28 May 2002
The Speaker of the Northern Cape Legislature,
The Honourable Premier,
The Speakers and Deputy Speakers from other Legislatures, and Municipalities,
MECs from the Northern Cape and other Provinces,
Members of the Provincial Legislature from the Northern Cape and other legislatures,
The Mayor of Sol Plaatjie Municipality,
Religious leaders and religious representatives,
Brothers and sisters,
I feel truly privileged to have this opportunity to be part of the very first Religious Leaders Parliament of the Northern Cape Provincial Legislature.
Allow me to begin by congratulating this House on organising this milestone event. This initiative is a crucial step forward in the mammoth task we have of strengthening our nation.
When the Moral Regeneration Movement was launched in Pretoria on 18 April, it was emphasised that it would need to be driven by civil society, and that it would need to take root in all provinces and municipalities. The meeting of this religious parliament today, to discuss this very issue, indicates that this goal is achievable.
It is also important to note that the Northern Cape already had a moral regeneration framework document before the Pretoria Summit. This is not surprising given some of the well-known achievements of this province. In this vein, allow me, Mr Speaker, to congratulate the Premier and the whole province for the outstanding 84.2% matric pass rate last year. You showed the rest of the country what investing in our youth means.
The holding of this religious parliament is another achievement for the Northern Cape province. I am indeed happy to be attending the second religious parliament in our country, the first one having been in the Eastern Cape last year. Holding religious parliaments open the legislature to members of the public, and allow for participation in the affairs of the legislature and government as a whole.
The subject before us today, the challenge of moral degeneration in the province, indeed called for a meeting of this magnitude. It is a matter that brings all of us together, regardless of political beliefs, for it is a challenge we need to confront together as part of building our nation.
Brothers and sisters, the moral regeneration process is a commitment to the promotion of the values of compassion, integrity, freedom, peace, justice and respect for one another. It is a commitment whose primary source of reference and departure is our Constitution. It seeks to mobilise all in our communities to build the kind of society that is envisaged in the supreme law of our land, our Constitution.
The commitment of our people to the values that are enshrined in the Constitution has been in evidence on a number of occasions. We have, for example, seen the unity of our people in condemning any kind of crime, corruption or anti-social behaviour.
It is the responsibility of every South African to work towards building a stronger South African nation. Almost each province has its own unique challenges, which require a collective provincial response.
The Northern Cape has its own challenges; some of these being child molestation, crime and alcohol abuse that you are focusing on in this session. Other general manifestations of moral degeneration in our society includes the lack of respect for the sanctity of human life, lack of respect for the next person and property, and the brazen breaking of the law. It also refers to the general blurring of the lines between right and wrong.
You are focusing on the issue of child abuse correctly, for it was in this province that a crime that defied description was committed. The molestation of baby Tshepang in Louisville, and subsequent attacks on children in other parts of the country, hurt the nation deeply.
The collective outrage expressed by the majority of our people over this painful assault on the country's symbols of purity and innocence has shown that we are united as a nation in our understanding of what is right and wrong, and of the common good. That is a strong basis on which we can build a powerful moral regeneration movement in our country.
I am very encouraged to see that this province has prioritised the battle against child abuse. I was also happy to learn that the Northern Cape Government has transformed its child protection services to meet this challenge. We can only get positive results from such commitment.
It is our well-considered view that some of the cases related to child abuse point to weak family structures. It is therefore imperative that we work together to strengthen the institution of the family, including single parent, two-parent or foster parent families.
Stronger families would enable us to deal with problems such as alcohol and drug abuse, child neglect, partner and child abuse, and would create a healthy environment for raising children.
In a quest to develop the family unit in our country, a process led by the Department of Social Development is underway to develop a family policy.
The Department will examine best practice internationally.
For example, the Government of New Zealand has an inter-ministerial committee on strengthening families and there is also the Fragile Families project in the United States, aimed at strengthening dysfunctional families.
This is one of a number of programmes that national government departments are working on, as part of our commitment to reviving the moral fibre of our nation. !ose on which government would benefit greatly from the involvement of the religious sector in our country.
Brothers and sisters, it is appropriate that we speak about children today as we are meeting during Child Protection Week, which begins today (27 May) and will culminate on International Children's Day on Saturday the 1st of June. This year, Child Protection Week puts emphasis on practical steps to improve the conditions of children living in poverty and their families.
In this regard, as part of the campaign to alleviate poverty, this week will be used to start the distribution of two billion rand, which was allocated to pay pensioners, children and people with disabilities the grants owed to them.
The two billion rand was set aside following a court judgment that ruled that grants should be paid from the time of application and not the time of approval.
This amendment means that no one can be disadvantaged by delays in the processing of applications. The distribution of the two billion rand is expected to reach an estimated 1,9 million pensioners, people with disabilities and children. We humbly request you to assist us by helping those who qualify to register for the grants. As you know, the state machinery sometimes grinds too slowly, and the assistance from the religious sector would be most appreciated.
Compatriots, another challenge facing us all, and which is part of our drive for moral regeneration, is the campaign against HIV and AIDS. We believe it is imperative that we strengthen the Partnership Against Aids, to be able to arrest the spread of the disease and to deal with its impact.
Since there is still no cure for AIDS, prevention remains critical. As we approach June, which is a month dedicated to the youth, we would like to make an earnest appeal to the religious sector to assist us in a campaign to change the lifestyles of our young people.
While we are happy that awareness levels are now estimated at over 90%, we cannot rest until such awareness leads to effective reductions in new infections. Let us therefore use youth month to spread the message to our young people to act responsibly.
While emphasising the importance of prevention, let me also add that Government is committed to treatment and management of opportunistic infections.
We say emphatically that NO South African should be sent away and not treated from public health centres, because of their HIV status. Given the critical importance of drugs dealing with infections such as meningitis, oral thrush, TB and pneumonia, we urge the public, especially People Living with AIDS, to assist government in monitoring the availability of such drugs.
Further, alongside poverty alleviation and nutritional interventions, government will encourage investigation into alternative treatments, particularly into supplements and medication that boosts the immune system.
Another battle we need to fight together is the societal discrimination against people living with HIV/AIDS and their families. We were very encouraged by the launch of the anti-stigmatisation campaign by the South African Council of Churches recently.
The religious sector has a critical role to play in this campaign of building a caring society.
My dear brothers and sisters, allow me to once again congratulate this beautiful province on organizing this crucial religious parliament.
We are known to be a nation that does not shy away from discussing difficult issues, and through discussion, we solve our problems.
Today was therefore a good opportunity to begin to find ways and means of addressing the problems of moral decay in this province. We trust that this was not the last initiative, and that very soon, moral regeneration programmes will exist in every neighbourhood in this province.
We also trust that the religious sector will play an active role in the legislative process, and that we will hear your inputs on legislation relating to the morality of our nation in all spheres of government.
Colleagues, moral degeneration cuts across the whole spectrum of our society, and the renewal movement requires the participation of all South Africans through various sectors, such as labour, business, youth formations, community based organizations, women's organizations, men's organizations, traditional leaders, traditional healers, all spheres of government, as well as individuals.
Therefore, let us confront this challenge head on in our churches, synagogues, pulpits, temples, mosques and wherever we worship.
I wish you all the best in this difficult but necessary task. Let us strengthen the partnerships against moral decay in our society. If we do that, we will succeed.
I thank you.