9 April 2002
Director of Ceremonies,
The Minister of Correctional Services,
The Executive Mayor of the Motsweding District,
The Commissioner of Correctional Services,
Community of Cullinan and the greater Motsweding District,
Distinguished Guests,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Let me from the onset say how happy I am to be able to join you in the launch of yet another important initiative aimed at relieving the burden of poverty.
It is in particular encouraging to me that the Poverty Alleviation and Development Programme we are launching here today is in the agricultural arena.
We believe our people have, over the centuries, developed vast expertise in this field, either on a subsistence or small-scale commercial level.
Our coming together here is highly significant, because it is an illustration of the fact that government departments must, apart from concentrating on their line functions, also join hands in prioritising and addressing the most pressing national priorities, of which poverty relief is one of the most critical.
It is therefore most appropriate for us to congratulate the Minister of Correctional Services and his department for the remarkable way in which they have risen to this very complex challenge. I think it is very clear that the benefits of their approach will be felt far beyond the confines of the Zonderwater prison itself.
The department has allocated a piece of land to be cultivated by prisoners and the community to grow vegetables that would be supplied to poor communities, old age homes and school feeding schemes.
We appeal to the community to join and support this programme so that everyone in the area can benefit from it. It is appropriate that this project is being launched during this month in which we are focusing on health. Nutrition and food security forms an important pillar of our integrated health campaign.
Various provinces are already in the process of identifying other projects to support this national poverty alleviation programme, which forms part of the Government's Integrated Sustainable Rural Development Strategy.
The strategy, which is aimed at turning our rural and outlying areas into economically viable entities, is based on the five pillars of:
The rural development strategy will succeed if supported by all sectors of society, as we need to join hands in pushing back the frontiers of poverty, as the President said in the state of the nation address.
Our only hope, and our only strength, in this war on poverty lie in our ability to form a united front against hunger, poverty and unemployment.
We can only replace the darkness of despair and gloom with hope and optimism once we resolve to do things for ourselves, together.
You would be aware, ladies and gentlemen, that Government, through the Correctional Services Department, already provides a wide variety of activities, including, among others, education and training, religious care, industrial production workshops, production farms and maintenance of buildings and roads.
These and other projects have benefited individual prisoners, communities and our economy. Prisoners produce goods and services, food, clothing, bedding and furniture, for use by prisoners or government departments.
Ladies and gentlemen, you will recall that historically, Correctional Services or the prisons service as it had been known had a single aim, which was retribution. Since 1994, the Government has consistently moved away from this, towards a firm focus on rehabilitation.
This we are doing because we believe we have a duty to rehabilitate convicted prisoners, to give them an opportunity of playing a constructive and meaningful role in society when they are released.
We are doing this not because we condone crime and criminal activity. On the contrary, we will continue to ensure that those who transgress the law face the full might of the law. But at the same time, we need to work towards a situation where those who leave prison do not return.
That is why we deem it important to rehabilitate and train prisoners so that they acquire the necessary skills that will make them economically productive.
I urge the inmates of Zonderwater to make use of every opportunity provided to prepare themselves to make a meaningful contribution to their families and society on their release from this prison.
Such rehabilitative programmes form part of our national strategy of rebuilding the moral fibre of our society, and attempting to remove what it is that may drive people to anti-social behaviour.
Brothers and sisters, we are convinced that South Africans in general have high moral values. This is evidenced by the outrage expressed by ordinary people whenever shocking crimes are reported, such as the rape of children.
In this regard, South Africans from all walks of life will be joining hands as a nation in discussing such issues at the Moral Regeneration Summit next week at the Waterkloof Air Force Base in Pretoria.
During this Summit people from all walks of life will work out a comprehensive national programme of action that will revive our nation's collective morality. We will, through our efforts, try to restore our sense of respect, dignity and unity.
Ladies and gentlemen, it heartens me to hear reports from all over our country that ordinary South Africans have heeded the call of our President to revive the noble tradition of letsema, or volunteerism.
I think we are all agreed that with this kind of spirit sweeping through our nation, the road ahead can only take us to a common destination of a broad, all- encompassing and sustained development.
Let me once again congratulate everyone involved in this project for the practical illustration of the positive impact that partnerships have on making communities self-sustainable.
We remain inspired that every job created, every small project and every partnership for a better life for all renews our hope that we are succeeding in creating a society of equality, dignity and hope.
I Thank You.