. Information must be at the disposal of all citizens and at all times Lastly, corruption must be eschewed by all councillors.