Madamme Speaker and Deputy Speaker
The Chief Whip
Members of the Executive Council
Members of the Provincial Legislature and Parliament
Representatives of the Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund
Councillor Rose Thobejane, Representing the City of Joburg
Non-governmental organisations and civil society advocacy groups focusing on the rights of children
Madame Speaker of the Children's Parliament, Hon Precious Mabaso, Deputy Speaker, Esteemed Guests of honour; the children of our province
Distinguished Members of the Eldorado Park Community
Ladies and Gentlemen
We meet here today to take part in this important sitting of the 2015 Children’s Parliament in our province which marks the end of Youth Month, the Month of Hope.
During this entire month of June, we spent time interacting with young people to hear their views and aspirations and reignite hope by sharing with them what government is doing to give them a helping hand rather than handouts.
As we gather today to focus on the children, the flowers of our nation, let's start by reminding ourselves about the tribute we paid to our young people during the month of Hope.
We paid our debt of gratitude different generations of youth who made distinct contributions to shaping the destiny of our democracy and the freedom we enjoy today.
We paid tribute to the youth of the early twentieth century for their intellect and artistic prowess - Enoch Sontonga, a young music composer, who at the age of 24, wrote the first verse of “Nkosi Sikelel’iAfrika” in 1897 and Pixley ka Isaka Seme who authored a profound article calling for the unity and regeneration of Africa, at the age of 30.
We also said thank you to the youth of 1940s who decided that for South Africa to be free – the masses of the oppressed must take charge of their own liberation struggle, embark on militant action and be willing to make sacrifices – Nelson Mandela’s generation.
We also honoured the youth of 1976 for their bravery and fortitude – Hector Peterson’s generation. Their actions changed the course of our history.
Lastly, we acknowledged the contribution of the Young Lions of the 1980s who rendered apartheid unworkable. We honoured all our youth, Black and White, Indian and Coloured.
We called on the current generation of young people to define their own mission and rise to the occasion. Our task is to help our youth to find their feet rather than doing everything for them.
On this important day, we focus on the flowers of our nation, the children of South Africa. As we gather here today, let us remember the wise words of the Founding Father of our democracy, President Nelson Mandela:
“There can be no keener revelation of a society's soul than the way in which it treats its children.”
Honourable Speaker, this Children’s Parliament offers a unique opportunity for our young people, upon whose shoulders lies the future of our county, to participate in our democratic processes, influence policy decisions and to contribute towards nation-building and social cohesion.
This Parliament also gives practical meaning to our on-going commitment to ensuring that nothing about our young people will be done for them, without them.
Honourable Speaker, while a lot has been achieved to improve the wellbeing of children, our country and our province still face the escalating problem of violence against children.
Far too many of our children face daily challenges of child neglect, physical and emotional abuse, sexual exploitation, murder, trafficking and exposure to drugs, alcohol and other harmful substances at an early age.
We gather here in Eldorado Park, one of the communities in our province which experience high levels of violence against children. We are here as the public representatives of the people of Gauteng, to once more give hope to the people of Eldorado Park and elsewhere in our province that as a caring government we are hard at work addressing the plight of the vulnerable citizens of our province, especially our children.
In this area of Eldorado Park in particular, our law enforcement agencies are working hard with the community to eliminate incidences of violence against children. Let us work together to eliminate child abuse in our communities.
We take this opportunity once again to acknowledge the wonderful work done by our own Miss South Africa and Miss Teen South Africa, who both grew up in the streets of Eldorado Park, Liesl Laurie and Taahira Katz, to shine the light of hope on the young people of this area. It's cool to grow up in Eldos! It's okay to grow up in the township because you can still realise your dreams and be the best you want to become.
Her example and the work she is doing proves that success is not a product of where one is born, but a product of hard work, discipline, respect for others and self, dedication and perseverance.
Our message to the young people of Eldorado Park and elsewhere in our province is that; continue to dream big in the knowledge that you too will see your dreams come true.
In us you have a government that is willing to hold your hand, walk with you as you reach for your dreams.
Honourable Speaker, investing in education is one of the best and enduring gifts we can give to our young people.
As our father Nelson Mandela, would have reminded us that; “Education is the great engine of personal development. It is through education that the daughter of a peasant can become a doctor, that a son of a mineworker can become the head of the mine, that a child of farm workers can become the president of a great nation.”
Through investing in the education of our children we will make new and decisive advance towards the society articulated in the National Development Plan; Vision 2030; a society where opportunity is not determined not by birth but by ability, education and hard work.
Over the past twenty one years of freedom and democracy, as government we have made significant interventions aimed at improving access and the quality of education as well as our learning outcomes.
I refer here to our no-fee school policy, our free school uniform programme, our school nutrition programme and many other interventions aimed at providing an equal opportunity to every child, regardless of their socio-economic background, to reach their potential.
Currently in Gauteng, 60% of our schools are no-fee schools. We also provide more than 1 million learners from poor families with meals, scholar transport and uniform.
Equally, we continue to make specific interventions aimed at improving the performance of our learners.
These interventions include our internationally acclaimed Secondary School Improvement Programme targeting priority schools, mainly in our townships.
We continue to make interventions aimed at strengthening the teaching and learning of Maths, Science and Technology as part of our ongoing endeavors to develop the kind of skills required by our modern and dynamic economy.
This, we can say without fear of contradiction that we are making progress, gradually, step by step, to push back the legacy of apartheid education and to open the doors of learning and culture to all, as directed by the Freedom Charter, whose sixtieth anniversary we mark this year.
While acknowledging the progress we are making, we are alive to the many challenges that still lie ahead. Part of our interventions to address some of the challenges we face include the emphasis we are placing on giving our learners a firm footing early on in their schooling careers.
In this regard we continue to expand access to Grade R, to train our Grade R educators and to reduce the number of those who fail to reach and complete Grade 12.
Our interventions to introduce technology and modernise the provision of education - our classrooms of the future initiatives, are aimed at strengthening the work already done to improve the quality of education we provide to our learners.
In addition, we continue to encourage the involvement of parents in the education of their children through strengthening and empowering school governing bodies.
Honourable Speaker, through these and many other interventions we are securing our future by addressing safety and sporting needs of our children.
We are also putting better health infrastructure and services to serve the specific needs of children across our province. Through "Bana Pele" principles, we want Gauteng to be a child-friendly province; the pride of place and best province in which to raise children and develop their talents so that they can become productive and active citizenry.
We are working with all sectors of society to improve life chances and wellbeing of every child in our province.
In this regard, I had the singular honor, last week, to visit the site where the iconic Nelson Mandela Children's Hospital in Parktown. The completion of the hospital is the realisation of Madiba's dream and his timeless commitment to the children of Africa.
We, as the Gauteng government are committed to work with the Trustees of the Nelson Mandela Children's Fund to ensure that the Nelson Mandela Children's Hospital becomes one of the best health facilities in our country.
We are also investing hugely in social infrastructure and amenities that respond to the needs of children from townships and informal settlements.
We do all these in order to give our children an opportunity to live up to their full potential, to be the best they can be in life, regardless of their background. As the old African idiom says: "It takes a village to raise a child".
It takes the whole community to raise a child.
As government, civil society and communities, let us all work together for the sake of our children. Let us all together say” Every child is my child”!
God Bless the Children of Africa!
Thank you.
