Provincial Freedom Day Celebration, Delareyville Sports Ground, Tswaing
27 April 2006
Programme Director
North West MECs and Members of the Provincial Legislature present
Executive Mayor of the Central District Municipality, Cllr Themba Gwabeni
Mayor of the Tswaing Local Municipality, Cllr M Tlape
Mayors, Councillors and Ward Committee members present
Our Esteemed Traditional Leaders present
Leaders of our faith-based organisations
The Community of Tswaing
Ba Gaetsho Dumelang
A special word of welcome to all of you on this watershed day of the
Celebration of our Freedom, today and thank you very much for granting me this
opportunity to address you.
A special word of condolences and sympathy on behalf of the North West
Provincial Government to the bereaved families of officials of Tswaing Local
Municipality who died after a tragic accident over the weekend, may God be with
you and give you strength to cope with this dark cloud at this point in
time.
We have also learnt with sadness of the passing of three of our young North
West South African Police Service (SAPS) Inspectors Steenkamp, Marais and
Pretorius, all from the Klerksdorp Area Crime Combating Unit, who died in a
tragic accident on the N12 on Tuesday. May their souls rest in peace and their
families find solace.
Programme Director, on 27 April 1994, for the first time all South Africans
voted in a free and fair election which opened the way to a democratic,
non-racial, non-sexist and prosperous South Africa based on the principles of
equality, dignity and respect for Human Rights.
On this day in 1994, our country was gripped by emotional scenes of throngs
of the youth, the elderly, women and people with disabilities who braced the
weather and travelled long distances to cast their votes in the first
democratic elections ever in our country.
You the people of Tswaing were also part of this historical mass of people
and the movement for democracy that is why we have come to celebrate this
Freedom Day with you today.
Today, we would like to answer the question of âwhat freedom really means
for the people of Tswaing and North West in general?â 16-year old Mokgabo
Tshenkeng, as quoted in one of our newspapers, says freedom for him is about
equality. âIt is about making South Africa a better countryâ.
We could not agree more with this young South African: Freedom should mean a
better life for all South Africans and our freedom would not be complete if we
have failed to realise that dream that began to take shape on 27 April
1994.
On that watershed day 12 years ago, there was a dramatic change in
government resulting in the removal of a minority government designed to serve
a selective few members of our population, to a Government based on the will of
the people and dedicated to serving the interests of the poor, the landless,
the jobless and the historically marginalised communities of South Africa.
Twelve years into our freedom, we remain dedicated to the historical task of
building a better life for all the people of South Africa, irrespective of
race, gender, creed, age, cultural or religious background.
In a space of just 12 years, our province and our country have moved
irrevocably from oppression and tyranny through struggle to our ultimate
freedom. Today, the people of Tswaing stand united with the rest of South
Africans in a national effort for faster and shared growth that was the promise
when we went to vote for the first time in 1994.
In the North West Province, we are on a steady but firm course of delivering
to the expectations of the throngs of people who made their democratic mark in
1994. For these people and for us, freedom means nothing if it is not
accompanied by a marked improvement in the quality of their lives.
Indeed, over the years our province and country have experienced a stable
democracy, freedom and prosperity, with 87 straight months of economic growth
and development.
So as we celebrate the twelve years of our freedom, the challenge is for all
of us to share in these democratic gains, hence the national effort for faster
and shared growth.
Let us today build on our achievements by recommitting ourselves to further
growing the economy and fighting poverty and unemployment together.
Tswaing is home to about 18 000 households and about 100 000 people, 80% of
whom are poor and 70% unemployed. We therefore have a duty to change this
outlook of the people of Tswaing as well as the rest of the province.
When the new municipal dispensation was inaugurated in 2 000, the magnitude
of the backlogs in service delivery was daunting. But over the years enormous
strides have been made in addressing these backlogs, although there is still a
huge task confronting us.
We have never pretended that Government alone can overcome the many
challenges still facing our people, including poverty, unemployment and
underdevelopment. We therefore once again call on all sectors of our society to
join in this new collective struggle to fight poverty, unemployment and
underdevelopment.
We call on all our people to join government efforts of faster and shared
growth. We call on our people to become part of the change that they would like
Government to bring. By working together, we are certain to grow the economy
further so that it benefits all people. We are certain we will speed up access
to social services so that our people are able to benefit directly from the
services of Government.
By working together with you, our communities, we are guaranteed that we
will continue to build an effective Public Service that values the interests of
the people above all else.
Lastly, by working together we will ensure that there is Safety and Security
for all our people and that the Tswaing and the North West that you inhabit
today is vastly different from the one of yesterday and that tomorrow promises
an even better Tswaing and North West.
For you people of Tswaing, freedom must mean being able to sleep at night
being assured of your safety and security. It must mean our South African
Police Service (SAPS) is working for you.
Freedom must mean being able to access all the Social Grants at the nearest
service delivery points. If you are caring for an orphaned child, if you are a
pensioner or if you qualify for a disability grant, this Government must enable
you to access all these benefits because that is what freedom must mean to all
of you.
Perhaps most importantly, this Government must continue to give you hope
that your life and your world are changing consistently for better. If all
these services have not reached you today; if the quality of life has not
improved over the years, be assured today that this government will not rest
until we achieve this better life for all.
The experiences of the past few years have renewed our sense of hope that
indeed tomorrow will be better than yesterday. Social Grants for instance now
reach 11 million people across the country and are expanding as more children
become eligible.
Over 10 million people in the country have gained access to clean water. All
households, including here in Tswaing, will have access to clean running water
by 2009. Two million housing subsidies have been granted countrywide and plans
are in place to meet the increasing challenge of housing and human settlement
for the entire country. We are determined that by 2012, all households will
have access to electricity and that the bucket system in established
settlements is totally eradicated by 2007.
In view of the particular magnitude of the challenge of poverty,
unemployment and underdevelopment still faced by the community of Tswaing and
the rest of the province, our Government undertakes to deliver urgent basic
household services and infrastructure.
In this context, we undertake to effectively develop the municipal area of
Tswaing and provide sustainable high quality services to local people by
focusing all our resources at meeting community needs. That is the full meaning
of freedom to the people of Tswaing and the rest of the province.
If we continue to deliver on basic needs as effectively and tellingly as we
have done, there is little doubt that the positive impact on peopleâs lives
will result in a better standard and quality of life of all our residents. It
will result in the eradication of poverty and give little Mokgabo and every
man, woman and child a future worth looking forward to. That is our undertaking
here today as we celebrate Freedom Day.
I am certain also that this is the true meaning of freedom for the throngs
of our people, including those who cast their vote for the first time on 27
April 2006, who are celebrating this day in other parts of our province and the
country.
In conclusion, as we celebrate this important day in the history of our
country, we once again call on all our people to join us in the national effort
for faster and shared growth. In this national effort, victory is certain.
We thank you once again for coming in numbers to celebrate together this
important historical Day of our Freedom.
Long live democratic South Africa!
I wish all of you a resounding Freedom Day Celebrations!
I thank you.
Issued by: Office of the Premier, North West Provincial Government
27 April 2006
