Honourable Provincial Speakers and Deputy Speakers
Vice Chancellor Designate Professor Adam Habib
His Excellency, EU Ambassador van de Geer
Honourable Members of the South African Legislature
Director General of PALAMA, Professor Mollo
Distinguished Guests
Good evening and a warm welcome. This dinner is in honor of our graduates!
Judging from the broad smiles of members, we not only sense your relief in finishing this course; we also witnessed the pride with which you all stepped up to receive your certificates.
The success of this programme is due to the collaborative efforts of Parliament, Legislatures, Wits, PALAMA, and most importantly, the support of the European Union.
Ambassador van de Geer, although the members did the hard work, and received the certificates today, we also wish to thank you as the champion of this programme for your unwavering support.
Tonight we are also pleased to have within our midst the family members of the graduates, who encouraged and supported the members to soldier on. Thank you very much.
I wish to take this opportunity to congratulate Prof Habib, on his appointment as the new vice chancellor of WITS. We have every confidence that Prof Habib will continue the good work that was started by his predecessors.
Congratulations to our Members of Parliament and Provincial Legislatures, amongst whom are MEC’s, Speakers and Deputy Speakers of legislatures who graduated earlier today. As a collective of the South African Legislative Sector, we are very proud and honored to share this important milestone with you.
I wish to express our gratitude and appreciation to Wits and the Department of Public Service and Administration for joining us in this undertaking of empowering and capacitating our Members of Parliament. Indeed, Institutions of Higher Learning have an important role to play in helping to facilitate collaboration through learning, exchange and cooperation.
The value and importance of education was emphasized by Professor Nongxa when he said in his acceptance speech as vice chancellor and I quote: “besides our mineral resources, education is as well an asset that we must harness and develop”. These are wise words which I agree with wholeheartedly!
Today’s graduation of two hundred and twenty five legislators, the largest group thus far, represents a milestone in the partnership of the South African Legislative Sector and the Wits Graduate School of Public Administration and Management Leadership Academy (PALAMA).
This partnership enables legislators to realize their full potential as drivers of development and as agents of change.
In conceptualizing this programme a key condition for us was the necessity for this qualification to respond to the capacity and professional development needs within the Legislative Sector.
Honourable Members
The Department of Higher Education estimates that in our country 2.8 million of our people aged between 18 and 24 years are neither in education, nor employed, or in training programmes.
In essence, this amounts to 2.8 million potential graduates that could be equipped with the necessary skills to realize the full potential of our country.
Best practice across the world from China, Malaysia and Brazil confirms that a developmental state requires both economic growth and development especially human resource development.
As Parliament, we therefore have to engage the Executive and Institutions of Higher Learning in earnest on how best we ensure that more of our people are skilled, trained and educated to deliver to our people accelerated services and a better quality of life.
With respect to our country’s challenges of poverty and increased inequality, we as legislators have been particularly introspective about our own contribution to the transformation agenda.
As such, the South African Legislative Sector has progressively placed more emphasis on quality, efficiency and effectiveness of legislatures as a way to increase performance, effectiveness and outcomes of the developmental state.
Contrary to popular belief, most Members of Parliament, who are lawmakers, are not lawyers! Unlike in other professions, those who are elected to public office are however, expected to have indefinable qualities to accomplish an indescribable job.
Members of Parliament are expected to make decisions on behalf of an entire nation, which is arguably the most influential role in society.
Parliaments have central constitutional roles in making laws, approving budgets, developing government policy and being accountable to the people. Consequently, it is critical that parliamentarians have the knowledge, skills and abilities needed to discharge the responsibilities of this role.
It is also the case, that in the last nineteen years, the increasing complexities of the environment within which parliamentarians work has been paralleled by changes in parliamentarians’ own expectations and those of the public.
With respect to enhancing the capabilities of Members of Parliament, the South African Legislative Sector is proudly setting the benchmark for Parliaments around the world.
A study conducted by the Inter Parliamentary Union in 2010 on the current state of knowledge concerning formal and informal capacity building programmes for parliamentarians found that South Africa and India were the only countries which supported its members to undertake formal tertiary studies.
Within Parliament we are already seeing the results of these training programmes in the quality of the work of Members.
We have noticed deeper scrutiny of departmental budgets, improvements in the quality of debates in committees and thankfully in our debating chambers, as well as tougher questions directed to departments amongst others. This confirms what was said by Maya Angelou “when you know better you do better”.
In addition, those Members who have taken advantage of the opportunities provided have highlighted the empowering effects of their studies for themselves, their communities and for their post parliamentary careers.
We envisage this programme to grow even further and for this partnership to grow from strength to strength. An educated, informed and skilled cadre of Parliamentarians is an asset to good governance and democracy.
I encourage you to continue on this exciting journey of lifelong learning and personal growth. In the words of Professor Habib and I quote: “all of us must come together to build opportunities for all students. The collective prize is worth the effort”.
And as Mahatma Ghandi said and I quote:” Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever”.
Again, congratulations to our graduates on a job well done!
I thank you.
