Issued by: Gauteng Provincial Government
SPEECH BY PREMIER TOKYO SEXWALE AT THE CLOSING CEREMONY OF THE 4TH LEGISLATIVE YEAR OF THE GAUTENG LEGISLATURE
Friday, 12 December 1997
The national democratic breakthrough of April 1994 - our collective victory as South Africans - brought in its wake national unity, democratic legality based on a sound constitution, national soul searching and reconciliation to begin to heal national wounds, it opened the door towards the vast opportunities of economic prosperity and repositioned South Africa as an equal amongst the community of civilized nations.
Within this context we in this House were tasked with the duty of ensuring that our province played its role as a part of South Africa for the realization of the national democratic effort.
This we were expected to do within the soft boundaries of the province of Gauteng which occupies 1,6% of south Africa's national territory, which accounts for close to 40% of its entire GDP and 60% of the national revenue. Due to its small size and population density - 10 times more than the national average - this province is also the epicentre of sprawling overcrowding, vast unemployment, gruelling poverty and consequently the breeding ground of many social problems, not least of all crime.
Consequently, the greatest challenges were and still are in the areas of Health, Education, Housing and Safety & Security.
Notwithstanding, this Province is the economic dynamo of South Africa which encompasses the largest manufacturing sector, the most viable financial institutions, the Reserve Bank, the Development Bank of southern Africa as well as the Johannesburg Stock Exchange where large volumes of trade occurs.
Gauteng is also the capital province in that the cities of Pretoria and Johannesburg - which are the political and commercial capitals of South Africa respectively - are both located here, not to mention the 50 other towns and local areas within our boundaries.
With a very highly developed and complex infrastructure in roads and transport networks, telecommunication systems and several airports this province sits comfortably as the Gateway both to South and Southern Africa.
However, in the industrial and development strategy that our cabinet arrived at, we concluded that due to the decline in mining and the relocation of heavy industry, Gauteng must be repositioned to become a smart province, if it has to continue as the economic powerhouse of our country within the context of the broader macro-economic strategies for development.
This implied that the focus is to be on the smart technologies which include Telecommunications, advanced research centres, electrical and electronic components, smart cards in banking and other financial services, internationally competitive and cutting edge technologies and products for industrial and consumer utilisation, advanced motor vehicle industries and biotechnologies, aerospace industries and last but not least to become the centre of technologies associated with informatics which promises to become a key industry within the next millennium.
As we developed this strategy it became obvious that for this province to carry this highly complex level of economic sophistication there is an urgent need to build upon the levels of a well skilled and well schooled workforce. This objective calls for a broader strategy around the development of human capital. Therefore the challenge for Gauteng to make a positive contribution in South Africa's competitiveness within the global market is to apply our minds beyond the mere question of the beneficiation of things towards the beneficiation of the people themselves. The former depends on the latter. In this respect the future challenge lies on the optimal utilisation of the centres and institutions of learning within this province which includes, inter alia, six universities, five technikons, over 2 000 secondary and primary schools and numerous training centres located within the private sector, many of which are under-utilised. It therefore saddens us that in the next financial year Gauteng may experience budget cuts in education where the requirement of funds is the most, if this medium to long-term strategy is to be realised.
Challenges facing Government
Overall as government here in Gauteng we were forever cognisant of the strict restrictions imposed upon us by budget constraints in the area of the delivery of essential services. for that reason we realised that the critical question beyond the mere provision of basics such as health care, housing and education is to ensure that there is sustained economic activity for the most critical of all needs by the people - the creation of sustainable job opportunities. It is for this reason that we regularly broke out of our normal diary schedules, in the footsteps of national leaders to attract trade and investments into South Africa in general and Gauteng in particular.
It is not for me to speak about the achievements of government in respect of all these things - that is the duty of this House and the people at large. My task today is to remind us of the challenges and signposts that lie ahead.
1. Our mission is to continue the Drive against Poverty, as government, the private sector, non-governmental organisations including organs of civil society. In this respect we ned to be reminded that the RDP is not merely a programme for government but for society at large.
2. To strive for sustainable economic growth and development within province and country and the improvement of trade links amongst communities and provinces within South Africa, regional co-operation within SADC, and understanding our role within the Global Economic Village.
3. To play an active role together with all the local government councils for the improvement of basic physical infrastructure, particularly in those communities which were on the wrong side of the railway line during apartheid years. In this respect the Gauteng strategy on development planning is vital.
4. To strive for the broadening of the provision of education in order to equip our constituencies not only for the 21st century but for the reality of the changes and developmental needs of our own country. In this regard we ought to continue to encourage our children and students to consider mathematics, the sciences and new technologies as vital for the future and to encourage them beyond literacy into the arena of computeracy.
5. Regarding the safety and security of all citizens the challenge is to continue with campaigns against criminality, to view with distaste shoddy police investigations, inept prosecutions, insensitive judgements which give easy bail or light sentences and to be horrified by those who collude with criminals in jail-breaks.
6. We are challenged to recommit our government beyond political democracy to economic democracy, beyond the flags, symbols, coats of arms, national anthems, national parliament and provincial legislatures, state protocols and mayoral chains of office towards black economic empowerment which includes skills training, job creation, development of black business, the development of rural areas and black farmers, the development of women, the youth, and so on.
7. This House has the responsibility to continue to produce people-sensitive legislation via the outstanding debates symbolised by the sharpness and sometimes harshness of critiques but nevertheless with the respectfulness that one has experienced from all members of all the seven political parties here represented.
8. We are expected to strengthen our partnerships with NGOs and the corporate sector, especially in respect of Welfare, in order to safeguard a strong safety net for those of our citizens who often fall through the crack - the poorest of the destitute.
9. We ought to ensure that the number one achievement by all of us in this legislature - political stability and peace - is jealously guarded so that it must be impossible to return to the days of the train violence, hostel mayhems, Shell House shootings, armed marches, Boipatong massacres, squatter camp killings, political assassinations, car bomb explosions and militarised right-wing fanaticism. All these must remain horrors of the past.
10. A greater challenge within government is to sustain the image and content of a relatively clean administration driven by anti-corruption strategies underpinned not by investigation after-the-fact, but by viable early detection systems, sound financial management, adequate internal auditing mechanisms to continue to keep away the monster of nepotism, favouritism, grime and sleaze, which are anathema to the culture, new ethics, values and standards we have together agreed upon.
11. the campaign must continue for the consolidation of centres of excellence within our public administration in line with the national call of Batho Pele - People First. The Service Excellence Awards we have initiated merely serve the purpose to encourage members of our administration. Nonetheless it is the desire to serve people better that must spur us more.
12. In policy formulation we need to draw in more intellectuals and professionals located in the various centres within industry and at institutions of higher learnings, inasmuch as we must continue to touch base with the ordinary people who will be more affected by the practice of our policies.
13. Regarding the rights of citizens under the Constitution it is important for government to continue to popularise the constitutional oversight institutions to the common people which include the Constitutional Court, the Public Protector, Human Rights Commission, Gender Commission, Youth Commission, and our own Public Participation Committee in this Legislature - not excluding the third Estate. It is important for people to know that there is recourse where their rights may be trampled afoot.
14. Regarding Co-operative Governance, a concept proposed by this House during the constitutional debates involving national government, it is our responsibility to continue to play a positive role within various government structures, especially the National Council of Provinces, (NCOP) as well as the Gauteng Association of Local Authorities (GALA).
15. Realising that within the economy the task of government is essentially, to create the requisite facilitative climate for domestic and foreign investors to risk their funds, we therefore have to continue under the Gauteng Economic Development Agency (GEDA) to give assurances t the business community not only regarding our understanding of the business environment, but also to demonstrate our sensitivity to the needs of business for them to create more jobs: yet we must put the obligation upon them to uphold civilised labour practices. Ours is a government not only sensitive to the needs of business but also to the aspirations of the working people.
16. Lastly on these challenges ours must be a government that continues to strike a balance - the balance between the fears and concerns of minorities and the need for effective democratic rule by the majority; a balance between the lingering white anxieties and black aspirations for empowerment and development; a balance between sensitivity to the views and criticisms of the opposition and the need for the ruling party, the ANC, to govern in line with its ballot-box given mandate; to strike a balance between the interests of the wealthy and the prosperity of the poor; a balance between Houghton and Daveyton, Phola Park and Reiger Park, Azaadville and Rosettenville.
We have travelled from far
In the beginning there was PWV - acronym that had not relevance to the culture of the people. Together we have established Gauteng as a brand new province with Johannesburg as its brand new capital city. We have created this House as a brand new legslature, with a brand new cabinet which constituted primarily black South Africans who until April 1994 had no personal experience in government. We have established a new public administration with excellence as its bottom line. We have given the people of this province a common sense of identity as Gautengers/Gautengees within a broader South African rainbow nation.
Together we positioned this province as a leader and follower in many respects and projected it as part of South Africa, the new economic growth centre.
Together we abhorred and mourned the sorrows of this province as evidenced by certain violent crimes including high-jackings and rapes perpetrated by people with sick minds who are social misfits: but we have also celebrated the joys of this province as represented by the artistic, cultural and sporting activities of a provincial, national and international nature as popularised by Bafana-Bafana, Amaboko-boko, Amakroko-kroko, Amaglug-glug and Ama-so on!
On the diplomatic front we signed many strategic agreements with equally important provinces or states of several foreign countries: as government we played host to several kings and queens, presidents and prime ministers, bishops and two popes, governors and parliamentarians, foreign ministers and foreign business leaders, sporting personalities and other dignitaries. All these experienced our hospitality. But as ought to be, it is the ordinary citizens of this country and Gauteng that deserve such hospitality even more.
Together we have established Gauteng Inc. a subsidiary of our national holding company as a going concern. It now has a life of its own, based on the principle of continuity. the shareholders, our people, must not only know that their lot is safe with us but must be continuously assured that this House regards their interest as uppermost.
Since april 194 we were tasked with many responsibilities to provide health care, many clinics have been built, so have school gates been thrown open to all our children, satellite police stations erected where communities in the past knew of no such service, water to people who had hitherto never seen a tap: many thousands of houses have been built for people who might otherwise have never had a home to own in a lifetime; dignity is being restored to our old aged pensioners who otherwise used to die of fatigue in long queues; hundreds of kilometres of electrical and telecommunication lines are being laid on the ground to bring power and information to far-flung communities, access roads and highway offramps have been built for transport to reach communities who were on the sidelines of sophisticated motorways; school feeding schemes have mushroomed as we provide the Mandela sandwich to children whose constant companion was the endless pangs of hunger; sporting facilities are being restored and new ones built in areas like Soweto where 2 million people shared on swimming pool.
We have travelled from far
There are many challenges ahead, for not everything we did or tried was a success. In some instances we did not realise our objective, knowing very well that three years of rule cannot eradicate three hundred years of misrule. Nevertheless it is at such a moment that leadership must account for under-achievement. It is common practice for people to want to be associated only with success. Quite understandably success is the child of many fathers yet failures is an orphan.
I wish to personally associate myself not only with the good work we have done but with the many unfinished tasks or failures wherever they may be within my administration. I can only pray and hope that my able successor shall see these not as obstacles in the way but as challenges to overcome.
Special thanks
Let me conclude by indicating that I shall be ever thankful to all the people of Gauteng for the support they gave to this House, the Cabinet and to me personally.
Special thanks also to members of the business community who were always on hand and were willing to put their diaries aside to accompany us during foreign travels in search of new trade and investment opportunities for Gauteng in particular and South Africa in general.
Other special thanks go to all members of the diplomatic community who have always been helpful whenever we had to travel to their countries or when their countrymen visited ours - especially the province of Gauteng.
To all in this House I extend my large embrace, and fondest regards during this special season of festivities. Yours is a well deserved rest from which I hope your families shall benefit. I trust that you will return energised to carry on with the important tasks of this House. But as you return I shall have departed on a chosen path to travel a new road, a lonely road not yet well travelled in the economic arena, where a new terrain of struggle awaits us. With me I shall carry warm thoughts and fond memories as well as instructive lessons from all of you.
As Premier I have always been your devoted student for I always knew that I could see as far as I could simply because I stood on the shoulders of giants like yourselves. Even during difficult times I could always count on the suppot of this House irrespective of the different political positions held by the various parties. For that I thank all of you - particularly my comrades within the African National Congress.
I wish you all good speed and God speed.