the second African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) Consultative Conference,
Kliptown
4 May 2006
Greetings to our Chairperson this morning;
Premier Shilowa;
Members of the Executive;
Premiers and Acting Premiers;
Members of Executive Council;
Members of Parliament;
Councillors;
Governing Council members;
Distinguished guests; and
People of Kliptown
As Chairperson of the African Peer Review Mechanism Governing Council, and
Focal point for the APRM South Africa Country Review, I am pleased that we are
hosting the second African Peer Review Mechanism National Consultative
Conference here at the Walter Sisulu Square of Dedication in Kliptown,
Soweto.
We know this place as Freedom Square, the place where representatives of
democracy loving South Africa signed the Freedom Charter, in 1955. This is
another milestone in our countryâs journey, as we participate in the
development of South Africa into a country where all of us, rich or poor,
regardless of our race, are able to develop our full potential.
The overarching goal of the APRM is for all participating countries to
accelerate their progress towards adopting and implementing the priorities and
programmes of the New Partnership for Africaâs Development (NEPAD) by achieving
mutually agreed objectives and compliance with best practice in governance and
development.
The NEPAD Guidelines for this process note that this can only be achieved
through the sustained efforts of the country itself, involving all
stakeholders. Each country needs to develop a programme of action with clear
deadlines for each objective linked to national budgets to guide stakeholders
in the actions required by everyone, government, private sector and civil
society, to achieve the countryâs vision.
The Guidelines also note that countries have different contexts and their
rate of progress will depend on the level of commitment and political will
among stakeholders. A key part of the Mechanism is the sharing of information,
best practices that lead to improved budgeting, financial management, increased
access to social services and a better fight against corruption. It is also
important to remember that this is not about reopening policy debates, but
rather about charting a way forward.
We have chosen this historic place to meet because we believe that it is the
natural place for representatives from all sectors of South Africa to meet to
discuss the development of our Country Self Assessment Report.
The Country Self Assessment Report is a document produced as a result of a
consultative process where South Africans were asked to respond to the APRM
Questionnaire. The questionnaire asks questions which help assess how we
measure up in terms of:
* Democracy and Good Political Governance;
* Economic Governance and Management;
* Corporate Governance; and
* Socio Economic Development.
We have come a long way since last September, when we first met to decide
the way forward for this process called the African Peer Review Mechanism. We
have sent out many questionnaires, and received even more responses back. Our
mobilisation team went out to solicit submissions so that these could become
part of the document base the Country Self Assessment Report.
Answers to the questionnaire, which came in the form of submissions, were
collated into Technical Assessment Reports. From these reports we will draw up
a Programme of Action, reflecting the suggestions made in submissions, and from
the issues and challenges identified by people in the submissions. In the long
term the Programme of Action will become a guiding document for government and
corporate policy.
Mobilising to request submissions was a huge task, so we called in the
assistance of the Community Development Workers (CDW), in order to be sure to
get the voice of all the people. They held workshops in communities all over
the country, and as a result, generated boxes and boxes of completed
questionnaires which we have collected, and which will be analysed and their
results factored into the final Country Self Assessment Report. Many of these
CDW reports were also incorporated into Provincial Reports.
We received submissions from the childrenâs sector, the Youth and the
Disabled, Womenâs groups, labour organisations, business, religious
organisations, and many non-governmental organisations and research
institutions, as well as Chapter 9 organisations.
There is not a sector of society who has not responded in some way.
Parliament itself held a very comprehensive and powerful set of
consultations last year, and provided us with a very useful and positive set of
submissions. We have received an input from a representative of Parliament this
morning on their process.
Once the submissions started coming in, we realised we needed the help of
people from the research community in our country. One of the benefits of a
society which has been so analysed and studied over the last ten years, is that
we have a very rich and varied research and academic community. We have a set
of research partners who have assisted us with very thoughtful and carefully
constructed submissions, which all asked for research partner status, and were
granted it by the National Governing Council. From this research group, we
selected four Technical Support Agencies (TSAs) which were each given the
responsibility of collating and structuring the submissions for one particular
theme of the APRM questionnaire.
These Technical Support Agencies are:
* For democracy and good political governance, The Institute for a democratic
Alternative in South Africa.
* For economic governance and management, the South African Institute of
International Affairs.
* For corporate governance, The African Institute for Corporate
Citizenship,
* And for socio economic development, the Institute for Economic Research on
Innovation.
The Technical Support Agencies collated all the submissions we received into
the Technical Reports by analysing the submissions against the APRM
questionnaire to see where there was consensus, where there were differences,
what were burning issues, and to see where we are doing things right.
They produced Technical Reports, which were presented and discussed at a
very successful series of thematic seminars held at the Indaba Hotel in early
April, to which representatives from all sectors, the National Governing
Council, and experts from areas of concern for each Theme were invited.
As we speak we continue to receive submissions from people and
organisations, long after the deadline for the submissions.
Our timelines have been very tight, and the Technical Support Agencies must
be thanked for the work they have done under extreme pressure.
These submissions will still be collated into the final draft report, along
with the information generated by the analysis of the CDW questionnaires. We
have also had concerns from the gender equity sector, and so we will be
commissioning additional research to ensure we have not under represented
gender issues.
The reason for having the seminars was to ensure that the Technical Reports
accurately reflect the contents of the submissions collated, and to be sure
that we also added anything which may have been left out from the submissions
themselves. In practice it was a sort of collective gap analysis.
The TSAs took the notes from the seminars and updated the summaries they had
made for the seminars, to include issues raised at the seminars. The seminars
were also tape-recorded and transcribed. These transcriptions were turned into
checklists by our research team, who checked the summaries of the TSAs against
these lists. The TSAs then made changes and additions where necessary, to
accurately reflect the content brought out by the seminars. These summarised
reports were then collated and finalised into the draft Country Self Assessment
Report we are discussing at the Conference today.
The ultimate tool that will come out of the APRM process is the Programme of
Action. The submissions, issues, challenges and suggestions they contain, are
the base documents which provide us with the Programme of Action. The same
process of summarising, analysing and collation, which has resulted in our
Draft Country Self Assessment Report, has also produced our Draft Programme of
Action.
All these preparations give you, our conference delegates, an opportunity
consider all these issues and the programme, and check them for gaps, suggest
additions, and start thinking about the ways we can implement the Programme of
Action. As with the seminars, government officials, community representatives,
provincial officials and representatives from all sectors and interest groups,
including the research and non-governmental organisation (NGO) sector are here
today.
Once we have completed our consultations here at this conference, we have to
add to the draft report the issues or challenges raised, so that the
consultation process is continuous throughout the development of the final
Country Self Assessment Report.
This process has not all been plain sailing. We have had to ensure we
continuously assess how well we are doing in our consultations, making sure
that the process is as open and transparent as possible, so that the report we
come out with at the end is a useful tool which we can all use to help develop
South Africa into the country it should be, for all its people. This week we
have had to amend the first drafts of the report, which has been enriched by
direct participation by members of the Governing Council. This has improved the
report and deepened our commitments to its contents and suggestions.
The self-assessment process has revealed much for us all to be proud of.
This is not just about what we in Government have achieved but what we as a
country have managed to do in an incredibly short space of time, coming as we
have from a very dark past.
In terms of democracy and good political governance we have an impressive
human rights framework that is the envy of many in the world, our commitment to
a multiparty democratic system and the rule of law is uncontested and the
strength and ability of our judiciary is a national source of pride. Out work
to create a framework that protects vulnerable people will also produce
long-term results that we can be pleased with.
In economic governance we have also much to be proud of, while recognising
our challenges. Macro economic stability, a clear economic path and good
management are all major achievements and we can look forward to long term
improvements in these areas as well, knowing they will benefit the poorest and
most vulnerable members of our communities.
Our ongoing and highly successful work to improve corporate governance is
amongst the most dynamic and effective in the world. While we have much to do
to further address and incorporate the needs of all stakeholders, our plans to
revise company laws will do much to improve competitiveness and to bridge the
gaps between our economic sectors.
Socio-economic development is a major challenge to all South Africans,
especially those worst affected by poverty. I am proud of what we as a nation
have achieved. I believe we have made a magnificent start in combating poverty
and while we still have far to go, the turn-around has started and will
accelerate in years to come.
The goal of the APRM, for all of Africa, is to help Africans help
themselves. We are showing ourselves, and the world, we are not those whose
mindset assumes that we need external assistance in order to grow. The APRM
helps us measure how we are doing, against an African agenda. We are here today
because we, as Africans, are doing it for ourselves.
Africa has a history of underdevelopment and exploitation stretching back
five hundred years, from the times of the slave trade, which we are now
changing. The APRM process is one of the tools Africans have devised to help
themselves do this.
Africa is a rich, diverse, gifted, continent, full of wonderful opportunity,
and an amazing diversity of courageous and powerful people. It is where human
beings first walked the earth. It is where we are building a future that will
give our children a place to be proud to say âI am an Africanâ
Issued by: Ministry of Public Service and Administration
4 May 2006
