Popo Molefe, Premier, North West Province

19 February 1999

Honourable Speaker of the Provincial Legislature
The Honourable Judge President
Honourable Chairperson of the House of Traditional Leaders
Honourable Members of the Provincial Legislature
Esteemed Guests
Ladies and Gentlemen

We are gathered here today almost five years since the inauguration of this legislature. This signifies the end of the first term of this house and the first democratic government.

We look back at the road that we have traversed with a measure of satisfaction and pride deriving from the sterling achievements we have made. Indeed, ours was a glorious and a historic first term of government by men and women who emerged from the struggle, from exile and from imprisonment without any experience of governance. The records of history will show that in just five years in office we delivered far more than any previous government in this country.

The transformation of South Africa from an apartheid state with its notorious record of human rights violation into a united, non-racial, non-sexist democracy has been a vision that guided this legislature and the government throughout its first term. An essential element of this transformation is the building of a better life for all.

Mr. Speaker, many of the honourable members will recall the inauguration of this legislature. It was characterised by a sense of excitement about the advent of democracy, anxiety as most of us did not know what governance entailed, and perplexity as we did not know where to start when we set out to draw up standing rules. However, one thing was common to all of us, namely, our commitment to serve the people to the best of our ability.

As we took oath before the Judge President, we made a solemn pledge, individually and collectively, to contribute to the development of this country and its people. We pledged to build a better life for all our people - black and white, especially the rural poor, women, the disabled and the youth.

These elements of our national agenda of building the nation, transforming the society and improving the lives of our people provided an overarching philosophical framework and a context for the assessment of our first term of government.

Apart from all the elected representatives of the people gathered in this august house, there are hundreds and thousands, perhaps even millions of individuals and several institutions which assisted us, and without whose support we could not have achieved as much as we did.

I wish to thank all of them for assisting us in turning our objectives into deliverables.

Ladies and gentlemen of the media, you have indeed thrived within the reality of a free society that we have created. I must also thank you for always being quick to point out our shortcomings while also endeavouring to inform the public about the work of this legislature and the executive.

Mr Speaker, as I did on 6 March 1998, I once again express my appreciation and that of my party to you and commend you on the excellent manner in which you, the Deputy Speaker, Secretary of the Legislature and your entire staff managed the affairs of this house. Furthermore, we are indebted to the chairpersons of portfolio committees and their members for the fantastic manner in which they facilitated our work.

We reserve our very special thanks for the greatest son of our soil, President Nelson Mandela as he retires from the public office. We salute him for what he has done for this country and our people. His astute leadership, conviction and statesmanship in promoting peace and reconciliation will remain eternally in the collective memory of humanity. We know only too well that he will continue as an elder statesman to guide us as we strive to rid humanity of its worst enemies: tyranny, poverty, disease and violence.

Honourable members, I am almost certain that every one of you will join me and the rest of the country as we bring sincere and profound tribute to President Nelson Mandela. We recall with fondness and great emotion his revolutionary contribution to the creation of our nascent democracy and the patient, yet tenacious manner in which he pursued the interrelated objectives of nation building and reconciliation.

President Mandela is a leader with rare and unique qualities. History has known very few talented and visionary leaders like him. True, to the humility that has become the hallmark of his inner character throughout the many years of struggle he would not accept that which we claim for him. He believes in collective leadership, a culture that derives from the traditions of the African National Congress, which spanned 87 years.

Despite his rare qualities, everything he did was inspired by the policies of the African National Congress. This puts pay to the created misconception that policies are attributable to individuals in isolation from the political parties to which they belong and to which they owe allegiance.

Some confused commentators who fail to understand the dialectical relationship between the party and its leader have asked us what is going to happen after President Mandela? What our policies will be?

Our answer is very simple, all of us in the ruling party and the opposition groups accept as a given that Deputy President Mbeki will become the President of this country. Even though he is not another President Mandela, Deputy President Mbeki is unquestionably a man of great intellectual ability, a leader and a visionary with very few equals. South Africa is fortunate to have him as a successor to that giant of a man, President Mandela.

Others have been as naïve as to suggest that the Deputy President, the man who throughout his life believed in non-racialism and was regarded as a pragmatist before and during the entire CODESA process, has almost overnight and in a mysterious way suddenly become a narrow Africanist. Their motives are not difficult to understand.

They are hoping to create uncertainties in the minds of the gullible white electorate by using the Deputy President as a scarecrow. They are desperately trying to disparage him and to reduce the stature of the political party that he leads, because they believe that by so doing they can garner more votes for themselves. There are, however, some of our fellow white compatriots who might be genuinely concerned about the transition from President Mandela to the new President. We would wish to reassure them that we do not expect any fundamental change in the ANC and Government policies.

Deputy President Mbeki will carry on with the policies of reconciliation and nation building for two reasons. First, because they are not a private matter, rather they are a fundamental element of our national agenda. Second, because they are part of the policies and programmes of the African National Congress on whose mandate he acts. Therefore, what we will witness is what every serious minded South African expects which is accelerated transformation and service delivery.

The Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP), further elaborated in the national strategic vision, the Growth, Employment and Redistribution Strategy (GEAR) and our North West 2001 document represents a lodestar and a beacon that was to guide our government as we pursued our strategic goals.

From its inception, this government’s critical challenge has been to continuously translate our political gains into the material improvement of the lives of the people of this province.

We have pledged to build a better life for all. We are determined to,

• steer our economy in the direction of sustained growth and development;
• meet the basic needs of society;
• develop our human capital;
• transform the state machinery; and
• create an environment for reconstruction, development, reconciliation and nation building.

These principles remain the policy anchor on which all government programmes have been and will continue to be based. It is an integrated and sustainable vision for the creation of post apartheid society for which so many of our people sacrificed. Its ethos is founded on optimism that a better life for all our people is indeed attainable.

In this address, I will assess the distance we have travelled along the road that we mapped out and how far we still have to go.

It is also necessary for us to note the challenges that will face us in the second term of this legislature.

We inherited a legacy of apartheid characterised by levels of poverty, inequality and underdevelopment that run deep. Five years of governance is simply not enough to reverse the deeply entrenched social and economic inequalities of the past. This, notwithstanding, a lot has been achieved, and much more still needs to be done.

Like other countries in the world which have engaged in programmes of revolutionary transformation, South Africa is challenged to great sacrifice in the battle against poverty, economic marginalisation, social deprivation, and uneven resource distribution between rural and urban areas.

Historically, the area designated to become the future North West Province was cause for much concern, given its complexities and contradictions.

The geographical area was divided between the former Bophuthatswana homeland, the former Transvaal Provincial Administration and the former Cape Provincial Administration. It had a high concentration of right-wing elements with a resulting polarisation of the population.

In Bophuthatswana, development was concentrated around its capital Mmabatho where the regime created a privileged elite at the expense of the large rural population which sunk into abject poverty. This and many more problems of apartheid social engineering represent our historical legacy.

To reverse this situation and improve the quality of life of our people, we adopted a vision that was informed by the fundamental principles of the Freedom Charter, the RDP and the GEAR strategy.

First, this vision identified a critical relationship between national, provincial and local spheres of governance.

Secondly, it identified the need for labour, business and government to join forces in dealing with the socio-economic challenges that faced us. It also identified as critical areas – poverty, unemployment, stagnant provincial growth, skewed income distribution, and a civil service in need of transformation.

Notwithstanding these difficulties, a lot has been achieved.

Mr Speaker, allow me to recount some of our achievements:

The successful integration of the three different administrations.

The transformation of the civil service from a bureaucratic edifice of repression and minority privilege to a professional institution dedicated to delivering services to all South Africans. To give effect to service delivery and transformation, the Government has introduced a key policy initiative called Batho Pele. This concept does not only fundamentally alter the culture and attitude of the public service, but also ensures that government is able to impact on the quality of the lives of our people.

We have dealt ruthlessly with corrupt elements and those in the civil service with a parasitic inclination. The Skweyiya Commission, the Motimele Commission and the Gobodo Forensic Audit Investigation, amongst others, did sterling work in exposing corruption. All these actions are a clear demonstration of our commitment to clean governance, rooting out corruption and maladministration.

Equally important are our achievements in social, capital and infrastructural development in the form of health care; education; housing; water and sanitation; energy and electrification; telecommunications; transport and our public works programme.

Indeed, effective governance also depends on an effective legislative framework. In this regard, this august house passed 70 pieces of provincial legislation since 1994.

Having created this legal platform for material delivery and social transformation we have been able to march resolutely towards our goals.

Education is simply the soul of a society as it passes from one generation to another (GK Chesterson, 1874-1936). Education continues inexorably along the path of transformation. We have moved away from the six racially divided education departments of the old South Africa to a single department. For the first time all our children learn from the same book and write the same exams. All children now have a constitutionally guaranteed right to education. No child may be turned away from school on the grounds that they are unable to pay school fees.

Mr Speaker, education is allocated the highest budget vote. This is in stark contrast to the apartheid era in which spending on the military was more than that on education.

• Approximately a million learners are receiving education at a cost of R 3, 3 billion per annum;
• More than 2000 new classrooms were built accommodating 70 000 additional learners;
• 800 schools were upgraded and refurbished;
• 298 new schools; and
• 2821 toilets were constructed.

In 1998, we witnessed a marked decline in disruptions in education and improved matriculation results. Our profound compliments go to our teachers and learners without exception for their commitment to quality education.

The delay in the delivery of textbooks is regretted, and corrective measures are being taken to improve the situation.

Developing infrastructural is key to sustained growth. It is therefore critical for me to mention some further milestones in this regard. We have,

• built more than 25 300 houses;
• created 27 793 additional available sites for residential purposes;
• ensured the present construction of 1437 new houses;
• approved 77 430 subsidies;
• provided housing opportunities at a value of R1.13 billion; and
• electrified 300 thousand houses since 1994 thus bringing electricity to about 1.5 million new customers.

Special emphasis was given to rural development in the provision of water and sanitation. Over 160 water supply projects to the value of R860 million - with approximately 630 thousand beneficiaries - are providing communities with improved standards of living.

We have spent,

• more than R 32.2 million on road infrastructure;
• R 296 million on Surface Road Construction with 24 projects totalling 215 km including a major road-to-rail bridge;
• R81.9 million for Upgrading of Gravel Roads Programme with 28 projects totalling 455 km; and
• R6 million for Small Bridges Programme.

66 constructed clinics are benefiting more than 37 thousand people who previously had little or no access to medical facilities.

Mr Speaker, we are grateful for the generous support that the private sector has given us as we address backlogs in development. Together we have built enduring Public/Private Sector Partnerships which saw the construction of several clinics, schools and other social infrustructural facilities. This partnership has also resulted in economic initiatives such as, the commercialisation of Pilanesberg Airport and the Molopo River Basin Development project.

The challenge is to continue strengthening this nascent economic compact of all stakeholders. We must develop a viable social partnership between all stakeholders. We must also harness it in our strategy for local economic development. Its success will contribute to the creation and expansion of sustainable tax base.

By developing infrastructure, delivering services and through affirmative procurement, we created opportunities for the growth and development of small businesses and black economic empowerment. We contributed significantly to the deracialisation and transformation of the South African and the provincial economy. We consciously promoted the economic integration of the historically marginalised by absorbing them into the main stream economy.

Mr. Speaker, the process of policy re-evaluation and implementation of policies aimed at the transformation and deracialisation of the agricultural industry continues. Our agricultural policies emphasise small farm development. Of particular importance is the need to enter the global market in such a way that the small, micro and medium agriculturist will thrive rather than wither in the face of competition.

Emerging farmers constantly remind us, that most,

• have limited access to land and capital;
• lack adequate or appropriate research and extension support;
• experience chronically low standards of living; and
• rely, to a greater or lesser degree on subsistence production.

We are continually addressing the concerns of this sector. Our strategies assist us to overcome the obstacles that confront us in realising our goals in agriculture. We are optimistic that we will resolve these inherited obstacles to small farm development.

We believe that it is possible to turn emerging farmers into successful farmers.

As a government we are satisfied with the amicable relationships that exist between commercial farmers and ourselves. We share with them the truism that "a road built in hope is more pleasant to travel than one built in despair." We recognise the valuable contribution of this industry to development, employment and economic growth, and we believe as government that we need to continue supporting this sector.

Mr. Speaker, it is unfortunately also true that there are minorities within the farming sector who behave as if they are still living in a society at the height of the apartheid era. These cases are well documented in the media and I will desist from referring to them in detail here.

However, some farmers behave in an inhuman and uncivilised manner. They continue to regard the farm workers and their families as part of their possessions or property, and not as human beings with rights entrenched in the constitution. They use their labour to build their riches, and when these people become old they dispose of them like waste. For example, a farmer would lease a farm from another, when the term of the lease expires his labourers are left like trees or agricultural implements that he was using in the farm. The owner would come and say I don’t need this people in my farm – they are trespassing. We lack words strong enough to condemn the recent appalling situation where, Simon Serole the son of a farmer who allegedly work in that particular farm for 28 years was denied in his death the comfort of being buried decently, in the part of the farm that he had to come to know as his home. Such attitudes can rekindle tension and conflict that the people of goodwill in the North West together with their government worked so hard to eradicate. I appeal for greater sanity, love to one another in a new sense of patriotism. I hasten to say that my government enjoy excellent co-operation from the Afrikaner community from this province, and in particular from the North West Agricultural Union (NWAU). For this my government, I salute Mr Wilco Beukers and his colleagues for taking together with us collective responsibility for the advancement of the province. We trust that many more people in this province will emulate him.

The Department of Agriculture has taken the initiative with regard to the Kgora Institute in the training of youth and women. We were also among the first as a province to introduce village banks allowing for micro lending to small farmers and rural communities.

While the land restitution process has been slow, it is gradually being accelerated and where communities have been resettled significant successes has been registered with regard to economic activity. The Mogopa, Bakubung and Goedgevonden Community agricultural projects have proved profitable and successful for the resettled communities, thereby giving hope to those who had previously lived in despair.

The Department of Health and Developmental Social Welfare has taken the lead provincially and nationally with regard to the implementation of the Batho-Pele Campaign. Access to services has been greatly extended, especially to women and children, the rural masses and the poor.

Government through the Department of Health and Developmental Welfare is engaged in a fierce fight against the AIDS/HIV pandemic.

It is the duty of my Government to be the driving force in the campaign against HIV/AIDS. I am concerned about the fact that the bench mark for AIDS/HIV statistics is based on the infection levels in women only derived from Ante Natal Clinics, this is a problem we must address. Perhaps, there is a need to improve the methodology.

Government has a mandate to advance the economic well being and to promote a fair distribution of society’s output. The HIV epidemic is a major threat to the fulfilment of this mandate. The battle against AIDS/HIV is not only the responsibility of Government. It is, indeed, the responsibility of every citizen.

Our research shows that the 20-40 year olds is the age group with the highest infection. This is the very backbone to our economy, and the group responsible for reproduction in our society. Can we afford to loose this important group?

Last year our government committed itself to the following:

• All Government departments to create HIV/AIDS prevention programmes especially peer education programmes. All departments are committed to follow government policy on HIV and employment.
• At every place and every time any Government officer including politicians gives a speech, the speech must include a paragraph on HIV/AIDS.
• All community leaders, chiefs, headmen councillors etc. to talk about HIV/AIDS every time they come into contact with the community.
• At every departmental meeting, 5 minutes is to be set aside to talk about HIV/AIDS.
• We are encouraging religious leaders to talk about HIV/AIDS from the pulpit and wherever they worship with their congregations.
• We are encouraging media to report on HIV/AIDS so that communities are educated about the dangers of this epidemic.
• We are inviting the private sector to join hands with everyone else including the public sector to fight this epidemic.

Crime is one of the major challenges facing South Africa. Peace and stability is a prerequisite for successful transformation and sustainable economic development.

Before 1994, 80% of policing infrastructure was located in former white areas. 80% of resources were therefore used to protect the interests of about 12% of the total population.

Part of the programme of transformation in the South African Police Services has been to redistribute human resources and material infrastructure so that the entire population would have equal access to the service.

It is necessary for us to consider a broad range of contributory factors such as employment, economic growth, effective education for our youth, effective social service development and the provision of sport and cultural facilities that will occupy the minds and energies of our youth. We have a very youthful demographic structure.

Our efforts to address the problems of the youth are therefore critical in the eradication of crime.

We congratulate the SAPS for their efforts in combating crime:

• we have a 100% success rate in the arrest of the killers of farmers;
• the commercial branch has scored notable victories in bringing syndicates and those involved in fraud and corruption to book;
• robbery with aggravated circumstances have declined from 152 per hundred thousand in 1994 to 117,5 in 1998;
• buglaries of businesses have declined from 219,4 per hundred thousand in 1994 to 192,8 in 1998; and
• drug related crime has declined from 80.7 per one hundred thousand in 1994 to 60 in 1998.

In many other types of crime the situation has remained stable. However, we must mention an increase on crimes like residential burglaries, robberies, illegal possession of firearms and hijackings.

Mr. Speaker, inadequate transformation of the senior management of the SAPS in the province is a matter of concern. In a province where black people make up 92% of the total population it is unacceptable for the senior management structures of the SAPS to be almost exclusively white. This is a matter that this legislature and government will have to address in the next term of office.

Mr Speaker, we remain unshakeably committed to the creation of a prosperous North West province through economic transformation. In this regard, the Department of Finance and Economic Affairs, has, and continues to lead us.

Some of the initiatives taken to date are,

• the creation of an Investment Promotion Agency (IPA) to attract foreign direct investments;
• the formulation of a Trade and Industrial Development Strategy taking into account the profile of the provincial economy and its comparative advantages and disadvantages;
• the investment in SMME programmes in 1997/98 to the amount of R19.35 million.

We have created A re Ageng (Let us Build) Forum to give opportunity for interaction between Government, labour, the private sector and civil society in pursuit of common goals of sustainable economic growth, poverty eradication, and job creation.

Small, micro and medium enterprises remain critical for the diversification and deracialisation of the provincial economy, and sustained growth.

Allow me to note some of the major investments in our province over the last four and half years:

• Kalgold invested more than R200 million in the Kalahari Gold Fields project;
• More than R600 million was invested in the Pecan Wood Estate in Hartebeespoortdam area by joint venture of Macon Investments and Country Heights Estates;
• The Waterfall Mall project in Rustenburg amounted to an initial investment of R240 million and on completion will be worth R450 million;
• The establishment of Livera Foods, a state of the art R30 million food-production facility in Potchefstroom, which occupies 16 000 square meters factory space, and will employ 1 000 fully trained citizens of the North West Province.
• The Platinum Corridor which links the Maputo Corridor into the Kalahari Corridor creating a coast to coast link involving an investment of R1, 5 billion, with many spin-off projects that will involve even further opportunities for investment and job creation;
• The development of new platinum mines in the Rustenburg area by Amplats amounting to more than R 1 billion.

In sum, the various private sector investments and government initiatives have created 33 000 jobs (conservatively estimated) over the first term of this legislature. Conservatively, there has been a total of about R4.2 billion domestic and foreign investments in this province over the last two years.

The consistently low gold price and unpredictable global economic trends impacted negatively on our efforts. We are confident that the fundamentals of our economy are sound, and that we will be well positioned to take advantage of a sustained global cyclical upturn. While we are awaiting an improved global environment it is critical that we begin to implement the strategies developed by the Presidential Jobs Summit in 1998. We will continue to search for creative ways of implementing the resolutions of this summit.

We must promote labour intensive economic investment while simultaneously encouraging technological advancement.

The resilience of the South African economy in the face of the general global economic malaise is indeed encouraging. It is a clear indication that we are poised for takeoff as the global economy enters the recovery cycle.

At the provincial level, our challenge will be to move from an extractive economy to a manufacturing and service economy. We must promote investment that will add value to the primary products (minerals and raw materials) we produce.

In pursuit of valued addition to our gold production, the Department of Finance and Economic Affairs, in collaboration with the Indian High Commission, is presently engaged in discussions with various private sector organisations, among them the Minerals and Metals Trading Corporation of India. The purpose of these discussions is to facilitate the development and promotion of the jewellery industry in the North West Province, because India is one of the biggest producers of jewellery in the world.

We will shortly be selecting 10 citizens from the North West province to begin training in jewellery design and manufacturing from 01 April 1999 in India.

In the context of a developing society, state enterprises are very useful vehicles in order to address social and economic deficits, and to create jobs in a province as rural as ours. They are essential instruments for both social and economic transformation.

However, our state enterprises have been constrained in their efforts to discharge this mandate. The challenge of adapting to the changing domestic context and the global financial situation has impeded their performance. This requires that we continue to review their role and their mandate. Part of this exercise must include restructuring in a manner that will secure strategic equity partners for them and a greater focus on their core functions as defined in their new visions and missions.

The recent placement of the NWDC under judicial management by the provincial government is part of the exercise aimed at creating the opportunity for government to strengthen this co-operation and to sharpen its focus on its new role.

Some of these state enterprises which must secure strategic equity partners are Cormac which manufactures busses and the North West Transport Investment (NTI).

Tourism forms a critical part of our economic development strategy. Historically, the black majority has been excluded from the ownership, management and access to tourism facilities. It is not surprising that the Department embarked on the restructuring of the tourism industry.

In line with this, the Department has amalgamated Bophuthatswana Parks and the old Tourism Board into the North West Parks and Tourism Board.

This move was necessary in order to position the province to take advantage of the emerging opportunities by marketing the province aggressively and effectively.

The Department has developed a Master Plan as a framework for growth in the industry.

We have, commercialised and upgraded the Pilanesberg Airport to international status in order to encourage tourism growth. These efforts have resulted in,

• a 21% increase in visits by foreign tourists to our province;
• a 9% increase of the province to the domestic tourism market; and
• the creation of about 18 000 jobs since 1994 with the
• current employment levels of 98 000 jobs in this sector.

The Department effectively facilitated the development of a vibrant guest house industry. In this regard, an association of guest houses has been formed.

Many of the civil servants, who were shed by the government sector, were absorbed by the tourism industry.

The constitution commits us, Mr Speaker to the fostering of good intergovernmental relations and to co-operative governance.

From the outset we aimed to create strong, effective and democratic developmental local government.

The installation of democratically elected local governments in 1995 laid the foundation for the attainment of our strategic goals in respect of this sphere of governance. This brought government closer to the people thereby ensuring their participation in decision making.

Transformation and deracialisation of the bureaucracy at local government level are critical for the enhancement of popular participation.

Although significant progress has been registered in this sphere, local government structures continue to display several weaknesses, such as a poor revenue base and a paucity of management, financial and leadership skills.

The Department has introduced a number of programmes to overcome these shortcomings with the objectives of putting in place effective management and service delivery. We have initiated a programme to empower 711 councillors, training them in budgeting, financial management, economic development, orientation and a code of conduct.

We have transformed local government structures into popular organs of peoples’ power. We also created the North West Local Government Association (NORWELOGA) to ensure co-ordination and a sharing of experience and skills. Similarly, it provides an opportunity for the advancement of intergovernmental relations and co-operative governance.

The Masakhane Campaign has been particularly successful in this province. Unlike other provinces we experience,

• high levels of payment for services;
• high quality of services provided; and
• popular participation in a campaign that has become a popular movement for the transformation of society in the context of the popular mobilisation for the consolidation of peoples’ power.

Our Province enjoys a great deal of political stability which derives in part from the excellent co-operation of the Traditional Authorities. Traditional leaders constitute an integral part of the social organisation of the African people prior to colonialism.

They play a critical role particularly in the rural areas. The system needs to be further developed and transformed in order to strengthen its legitimacy and enhance its role in building a new constitutional order.

In the period under review, the House of Traditional Leaders engaged the provincial government in a number of policy initiatives aimed at improving the lot of the institution and their subjects. Furthermore, they have placed the urgent question of the relationships between this formation and local government, particularly the District Councils, firmly on the agenda.

We wish to reiterate our long standing belief that traditional leaders have a special role to play as custodians of culture and tradition, as well as the promotion of unity and consensus in respect of development projects and the administration of justice in democratically transformed community courts.

Part of the challenges that this institution must face up to are the need for traditional cultures and customs to be subjected to the principles of the Constitution, in particular the principle of gender equality.

Given our achievements so far, we face the future assured of the unstinting support of our traditional leaders. This legislature, Honourable Speaker, must continue to support the North West House of Traditional Leaders, and thus turn it into a vibrant and dynamic institution.

Many citizens in and outside the public service have accepted it as their civic duty to assist government in the detection and elimination of corruption from the ranks of government as well as the private sector.

In addition to instituting various commissions to investigate corruption, we have invited the Heath Special Investigative Team to assist with the preparation and execution of litigation. The team will effect the rapid prosecution of culprits and the speedy recovery of funds and resources.

Sadly, resources fleeced from state coffers by corrupt and parasitic individuals deprive,

• learners from disadvantaged communities of books, classrooms and other facilities;
• pensioners of their pensions; and
• the ill of health care, medicines clinics and hospitals.

Corruption sabotages development, transformation and service delivery.

I must take this opportunity, Mr Speaker, to thank the various commissions and the Heath Special Investigative Team for the excellent work they have done. I must also thank the Auditor General and the Standing Committee on Public Accounts for their vigilance and commitment to clean, transparent and accountable governance.

The fifteen million rands of the AgriBank stolen by Mr Escoffery – the Jamaican friend of the former MEC for Agriculture was recovered, whilst the culprit was found guilty and sentenced to 44 years with an effective jail term of nine years.

Several prominent personalities, councillors and businesspersons have and will appear before the Heath Tribunal. Our newly installed hotline in the Office of the Premier has also elicited an overwhelming public response.

Mr Speaker, we are proud of the manner in which we have created the conditions necessary for the development of a system of participatory democracy in our province. This house has served as the base for the involvement by ordinary men and women in this system. Every South African in this province whether living in resettlement camps, farms, villages or the posh suburbs is aware of the innovative ways in which this legislature have made possible popular participation in decision making.

Unlike in the past where the parliament was the domain of a selected few, under a democratic South Africa the North West legislature has become the custodian of aspirations and hopes of our people. Over the past five years it played a major role in raising public awareness on the workings of a legislature. It hosted various sittings of youth and women. It became a hive of activity by ordinary people. This legislature has also ensured that the prescripts of the constitution requiring accountability of the executive and the monitoring of legislation implemention became a reality.

We salute our Provincial Youth Commission for its sterling work. Our province has contributed towards the development of a national youth policy that reflects the aspirations of the young people.

The policy strives to instil in all young women and men, an awareness of respect and an active commitment to the values and principles enshrined in the Bill of Rights.

It further recognises and promotes their participation and contribution towards the development of our country. The policy lays a firm foundation and provides a framework within which youth development should take place. The mandate of the Youth Commission is to ensure that different departments adopt policies and programmes which address matters affecting young people. It therefore has the twin function of influencing policy formulation and the monitoring of policy implementation. This requires that there be a dynamic interaction between various line functions and the Youth Commission.

The Youth Commission must also play a role in engendering a sense of patriotism and mobilise the youth in favour of national service.

The North West as an integral part of South Africa recognises that our President was a signatory to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child has a responsibility to ensure the observance of the right of the child. We have a responsibility to ensure the observation that convention, the injunction of which is to make our children the first port of call. This imperative must permeate all departments. Simply put, the Youth Commission must serve as a conscience that ensures that the government honours its obligations in this connection.

The provincial government has put in place mechanisms that will enable youth to make a meaningful contribution towards the realisation of these goals. To this end, the Youth Development Trust Fund Act has been passed. Key elements of the Trust Fund are to ensure capacity building and skills training for our youth.

The Youth Commission has a responsibility to research issues related to child labour and child abuse and to bring such matters to the attention of the provincial government.

As is the case with many institutions created during our first term, the changing situation in the country necessitated a review of the existence of the National Youth Commission, provincial Youth Commissions and other structures which suggest a lack of uniformity. For example, in some provinces there are youth desks or directorates while in others there are commissions. The question has also arisen of the need for a single national centre where youth policy is developed and not duplicated in the provinces. Such a centre will ensure effective policy co-ordination while simultaneously excluding duplication and confusion. It can be expected that in the new term of this legislature that radical changes will take place with regard to the structure of the Youth Commission and the numbers of serving commissioners resulting in a smaller, well co-ordinated and effective Youth Commission.

Mr Speaker, we conclude that this first term of the legislature and the government has not only been exiting but has also been successful beyond our wildest imagination. No doubt through dedication, hard work and unrelenting commitment we are continuing to redeem our pledge to our people of a better life for all. As our assessment of the first five years testifies, there has been a qualitative improvement in the lives of the people of the North West.

We have radically changed institutions and policies which stunted development. We have given hope to our people of a bright future. Our national agenda of transformation, nation building and reconciliation remain firmly on course. We are indeed building a nation united in its cultural diversity and which is at peace with itself.

Slowly but surely, we are building the foundations of a dynamic economy. We are ridding our society of the scourge of crime.

However, Mr Speaker, it is not yet time to bask in the glory of our successes as several challenges are looming on the horizon.

I commit the honourable members of this august house and my Executive Council for what remains of our term of office to strive continuously towards the building of the economy and the creation of jobs. We must fight unemployment. To this end, we shall seek creative ways of translating and applying the resolutions of the Presidentail Jobs Summit to the concrete conditions of the North West.

Like our President, my colleagues in the Executive Council and I, pledge to give one day’s salary towards the Job Creation Trust Fund initiated by COSATU and other trade union federations. We trust that the members of this house and the public service will follow our example.

We pledge unflinchingly, continued commitment to the development of our human resources as a prerequisite to higher levels of productivity, good governance, competitiveness of our economy in both the domestic and global context. The low human development index of our province represents a continuing challenge.

I call on the private sector to join us in tackling this mammoth task. A stable, quality and successful education and skills development are critical to our success in human resource development. Our call is for education, more education and more education.

Fighting HIV/AIDS is the greatest challenge of our times, and therefore a challenge to all of us collectively. It threatens to decimate our labour force and the entire society. Unless we address it as a national agenda, five years from now our labour force will be so dissipated that our dream of building a vibrant and sustainable economy will be reduced to a mere mirage. Both our national savings in the form of pension funds and investments in human capital are put at risk by the spread of this pandemic.

The challenge to reducing the levels of crime and thus creating a secure environment for the residents of the North West cannot be overemphasised. We must engage in an all round mobilisation of South Africans behind an anti-crime campaign. We need to build strong community policing forums and effective business against crime structures. Simultaneously, we must ensure that our police service is not only in the frontline of this battle, but that it is visible at all times.

The rural areas continue to cry out for more and more development. The Executive Council and this Legislature must continue to be focussed on rural development. More and more resources will be diverted to these areas to improve the delivery of services and to alleviate poverty. In this context, we welcome the announcement by President Mandela of a further increase of the old age pension grants. We are equally determined to implement the Child Care Support Grant Programme.

We cannot escape the challenge of rapidly reforming our land tenure system and banishing land hunger amongst the rural masses. In this context, the North West Government will continue to work closely with rural communities in order to accelerate both the processes of land reform and restitution. Land is essential for economic development, labour market absorption and food security.

Mr Speaker, these, and many other challenges will continue to draw our attention to the task of discharging our mandate towards our people.

We must remind our people increasingly that there is hope in the future we are building. We must also remind them that;

"life can be understood by looking backward,
but it must be lived by looking forward,"
(Sorren Kierkegaard)

When we look back, it is only to remind ourselves of the ugly past we have emerged from and to guarantee that we shall not return to it. Instead, South Africans must fix their gaze on a future that holds for them eternal joy.

As our term of office ends, let us say in the words US President, John Adams upon assuming office in 1800;

Allow me Mr Speaker to thank the following:

• my colleagues in the Executive Council for their comradely support and their guidance;
• the Legislature for its support and dedication to a common vision;
• the senior officials of government for so diligently implementing our policies more particularly the Director General and Head of Departments;
• the civil servants for their dedication and hard work particularly during voter registration, but also in general,
• my dear wife and children for their patience, support and dedication;
• my office staff and my department for their unstinting support without which I would not have been able to perform my functions as Premier;
• my party the African National Congress, the South Africa Communist Party, COSATU and SANCO for the privilege of serving them and my people in this first term of government; and
• the people of the North West Province for their trust and support during this first term. It has indeed been a joy to serve all of you.

Thank you.