S Ndebele: African Renaissance banquet

26 May 2007

During the Science, Technology and Scientific Research for Development
Summit held from 29 to 30 January in Ethiopia this year Chairman of the African
Union Commission Alpha Konare called for an Africa which sought to be more
self-reliant and shied away from reliance on aid.

Professor Konare said and I quote: "An Africa that takes responsibility for
itself can forge ahead with development. We are a rich continent with enormous
potential. We should struggle for self-reliance as we struggled against
apartheid in South Africa with the same sense of commitment and solidarity.
Then we shall achieve our development goals," he said.

During the same conference, Chairman of the African Union President
Sassou-Ngueso of the Congo Brazzaville reminded delegates that 500 million of
Africa's 900 million people were 18 years or younger. The United Nations
defines individuals as children if they are 18 years or younger. According to
this definition out of KwaZulu-Natal's population of 9,4 million some 4,2
million are children.

Speaking at the United Nations University in New York in 1998, President
Thabo Mbeki outlined some of the steps we must follow to achieve an African
Renaissance. First President Mbeki said we must succeed to strengthen and
entrench democracy in our country and inculcate a culture of human rights among
all our people.

Secondly, he said we must reconstruct our economies, achieve high and
sustained rates of growth, reduce unemployment and provide a better life for
the people. President Mbeki also said we should meet the needs of our people to
end poverty and improve the quality of life. This we should do through access
to good education, adequate healthcare, decent homes, clean water and modern
sanitation.

President Mbeki also called on us to take decisive steps to challenge the
spread of HIV and AIDS. The empowerment of women and the protection of children
remains one of the critical steps we have to take to create a non racial and
non-sexist country. Lessons from the Tuskegee Institute and John L Dube,
sometimes referred to as the Booker T Washington of Africa; John Dube is
remembered in South Africa and KwaZulu-Natal as one of the founders of the
African National Congress and the Ohlange Institute. Like Dube, Booker T
Washington played an important role as a civil rights leader, a writer and an
educator. Both these men fought against sharp racial inequalities in their
respective nations.

It is thanks to the association with the Tuskegee University and Oberlin
College in the United States that John Dube modelled an industrial school which
was later to be known as Ohlange. Said to be have been inspired in no small
measure by the motto of Oberlin College where he studied, Dube believed in the
combination of "Learning and Labour." Oberlin and Tuskegee collaborated on many
projects especially around industrial education.

Booker T Washington pushed the boundaries of an industrial education. During
his time at Oberlin, the curriculum included agriculture, printing, shoemaking
and blacksmithing. The founding philosophy of Tuskegee University was also to
empower Africans in American with the ability to improve the quality of their
own lives and to be self sufficient.

Dube was inspired by Washington's initiatives, and after meeting Washington
in 1897, he returned to South Africa and founded the Zulu Christian Industrial
Institute (1901), later renamed the Ohlange Institute. Like Tuskegee, Dube's
Ohlange focused on improving blacks' labour efficiency and increasing the
skills of black youth.

In signing the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between KwaZulu-Natal and
the Tuskegee University which we are officially honouring today, we are
recalling collaboration between the Africans in America and our province which
dates back to the late 19th century. In a way we are also confirming the
unbroken link between our sisters and brothers in the Diaspora who are today
scattered all over the world, but whose roots remain in Africa. We must
acknowledge also the spirit of self-reliance which we want to rekindle in
KwaZulu-Natal today without which we have no future as Africans on the
continent and everywhere else.

In taking lessons for John Dube and President Mbeki, in KwaZulu-Natal we
have charted our own path in Africa's struggle for self reliance. First we have
as President Mbeki said secured peace and put an end to the violence that
regularly erupted in this province.

We did this because we believe that no development can take place in
conditions of political anarchy. Peace has allowed us to forge ahead towards
the socio-economic development of our province. We have identified the
provision of education as a key requirement if our people are to be ready to
take part in the renaissance of KwaZulu-Natal.

Investment in infrastructure, which is led by the government, gives
investors the confidence to invest in the broader economy. We have therefore
ourselves invested more than R7 billion in the construction of basic and
high-end infrastructure such as roads, an airport, a stadium and the Dube Trade
Port.

We have identified agriculture, the arts, heritage, culture and technology
as the basis on which we will kick-start and sustain the growth of our
economy.

These are some of the initiatives in terms of which we are seeking to grow
KwaZulu-Natal into a Singapore of Africa. We are in a position to do this
because we have a long coastline which serves variously as a holiday
attraction, a harbour and a source of fishing. We are in a position to grow our
economy because our province boasts the Big Five and a natural landscape which
rivals any in the world.

What stands between now and the achievement of our dream might be the lack
of sufficient critical skill to drive these thrusts towards a higher growth
path. There is no country in the world that has won the battle against poverty
and unemployment simply through wishing it away.

There is no country in the world that has beaten poverty and unemployment by
allowing its people to wallow in pre information technology ignorance. No
country or province has ever been able to transcend the barrier of economic
deprivation by letting its people remain illiterate. We are doing everything in
our power to ensure that all our people are moved from illiteracy to
literacy.

The relative youthfulness of our population means that our future is bright.
The energies of young people of Africa must be harnessed in the direction of
building themselves and rebuilding their country. The energies of our young
people in KwaZulu-Natal and elsewhere in the world must be directed towards the
reconstruction of the moral fibre of our communities.

Let us all dream of an Africa which is truly free. Let us bring up a new
generation that is HIV and AIDS free. Let us bring up a generation that seeks
opportunities in the world but believes in the project of building Africa. Let
us raise children whose dreams are only limited by their imagination. Let us
like Nelson Mandela dream big dreams and know as he said that: "There is no
passion to be found playing small in settling for a life that is less than the
one you are capable of living."

I thank you.

Issued by: Office of the Premier, KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Government
26 May 2007
Source: SAPA