17 September 2002
The management of Guinness UDV,
The recipients of awards,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
I am filled with great joy and optimism as I join you today to celebrate with our compatriots who are making a difference in adult literacy and training.
I am also very impressed by the commitment that Guinness UDV has shown in convening the 8th Literacy Awards. In the spirit of Tirisano, you have started implementing literacy for a better life by presenting awards in a competition designed to identify the best run Adult Learning Centre.
I am delighted to see the private sector actively contributing to the realisation of the goal of a better life.
I must commend Guinness/UDV for also building a skills development centre in Colesberg, Northern Cape, and for instituting the training of trainers' programme. Your contribution provides an example of the difference that the private sector can make, and also of the need of cementing partnerships between government and the private sector in the critical programme of literacy and skills development. Ladies and gentlemen, the importance of adult literacy cannot be overemphasised. Decades of apartheid rule deprived this country of a skilled, literate and educated populace. The doors of acquiring knowledge remain closed to many of our compatriots, to whom basic literacy is still only a dream.
The challenge we face together, in the private and public sector, is how to turn the situation around. Having benefited from adult education, I know the significance of investing in this arena and what it means to the beneficiaries. As government, we are mindful of the fact that in order to take our people with us in everything we do, we need to vigorously fight the prison of illiteracy, which shuts the doors in the faces of hundreds of our people. Investing in the education of our adult citizens is a worthwhile exercise and one that will definitely yield results, since it prepares them to better meet the demands of the world of work and thereby improving the skills base of our workforce. That is why we have a legislative framework, which includes laws such as the Skills Development Act, as well as a sound national human resource development strategy. The investment in skills and education, and in particular adult basic education, is also prioritised because it will assist our people to cope better with the demands of life, and be able to do things that are often taken for granted by those fortunate enough to have attained an education.
The freedom and independence that one acquires from becoming literate is unimaginable to those who have never gone through a period of illiteracy.
Most importantly, education is also a powerful tool for any person living in a vibrant modern democracy such as South Africa. The State issues its instructions-and confers its benefits-in written regulations, statutes and correspondence. Illiteracy places many of our citizens outside this world of law, forcing them to rely on third parties for information which is their basic right to know.
It is for these reasons that we really commend all key stakeholders here, who are lending a hand to this worthy cause of improving the literacy levels in our country.
Allow me also programme director to remind all those who are literate, that they should participate in ridding the country of the demon of a-literacy, which afflicts those who can read but choose not to. The world of books, journals, newspapers and magazines is there for all to discover and interrogate knowledge in order to enrich our interactions in all spheres. Let us get rid of a-literacy and become an informed citizenry that will be able to make better judgements and take better and informed decisions about occurrences around us.
Distinguished guests, September is Heritage month, and allow me to use this opportunity to remind you of this year's theme, which is; "Celebrating our National Symbols and Institutions."
The aim is to use this month to celebrate our national symbols such as the Flag, Coat of Arms, National Anthem, our Constitution, National Orders, Parliament, and the Constitutional Court. These symbols are meant to promote reconciliation and nation building, and assist all of us in fostering a strong South African nationhood and pride in being South African.
In the founding provisions of our Constitution it is stated that the Republic of South Africa is a sovereign democratic state founded on the following values:
In celebrating Heritage Month, I would therefore like to urge all South Africans to remember how far we have come, and what we have achieved as a country, through working together. Let us popularise our national symbols, and through them, find one another and take pride in our common nationhood.
Let us, in remembering our heritage, work together to fight illiteracy, to combat HIV/AIDS and other diseases, deal with the challenge of poverty, homelessness and despair, and know that nothing can beat us if we have a common purpose. Let us also remember the responsibility we have to the rest of the continent, and be willing to play our role in ensuring the success of programmes aimed at the regeneration of the continent, such as the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD).
Ladies and gentlemen, let me warmly congratulate the winners of these outstanding awards today, and also those who entered the competition but did not win. Everyone is a winner today as your hard work means the opening of many doors to many adult learners. Once again, thank you to the sponsors, Guiness/UDV for making the whole event possible.
I thank you.