27 July 1999
Mr Speaker
Honourable Deputy Speaker
Chairperson and Deputy Chairperson of the House of Traditional
Leaders
Kings of the Six Regions in the Eastern Cape
Distinguished Diplomats
Members of the Security Cluster (Justice, Police, Defence and
Correctional Services)
Religious Leaders
Honourable Members of the Legislature
Distinguished representatives of Local Government
Distinguished guests from all walks of life
INTRODUCTION
We are back to the challenging task of the reconstruction and development of our country and our Province. Unfortunately the very concept of Reconstruction and Development has historical connotations. It also tends to mean different things to different people. So I must right from the onset, warn those who are not comfortable with history, that we have to contend with history. The fact that we are only returning for a second term of democratic Government in the more that 350 years of the written history of South Africa indicates that a lot of historical occurrences are responsible for who we are, why we are where we are in 1999. To be uncomfortable with that, history should not be allowed to distort its relevance in the present.
The messages that we sent to the Electorate in the build up to the last elections in June were very instructive to the politically discerning. Most of the Parties saw the election as a mechanical process of democracy. "A number of years had passed. Time had come to ask the electorate to give others a change to be MP’s." This was the thrust of their message.
One leader of these Parties proudly boasted - "I am pleased to be back in Parliament". Some rejoiced to have increased their seats whilst others bemoaned the fact that they had lost some seats. This way, the whole programme facing the people of SA was subsumed in reactionary and liberal values. The challenge to transform our country for a better life and prosperity for all, especially those who have always been excluded from the equation of development. The category that Sipho Buthelezi of Fort Hare calls "the have-not and the want-to-be:"
Unlike countries that can boast decades of centuries of democratisation processes, SA is only taking the second step in the long road to changing from a morally corrupt and illegitimate regime to a truly democratic order. This requires vision and selflessness. Only as we stand united as a nation and a Province shall we build the better life our people aspire for. This needs serious activists rather than career politicians.
On the second (2nd) of June the masses of our people mandated one political Party to continue with the task of transforming SA. Our people were not confused by the prophets of doom who predicted violence and low turn ups. In peace and in large numbers they turned up to the polls to consolidate the foundations on which to build the SA of our dreams. I have the privilege and honour, Mr Speaker, on behalf of our government, to pledge our unyielding resolve to work for the realisation of that objective and the defence of gains already made in that direction. Nothing will stop us. The people have spoken. Vox populi, vox dei.
CHALLENGES
It is common knowledge that the apartheid system thrived on racial discrimination and exploitation. The spectre of poverty and underdevelopment which apartheid bequeathed to our generation continues to stare us in the face. Its gaunt face and hollow eyes continue to wear the racial mask in all facets of human life. Landlessness, lack of infra-structure, paucity of basic resources like electricity, clean water, education, food- the list is long - continue to bear a black skin. Affluence is still synonymous with whiteness. What the President of the Republic calls the Two Nations in one country continues to abide with us.
The result of this systematic and statutory genocide of a special type was the systematic corrosion of the human dignity and self-esteem. As families were destroyed and individuals reduced to dependent zombies, our people found themselves deeper and deeper in the manipulative hands of apartheid. To survive, some became willing jockeys of the apartheid horse, as Oom Gov puts it. They were bribed and corrupted to become sustainers and defenders of apartheid programmes. So-called opposition Parties gave credence to an illegitimate system and became part of it as they continued to benefit from it. A little breast-beating here and a little protest there did not address the fundamental issues: " no government can justly claim authority unless it is based on the will of all the people".
So by commission as well as omission, our society was caused to slide into the mess it is in. Differential power relations were created on the basis of race and class as a new elite was created in the bantustans to buy into apartheid and to defend it. Those who were left out of this equation found themselves in squalid informal settlements around our cities hoping to eke out a living. What most did achieve was to lose their humanity as they indulged in all sorts of crime and the misuse of harmful drugs some landed up in mental hospitals and others continue to roam our streets looking for food in dustbins. Those who managed to get some education either depended on Government posts or had to simply join the ranks of the unemployed and law-breakers. Many hated their blackness as they wrongly thought this gift of God was the source of their miseries and woes. There is nothing wrong with our skin colours.
I am sure some in this house are already saying this is all things of the past. Apartheid is dead, they say. To such people I have an important announcement to make: Apartheid is not dead. Only the laws that created and nurtured it have been repealed. Its legacy continues to live with us and even tries to lull us to believe that it is really dead. So the big challenge remains the transformation of the lives of our people from that of victims of Apartheid disparities to that of truly equal South Africans.
This does not mean that nothing happened in 1994. That was only the beginning of the end not the end of the beginning.
OBJECTIVES
More than two millennia ago, Kautilya, an Indian statesman, wrote as follows on political economy and governance: "In the happiness of the subjects lies his (the king’s) happiness; in their welfare, his welfare; whatever pleases himself he shall not consider as good, but whatever pleases his subjects, he shall consider as good". The Chinese philosopher, Meng Tse, wrote something similar: "When a ruler rejoices in the joy of his people, they also rejoice in his joy".
Our government has tried from day one to create a concordance between the aspirations of the people and those of the Government. It was not difficult to build this concordance. For although we are in government, we are part of the people. We come from their ranks. We do not only discover their plight once in a while when there is an Election to be fought. We have been part of the processes that produced the blue-prints of what a free SA should look like. Yes, we occupied the same trenches with our people as we fought for those aspirations:
The building of a united, non-racial, non-sexist and democratic South Africa.
This is the goal that has guided and will continue to guide our day-to-day actions. We are determined to move with great speed towards this goal. In the last five years in government we have learned a thing or two. We have also laid solid foundations in terms of key policies. We have made a firm start in delivering some of the basic needs to a number of communities. We can proudly claim that "the deep we have fathomed, the shallow we have crossed", as the saying goes. A FACT that has been conceded even by opposition Parties, now that the Elections are over.
I must now turn to immediate tasks that are priority areas. Again I must warn, these are not new tasks. They are outstanding tasks that must forever be confronted as we endeavour to build a better life for all. Obviously the priorities will change from time to time as we register successes and setbacks of one kind or the other. No government is always successful in the whole world. We are not afraid to acknowledge the possibilities of setbacks. But our resolve will be judged by the vigour with which we rise up to setbacks when they occur. Not by their absence, for such absence is mere fantasy in the imagination of the mischievous or the ignorant.
EDUCATION
The Eastern Cape has enjoyed the glory of being the citadel of education for many years. People from different parts of Africa sent their children to schools and institutions of learning located in this Province. Dale and Lovedale, Grey and Forbes Grant, Welsh and Selborne, Victoria Girls and Healdtown, St John’s, Fort Hare and Rhodes are some of such institutions. They produced heads of state, heads of business and public servants. They served South Africa well, albeit within the racial constraints, in producing the national human resources.
But education is also where Apartheid caused the biggest damage. This is where superiority and inferiority complexes were sowed and nurtured. The disparities in facilities, personnel, amenities etc. are still there for all to see. But we have started the long and painful route to change the situation. We mean to do even more in restoring the pride of learners, educators and parents in our schools. This will take the form of direct interface with all stake-holders. This will not be left to junior regional and district officials. Both the MEC, his top management and myself will get fully involved in this programme. I am pleased that the MEC for Education has already started with this programme. We will keep up that momentum.
All necessary steps will be taken to make sure that quality time is spent on learning and teaching. We will insist on managers doing their bit diligently and efficiently. The partnership between the public and private sector which we have started, will be broadened and strengthened. Trade Unions and the public will be challenged to participate in the active improvement of the situation in our schools. In all this, we will not abdicate our responsibility to govern and to make unpopular decisions where they are for the good of all. Religious groups and NGOs who are keen to make a contribution within the law will be encouraged and harnessed. What will not be allowed is the use of education as an activity for self-enrichment purposes. From every resource invested we will expect maximum outputs.
The provision of basic infra-structure like classrooms, clean water, toilets, electricity etc will continue to be our priority. But this will be balanced against improving such facilities as laboratories and libraries, where they exist and providing some where there are none. The availability of funds will obviously determine our pace here.
We also pledge to support schools that are doing everything to root our corruption and anti-social behaviour from their premises. Our schools will not be allowed to be places of drug dealing and consumption. They will not be used as experimenting grounds for gangsters and aspiring criminals and female abusers. We enjoin parents to help us by taking full responsibility for the actions of their children. On our part we will make sure that discipline is meted out with integrity and fairness to all. This, we believe, will be solid foundation for the reconstruction of the moral fibre of our people.
Pre-school Education is mostly by NGOs with some government grants from Welfare. I do not believe that pre-school education is a Welfare matter. Our view is that there should be public pre-schools that are run by the Department of Education. Popular organisations and private enterprises can also run their own pre-schools where they so decide. All this must be done within the Law. I have already, asked the MEC for Education to take this matter up with the Department of Education at Central Government level to see how policy can assist in enabling us. I am fully aware of the immense budgetary implications of this. But if we cannot level the Education playgrounds at that level already, we will find it that harder at the formal school level.
Co-operation projects between established privileged schools and disadvantaged schools will be encouraged. Sharing of skills amongst subject peers can only benefit all. This intra Provincial twinning, we believe, will lead to inter-school exchanges of human and material resources. It will also be a major contribution to the creation of a spirit of patriotism and a common agenda for our Province and SA. We are lobbying for a similar co-operation among our tertiary institutions.
We will work very hard for the introduction of curricula for vocational and technical skills at Secondary School level already. Some basic vocational skills do not need a Matric or a tertiary education certificate. This will not replace higher learning in the same fields. Linked to this will be a vigorous training and retraining programme for educators. This is not the same thing as just acquiring an additional certificate for promotion purposes. It will be training for equipping people where they are, to do their work more efficiently.
This is a lot to do in five years. But it can be done. Most of the legal framework is in place and agreements were reached long ago on some of the issues. Now it is time to implement them.
AGRICULTURE
It is common knowledge that ours is a predominantly rural Province. It is also common knowledge that most of our communities are either not using the land or are using very backward ways of Agriculture. The present law regarding land-ownership is also not helping the vigorous revival of agriculture, especially in the erstwhile bantustans. We will intensify our campaigns to persuade our people to participate in programmes that will involve both the government and some private sectors. These programmes, we hope, will be educational as well as instrumental for a more profitable use of the land and stock. We are informed by agricultural scientists that we do have the potential to feed our people in the Eastern Cape, South Africa and other neighbouring countries. But charity begins at home.
A good start has already been made in this direction. We need to intensify our efforts to reach the furthest corners of our Province. The MEC for Agriculture will give a more comprehensive report on these initiatives. But we are confident that we are equal to the task. We are encouraged to note that the new Minister of Agriculture is as passionate as ourselves about the releasing of state land for gainful agricultural activities. We do not agree with a wholesale disposal of land to everyone with the money. This would only entrench apartheid. We believe that short to medium strategies can be employed whilst a long-term Land Reform policy is being hammered out. The Presidential Job Summit had identified farming as an area of job-creation for rural areas. We agree with this view. Many of our small towns can only survive when there is a vibrant agricultural economic activity in their neighbourhood. Otherwise they will be ghost towns. Everything must be done to attract young people to agriculture. Success here will contribute to the reduction of joblessness, crime and informal settlements.
The curriculum of our schools must also include farming. This is not the same thing as training extension officers. Farming could be taught at the Secondary School level already. This could be done by community colleges for learners at secondary school and for adults. Those who have been assisted by NGOs in this training are already seeing a difference in their lives. We must intensify this. Existing Colleges must also link up with communities and the private sector. The concept of purely educational farms for non-profit-making purposes has proved to be expensive and unsustainable.
RURAL INFRA-STRUCTURE
The roads maintenance programme that we started this year will be continued. It is clear that a closer co-operation between Public Works, District Councils and Local Communities is the best way to go. The new MEC for Public Works has already been asked to intensify our efforts here. We believe that more labour-intensive methods are needed in the maintenance of our roads. Some of the gravel roads need crushed stone rather than graders. Others need to be abandoned and new ones constructed. The Mt. Fletcher/Mt. Ayliff area has a lot of such dongas masquerading as roads. Products of many decades of neglect.
We fully endorse the views expressed by the President on the 25/06/99 in Parliament. I take the liberty to quote him: "The integration we seek must, for instance, ensure that when a clinic is built, there must be a road to access it. It must be electrified and supplied with water". This is exactly the picture one sees when one gets to Tombo. But we can’t say the same of the Bengu clinic. We mean to correct these mistakes by ensuring there is integrated planning. No department is an island. The Office of the Premier will make sure this integrated planning is co-ordinated.
We are pleased that the President has identified our Province as one of those that will be prioritised in the battle against poverty and the infra-structural backlogs. The new MEC will have to work quickly in getting the Central Government, Local Authorities and the private sector to identify areas of co-operation and where the Build Operate and Transfer strategy can be used. Not only will such programmes provide some jobs, they will also access investors and communities to needed resources. They will save some money that has to be used to frequently repair shock-absorbers and other ware and tare. A meeting between the President’s Office and Premiers of the three (3) Provinces being planned for the next few weeks. We have the honour of facilitating that meeting.
ECONOMIC AFFAIRS AND TOURISM
If a country is bankrupt, the people will live in misery and in debt. Economic management will be in disarray and our aspirations will be a mere fantasy. Mr. Tony Leon is reported to have said that SA is heading for an economic disaster. Marcia Klein of the Business Times reported on the 4/07/99 that economists are "buoyant as positive data lifts (their) spirits". In that article Marcia lists all the positive economic indicators. A few months earlier some economics researchers were reported in the EP Herald as showing an economic growth of about 3.2 % in the Eastern Cape (higher than any other Province at that stage).
I believe the reports from these researchers. With respect, Mr Leon is a melodramatic poet who is reciting for a particular audience. I have no reason to believe him.
We are proud of the level of investments that continue to land in this Province. Our interaction with most industrialists and business people indicate that we are in the bullish mood, to use the terminology of the stock exchange. We mean to do everything in our power to consolidate the economic upswing and assist in the lobbying for more investors to come to our Province. Those who know will agree that a lot of good work is already occurring at that level. The dawn of the new democracy in 1994 highlighted a number of development priorities in SA. The Government responded with several projects aimed at improving the lives of disadvantaged and rural poor. But we need to do more.
I have already discussed with the MEC concerned the need for a more aggressive approach to tourism. We do not believe that we are developing that industry. At best we are merely marketing the little bit that is there. We plan to build on the interest shown by tourists and develop a more professional approach to Tourism development and management. We believe that this is a milk cow that is waiting to be tamed and milked. But all this has to be done in a way that will not destroy our environment. We do not want to leave our children with the dongas bequeathed to us by those who ruled before us.
SOCIAL AND HEALTH SERVICES
A lot of hard work has been done in these fields. Most of the statutory framework is in place. The systems are also in place. Our immediate task is to continue to clean the available database.
We must produce reliable data so that public funds are appropriately allocated. This must be done without denying legitimate beneficiaries what is constitutionally due to them. The beaurocracy has to be rigorously supervised to root out all the rotten potatoes. These are those who make it their job to frustrate old and disabled people. We must not allow them to use their stations in government to frustrate the governing Party only because they hate it. The same goes to those who are responsible for medical stocks not reaching their destination or coals not being paid on time. Our focus will be in the improvement of the management and administration of what we have. Where resources admit, new clinics will be built and old ones refurbished. Existing plans will not be abandoned.
CORRUPTION AND CRIME
The apartheid Government was obviously corrupt in more ways than one, having been founded on moral corruption. They designed many ways for hiding it or legitimising it. The new South Africa has not been spared this scourge - official corruption. The Conference on Fighting Corruption which was held in Cape Town last November dealt with the topic at length. What we are challenged to do is to implement the proposals from the Conference. I believe that proper supervision and control will go a long way in dealing with corruption. Together with SAPS and NIA we shall work out a strategy of setting a more efficient and co-ordinated anti-corruption structure that will have a legal clout. Corruption takes various forms. Some of them seem innocuous, like doing favours in return for favours. This is rife in the fleet management and working hours. But it is very damaging as is fraud.
A lot of successes have been registered by both the Departments and SAPS. We will not rest until we win this fight. It was interesting to read from the Daily Dispatch that our Province seemed to be winning the battle against crime. What was even more interesting was the vehemence with which this was denied before the Elections as compared to the strategic concession after the election. We live in interesting times. We must do what is to be done though hell should bar the way. A responsible government should not be manipulated by a dubious public opinion which in fact is the opinion of a small but vocal section of the public. We must rely on empirical data.
The new Minister of Safety and Security is very enthusiastic with his work. His team seems encouraged by his approach. We plan to give him full support. We can only repeat what we said to some police managers earlier this year: the duty of the police is to arrest suspects not to negotiate with them. We are confident that with a motivated management team, our police will be more vigilant than hitherto. Surprise attacks by and escapes of awaiting trial prisoners will be a thing of the past. To the criminals we can only repeat the words of Minister Tshwete: " Those who cause the dust should not complain when it gets into their eyes".
We are also encouraged by the work done by the National Director for Prosecutors as well as the approach by the Minister of Justice. Let us all give hell to thieves, murderers, rapists and crime syndicates. We owe it to ourselves to do so. We have come a long way to be pushed around by the scum of society. Religious leaders, traditional leaders and responsible members of our communities will all be made part of the team to defeat crime. But the ultimate cure for this cancer, crime, is prosperity for all.
WOMEN YOUTH AND DISABLED
Our record in the recognition of these special categories of our people is well-known. The statutory framework to facilitate their empowerment and the protection of their rights is in place. We are proud that we are one of the few Provinces that have special Divisions in the Premier’s Office that deal with these areas. They are also represented in the Legislature.
Our task is to intensify the involvement of the rural components of these categories in all programmes. They must benefit from the social justice that we take for granted. Their best defence against HIV/Aids, domestic violence, sexual abuse, drugs etc. is themselves. We must empower them with the knowledge and resources that will equip them to defend themselves. Those who are already victims will continue to receive special assistance. The partnership between government, NGOs and the private sector must be strengthened to speed up our programmes. South Africa belongs to all of us, black and white, male and female, urban or rural, able or disabled, Afrikaner or Batlokoa. We must cherish all our freedom equally. To this end, the multi-purpose youth centres that have been built and are in the plans of the Youth Commission will be used for information, education and training. The youth must play a leading role in these community assets being productively utilised.
SPORT, ARTS AND CULTURE
This is an area where most South Africans are quite illiterate. This includes some respectable leaders of the ANC too. This can easily result in the relegation of some cultural activities to the dustbin of history intended for them by both the early missionaries, colonialists and the habingers of apartheid. When one listens to current debates about merit selection, quotas etc; as well as how Ed Herbst shouts about a theatre in Grahamstown and keeps quiet about its absence in Flagstaff one cannot but marvel at these deliberate double standards. Our heritage and culture deserve special attention. Traditional recreational activities must be supported. I hope by next year we shall have had a tournament of villagers and their horses competing in various activities. Pelandaba in Sterkspruit, Hewu and Middledrift, to name a few areas, are ready for this. Yes the Grahamstown Festival and the Lady Grey Academy of Culture are very important assets. So is Guild and all the other theatres for Western Culture. But we must attend to the Cultures of the majority too. We do have a lot to offer Africa and the world.
CONCLUSION
This does not attempt to list all the things we shall be doing. We have only highlighted key areas we must focus on within our resources. There are many things that are a sine qua non of governance. We will do them too. Our focus is to establish good governance and a better Eastern Cape for all our people.
Cohesiveness and decisiveness will be key characteristics of our leadership. The rural poor merit special attention to take them out of what our history bequeathed to them.
The nation’s resources are important tools for transforming a society. They must be protected. Peace and prosperity is the aspiration of all. We must all work for it, side by side. No patriot can oppose that. We believe that "we are on course". We are determined to win this battle. We invite all who love our Province and our people to join us as we do battle for a better and caring SA for all. Let us indeed be a nation at work, as President Mbeki puts it. We cannot and dare not fail.
Thank you!!