G Fraser-Moleketi: Community Development Workers National
Conference

11 June 2007

Protocol
Introductory remarks

'Establishing important links and relationships with critical stakeholders
is what CDWs do best.'

This very simple yet powerful statement that was written by one of our
Community Development Workers (CDWs) in a recent case study provides an
excellent starting point for me today. Today represents an important and
decisive moment in the life of the CDW programme, a programme that started four
years ago with the first intake of learners into the learnership programme in
2003. Through the subsequent years it has steadily grown in strength and
stature – a fact borne out by the excellent work that our three thousand strong
cadreship is undertaking in over 200 wards across the country. The case studies
that I read from the provinces and that I am always impatient to receive,
reinforce my belief in the centrality of the programme to the development
project as I am continually presented with inspiring stories of dedication and
service, innovation and fresh thinking.

As we find ourselves steering the programme in its fourth year of existence
it is indeed time for conference to review and reflect on the years that lie
behind us before the gathering turns its attention forward to consider new
horizons and future directions. I am confident that reflection and review will
be dealt with later in the programme and so my intention today is to consider
new horizons and future directions. As we gather here today, we do so
comfortable in the knowledge that our economy is growing year by year, that we
are reaching growth rates that five or six years ago we did not believe
possible. In fact economic growth has expanded by an average of 5% over each
year for the past three years. Government's infrastructure spending of R416
billion has begun to roll out and will be gaining stronger momentum in the
months ahead.

There is no denying that the progress being experienced gives us an even
firmer platform from which to pursue the designing and building of our
developmental state with confidence and vigour. This ever sturdier, more solid
platform is shared by all stakeholders of development, many of whom are in this
hall today. The question we need to ask ourselves as we stand together on this
platform is how do we optimise on our shared dreams, how do we optimise our
efforts so that together we work on programmes that respond to the challenges
of the Second Economy, that together we promote the growth of the small and
medium business sector, that together we speed up the process of skills
development, that together we 'deepen government's programmes in such a manner
that they impact effectively on the well-being of citizens and that together we
ensure that the public sector discharges its responsibilities as a critical
player in the growth, reconstruction and development of our country?

These questions are important. Despite the phenomenal growth of our
country's economy, the number of unemployed has risen rather than fallen. The
most affected are youth with official statistics reflecting a rate of 49% for
the under 30’s followed by women at 32%3. Progress therefore as I have shown in
the macro economic figures has been remarkable, but the proverbial pyramid is
still well in place with the general consensus being that inequality is growing
and that there remains a considerable proportion of our population that is
caught up in the 'poverty trap'. These statistics tell us that we have to work
even harder and in a more focused and directed manner as public officials to
produce the development outcomes that government's programme of action
consistently aims to achieve higher rates of economic growth and development,
improved quality of life of all our people and the consolidation our social
cohesion. As we deliberate about the programme over the next two days and as we
look to the future direction of the CDW programme, I ask you to keep this in
mind at all times.

When the programme was launched in 2003 it was in response to a clarion call
from our President that was made in his State of the Nation address of the same
year. Our President called on government to "sharply improve the quality of the
outcomes of public expenditure intended to raise the standards of living of our
people". In the beginning years of the programme, the focus for CDWs was placed
on bringing government closer to the people in their role as foot soldiers of
service delivery. As a new echelon of public servants, whose work cut across
departments and spheres CDWs over the past three years have materially improved
the lives of thousands of vulnerable citizens by bringing them into the social
security system and assisting local government to bring relief and dignity to
the desperate, indigent and helpless. The strides that CDWs have made in
enhancing community participation at the local, provincial and national levels,
their contribution towards giving meaning and form to the Batho Pele principles
must also be noted. The cadres have responded magnificently to our President’s
call.

As we look to the future of the programme however it is important to reflect
on government's commitment to halve unemployment and poverty by 2014 and make
sure that there is a clear alignment between the programme and this commitment.
As much as we must not lose our focus on service delivery and the important
role of communication and information dissemination that CDWs play, we must
look to how we consolidate our focus and the programme's deliverables on the
development agenda. In so doing, we will take the programme well beyond social
security and social assistance and reshape it as an agency for sustainable
development, playing a key role in the broader development project and the
economic interventions of government in the years leading up to 2014. The CDW
cadres thus evolve from being foot soldiers of service delivery to agents of
sustainable development and economic upliftment.

The broader development project that I have referred to has many dimensions
and we need to look strategically at them all and ascertain where we can fit as
a programme and how we can interface with them in a manner that will ensure
that we make a positive contribution to embedding sustainable development.
Allow me to highlight a few of them here:

The citizen portal that is currently in the design phase at the Department
of Public Service and Administration (DPSA) and that should be fully functional
in 2008 is going to revolutionise the way that government interacts with the
public. The portal will become the citizen's access to government as a whole
and together with the Batho Pele gateway will provide a holistic and 360 degree
access to services and to all manner of government initiatives. The role that
the CDWP can and will play in this exciting project will be central. Not only
will CDWs be able to access government services to enhance their own day-to-day
activities, but they will become active promoters and communicators of the
citizen portal amongst their communities

The Extended Public Works Programme (EPWP) that has been running for the
past three years is in the process of stepping up its advocacy and
communication campaign to position itself as an entry-level labour employment
initiative that is a programme of the whole of government. There is much
possible synergy between the Community Development Workers Programme (CDWP) and
the EPWP as the CDWP should become an important and valuable stakeholder in the
poverty alleviation programme. As development activists the CDWs' reach into
their respective communities is broad and deep. The creation and maintaining of
'poor registers' for example by CDWs can feed into the EPWP recruitment phase.
Harmonisation of the two programmes therefore must become a priority in order
that the developmental goals of the public works programme are reached by 2009
– creating job opportunities for a million South Africans.

The EPWP should not be seen as a standalone programme. The skills and
training that beneficiaries receive is designed to propel them into the labour
market. This important programme outcome that is fundamental to creating a
growing base of employable individuals needs to dovetail with the CDWP and
other initiatives that are currently being developed such as the labour
services system. The CDWP should act as a mobiliser for the labour services
system, the essence of which is to create a network of one stop labour centres
in communities across the country. Its rationale being to allow job seekers to
save their money rather than spend it on travel to regional or district centres
which at present is the case. Not only can the CDWP become a key stakeholder in
the system and act as a catalyst in communities, it will also help contribute
to its success by creating linkages between it and urban and rural development
projects situated in municipal integrated development plans.

The third area that I would like to highlight is the Department of Trade and
Industry (DTI)'s initiative of cooperative training that is currently in
process. Government has fully endorsed this model of economic activity and
wants to see it progressively rolling out to help embed economic upliftment
through entrepreneurship and self-employment. These initiatives need much
support and monitoring to help build sustainability into the overall
initiative. I know that the CDWP has already started to play a role here, but
the work needs to be extended and deepened with close cooperation and
partnership continuing between the DTI and the CDWP as the cooperative concept
is progressively taken up at the grass roots.

Let us not forget that CDWs are cross cutting agents of change in their
communities. The examples I have highlighted will further strengthen their
agency in their respective communities as we take the programme forward. We
should not run ahead too far of ourselves however. Let us remember that the CDW
programme must form part of a much wider developmental project – it does not
stand alone. The programme's strength is its mandate to work with the most
marginalised and carry out interventions that make a real and meaningful
difference to individuals. The CDWP's intrinsic strength is its collective deep
understanding of the needs and aspirations of the most vulnerable. I am
convinced that now is the moment to take these unique attributes and shape them
into an instrument that acts on behalf of government, all spheres of
government, to provide agency to poverty reduction programmes - beyond grants
to enabling conditions for sustainable livelihood.

The unique positioning of the CDW cadres as agents of development provides
opportunity to advance the constitutionally driven requirement for
participatory governance. In his State of the Public Service Report for 2007,
Commission chairperson, Stan Sangweni states "The involvement of citizens in
the decision making process is important to ensure that experiential and
grounded perspectives inform government of what the needs are and how these can
be best addressed. The report continues to say that over 75% of government
departments do not include public comments in their policy formulation
processes. The challenge here to departments is to radically improve this poor
statistic and to do this, the CDWP can play a valuable role. The collaborative
approach and the participatory model that departments must engage upon has to
become one of the key drivers of the CDWP going forward in its evolving role as
agent for sustainable development.

In her address to the Fourth Rural Women's Congress in Durban in April this
year, our Deputy President spoke of the constraints that bind rural women to a
life of poverty and misery. As much as her address was directed at rural women,
her standpoint on the matter of economic upliftment applies across the board,
the economic paradigm, she said, has to change, not shift. No amount of
tinkering with social problems will help the marginalised climb out of the
poverty trap. We have to do bigger things the Deputy President said and we have
to do them in an integrated and directed fashion. My challenge to you all here
today therefore is to fold: One - for government agencies to work transverally
to effect poverty reduction and sustainable development programmes to secure
sustainable livelihoods by collaborating wholeheartedly with the CDWP and two
for provincial CDW programmes to work and collaborate together in order to
provide the most effective support to the developmental agenda as possible. As
the Deputy President said, we have to do bigger things. For the programme to
provide clear and sustained deliverables to the developmental agenda, provinces
will need to pull together and work to a common and shared purpose – we have to
change the paradigm, not shift it.

I believe that as we look at new directions and broader horizons we remember
what our Deputy President said and apply her thinking to the future of the
CDWP. We must do bigger things and we must change the paradigm, not shift
it.

I thank you.

Issued by: Department of Public Service and Administration
11 June 2007