Issued by: North West Communication Service
AN ADDRESS BY NORTH WEST PREMIER POPO MOLEFE AT THE OFFICIAL OPENING OF THE NEDCOR-GENESIS WORKSHOP AT TYGERKLOOF 08 OCTOBER 1996
This ceremony marks yet another achievement in the proud history of Tyger Kloof. It is my personal pleasure, and that of my colleagues, to associate ourselves with such an important event which in our view marks a people's quest for excellence. Around this time last year, we were proud to join the Tyger Kloof Board, Nedcor, the Genesis Foundation, past and present students, and the people of Vryburg and Taung, in celebrating the rebirth of this legendary institution, a giant in its own right.
In that ceremony, we retraced the footprints of the many great leaders who traversed the length and breadth of colonised Africa to drink in this fountain of knowledge. We also combined sentiment with a new commitment to strengthen the fountain for use by the present and future generations, so that they too can quench their thirst for knowledge, skills and development.
As we stand here today, we are happy to see that at the heart of Tyger Kloof is an abiding commitment to people, and a burning desire to help them realise their hopes and aspirations. That the school itself and the workshop were built by the same people it has committed itself to serve, is evidence that many of our people have fully grasped the fact that they are both bricklayers and beneficiaries of reconstruction and development. It is apparent that Tyger Kloof and everybody associated with it, understand fully that human resource development is an indispensable requirement for development. It is not only one of the five pillars of the RDP, but also, its central pillar, because of the very deliberate way in which past political policies underdeveloped the education and skill base of the black majority, especially the rural communities.
The workshop and the kind of training it offers enshrines hope for full employment-with a rising standard of living for its trainees. The involvement of the Building Federation of South Africa and the fact that it accredits the graduates, is an important contribution to the job creation goal of the RDP. It shows a commitment to the creation and development of productive employment, and a sensitivity to the urgent needs of the community.
In Tyger Kloof, the government has valuable partners who share a common belief that the provision of education and training must be linked to the development of human resources, our greatest asset and source of national wealth.
Without massive and consistent investment in our human resources, we will not achieve the economic development and growth that we need to ensure a productive growth.
The problems associated with unemployment in local areas are such that we need vigorous skills upgrading programmes, especially for the most disadvantaged sectors of our society, in particular women, youth and the disabled.
This upgrading must be fundamentally integrated with the democratisation of economic activity and job creation.
The government is committed to the development of a new labour market policy which is the product of NEDLAC, a structure that represents employers organizations, trade union and other organs of civil society, and in terms of which the skills acquired are nationally recognised all form part of the National Qualifications Framework.
Through the Department of Labour, the government is looking into putting in place mechanisms which will identify areas of decreasing labour needs and identify new opportunities where more people can gain useful and meaningful employment.
These mechanisms will ensure that workers whose employment is threatened by the introduction of new technology, restructuring or the decline of certain major sectors, such as in the mining industry for instance, are actively assisted and encouraged to develop the knowledge and skills needed to move to new areas of work.
Secondly, the policy must encourage the integration of training education and adult education into a national system of qualification and accreditation which allows people to transfer credits between the different systems, which is recognised and accredited by employers.
We believe that human resources must be developed and directed to areas of social and economic need including rural development. In this context, upon completion of training, graduates should be deployed in their communities so that they can feed back into the community the skills that they have acquired. Communities must be encouraged to make use of the pool of skills thus created and play an active role in identifying social needs, such as basic infrastructure, which can be met, cost effectively, by the new skills base.
We are confident that Tyger Kloof is miles ahead of many institutions in answering the demands of our new society. It is an oasis in the desert that cries our for massive human resources development programmes. The workshop is going to rcise the productive skills of the individual, to produce something that society needs. For many, it is going to be the difference between employment and unemployment, hope and despondency, interest and apathy.
The patriotism of Nedcor and the generosity of the Genesis Foundation combine with the enthusiasm of our adult students to sustain a worthy endeavour directed at the development of the individual and society.
Opportunities for lifelong learning are going to ensure the expansion both of the economy and of democracy in the community through active and informed participation of skilled people. On behalf of the provincial cabinet and the people of the North West, it is my pleasure to declare this workshop officially open.