P Mlambo-Ngcuka: National Council of Provinces, Kuruman

31 March 2006

Honourable Chairperson of the NCOP,
Deputy Chairperson,
Members of Parliament,
Honourable Premiers,
Members of the Provincial Legislatures, Traditional Leaders, Community Leaders,
Community at large, Dumelang ba gaetsho!

Last year we celebrated the 50th Anniversary of the Freedom Charter, that
seminal and noble document adopted by the people in Kliptown in June of
1955.

Under the clause “All National Groups Shall Have Equal Rights! the Freedom
Charter declared that: “There shall be equal status in the bodies of state, in
the courts and in the schools for all national groups and races; All people
shall have equal right to use their own languages, and to develop their own
folk culture and customs; All national groups shall be protected by law against
insults to their race and national pride; The preaching and practice of
national, race or colour discrimination and contempt shall be a punishable
crime; All apartheid laws and practices shall be set aside”.

The Freedom Charter clarified what type of a society we would like to build
and thus laid the foundations of what we finally achieved when in 1996 our
country adopted the first progressive and democratically crafted Constitution
that is the envy of many nations world wide and the pride of our own nation.
Much of what the Freedom Charter articulated above has been achieved.

It therefore gives me the utmost pleasure to be with you today, at the end
of what has been a hectic programme of the National Council of Provinces (NCOP)
of “Taking Parliament to the People”, meeting, as you are, under the broad
theme: All Shall Have Equal Rights!

Your theme signifies that you are quite conscious of the hopes, aspirations
and expectations of the majority of our people, which you carry on your sturdy
shoulders.

The central question is how do we transform those expectations into reality?
How do we ensure that such hopes are turned into practical gains?

At the level of rights, our country is in good standing!

The greatest challenge that our country faces today relates to how we make
sure that the rights that people have are transformed into reality, because
people do not eat or drink rights.

Therefore our challenges are related to bread and butter issues, they relate
to how we ensure that there is universal access to basic services, like access
to water, housing, infrastructure, telephones, electricity and, most
importantly, access to economic opportunities, which are key to the delivery of
a better life for all. It is therefore fitting that the theme of this
particular debate is related to that central question: “Towards ensuring that
wealth (economy) is accelerated and shared amongst the people”.

This theme underlines the core business of our work as government and public
representatives; for this reason we are infused with the spirit of ensuring
that the economic circumstances of our people are changed for the better and
that we realise a better life for all our people. The interventions of
developing our economy that we are engaged in at present are meant to address
that fundamental question of economic empowerment.

The changes that we see in the economy at a national level are particularly
meant to address this question. That is why we have been working hard to
accelerate economic growth which was around an average of about three percent
during the first decade of freedom, and more than four percent per year since
then, ultimately reaching about five percent in 2005. We know that with faster
economic growth, improvements in job and employment creation will follow.

It is also encouraging to see that even in the Kgalagadi District
Municipality interventions are in progress when it comes to the provision of
basic services to the people. The allocation of R16, 1 million in the 2003/04
budget to address water backlogs have had positive results. Among those was the
fact that over 9700 households gained access to clean drinking water, and since
the introduction of the Integrated Sustainable Rural Development Programme 25
000 more households have gained access to water.

Other notable things in the District also include the construction of more
than 6 500 toilets, which led to job creation opportunities for our people and
also the training of builders. We hope such interventions will help the
District to achieve its goal of eradicating the backlogs by 2008. It is also
important that the District has indigent policies in place and registers in
place.

I am told that by October last year 100% households were benefiting from
free basic water and 32% from free basic electricity. This indicates that there
is tremendous progress when it comes to the provision of water to many
households while there are weaknesses that need urgent attention when it comes
to the provision of free basic electricity.

Our urgent objective at a national level is that of ensuring that we lift
our economy to its potential of at least six percent growth by 2010, so that we
can halve poverty and unemployment by 2014.

The Accelerated and Shared Growth Initiative for South Africa or the now
well-known AsgiSA that we unveiled last year in July is about achieving that
objective. Put simply, AsgiSA is targeting factors that constrain such
growth.

One of the key constraints is the shortage of suitable skilled labour,
mainly due to the legacy of apartheid. That is why on Monday the 27 March this
year we launched the Joint Initiative for Priority Skills Acquisition (JIPSA).
JIPSA is a critical step in the implementation of AsgiSA.

It will ensure that we have all the skills required by AsgiSA big
infrastructure projects, and in the longer term that our economy has the skills
needed for sustained faster and shared growth.

I am sure that by now you are quite familiar with the objectives of JIPSA,
which brings together stakeholders from all sectors of the economy and society
in a joint effort to tackle skills shortages.

These include those found in government, business, labour, civil society,
among researchers and there is direct relevance to education and training
institutions. By bringing together people from the highest levels, focused on
clear objectives, JIPSA will ensure urgent action to remove bottlenecks and
chart the most effective way forward.

It will do this by focusing on the AsgiSA priorities. The following working
areas for JIPSA have therefore been identified:

* High-level, world-class engineering and planning skills for the ‘network
industries’ – transport, communications and energy - all at the core of our
infrastructure programme;
* City, urban and regional planning and engineering skills
* desperately needed by our municipalities;
* Artisan and technical skills, with priority attention given to those needed
for infrastructure development;
* Management and planning skills in education, health and in
municipalities;
* Teacher training for mathematics, science, ICT and language competency in
public education;
* Specific skills needed by the Priority AsgiSA: sectors such as Tourism and
BPO; and cross-cutting skills needed by all sectors especially finance; Project
managers and managers in general and Languages such as Afrikaans are crucial to
the BPO.
* Skills relevant to local economic development needs of municipalities,
especially developmental economists.

We are of the firm view that, if we can deal effectively with these skills
shortages in the areas mentioned, we will set our country on the correct path
of economic progress, stability and the “Skills Revolution” which will in turn
ensure that the greatest majority of our people become full players in the
economic activities of our country. We shall be fielding the full South African
team.

This means that so many of our people, who are still locked within the
Second Economy, can also have a chance to participate in the First Economy and
in the growing South African economy in general.

This way, we shall in time be able to boast of one economy, and not two
vastly different ones. It is through such interventions that we can achieve
what is highlighted in another clause of the Freedom Charter that the “The
People Shall Share in the Country's Wealth!” which, of course, happens to be
the foundation of your theme: “Towards ensuring that wealth (economy) is
accelerated and shared amongst the people.”

The month of March also saw us celebrating International Women’s Day and
Human Rights Day. These celebrations are important in that they remind us where
we come from and help us to pay tribute to those who fought and laid down their
lives for us so that we can now enjoy the constitutional rights we have today.
We also use this month as a build up to the 50th anniversary of the Women’s
March to the Union Buildings in Pretoria on August in 1956.

* In the same breath we are also celebrating the 30th anniversary of the
student’s uprising in Soweto in 1976.
* As part of that we will re-launch the National Youth Service programme to
give opportunities to young people.

As public representatives we must be driven by the knowledge that it is our
duty and responsibility to ensure that the enjoyment of human rights goes hand
in hand with economic justice. While people enjoy their hard fought
constitutional democracy they should also see Real and Tangible Change in their
in the lives.

It is our government’s mission to ensure that better communities are
built:
* Where there is dignity and respect,
* Where there is care and love for our elders,
* Where children are cared for and loved,
* Where there is good neighbourly spirit that does not tolerate crime of any
sort.

As government we expect our communities to take charge of their lives by
utilising all the tools given them through various laws and policies
promulgated since the inception of democracy in our country.

Get involved, and express your creative ideas to the governing structures.
In that way you will be part of building a South Africa that belongs to all who
live in it.

We need to work together, Ha ho kgomo ya boroko. We need to work together in
a strong partnership. It is through vibrant and solid partnerships that we can
grow the economy and ensure that it benefits all, especially the poor and the
vulnerable.

Honourable members, the policies we have adopted are made to and should
benefit our people. As government, the worst human rights violation we can
commit is to betray the trust of our people and to shatter their hopes. At all
levels of governance, we need public spirited representatives who will
accurately and fairly reflect the feelings and aspirations of the people.

We need representatives who will put the interests of the people before
their own. We need representatives who will remain true to the struggle for
justice and well being as enshrined in the Freedom Charter.

In closing, let me remind you of what the President said when he opened
Parliament this year, for it should guide you as you implement the Programme of
Action to create a better life for our people. “It is because of what these
millions did that our people know from their own experience that today is
better than yesterday, and are confident that tomorrow will be better than
today”.

I thank you.

Issued by: The Presidency
31 March 2006