D Peters: Northern Cape State of the Province Address

15 February 2007

Madam Speaker and Deputy-Speaker of the Provincial Legislature
Members of the Provincial Legislature
Members of the Executive Council
Judge Majiedt and Members of the Judiciary
Your Excellencies, ambassadors and High Commissioners
Members of Parliament
Mayors, Speakers and councillors
Traditional leaders (Magosi a rona)
The Chairperson of the Finance and Fiscal Commission
Heads of our Security Services and State Agencies
Leaders of various faith groups
Organised business representatives
Leaders of organised labour
Leaders of political parties
Heads of departments
Veterans
Distinguished guests
Ladies and gentlemen
People of the Northern Cape

The governance of people for the greater good, the concept of protection of
the vulnerable, the concept of leadership, the building of cohesive
communities, the eradication of criminality, the creation of shelter and safe
environments, the creation of shared wealth � all of these are not new
concepts.

These are not concepts that have been brought to us by a supposed "more
civilised" society from far overseas.

These are in fact concepts that have been fought for and practised by those
with vision who have gone long before us, and handed over from one generation
to others that followed.

Today it is my honour to welcome and acknowledge the descendants of all of
our forebears, the protectors of our cultural traditions and heritage in this
province.

I wish to acknowledge the presence of our DiKgosis from the Kgalagadi area.
I also wish to acknowledge the presence of our traditional leaders from the San
and Griqua communities in the Northern Cape.

Go ya ka maikaelelo ayone, puso e e eteletsweng pele ke African National
Congress (ANC) ene ya fedisa melelwane e e neng e kgabaganya ditoropo le
diprofence. Ke ka moo ke tsayang tshono eno go amogela mo Kapa Bokone baagi ba
Kgalagadi le Pampierstad. Lo amogetswe bagaetsho.

Bagaetsho, ka pulo ya dikolo re etetse mafelo a thuto ale mantsi kwa
Kgalagadi le Phokwane. Go dilo tse dintsi tse dintle tse re di boneng mme tse
re ikaeletseng go tsaya maele mo go tsone mme go dingwe tse re tla di
fetolelang go mokgwa wa tiriso wa Kapa Bokone.

Go simololola ka Moranang lo tla be lo le Noordkapeners.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

This year we are commemorating the 110th anniversary of the Langeberg
Rebellion.

We wish to remember this not as a rebellion as captured in the history
books, but rather as a war of resistance, an act of purpose of a people that
was systematically oppressed through legislation and encroachment of their
land.

The Langeberg War was preceded by a number of other struggles: the Koranna
War of resistance in the Upington�Keimoes area of our province; the killing of
the cattle of the Batswana people by the Colonial Government; the burning of
passes by Kgosi Galeshewe and his subjects; as well as other acts of resistance
led by traditional leaders such as Tau-tona Molale son of Kgosi Mankuroane,
Kgosi Luka Jantjie and headman Gert Mahura.

In April 1897 the Colonial Forces, with far superior weapons, launched a
full- scale onslaught against our indigenous people. On 6 April, Kgosi
Jantjies' stad was totally destroyed.

On 7 April 50-60 homesteads belonging to Andries Gasibone were burnt down;
On 14 April, colonial forces attacked the stad of Kgosi Toto and destroyed 280
huts at Bathlaros.

A number of successive offensives and killings by the colonial forces saw
the resistance crushed on 3rd August in the Langberg.

Three thousand Batswana people were killed or forced to surrender by this
date. Kgosi Toto and Kgosi Galeshewe stood trial and were sent to Robben
Island. Kgosi Toto died on Robben Island and Kgosi Galeshewe returned and died
in 1927 in Phokwane.

This story typifies how our ancestors were dealt with under colonial
oppressors.

At a conference for African First Ladies, the first lady of Namibia, Mrs
Kovambo Nujoma, said that:

"Africa is the cradle of humanity, and if humanity forgets its cradle then
it deserves to perish."

I am confident that by working with all of you we shall ensure that the
riches of our traditions, cultures and practices will be preserved and owned by
our children.

Madam Speaker,

After the first democratic election, Antjie Krog, a South African poet, had
the following to say:

"When I unfolded the ballot, the full national choice lay under my hand. For
the first time. It was as if a miracle burst open like a small seed-casing in
my throat. For the first time I am part of my complete country."

This miracle should never be taken for granted, as it came at immense cost
and suffering.

Dames and Here; Hierdie byeenkoms is a platform waar elkeen insette kan
lewer wat 'n beter lewe vir almal kan bewerkstellig.

Die regering vra dus vir almal om die tyd te gebruik om ons op al drie
vlakke van regering bewus te maak van geleenthede wat hulle het.

'n Man op Warrenvale het al vir my ingelig wat hul probleme is en verder
oplossings aangewys. Toe ek hom wys dat hy self sy problem opgelos het hy aan
my gese dat "Om arm te wees en in 'n sinkhuis te bly beteken nie dat jy nie
raad kan gee nie."

As we gather here today as representatives of our people, we are conscious
of the fact that we have completed just over half of our term.

In my inaugural address we have made a number of commitments to our people
on areas that we wished to improve within our term of office. In the main these
were:

* the reduction and eradication of poverty
* the creation of jobs and opportunities for all
* improving the skills levels of our people
* deepening healthcare for all
* enhancing the capacities of local governments to deliver more efficient
social services
* dealing with abuse of women and children and neglect of the elderly
* creating an enabling environment for greater participation of
differently-abled people.

We must today re-commit ourselves to continue systematic work, progressively
building the blocks for democracy and service delivery to our people.

I would like to emphasise that our priorities have not changed� our focus
areas have not changed - because our business of developing and uplifting our
people is not finished.

I would argue that we have progressively brought about new, exciting and
higher level activities in order to push our development achievements into
areas where this province has not ventured before.

Martin Luther King's words should inspire us to work without rest when he
said:

"All labour that uplifts humanity has dignity and importance - and it should
be undertaken with painstaking excellence."

We have, across succeeding years, made progress to improve the provincial
economy, build houses, increase access to social security and education,
provide safe drinking water, combat crime and to improve the health of our
people.

We are conscious of the fact that more needs to be done.

Madam Speaker,

The Northern Cape Provincial Growth and Development Strategy (PGDS)
structured our approach towards economic growth and social development with
clearly stated objectives and targets.

In furthering our objectives in this regard, all District Municipalities
would have launched their District Growth and Development Strategies before the
end of March 2007.

These strategies will be aligned to the PGDS and will identify the most
appropriate areas for development per district.

We are working hard to achieve our targeted 6% economic growth for the
province and the country. Within the context of the Accelerated and Shared
Growth Initiative for South Africa (AsgiSA) as well as the Northern Cape
Provincial Growth and Development Strategy, we have identified specific
strategic interventions to focus on in our province.

These interventions straddle the areas of infrastructure development,
education and skills development, the development of the Second Economy and
Science and Technology.

I am pleased to report considerable progress on these interventions.

Allow me to express my appreciation to De Beers for their sterling effort to
help the province to realise our aims for the beneficiation of diamonds. I
would also like to thank BHP Billiton for the support they have provided to the
construction of the Mamatwan road.

We have witnessed the completion of this road as well as the exciting
opening of the new and revamped Open Mine Museum, which were hailed as splendid
examples of government and the private sector working together for the benefit
of the community.

It is a matter of pride that since the re-opening of the Big Hole, we have
already counted a record total of 26 000 visitors.

We have, together with the Department of Minerals and Energy Affairs,
appointed a service provider who will start cutting and polishing operations
soon.

We have also entered into a partnership with a jewellery making firm who is
committed to relocating their operations to our province, as well as creating
550 jobs in the initial phase of production.

In ensuring that we create the requisite capacity 15 young people from this
province are currently being trained in China in diamond cutting and
polishing.

We have previously indicated government's intention to strengthen the Second
Economy which will enable more citizens to enjoy the benefits of increased
economic growth.

As part of our support to the development of small, medium and
microenterprises (SMMEs), Small Enterprise Development Agency (SEDA)
infrastructure has now been put in place in all districts of our province.

Further acting on the 2nd economy interventions, Government and Telkom have
entered into a partnership to make possible the creation of Call Centres which
will result in the further creation of jobs.

We have also supported and registered five co-operatives in the clothing,
services and other economic areas; as well as eighty-six (86) co-operatives
related to goat farming.

Further development in this regard, was the training of 420 goat farmers to
support the aforementioned co-operatives.

The Beeshoek Trust, a co-operative of largely youth and women, has been able
to sign an agreement with LAW, an European Union (EU) accredited abattoir. The
co-operative currently supplies the abattoir with an average of 180 goats per
quarter.

Madam Speaker

We have a very beautiful province and we believe that there are many
treasures here waiting to be discovered and explored. People who come here are
certainly not "Going nowhere Slowly!"

Many visitors, including our President, have experienced that visiting our
tourist attractions can be a rejuvenating experience and I urge all of you to
explore our province.

In terms of our Tourism Master Plan we are increasingly opening up our
province to the world which is proven by our increasing visitor numbers to the
province.

Our province is also exploring the benefits and more effective utilisation
of several country agreements, as well as those signed with our province.

Through our agreement with the Karas region in Namibia, exchanges in terms
of culture, language education and trade will be realised in the forthcoming
period.

Our work towards improving infrastructure for social and economic
development is continuing.

Strict measures are implemented to ensure that the Expanded Public Works
Programme (EPWP) principles are adhered to. Already a total of 10 000 jobs have
been created through our infrastructure programme since 2005.

At both the De Aar and Upington hospital the construction phase earth works
are in process and the Garies Hospital is completed , with the official opening
to be scheduled before the end of March.

Three new multi-purpose centres are under construction, as well as a new
secure care facility at Springbok, with a targeted 500 jobs to be created
during the construction phase.

Soon we will see the opening of the eagerly�awaited Mayibuye Multi-purpose
Cultural Centre, a project in which government has already invested R43
million.

I am also pleased to report that work to construct the new correctional
facility in Kimberley has commenced again at a total estimated investment of
R600 million from national Public Works.

Through an equal partnership with Samancor mines we have completed the road
from Mamatwan to Deben. Work has been done on the resealing of roads around
Upington, surfacing the access road to Southern African Large Telescope (SALT)
in Sutherland, rehabilitation of the road between Nieuwoudtville and Calvinia
as well as the road serving Kommagas and Kleinsee.

As part of our empowerment objectives in the infrastructure field, 12 women
contractors have received on-site-management training and support from
established contractors.

Madam Speaker,

It is accepted that our Pixley Ka Seme district is the most impoverished
district in our province. We all know that the previous downscaling of the
railway network in the province had particularly devastating effects for the
people of Pixley Ka Seme.

Since 2004 this government has been hard at work to revitalise the railway
networks in a bid to improve the economic potential in this region. To date a
total of 40 kilometres of the rail between Douglas and Salt Lake has been
upgraded and has created 850 jobs.

Our country is experiencing challenges in responding to global and national
development needs because of insufficient human capacity. This has compelled us
to adopt various interventions as part of a critical strategic thrust of the
Accelerated and Shared Growth Initiative for South Africa (AsgiSA).

We are therefore excited about having finally launched the Human Resource
Development (HRD) Strategy for our province, which will ensure access to
training for numerous of our people, as well as the attraction and retention of
scarce skills for our province.

As part of this strategy we are continuously building the capacity of our
Institute for Higher Education, which now offers a total of twelve courses, to
a total of 2 147 students of this province. A Board for the Institute is now in
place.

In our efforts to increase the capacity of the state, we need to more
vigorously pursue our equity targets. Although women currently constitute 63%
of the government workforce, only 22% are located at Senior Management Level.
People with disabilities constitute 0,4% of the total workforce.

At a municipal level we are even more challenged in as far as our equity
targets are concerned. Currently only 2 out 32 municipal managers are women.
This clearly illustrates what still needs to be done.

In an effort to improve our services to the public, all departments are
obligated to have their Service Delivery Improvement Plans in place by March,
and Performance Management and Assessment is now in place in most of our
departments.

We have managed to significantly reduce the number of cases linked to social
grant fraud through continuous data clean up and putting in place quality
management systems.

I want to commend those investors in this province who are taking very
seriously their responsibility to assist us with capacity building.

On the 1st of February I was privileged to be taken on a site visit to the
new vocational training centre in Kuruman, to be officially launched on 6 March
2007.

This centre is the result of the commitment shown by United Manganese of
Kalahari (UMK), which is Joint venture between a Black Economic Empowerment
(BEE) company of our province and a Russian�based partner. The centre has been
constructed by using local labour and is set to start its operations by end of
this month, with a target of 60 learners from the local area.

Madam Speaker

The eradication of poverty and provision of safety-nets for our people have
been at the centre of our policies and programmes since the first democratic
elections.

I have previously committed this government to shortening the waiting period
for Social Assistance Grants applications from 21 to 11 days. We have also
indicated our target of extending the child support grant to 11 to 14 year
olds.

Today I can report that we have not quite reached this target, but have
managed to record a significant average improvement from 21 days to 17days,
whilst at some fully resourced centres we have managed to record same-day
approvals.

In the extension of support we have managed to reach 19 540 beneficiaries
out of the target of 25 149 children aged between 11 and 14 years. We will
obviously not stop until we have reached the target at all our centres.

Ladies and gentlemen

Hunger and food insecurity is still haunting us� there is no greater pain
than knowing that some of our children still go to bed hungry.

In 2004 our Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dr Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma,
reiterated that:

"There can be no sustainable democracy when people are hungry and poor. In
my view, hunger and poverty are as dehumanising as political oppression."

As a leader and a mother, I want to ask that all of us here today,
government and other sectors, pledge in our hearts to do everything in our
power to ensure that our children do not go hungry.

Although we are continuously increasing food security, this is certainly not
a battle that government can fight alone.

Over the period from 2004 government has managed to roll out our food
emergency scheme to 9 950 households. In addition to this we have allocated
R38,3 million to non-governmental organisations rendering services to the poor.
A total of 650 clients per month are benefiting from our Food Energy
Malnutrition Scheme.

Through our school nutrition programme 311 primary schools have benefited in
the 2006/07 financial year, totalling 128 542 learners from Grade R to Grade
7.

To assist communities with household food production we have through our
Integrated Food Security and Nutrition Programme, launched several large scale
food gardens, supported school food gardens with irrigation and provided
starter packs to schools and clinics. We have assisted the Moroletsoa and
Tshwaraganang hydroponic projects through production interventions.

I will be the first to acknowledge the need to do more, hence I call on you
to pledge the support of your various institutions to ensure that none of our
children go hungry.

Madam Speaker,

"The foundation of every state is the education of its youth and an educated
nation is a better protector of sustained freedom than a standing army. The
value of education does not lie in the learning of many facts, it lies in the
training of the mind - to think of something that cannot be learnt from
textbooks."
- Anonymous -

It is a standing commitment therefore of government that we should continue
increasing access and quality of education for all our learners.

In 2006, 162 Public Ordinary Schools became "No�Fee" schools, benefiting 70
603 learners. We have trained all our School Governing Bodies (SGBs), to ensure
that our parents take seriously the responsibility to effectively manage our
schools.

We have furthermore, through the Premier's Trust Fund, assisted 676 students
to further their studies in scarce skills areas identified for the
province.

In addition to this, in response to the call of our President to enable our
youth to compete in an increasingly technology driven society, we have this
year enabled sixty-one new schools to offer Computer Technology Application to
our learners.

Our people need to understand that the social fabric of society and our
value systems are predominantly built through the family environment we create
for ourselves and our children.

To this end we have adopted a programme that seeks to promote social
cohesion through building stronger families. A National Policy on Families has
been developed in collaboration with provinces. Through this programme we are
entering into partnerships with Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) to render
specialised services to families.

Already our province hosted a Family Life Indaba in November last year,
resulting in the development of an Integrated Provincial Plan of Action for the
preservation and strengthening of family life.

It is a great source of concern to us that the abuse of alcohol still
remains at the root of many cases of abuse against women and children, as well
as domestic violence.

I therefore urgently call on our parents to refrain from the excessive use
of liquor and to take more responsibility for safe-guarding their children.

In our continuous fight against the HIV/AIDS challenge, I wish to submit to
this house that we are improving in rolling out our strategy. We now have
Voluntary Counselling and Treatment (VCT) coverage at 174 sites in the province
and have registered 11 new Antiretroviral Treatment (ART) service points in
this year.

I want to further urge all of us to strengthen the support we give to our
people who are affected and infected by this disease, as we are still
experiencing challenges with regard to treatment adherence.

In further supporting and streamlining our comprehensive health system I am
pleased to report the successful transfer of Forensic Pathology Services from
South African Police Service (SAPS) to the Department of Health.

Whilst our training for forensic nurses is continuing, we are now also able
to ensure that all survivors of sexual abuse have access to prophylactic
treatment for Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs) and HIV.

We are aware of the fact that government as a whole has been faced with
several challenges in our efforts towards achieving sustainable human
settlements.

Our target for the period 2004�2006, within the received allocation, was to
build 8 500 low-cost housing units. To date we have managed to construct a
total of 5 895 housing units over this period, which represents more than 60%
of our target for the term.

The process of unblocking of housing projects in the province has also shown
progress. To date 42 of the 59 blocked projects have been unblocked, completing
a total 1 762 houses.

Considerable effort has also been made to ensure better quality in housing.
A number of unprofessional and unscrupulous contractors who gave people shoddy
service and at times left projects incomplete, have been blacklisted.

Our technical capacity has been increased and all new projects are compelled
to register with the National Home Builders Registration Council.

We have previously indicated our intention to eradicate the dehumanising
bucket system in formal settlements in our province. In December 2005 our
province had a total of 24 390 buckets still in use by our people. To date we
have managed to replace 17 544 bucket sewerage units, with a further 6 846
still to be eradicated.

We have made considerable progress in our efforts to enhance equitable
access for our people to land. We have to date redistributed 41 244 356
hectares of land. In the Komnader Farm Equity Share Scheme farm workers have
been enabled to acquire 25% of the total business, producing potatoes.

We are excited about the final agreement between government and the
Richtersveld community in a ground-breaking restitution case. In line with the
Gijima programme, which is aimed at the fast-tracking of land and agrarian
reform, 2 322 of the 2 893 land claims have been settled as at November
2006.

It is broadly accepted that Local Government is the closest to our people,
yet we are aware that municipalities face severe challenges in terms of their
ability to deliver on their constitutional obligations to our people.

On 1 March 2006 our people have once again elected their local
representatives based on our commitment that we will make Local Government work
better for them.

To realise this commitment, and as part of ensuring hands on support to
municipalities, we have adopted the Five-Year Strategic Agenda for Local
Government, through which national and provincial governments work with
municipalities to improve and enhance their service delivery capacity.

With the assistance of Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA), National
Treasury and the South African Institute of Consulting Engineers (SAICE) we
have already deployed technical experts in the fields of engineering and
finance, to municipalities.

The Northern Cape is also the first province to pioneer the concept of
district support units for Operation and Maintenance of Infrastructure,
supported by Swedish International Development and Co-operation Agency (SIDA),
DBSA and the Department of Water Affairs and Forestry (DWAF). Already this
project has been included on the DWAF best practice website.

A number of municipalities are increasingly investing resources in local
economic development projects. This includes partnerships between Frances Baard
District Municipality and the Umsobomvu Youth Fund for the development of 100
youth entrepreneurs, as well as a partnership with Kumba Resources for clay
brick manufacturing.

In their poverty alleviation programme the Pixley ka Seme District
Municipality has allocated R3,4 million to 8 municipalities which has already
created 543 temporary jobs over the past 8 months.

I also want to indicate my displeasure about the fact that many provincial
and national government departments are still putting our municipalities at
risk of financial collapse by not paying for municipal services. This is
completely unacceptable and urgent steps will be taken to remedy this
problem.

In our pursuit of municipal excellence we can proudly report that two of our
municipalities, namely Gamagara local municipality and Frances Baard District
Municipality, can now be counted among the top three municipalities of the
country.

Madam Speaker

Although we are slowly turning the tide against crime, our province cannot
yet be declared a safe haven for our people and our visitors. The Northern Cape
has for too long been notorious for some of the worst atrocities committed
against children.

Just in this past week we have read the reports about the horrific rape
charges being heard in our courts. As a government and people of the Northern
Cape we are embarrassed and ashamed of these monsters in our communities.

It is therefore critical that each and every citizen of the Northern Cape
harness all efforts and resources at our disposal to eradicate these criminal
attacks on the very soul of our humanity and the essence of our existence: our
children. It is also critical that we ensure the full enforcement of the
stipulations of the Child Act and other laws designed for the protection of the
vulnerable.

Despite these challenges, crime statistics indicate that our provincial
crime fighting efforts are paying off. Our provincial crime statistics shows a
reduction in 13 out of 14 priority crimes with an average 14% overall reduction
in contact crime.

This means that we have exceeded our target of between 7 and 10 % annual
reduction in contact crimes. I am also pleased to report that our
municipalities are increasingly becoming more involved in creating safer
communities.

Reduction in reported economic crimes has been achieved in respect of:

* burglaries at businesses (down by 15,95 %)
* stock theft (down by 11%)
* theft (down by 33,5 %)
* theft out of motor vehicles (down by19,9%).

In addition to this, forty-two (42) community volunteers, together with 26
project management learners have been trained and deployed at the 21 provincial
crime weight stations in order to manage and assist with the curbing of
community-based social crime.

The SAPS has achieved an intake of 554 new recruits during the 2005/06
financial year and we will continue to equip them to be better protectors of
the community.

In this regard please allow me to congratulate and thank our Provincial
Police Commissioner, Ms Mbombo, as well as members of the police service for
the sterling work they are performing to make our communities safer.

In view of our country being the host for the 2010 FIFA Soccer World Cup, we
need to address all aspects that contribute to crime, as we also expect to have
an increased tourism influx into this province.

Madam Speaker

Development of our province and our people does not happen unless we show a
steadfast commitment to the ideals that we have long fought for.

We have developed a more structured approach in dealing with matters of the
economy and our further work is premised primarily on the 2014 vision of
halving unemployment and poverty by at least 50%. Critical in this period is
the work we must continue to do in pursuance of a minimum growth rate of 6%
also by 2014.

Thus in line with the strategic thrust derived from the Provincial Growth
and Development Strategy and AsgiSA, we will in the coming year intensify work
and harness resources for further implementation of AsgiSA initiatives.

Further work relating to diamond beneficiation will continue this year. In
this regard we will:

* avail land for the diamond hub in Kimberley
* lobby for the relocation of the State Diamond Trader to Kimberley
* launch the diamond polishing and cutting factory
* launch the gemology school by end of March 2007
* launch the jewellery making factory

Furthering our work in the Commercialization of Goats, we will finalise
funding from the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC). In addition to this
we will finalise the purchase of a production farm and goats for emerging
farmers by June this year. Substantial support will be further provided to
emerging farmers through the Comprehensive Agricultural Support Programme
(CASP).

Through the Nguni Cattle project we aim to upgrade the cattle in the
communal and rural areas of the Northern Cape by the reintroduction of
indigenous Nguni bloodlines. In this year we will strengthen this project by
purchasing, propagating and distributing Nguni cattle for the purpose of this
Stock Betterment Scheme.

Our investment in both social and economic infrastructure remains one of the
key pillars of increasing the economic potential in the province as well the
provision of jobs.

* In this year new clinics will be built for the communities of Bendel,
Hartswater, Hondeklipbaai, Oliphantshoek, Pampierstad and Laxey. We will also
upgrade the clinics in Heuningsvlei and Tsineng.
* Particular attention will be given to the upgrade of school buildings, and
water and sanitation infrastructure for the 115 schools in the Kgalagadi
District.
* 28 schools will further receive funding for repairs and renovations and, like
in the past, SGBs have to use these resources to empower our parents and
youth.
* The new Colesberg Magistrate's Court is in process and scheduled for
completion in July.
* Further work to eradicate the remaining 7 000 buckets on formal stands, will
be continued.
* R177 million is earmarked over the next two years for road maintenance and
EPWP projects. It is envisaged that more than 1 200 jobs will be created
through these projects
* Construction of the road between Kuboes and Richtersveld, the access road to
the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) project and the upgrading of secondary and
gravel roads will continue this year.
* In our efforts to revitalise the rail networks, further work will be done on
the Belmont Douglas project during this financial year. Service providers will
be appointed soon to complete the business plans to address the other rail
possibilities.

The province is still actively pursuing the development of the Upington
Cargo hub. The development of this hub represents considerable benefits to the
province and very attractive benefits for users in that there is less
congestion, a quicker airport turnaround time, potential for payload factors
and lower landing and airport charges. Mr Jeff Radebe, the national Minister of
Transport, has already pledged his support to the province on this
initiative.

Madam Speaker

Guided by our Tourism Master Plan further work will be done to grow our
slice of the expanding tourism market and to showcase our province to potential
investors.

In this regard:

* Our province will be the proud host of the International Asia Expo and
International Investors' Conference in September 2007. We are confident that
real investment will come to the province through this more structured approach
towards investment promotion.
* Further to this, work will be done to ensure the realisation of a Trade and
Investment Promotion Agency specifically for this province.
* We will increase our marketing of the province - which will include the
erection of "destination awareness billboard" in eighteen high traffic volume
locations in our key target market areas.
* We will engage a more focused approach towards our international outreach in
order to more effectively utilise the agreements we have as a country and a
province with other countries.

In order to ensure that the benefits of our growing economy are more widely
enjoyed by all our people, our efforts to support our 2nd economy will be
intensified. In this regard we will do the following:

* During the course of 2007, complete a Provincial Business Process
Outsourcing and Offshoring (BPO&O) Strategy that will ensure the
establishment of at least two Call Centres in the districts of Kgalagadi and
Frances Baard. This intervention will result in the creation of 200 jobs as
well as a Skills Development Programme(Learnerships) for this particular
sector.
* Further refine our SMME Strategy for the province, which will be launched in
April this year. We will also roll out support programmes for SMMEs through the
newly established SEDA offices in our province.
* Through Micro Agricultural Financial Institutions of South Africa (MAFISA),
begin to address the financial services needs of the micro and small
agricultural sector, with particular emphasis on rural women.

The recently launched Human Resource Development Strategy responds to the
needs of our growing economy. Our strategies in this regard are aligned to the
Joint Initiative on Priority Skills Acquisition, and seek to deliver in an
accelerated manner, the requisite skills for the growth of our economy.

A major boost in this regard is the allocation of R99 million rand for
training in various areas, secured for the province from the National Skills
Fund.

We will also be providing fully subsidised training to 30 students to become
social workers, in order to meet the current need experienced in this
field.

We will launch the "Learnership 500" programme, starting with 50
learnerships in construction, entrepreneurial and business skills. These
learnerships will be allocated to women and youth in our province.

As a response to the scarcity of skilled artisans in our province,
approximately 450 learnerships will be offered to increase the number of
artisans, technicians and professionals within the Built Environment
sector.

We will continue the expansion of our social security net, as this is a
critical component in our endeavours to ensure a better life for all. We will
remain focused, with a targeted programme geared towards the alleviation of the
plight of the most disadvantaged sector of society.

In this regard we will:

* Work to remove families from the poverty spiral by intensifying our
intervention services like sustainable livelihoods programme and social support
network.
* Focus on prevention services in as far as substance abuse is concerned, for
example, rehabilitation services.
* Establish a safe house in Kakamas in support of domestic violence
survivors.
* Establish a secure care centre in De Aar.
* In collaboration with NGOs, respond to the needs of young people in conflict
with the law.
* In our food security programme we will support food production to 560
households, 120 schools and 70 clinics.

As mentioned earlier, we have made progress with regards to the provision of
housing, however, a number of challenges remain. In this regard I request our
communities to be patient and co-operative.

Baie mense s� somtyds: "Ek is hier gebore en ek gaan hier bly." Hierdie
houding help ons nie veel om ge-integreerde gemeenskappe te bou nie, want so
sit ons die ras-gebaseerde patrone van ontwikelling voort.

We will continue with our housing programme this year, firmly located in the
context of building new and integrated human settlements for all our people.
Over the coming period we will :

* Continue our housing programme, targeting the delivery of 2 400 houses. In
addition to this, consumer awareness programmes will be run, focusing on
homeowners' rights and responsibilities.
* Commence the structured upgrading of informal settlements this year, with two
pilot projects being implemented in Lorato Park in Galeshewe and Ou Boks in
Colesberg
* Build capacity building for housing delivery at municipal level through our
municipal accreditation programme, targeting all five district municipalities,
as well as three selected local municipalities.
* In as far as the sanitation needs of our people are concerned we have set a
target of having all buckets removed by the end of this year. To this end an
amount of R59 460 261 has been allocated to address this important
project.
* Continue to support municipalities to improve areas of governance,
transformation and organisational development, public participation, basic
service delivery, financial viability and local economic development.
* Continue utilising our Vuna Awards as a tool to measure the performance of
municipalities and this year all municipalities will be required to subject
themselves to this benchmarking process.

I am sure that most of us would agree that welcome progress has been made in
the efforts to improve the quality and reach of our education system. In
addition to the school infrastructure improvements as mentioned earlier, we
will do the following:

* Build and upgrade 12 Science laboratories at various schools, thus
promoting the Maths, Science and Technology Strategy.
* Fifty (50) needy learners will receive fully funded bursaries towards
studying in education with Mathematics, Science and Languages. Further support
will be provided from the Premier's Education Trust Fund to 444 students this
year.
* In further support of the principle of lifelong learning I am pleased to
report that we are also strengthening our provincial libraries. In this regard,
R24 million will be allocated to improve library services in the province.

The re-capitalisation of our Further Education and Training (FET) colleges
intends to develop our capacity to respond to the skills needs of our province.
Focus in the coming year will be on upgrading equipment, laboratories and
workshops to support the implementation of the New National Certificate
(Vocational) Programmes.

Our Health Vision 2014 serves as a guide for health service provision in the
Northern Cape. We will progressively attend to the challenges faced in the
health sector and in partnership with our communities:

* Continue to capacitate our healthcare facilities to be accredited for the
rollout as envisaged and planned for in the comprehensive plan for the
treatment, care and support to immune compromised patients of HIV/AIDS. In this
regard more work will be done to further strengthen our comprehensive HIV/AIDS
rollout plan
* Further strengthen the roll-out of our Tuberculosis (TB) Crises Management
Plan as adopted in June 2006
* Upgrade the 22 mortuaries on hospital grounds in the province
* Open a 24-hour casualty service at Galeshewe Day Hospital
* Improve the remuneration of health professionals over the next three
years.

Madam Speaker

Our programmes of social transformation are geared to fundamentally shift
our province towards a non-racial, non-sexist and prosperous haven for all our
people. Critical to this goal is the need to foster and strengthen social
cohesion and a greater sense of nationhood.

The ANC led government committed itself to ensure that we can restore the
dignity of our people and as a nation prepare ourselves to find closure to some
of the inhumane treatments and atrocities we suffered.

The Northern Cape government and the national Department of Arts and Culture
will ensure that the remains of the Griqua leader, Cornelius Kok and Kgosi Toto
of Ga�Motlharo and other resistance fighters like them, be returned to their
home soil of the Northern Cape. We will also ensure that the graveside of Kgosi
Galeshewe is proclaimed as a national heritage site.

We are in the process of finalising the "Northern Cape Traditional
Leadership and Governance Bill of 2006," which will be tabled by March. My
office is in the process of finalising the administrative infrastructure needed
to support this important institution of traditional leadership.

Furthermore, as part of building on our heritage I am pleased to report that
we have now established the Provincial Geographic Names Committee.

It will be their task, with input from all our people, to now fasttrack the
process of ensuring that names of places in this province are reflective of the
rich traditions and history of all our people.

We have done all the work in terms of the United Nations Educational,
Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) requirements for the Richtersveld
to be declared as a World Heritage Site. We are waiting with bated breath for a
final decision on this matter by the World Heritage Committee, who are
scheduled to meet on 23 June this year.

Ladies and gentlemen

The role of our parents and the community at large is to create a protective
laager for our children and to turn the Northern Cape into a child-friendly
environment.

In this regard I would like to thank our religious leaders, our volunteers
in different fields, our home-based care-givers, departments, NGOs and other
institutions for their diligence and their commitment to combating crime and
working for the well-being of our communities. These are the people who give
selflessly of their time, energy and even resources � they are the ones who
inspire us by their willingness to form partnerships with government, for the
betterment of our people.

* Further showing our determination to eradicate crime, we will roll out the
Closed-Circuit Television (CCTV) camera project to Galeshewe and Roodepan this
year when 20 new cameras will be installed. Thirty additional jobs will be
created by this project and people with disabilities will continue to be
prioritised for employment as camera operators

"So ons wil die diewe in hierdie gebiede net waarsku, ons sal julle op die
TV kan sien! Ons sal nie rus voordat al hierdie kriminele agter die tralies is
nie!"

Our efforts towards land and agrarian reform will be intensified by:

* supporting the finalisation of outstanding land claims; of the 478
outstanding claims, 108 urban claims are now at the settlement phase and
further work will be done to resolve these and others outstanding
* strengthening of municipal capacity in dealing with land related
matters
* Fast-tracking the vesting of state land.

Madam Speaker,

In order to improve our capacity to deliver and improve services to our
people, it is critical that we increase the capacity of the state. We will
continue our tradition of interaction with our people, we will continue to stay
in touch with how their hearts beat through the following:

* Continue our Imbizo programme throughout the year, with Kgalagadi and
Namakwa regions scheduled to be visited by the Executive Council during the
first half of this year.
* Re-look our strategies in order to see what needs to be changed in order get
the desired results for all our target groups � one of the options we may be
exploring in terms of our disability profile is to ring-fence certain positions
for people with disabilities. We need urgent intervention in municipalities in
order to address the severely skewed gender relations in these
institutions.
* Continue our work to improve the public service through more focused training
as well as intensifying the implementation of the Batho Pele Programme.
* Improve our work with the Auditor General and Treasury to ensure a higher
level of compliance with the prescripts of the Public Finance Management Act
(PFMA).

Madam Speaker and distinguished guests,

Our strive for a democratic, non-racist, non-sexist and prosperous society
began many years ago, with contributions and sacrifices made by our forebears
and leaders, many of whom did not have the privilege of enjoying the fruits of
their labour.

Today many of our people who are with us are still not enjoying some of the
privileges of this hard-won freedom.

Yet our people have responded positively to our call for creating a people's
contract to create work and to fight poverty, but this war is far from over.
"Freedom in our life-time" meant that our people would also be free from
poverty and economic oppression.

Let us not become tired or complacent, let us intensify our work, let us
forget about individual gain but aspire towards the collective good.

Let us join hands to fight abuse, to fight crime and to fight against
poverty. We have proven that as a nation united, nothing can stop us from
achieving our African dream.

All of us in this province have a moral obligation to fulfil the aspirations
of our people.

Let us be reminded of the words of our former president, Mr Nelson
Mandela:

"There is no easy walk to freedom anywhere�to be free is not merely to cast
off one's chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom
of others."

I thank you.

Ke a leboga.

Baie Dankie.

Siyabonga.

Issued by: Northern Cape Provincial Government
15 February 2007