27 July 2000
Welfare Clients
Comrades and Friends
Ladies and Gentlemen from the Media
I have been to the Eastern Cape from 25 July to date. I have, together with the Eastern Cape MEC Comrade Ncumisa Kondlo and the Department officials visited the areas of Mt. Ayliff, Mt. Frere and Umtata. This marks the beginning of a six week Roadshow to all the provinces.
The main objective is to assess the welfare services and mobilise active involvement of the public into the Welfare Development programmes.
This visit has further confirmed our long-held veiw as the ANC-led government that poverty is indeed a serious problem facing our coutnry. It is threatening to tear the very fabric of our society and must therefore be tackled head-on wthout any equivocation.
We have seen in Mt. Ayliff old women and men who are pensioners eduring great suffering. They and their entire families sometimes, literally depend on the grants we provide to survive.
I have seen disabled children who stay in a dilapidated special school in Nolitha. I have seen pathetic offices and difficult working conditions of the workers meant to deliver essential welfare services to the poorest. I have also seen and heard of cases were people have had their grants cut during their re-registration process, and also banks not wanting to take risks by assisting the poorest and pensioners opening accounts.
The MEC will dwell with the details of these matters and how they are being addressed, safe to say that we cannot afford to postpone the response to these matters any longer. We have to act and act decisively now.
I am encouraged by the commitment and efforts of the provincial and district welfare functionaries to work hard in addressing these matters. They need the whole community and the business sector to work closely with them in addressing the problems of the needy. We will ensure that we give them even more support. In this regard I have given authority for the allocation of over 8 million rands to deal with the following:
Ladies and Gentlemen, through this Roadshow, we want to ensure that we fully understand the magnitude of the welfare problems faced by the people especially the poorest of our society in the entire country. This will help us align our programmes accordingly such that we are able to deliver services more effectively in relation to issues of poverty; HIV/AIDS; the elderly; the disabled and more importantly, children.
One of the major priorities for us as government is HIV/AIDS, which is destroying our families especially the youth and children. Practically every week in both urban and rural areas there are burials of victims of HIV/AIDS, leaving children and families in pain and sorrow. It is estimated that the HIV/AIDS pandemic will render about 700 000 children orphans by the year 2010 as well as kill millions of others, and mostly the yougth and the most economically active population of our country.
Indeed, there is both a direct and indirect relationship between poverty and HIV/AIDS. Research shows that this dreadful disease is decimating the poorest communities mostly. This makes it even more imperative to work with a sense of urgency to provide better services to ther poorest of the poor especially in the rural areas. We dare not postpone this responsibility.
We must act now and more decisively, for tomorrow will be too late.
As government, we have allocate R75 million (rand) this year to deal with this killer, of which R6 million rand has been allocated to the Department of Welfare and Population Development.
Naturally, this is not enough. For, the challenges of the HIV/AIDS problem are huge. In this regard I urge the private sector and the entire society to join hands. Let us pool our resources together to save the nation and build a better life for all. Throughout the visits I have heard and felt the commitment of church leader, councillors, community leaders towards working together to tackle these challenges.
During these visits I have interacted and will continue to interact with the following:
1. Provincial and Local Government Structures
2. Non Governmental Organisations and community based organisations and other organs of civil society
3. Traditional leaders,
4. The religious community
5. Communities at large as well as
6. The media I will also be giving particular focus to assessing the projects dealing with:
We are determined to ensure that we take the services of welfare resources closer to the people especially the poorest. Ladies and Gentlemen, the challenges facing the welfare sector are so immense that it has become obvious to us as the ANC- led government that, to deal more effectively with these serious matters, there is a need to work in close partnershiip with the religious communities, business, political formations, civil society and indeed the provincial and local government structure. Thus the theme of the visits is "Join us in the Fight Against Poverty and HIV/AIDS. Save our children and our future.
The current visit to the Eastern Cape has been divided into two parts. It starts in the most impoverished areas of Mount Ayliff, Mount Frere and Umtata, from the 25th-27th July 2000. The other parts of the Eastern Cape will be covered between from Monday 31 July- Friday 3 August 2000.
Other provinces will also follow with KwaZulu-Natal and the Northern Province being the immediate ones. These are the provinces most adversely affected by poverty and diseases. They have become a government in terms of the rural development strategy coordinated in the office of the Deputy President, Mr. Jacob Zuma. I will be working very closely with the provincial MEC's and other Welfare officials during these visits.
The details of the visit to other provinces will be concluded at the MIN/MEC meeting to be held on 28 July 2000, and I will inform all of you accordingly.
Let me take this opportunity to thank all the officials of the Department, community structures and all those who have made our visit the success it is. Ningadinwa Nangomso.
Thank you.
Enquiries: Mbulelo Musi or Kgati Sathekge
083-602-5795 or 082-808-9486
ISSUED BY GOVERNMENT COMMUNICATIONS (GCIS) ON BEHALF OF THE MINISTRY FOR WELFARE AND POPULATION DEVELOPMENT