E Molewa: State of the Province Address

13 February 2009

"The vision lives on"

Honourable Speaker of the Provincial Legislature,
Honourable Members of the Provincial Legislature,
Judge President and Members of the Judiciary,
Members of the Executive Council,
Your Excellencies,
Ambassadors and High Commissioners and visiting foreign dignitaries,
Honourable leaders of political parties and traditional leaders,
Your Worships Executive Mayors and Mayors of our Municipalities,
Speakers of our Councils,
Heads of our Security Agencies,
Chairpersons of state organs supporting our democracy,
Resident Public Service Commissioner,
The Director-General and leaders of administration in all spheres of
Government,
Chairpersons and Chief Executive Officers of State-Owned Enterprises,
Leaders of labour movement, civil society, faith-based organisations and
business
Religious leaders and representatives of civil society,
Comrades and friends,
Distinguished guests,
Friends, comrades and fellow South Africans

Madam Speaker, in the age-old African tradition may I begin by sending
salutations to some of our heroes; gratitude and congratulations to some of our
partners and exceptional performers; well wishes to the ill and condolences to
the departed.

Salutations to Comrade Duetsang Modise, popularly known as Dudu, who has
played a leading role in student struggles, including against Afrikaans as a
medium of instruction.

Salutations to Comrade Simon Senne, too, who was an active member of the
African National Congress (ANC) underground in the early 60s, both here and in
exile, and who continues to serve his people as a social activist.

Salutations to yet another veteran of our struggle Rre Motshwane, who also
served our liberation movement locally and in exile and continues his
commitment to his people.

A special salutation to Dineo Mosime, Malebo Mokaleng, Tshepang Khumalo and
Tshepang Masibi, all living with disabilities but not letting them restrict
their interests, participation and prowess in Wheelchair Basketball and
Netball. Such is Tshepang Khumalo's academic excellence that she won a full
University of the Free State (UOFS) bursary for degree studies.

Also worth our salutation are our Female Farmers of the Year, Ms Phindi
Abdullah, owner of Khupuka Salgap Poultry in Rustenburg, our National Market
Category winner; and Ms Maria Seleke owner of Seleke Vegetables in Madikwe, our
Informal Market Category winner, and overall winner.

Join me in saluting, as well, two of our students, Melisa Meyer and Pearl
Pheza, who, led by their Tourism teacher Ms Yolande Heymans, from Klerksdorp
High School, represented our and South Africa as a whole in the International
Schools Tourism Essay Competition in France in November 2008, and emerging
first place winners.

Our gratitude and congratulations to the chairpersons of our advisory
bodies, Dr Iraj Abedian of the Economic Advisory Council, Ms Cynthia Chishimba
of A Re Ageng Forum, Dr Job Mokgoro and Proffessor Amanda Lourens of the North
West Research Co-ordinating Council.

Madam Speaker, some of our compatriots are ill of health. We wish them all
well, among them Kgosi Letlhogile wa kwa Ganyesa and Kgosi Mangope. May they
recover fully and swiftly?

Sadly, Madam Speaker, we have also had the misfortune of losing some of our
heroes, among them Comrade Boesman Monene Mashamaite, who served our nation as
a student leader and a Member of this Legislature before his tragic departure
from earth.

Another comrade among the departed is Comrade Kgomotso "Stigo" Mogoere, who
served the youth and our country as a student and young people's leader. Let us
also express our regret at the departure of Mr BA Seobi who symbolised
commitment to education by starting school at 14, obtained his junior and
senior certificates as well as degrees by correspondence, and later teaching
and heading schools for more than 60 years.

Finally, last year we sadly lost Kgosi TM Maselwane of Bakwana boo
Modimosana ba Baselwane. We also lost nine Dikgosana in the past year. This has
left some of our communities without recognized leadership, and we have
requested the Royal families of the deceased to speed up the processes of
filling these vacancies.

Where do we come from?

Madam Speaker, at a time when we close the term of one administration to
make room for another, it might be appropriate to retrace our steps to where it
all began – to begin at the beginning, so to put it.

Like the rest of our country the North West province was born in 1994 out of
a history of violent oppression and revolutionary resistance to it. Freedom and
democracy arrived in an environment of political contestation, racial
polarisation and socio-economic inequality. Politically, our challenge was to
create a united province out of communities that saw themselves in racial and
tribal terms. Socially and economically we had to create conditions of
equality, opportunity and prosperity. Institutionally we had to create a State
with the capacity to unite our people and materially improve conditions under
which they lived.

As everything else, meeting these challenges required the creation of a
cadre of public servants proportionally representative of our society and with
a service-focused orientation. We had to merge employees from as diverse
administrations as the Free State, Northern Cape and the former Transvaal
provinces. Add to that the Bophuthatswana Homeland government.

The structure of government and the conditions of service for public
servants having differed from one administration to another, the first three
years were mainly spent on the rationalisation of departments and state-owned
enterprises; addressing issues of parity; instilling Batho Pele principles and
promoting a common ethos of professional service.

My predecessor, Dr Popo Molefe, ably assisted by exceptional men and women,
honoured us over the first decade of democracy by laying the governance and
service delivery foundation upon which others could build. In 2004 we were then
accorded the privilege and the mandate by the people of our Province to take
the structure to another level. With a corps of patriotic men and women, we
have done so. And after a contribution spanning five years, we stand here
today, as required by democratic accountability, to account to you.

Madam Speaker, the mandate that our people gave us was based on the
commitments we had made to them. If one were to summarise the essence of those
commitments one would say they centred around five priority areas. Those are
the creation of decent work and sustainable livelihoods, education, health,
rural development, food security and land reform and the fight against crime
and corruption.

To translate these into a plan of action, we brought together
representatives of all sectors of our society to consultatively forge our
provincial strategic development path the Provincial Growth and Development
Strategy (PGDS) with specific goals and targets. The PGDS was also influenced
by our province's 10-year vision Vision 2014 and the Millennium Development
Goals (MDGs). It committed us all, as one, to pursuing and achieving two broad
goals. The first is that of an average economic growth rate of 6,6% per annum
in order for us to halve unemployment over a ten-year period. The investment
required from both the private and the public sectors if we are to meet this
goal is an estimated R6,3 billion per annum. The second goal is to eradicate
our backlog in basic needs to ensure future growth and development for the
poor. For this we require an estimated R854 million per annum.

In our work over the past five years, to achieve these goals, we have
encountered massive challenges. Some of the challenges have slowed us down, but
we have largely stayed true to our developmental mandate as enjoined by the
PGDS. That is why I stand here today, even as we conclude our term, to say the
vision lives on.

Our conviction to remain on course for the attainment of our objectives is
based on the findings of our 15-Year Review, an analysis of government service
delivery since the advent of freedom in 1994. The review is available to us all
for information in more detail than we can cram into this State of the Province
Address.

Macro economic picture and economic development

Madam Speaker, it is common cause that the world is facing what the Minister
of Finance calls a storm. There is a drastic global slowdown in economic
activity, especially in the mining, manufacturing, technological and industrial
sectors. This is bound to affect some of our industries, but we believe that
the multi-sectoral nature and diversity of our economy should see us through so
that, as R Kelly does in his song, we can say "The storm is over now."

Such is the significance of the world economic slowdown that this is not the
only time I will refer to it in the course of my address here today, so please
brace yourselves for more.

Madam Speaker, how can we speak about the economy without invoking Karl
Marx?
It is he who gave us the fundamental truism that the economy is the base upon
which everything else rests. From that perspective it behoves us to begin with
a basic analysis of our Province's economic performance and macro economic
picture so as to understand how it has helped us keep our vision of development
and poverty eradication alive.

I raise the point about the economy as a determinant of development as early
as now so as to echo a key economic lesson from the legendary Greek fabulist,
Aesop. Aesop once warned humanity not to expect sources of prosperity such as
the economy, to produce too much too fast. He tells the fable of a person whose
goose was laying golden eggs and who, wanting as many eggs as possible and as
quickly as possible, did something extremely stupid. As Aesop puts it,
"Thinking to get at once all the gold the goose could give, he killed it and
opened it only to find - nothing."

The point I am making, Madam Speaker, is that our capacity to deliver over
the years has been commensurate with the growth of our economy, as our 15-Year
Review shows.

Between 2000 and 2006 we registered the fourth highest average growth rate
in the country, reaching 4,9% in 2005 – an improvement mirrored by the labour
absorption rate in the province having improved from 34,9% in 2004 to 40% in
2008.

We have thus registered a steady rather than earth-shattering growth over
the years not necessarily on line yet to meet our PGDS target of a 6,6% average
over the ten-year period to 2014, but quite significantly improving the lives
of our people, as key development indicators will show.

The mining sector, currently contributing 25,8% to our GDP, drives the
related sector of manufacturing. Both sectors are targeted by us for
agro-processing and mineral beneficiation. We aim to strengthen them to
ultimately become strong in manufacturing and therefore be net exporters of
manufactured products.

We must find ways and means of adding value to agriculture, mining and
tourism within the country and our Province. My message to you is that as
government, labour, civil society and business we should jointly take up this
challenge and make our resources work for us. Members of the Economic Advisory
Council have pledged their commitment to coordinate all our stakeholders to
dialogue and develop a common strategy to assist our province in exploring and
exploiting opportunities for manufacturing and industrial development.

In this challenge lies an opportunity for the private sector to fulfil the
commitment it made towards contributing to the R6,3 billion investment required
if the PGDS target of a 6,6% annual growth rate is to be achieved. It is
estimated that we are short of approximately R2,5 billion in investment per
annum to achieve our targets of halving poverty and unemployment by 2014.
Current experience shows that although the private sector has been actively
involved in the planning and policy formulation process of the province and is
also actively participating in our development forums, this goodwill is yet to
fully translate into actual investment, job creation and skills
development.

We do have to understand though, that with mining broadly except for gold
mining currently experiencing a slowdown, we have to strengthen our performance
in other key sectors such as agriculture and tourism, to keep our vision alive
and mitigate the adverse effects of the fall in the prices of some
minerals.

Part of the attraction of agriculture and tourism is also their capacity to
absorb all skill levels, and therefore strengthen our job creation capacity.
The former shows the best employment ratio in the province. The latter is
particularly important in the light of the countdown to 2010. The job creation
potential of the agricultural sector is evident from its contribution of 2,8%
to the provincial GDP and accommodating 18% of the labour force in the
province.

On the tourism front, we have generally maintained our share at 6,6% in 2007
as a competitive destination. Our international visitor market share, however,
went slightly down in 2007. On a positive note, in terms of jobs created there
was relative stability between 2005 and 2007, with jobs sustained through
international visitor arrivals going up by 4,3%, from 65 160 in 2005 to 67
955 in 2006.

I have already said that during the world economic downturn, tourism is one
of the industries we can leverage to confront economic hardships. Part of our
strategy to do so and enhance its contribution to our GDP is our partnership
with the Tourism Enterprise Programme and the Grading Council of South Africa.
The partnership is aimed at ensuring that our tourism establishments offer
quality products and services so as to be more competitive. We are also
enhancing our flagship attractions such as our World Heritage Sites, the
Vredefort Dome and the Taung Skull.

International relations for economic development

Madam Speaker, international relations are an important part of our economic
development endeavours. Accordingly over the years of our governance we have
established international contacts whose value to our province is
immeasurable.

We enjoy good relations, and signed Memoranda of Understanding, with
Kronoberg County of Sweden; the Institute of Technology in Finland; Henan
province of the People's Republic of China; the province of Kyong-sang-bok-Doo
in South Korea; Manitoba Province of Canada; and with Cuba, on health,
education, sports and culture. This memorandum of understanding (MOUs) relate
broadly to trade and sustainable development.

Visits have also been undertaken to Germany, Indonesia, Japan and Dubai.
These have focused on business development, jewellery and platinum products
beneficiation, infrastructure, agriculture, small, medium and micro enterprises
(SMME) development, tourism, and aviation.

In New Delhi in India we entered into an agreement with the National Small
Industry Corporation (NSIC) on technology development transfers. Also in India
we facilitated a partnership agreement between the Kalinga Institute of
Industrial Technology (KIIT) and the North West University on student and
lecturer exchange, focusing on bio-technology and rural development.

Overall, Madam Speaker, as all our efforts on the economic development front
demonstrate, despite the economic growth challenges we still face, we need not
despair – we know how to respond, and our vision lives on. Indeed, as Oswald
Mbuyiseni Mtshali says in one of his poems, Have hope, brother; despair is for
the defeated.

Governance and the macro organisation of the state

Madam Speaker, the capacity of the State to deliver upon its mandate is
dependent upon its level of organisation. That organisation, in our specific
case of a history of oppression, is founded upon the principle of
inclusiveness, consultation, and participatory democracy. It is also based on a
cooperative and integrative approach, hence our system of Clusters which groups
departments of a similar mandate together so that they can be aligned and act
cohesively in discharging their functions.

The various clusters are in turn synergised via three Provincial Planning
Makgotla per annum, where we undertake comprehensive government planning.
Additional value is added by inputs through other consultative structures like
Sector Stakeholders, the Economic Advisory Council, the North West Research
Coordinating Council, and social partners in general.

Our commitment to partnerships is evident in various Memoranda of
Understanding we have, including with Development Finance Institutions like
Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA), the Industrial Development
Corporation (IDC), banks, agricultural bodies, research institutions,
professional bodies, the transport industry, non-governmetal organisations
(NGOs); and the various Chambers of Commerce.

Our integrated and consultative approach extends to our cooperative
governance model with local government, which is institutionalised through the
North West Premier Co-ordinating Committee (NWPCC). The NWPCC is our vehicle
for coordination and co-operation on policy and implementation. This body has
functioned well since its inception and has assisted greatly, particularly in
implementing our PDGS and DGDS.

Among themselves, too, our municipalities operate co-operatively, as
illustrated by the Bojanala District Host City Forum, established for the
district and local municipalities to act in a coordinated and integrated manner
on matters 2010.

We also, Madam Speaker, enjoy a cooperative working relationship with
Traditional Leaders, whom we continue to empower, and continue to capacitate,
through purpose-built facilities; provision of Information Technology equipment
and training; secretariat and administrative support; and ongoing training,
including on local government. We are also equipping the Traditional Councils
with financial controls and systems to manage their own funds. This is intended
to comply with the law but also help reduce the tensions that are emerging
lately in those communities around funds.

All the structures I have mentioned are part of our architecture of
consultative governance with the full participation of our people, whose will
it is that gives us the right to govern. We are therefore committed to the
Batho Pele – People First principle to a point where it is a key performance
area in the performance agreements of all our Heads of Departments. We also
recognise it in our staff's Service Excellence Awards. In this regard, I am
proud to report that the North West province has without failure always
evaluated all qualifying HODs. Furthermore, all SMS employees have submitted
their financial disclosure forms. This will enable us to determine any
unexpected gains in wealth by our senior managers.

Our service-orientation is reflected, as well, in Thusong Centres, which
shorten the distance between government and the people. Through these centres
we have brought much-needed services closer to where our people live.
Consistent with the Presidential directive, we succeeded in establishing one
Thusong Service Centre per district municipality by 2004. As the Second
Generation strategy unfolds, we are confident that we will meet the
Presidential target of one Thusong Service Centre per local municipality.

We have also deployed, after training, more than 300 Community Development
Workers (CDW's), and established 365 Ward Committees in our municipalities, to
improve service to our people. These contribute to participatory democracy as
we develop the Integrated Development Plans (IDP) and engage in participatory
budgeting processes.

Our flagship public consultation instrument, Madam Speaker, is Izimbizo,
Dipitso which defines our mass-based participatory democracy. Communities see
an Imbizo as a platform for effective and direct interaction with government.
Our people have embraced this programme with zeal, attending in their
thousands. We therefore dare not let them down by failing to answer their
questions and address their concerns, lest they lose confidence in government.
We are, accordingly, improving our capacity to respond timeously to the issues
they raise.

Madam Speaker, the efficiency and effectiveness of our governance is
dependent upon our public servant corps, where the proportion of those with 10
or more years' experience has improved from 37% to 49%, making our staff
generally better equipped to perform their duties. We have also implemented the
new OSD in Health and Education as required by the relevant agreement. True to
the commitment by the ruling party, through this we are improving the
conditions of service of our public servants, particularly in scarce skills
areas.

Proactively we have, since 1994, also allocated bursaries to our people
based on our skills needs. This is in line with the new Joint Priority
Initiatives on Skills Acquisitions (Jipsa) programme and our Provincial Growth
and Development Strategy (PGDS) on scarce skills. From the 1994/5 financial
year to the 2008/09 year we spent a total of R123 million on public servants,
who are studying which is, by any measure and to any political party, a massive
investment in our human resources.

All indicators, Madam Speaker, point to greater investment in the skills of
our staff. This enhances state capacity to execute the developmental mandate of
service delivery and good governance, thereby ensuring that our vision lives
on.

Madam Speaker, our definition of governance includes the prudent management
of public resources. Our track record in this regard is encouraging. At the end
of the financial year 2005/06 we received 10 qualified audit reports. We
registered an improvement when we received only three qualified reports in
2007/08. Even our Investment Promotion Agency, Invest North West, and the NW
Development Corporation have been exemplary in this regard. We are, however,
still not happy with audit reports of other Public Entities and some
Municipalities.

Pursuant to even better governance, in partnership with the University of
North West we have established a Centre of Excellence to improve financial
management skills and thereby improve Audit outcomes as well as deal with
issues raised by the Auditor General. Madam Speaker, our continued commitment
to clean governance must be a reassurance to our people that our vision lives
on.

Building a caring nation

The vision lives on as social services continue to facilitate the building
of a caring nation prioritising the provision of a safe and nurturing
environment for child development and the protection of all those that are
vulnerable. Partnerships with civil society are critical to the realisation of
this noble vision. The steady rise in funding of NGOs providing services to all
those eligible children has seen us transferring R29 million of our social
development budget in the 2007/8 financial year to support their provision of
children's services.

The vision lives on as protection services for older persons improve with
the establishment of 154 service clubs. Twenty five old age homes, nine service
centres and 24 older persons' local forums are being supported by us. Four
co-operatives have been established to promote the participation of and ensure
that the aged benefit from local economic development.

A Directorate for Family Services has been established, prioritising family
preservation and empowerment of victims of abuse. Currently the state is
funding three state-run Victim Empowerment Centres. We fund seven civil society
victim empowerment organisations. Local victim empowerment forums have been
established at 21 service points, and every year we have commemorated the 16
days of Activism to raise communities' awareness on and mobilising them against
violence to women and children.

To deal with substance abuse we have developed an integrated Provincial Mini
Drug Master Plan, funded three community-based organisations dealing with
substance abuse and, since 2005, implemented the Ke Moja Anti-drug Strategy in
schools and at 24 service points.

Our vision of building a caring nation which emphasises communities
supporting one another and government providing a conducive environment and
necessary resources lives on.

Building a healthy nation

Madam Speaker, the provision of health services will remain a focal point
towards realising the commitment we made to our people in the Freedom Charter.
Indicators on the health front suggest that we are registering steady progress
and making some impact, thus keeping the vision alive.

True to our commitment, we are continuing to train more health professionals
so that we are able to deliver quality health care and we are aggressively
implementing preventive healthcare initiatives. The co-operative involvement
and participation of our communities in determining the provision of health
services is continuing unabated with the establishment and strengthening of
health forums.

Our co-operation with countries like Tunisia, the Republic of Cuba and Iran
has improved the rate at which we are able to improve patient-doctor contact at
the lowest level of healthcare. As part of our health professionals' retention
initiative we have successfully implemented the Occupation Specific
Dispensation for nurses.

In the next two financial years we will continue to implement the same
programme for the other remaining categories of health professionals. We are
confident that the successful implementation of such initiatives, coupled with
the improvement of health technology in hospitals and the provision of
accommodation for health professionals, will result in the increase of health
professionals in the public sector.

Our fight against HIV and AIDS and other communicable diseases, too, is
generally proving successful. The drop in HIV infection rates of women
attending antenatal clinics, from 31,8% in 2005 to 29,0% in 2006, confirms
this. Our programmes to encourage testing and eliminate stigmatisation,
together with an increased uptake in antiretroviral therapy (ART), are critical
for progressive declines in HIV infections. Our Prevention of Mother to Child
Transmission (PMCT) uptake has increased significantly, resultantly reducing
the vertical transmission of HIV from mother to baby.

We must be concerned, though, about TB. Our figure of 711 TB cases per 100
000 people in 2005 had increased to 727 TB cases per 100 000 people in 2007. We
are therefore intensifying our efforts to increase our cure rate from the
current 55% to 65%, including the construction of dedicated provincial MDR and
XDR-TB facilities at Tshepong Hospital, and preparations are underway for
facilities in other districts. The programme for the tracing of defaulters has
been intensified through the procurement of vehicles dedicated for defaulter
tracing and management.

Our programme to expand health infrastructure, including the revitalisation
of hospitals, continues apace. The programme for the construction and upgrading
of our facilities has registered many successes. We have built 38 new clinics
since 2004, and the Itsoseng Community Health Centre has been completed. We
wait funding for the upgrading of the Lichtenburg and Bophelong Hospitals,
while the new Vryburg and Moses Kotane Hospitals should be long completed by
the end of this calendar year.

It shouldn't pass without mention, Madam Speaker, that we are particularly
committed to ensuring equitable health care for our people in the rural areas
through the implementation of the Primary Health Care (PHC) approach in each
sub-district of the province. Our programme for the training of nurses in
primary health care will ensure that patients attending our health care points
in areas where doctors are not available receive appropriate assessment and
treatment.

In addition, we are improving our patient referral system and realigning it
to the infrastructure programme in order to realise our goal of improving
access to health services for all as per our undertaking in the Manifesto of
the ruling party. The implementation of the TRIAGE system will ensure that the
long queues seen at our hospitals become a thing of the past.

Madam Speaker, even low-occurrence health challenges have received our
attention. We have used indoor residual sprays to prevent malaria where
necessary and have tested water sources and supplies from urban and rural areas
to monitor the possible incidence of cholera and we are pleased to report no
case at all and that our vision of a healthy nation lives on.

Educating the nation and developing our human resources

Madam Speaker, for our economy to expand as per our PGDS goal the question
of skills development is an important one – beginning from adult basic and
education and training (ABET) up to tertiary education, both at school and in
the workplace, and for both workers and the unemployed.

The opening of over 252 ABET centres between 2004 and 2008 is part of our
goal towards 100% literacy in our Province. Indeed, we are making some progress
as functional literacy has improved from 57,1% in 1996 to 66% in 2007, but
there remains an estimated 698 000 people older than 20 years who have not
completed grade seven.

With regard to early childhood development the number of subsidised ECD
centres has increased from 184 in 2006 to 290 in 2007. To ensure equitable
distribution of the service to all those that are eligible within the province,
an additional 386 ECD sites have been registered through the massification
project. The subsidy has been increased from R6.00 to R12.00 per child per
day.

On the school front we have registered some progressive success in our
matric results, with our graduation from a 64,9% pass rate to 68% over the past
four years so attesting. In this regard let us, Madam Speaker, take inspiration
from the 71% pass we registered in 2003, which shows the levels we can actually
reach, if not exceed.

Our flagship quality enhancement project of 60 Dinaledi schools has exceeded
the national allocation by ten. This project already proved effective when in
2006 a hundred more matriculants passed Mathematics at higher grade and 83 more
learners passed Science at higher grade. This achievement arises as part of our
efforts to support schools when we supplied all our high schools in the
Province with Science equipment.

One of the contributing factors to our ongoing improvement must be our
concerted concentration on educator training. This is demonstrated by the 75%
rise in the number of educators who were subjected to ACE Maths, Science and
Technology training between 2005 and 2008. Our equipping of 314 schools with
access to the internet in the three years, 2005 to 2007, is also a positive
contributory factor.

In the FET sector student numbers stood at 23 113 in 2007/08, while the
proportion of the population with a qualification higher than grade 12 improved
from 16,6% in 1996 to 26% in 2007.

Our efforts towards the education of the nation include funding 180 tertiary
students, through the North West Arts and Culture Council (PACC) in arts and
culture disciplines.

Through the Taung and Potchefstroom Agricultural Colleges we continue to
render specialised agricultural education with more women significantly
entering the field.

In December 2006 we were awarded a R98 million grant by the Department of
Labour to support three years of skills development for unemployed youth as
part of PGDS/AsgiSA Strategic Projects. This has complemented our own workplace
skills training where we have, since 2004/05, been registering one thousand
unemployed youth per annum in internship programmes, resulting, thus far, in a
total of 20 000 young people trained in various skill areas.

In the public service bursaries have been allocated based on the skills
development needs of our departments. Accordingly between 1994 and 2008 about 4
000 students received bursaries. Between 2004 and 2008 our skills training
budget increased from R100 million to R269 million, and a minimum of 102 000
skills development interventions were made. We intend increasing this number
through participation of unemployed youth in the learnership and internship
programme.

Through Project Khaedu, we have paid particular attention to middle
management capacity building and exposed all senior managers to core frontline
service delivery challenges.

Our educational vision, then, Madam Speaker, lives on.

EPWP, infrastructure development and job creation

Madam Speaker, our vision of economic development and halving poverty and
unemployment by 2014 requires investment in infrastructure and the involvement
of the masses of our people in the development thereof. Our Expanded Public
Works Programme (EPWP) is our vehicle for the creation of job opportunities. In
this regard in 2007/08 through this program we delivered 8 000 job
opportunities, more than 50% of them going to women, and almost 50% benefiting
the youth.

Representative of this is the Modimola Project, whose third phase closed at
the end of the 2006/07 financial year. This project won several awards, of
which the national Impumelelo Award is the most recent. Fifteen hectares of
land are under vegetable production and a total of 30 families are direct
permanent beneficiaries, deriving sustainable jobs from the project. The Road
Project has employed 209 beneficiaries so far and 27 more have been employed in
the construction of two community halls. Small contractors have benefited from
this project and were also trained to compete for future contracts.

The Modimong initiative was launched in 2006. It included the upgrading and
surfacing of the road between Taung; Moseja; Cokonyane and Modimong with labour
intensive construction methods. Integrated into this is a food security project
called Letsema LaMantsha-Tlala.

The planning of the related Tosca EPWP integrated project began in 2007/08.
The upgrading of the Tosca to Jakkelskop road has started, and agricultural
activities; food security; and community infrastructure project challenges are
being addressed.

With regard to the economy as a whole, between 2004 and 2007 the number of
jobs created increased from 771 000 to 841 000, therefore comfortably meeting
our PGDS target of 44 000 jobs per annum. While this progress, as earlier
intimated, may be slowed down by the downturn in the global economy, our
infrastructure programmes still have a massive potential to help us turn back
the frontiers of poverty through job creation and the training of our people in
diverse areas.

Madam Speaker, projects illustrative of our infrastructure development
programme, and already familiar to many of our people as they are multi-year
projects dating back to 2004/05, are the Taung Irrigation Scheme which is
allocated R300 million over ten years. In addition there is the Western
Frontier Cattle Beneficiation Initiative to benefit small and commercial
farmers; Taung Tourism to develop the potential in and around the Taung dam,
including the Taung Hotel School to address the shortage of hospitality skills
in the tourism industry; and the Wild Silk Project to investigate the
commercial exploitation of silk worms in the Ganyesa area.

Added to these is the Mafikeng Industrial Development Zone, which is an
integral part of the Regional Industrial Development Strategy, the Light
Industrial Parks and the Afthatch project, all of which will be of benefit to
all our people, in particular the SMMEs. The implementation of the Lotlamoreng
Dam project, the Bloemhof and the Vaalkop Dam Developments – are all part of
our eco-tourism initiatives.

In an endeavour to turn aspirant young entrepreneurs' casual businesses into
the realm of more formal enterprises, a Youth Cooperatives Development Centre
has been established in Mafikeng. Operations will start in March 2009. A sister
project will commence during March 2009 in Vryburg, in the Naledi Municipality,
and such projects will be established at every local municipality over the MTEF
period. In a related development, the Small Industrial Parks within the
province have been refurbished at a cost of R10 million, and to the benefit of
small industrialists.

The Automotive Industrial Development Centre project, formerly known as the
Madibeng Dry Port, is currently in its second year and will be taken forward
during the coming financial years. A feasibility study on the establishment of
a catalytic recycling plant in the province is also underway. A total of 132
employees from various companies have been trained.

The Platinum Trust Project, aimed at enhancing beneficiation efforts, was
kickstarted at a cost of R10m and is now operational. With regard to the
Bethanie Granite Project, a feasibility study has been completed. The project
entails the cutting and polishing of granite. Negotiations are underway with
potential investors from Germany for the project to commence.

In agriculture the Multi-Purpose Livestock Handling Facilities project will
bring markets closer to the farmers; and the Fencing Programme will control the
carrying capacity of the land and ensure the production of more food crops.
Additional projects are in hydro-culture; co-operatives; and small scale dairy
initiatives.

Madam Speaker, the rehabilitation of our transport and roads system is an
integral part of our economic development architecture and infrastructure.
Among the beneficiaries are our taxi operators, who have already lodged 14 000
applications for the conversion of their permits to operating licences. Some 10
000 of the applications have been approved.

With regards to taxi recapitalisation, 3 500 applications have been
received. They constitute 20% of our taxi fleet, demonstrating some progress,
albeit not as fast as we would like it to be, knowing how aged our taxis are
and the implications for road safety.

Mafikeng Airport has regained its international status, and this should see
business and tourism enhanced in our province, especially in the context of the
Mafikeng Industrial Development Zone. The challenge of provincial road
construction and maintenance is acute, demonstrated by a recent internal
assessment that 36% of our surfaced roads are in poor to very poor condition,
and that 70% of our gravel roads are in poor to very poor condition. This
excludes the municipal roads.

Recent 2008 statistics show an estimated maintenance backlog of R6 billion,
requiring an average investment of R1,2 billion annually for an unbroken period
of five years. Madam Speaker, for our economic growth we need to invest
progressively in our road infrastructure.

In education the school infrastructure programme continues apace in line
with the targets we set for 2014. At least 64 new schools have been built and
151 renovated since 2004. The number of classrooms constructed increased from
17 000 in 1999 to 20 000 in 2006. From 2004 about 715 mobile classrooms have
been provided. Ablution facilities were improved in 2 045 schools.

In sports, outside of the 2010 programme, 20 sports facilities have been
greenified. The National Conditional Grants have been de-centralised to each
Municipality. Over four hundred Community Development Workers have been
employed to ensure that we now have sports activities on Wednesdays and
Saturdays.

The North West Academy has been funded over the past four years to assist in
identifying and developing talent in various sporting activities. The Siyadlala
Mass Participation Programme, Women in Sport and Indigenous Games are key in
popularising sport in the province. Our province was the 2007 Indigenous Games
champion, having won in 2003, 2005 and 2006. There was no Indigenous Games
Festival in 2008 as South Africa hosted the African Zone VI Under-20 Youth
Games in Tlkokwe.

Nearly half of all South Africans, 46%, are completely inactive and a
further 24% don't do enough regular physical activity to protect themselves
from lifestyle-related ill health. We must therefore encourage our children and
our communities to participate in recreational activity.

On the more cerebral side eighteen libraries have been completed since 1994.
A further four are in progress, eight renovated, and another eight in the
pipeline. Libraries are central in giving our children and communities access
to knowledge, space to study and access to stimulating toys to assist in early
childhood development. The library service is fundamental in assisting learners
in school and higher education with access to a warm and safe environment in
which to do their homework, projects and study. This will particularly assist
children from poor households.

The Provincial Archives and Library Headquarters Building, which will house
all our historical documents and therefore give our future generation an
understanding of our democracy, identity and history, has been completed at a
cost of R85million. We have built Kraaipan and Seolong Museums and two Cultural
Centres in Mogwase and Maubane. These institutions will assist in the
development of the creative industry and in social cohesion, nation building
and an understanding of our identity. The Gateway to Freedom Legacy Project has
started to harness our history and develop a liberation struggle tourism route.
In the next few years this project has a potential to generate interest in the
Province and improve our relationships with Botswana.

In the Creative Industry we haved developed various festivals, for example
the Cultural Calabash, Zindala Zombili, Jazz festivals, other music festivals,
drama and various other activities to support artists and the creative
industries to enable various job and career opportunities for our artists. Our
four Mmabana Centres have trained hundreds of musicians, artists, crafters and
actors.

Madam Speaker, the list of projects is long, but of key relevance to us is
the estimated 71 000 jobs created, 32 000 benefiting women, and 33 000 young
people. About 200 people with disabilities also benefited, and we have plans to
increase this number quite significantly.

Madam Speaker, the significance of the jobs created lies in the fact that a
single worker typically provides for a minimum of five family members. Our
contribution to poverty alleviation through these projects has therefore been
much greater than meets the eye, and it stands to be further enhanced by
increased private sector participation. The mining industry; DBSA; AgriNW; the
IDC; NERPO; FNB; Standard Bank; ABSA; the Land Bank; McCain; SENWES; the
African Farming Franchise and Magaliesberg Graan Kooperasie, NAFCOC, NWAFU, The
NW Chamber of Commerce, BUSA and BMF are already important partners in this
regard, and we sincerely thank them all for their contribution.

That our overall developmental vision lives on, Madam Speaker is evident
from the fact that while our resources have been limited, we have continued our
investment in our people's development. The increase in our budget from R16
billion to R18 billion over the last five years demonstrates this. This is in
spite of the 2007/08 demarcation exercise having reduced our share of the
fiscus by about R2.5 billion.

Our investment in infrastructure, Madam Speaker, is paying off, as evident
from our official unemployment rate having steadily declined from 32,6% in 1995
to 27,4% in 2005.

Indeed, our vision lives on.

Access to Basic Services

Madam Speaker, it is through basic services that government is palpably
felt, especially in a country where these were, a mere ten years ago, something
of a dream for many of our people, and where rampant urbanisation is creating a
never-ending need and demand for these services. For effective monitoring and
evaluation, our provision of basic services to our people takes place within
the context of our five-Year Local Government Plan, and our 15-Year Review
reveals a picture of progress on this front.

In 1996 less than 50% of our households had access to piped water. As at
2007 it stood at 76.1%. Access to sanitation improved from 30,0% of households
in 1996 to 93% in 2007. Access to electricity currently straddles 86% of our
households, as reported in the Community Survey by Stats SA.

The figures will of course hold different meaning to most of the people
within this House, Madam Speaker, depending largely on our political homes, but
what no one can dispute is the fact that the 26.1% more households which
received piped water between 1996 and 2007; the 63% that received access to
sanitation and the 48,2% that received access to electricity all had the
quality of their lives significantly improved. Those who have never experienced
life without piped water, a running toilet and an electric bulb can never fully
understand the life-changing experience of these services to our people.

What makes our performance in this regard even more outstanding is the fact
that even the indigent has access to these services through our free basic
services programme. We are, however, still experiencing some challenges in
providing free basic electricity due to systemic challenges and infrastructural
backlogs. We shall work closely with our municipalities to further improve this
situation as part of our overall war on poverty. We are also aware of the
challenges faced by Eskom in further generation of energy. This is a societal
challenge which requires all of us to save energy.

We have also experienced some capacity and service delivery challenges in
some of our Municipalities. This situation, we believe, will and must continue
to be attended to until all our Municipalities can perform to the fullest
capacity. Service to our people cannot and should never be compromised.

That is part of our vision, and that vision lives on.

Housing and human settlement

It is, however, on the housing front where our impact as a Batho Pele people
first government has been most strongly felt, Madam Speaker. Our records show
that 136 000 houses have been built in the province between 1994 and 2007. One
of the most significant contributions of that has been the empowerment of women
contractors.

The empowerment of housing lies even more particularly in the fact that to
many of our people a single house, whatever the number of rooms, is typically a
shelter for at least four people. That should place our figure of 136 000 into
greater perspective and make it possible for us to say we have largely
delivered on our promise to our people.

Access to houses is also increasingly considered as access to wealth, given
the economic security aspect of property ownership. We are therefore creating
wealth for our people, as we have done through the 216 000 hectares of land we
transferred to 10 000 households between 1994 and 2007.

On another housing note over 390 hostel units have been converted into
family units, and processes are already underway to facilitate the provision of
affordable medium density rental housing stock.

Mention should be made of the role that the private sector can play in
housing and infrastructural development. In this regard may I draw your
attention, Madam Speaker to the partnership we negotiated with the Western Limb
Platinum Producers Forum for joint infrastructural developments in the
province, and not only in the immediate vicinity of the mines. Our MOU
incorporates 12 programmes ranging from road construction and water supply to
settlement developments. Most of these projects will soon be in implementation.
It is such partnerships which reassure our people that the Province's vision of
development lives on.

Poverty alleviation

Madam Speaker, it must gladden us that in terms of the PGDS poverty levels
among our people have declined somewhat as the share of households living in
poverty have decreased. The poverty rate has also dropped to below the
population growth rate, indicating an improved quality of life for most people,
including the very poor and marginalised, as the GDP per capita increased from
R11 000 to R3 000 between 1996 and 2006.

Our fight against poverty, Madam Speaker, is personified by our integrated
Poverty Eradication Strategy, which is anchored by four strategic options,
including the provision of basic services; the creation of jobs; improving the
effectiveness of the social security system; and implementing human development
and food security interventions.

These, Madam Speaker, are required throughout the value chain of our
governance, hence the critical emphasis, as well, on coordination,
synchronisation, monitoring and evaluation in the Strategy. This is the
essence, Madam Speaker, of our "War Room on Poverty" programme which was
launched in December 2008. The launch made it possible for us to go from house
to house to identify the degree of poverty so as to make precise interventions.
We succeeded in this regard and we are now certain that all the households in
our indigent areas can be supported to graduate out of the cycle of
poverty.

We are of the firm conviction, Madam Speaker, that through this Strategy and
reliable data, and with more enhanced co-ordination and integration, we shall
meet our Vision 2014 objective of halving poverty. Our poverty alleviation
interventions have resulted in an increase in the number of beneficiaries of
social grants from 15.2% in 1999 to 55.8% in 2007. Approximately 255 000
children are recipients of the Child Support Grant. We provided 6 000 needy
children with school uniforms and subsidised centres for children to the tune
of R27 million, catering for 20 000 children, in the past financial year
alone.

Our effort to increase access and to provide quality education to all has
been part of our strategy for poverty alleviation. In recent years we have
declared 1 384 "No Fee" schools out of 1 732 schools, which is 79% of the
public schools in our Province. This translates into a benefit for 532 000
learners. In addition to that, we have established four Mega Schools across the
province to address the plight of farm school learners and ensure them access
to quality education.

All schools have benefited from the Quality Improvement Development and
Upliftment Programme to improve the condition and performance of schools in the
poorest 20% of our communities. We have also increased the number of learners
transported from 35 000 in 2004 to 45 000 in 2008. Those we provided with
nutrition increased from 301 000 in 2004 to 489 000 by 2008. In addition to
that we have developed 230 food gardens in schools.

Our partnership with the Royal Netherlands Embassy introduced a special
initiative called "Schools as centres for care and support", which focuses on
support for learners who are directly and indirectly affected by HIV and AIDS.
With regard to our senior citizens the number of elderly people receiving
pensions increased from 130 083 in 1996 to 186 924 by 2007.

A minimum 123 000 households have benefited from the National Food Emergency
Scheme. Five-hundred (500) needy families in the Ngaka Modiri Molema District
have received blankets and food parcels. Agricultural starter-packs were
provided to five villages in Bojanala. People at Dr Ruth Segomotsi Mompati were
provided with seedlings, roller drums and irrigation systems. 1 026 gardens,
benefiting 724 households, have been implemented.

Madam Speaker, of the 868 000 beneficiaries of social grants 575 103 are
children. This represents over 50% of the total grant beneficiaries which
demonstrates government's commitment to improving the quality of life of
children.

To all the beneficiaries, Madam Speaker, government support means the vision
of a better life free of the pangs of hunger and the ravages of poverty lives
on.

Economic empowerment, SMMEs and the Second Economy

Madam Speaker, beyond tourism we have identified the creation of and support
for new and emerging SMME's as a job-creation intervention to reduce our high
levels of poverty and draw previously disadvantaged people into the mainstream
economy.

Conferences and seminars were held in order for SMMEs to make inputs into
policies and programmes. Among these are the SMME Summit, the BBBEE Policy
Awareness Seminar, as well as the World Productivity Congress, which we hosted
in partnership with the Productivity Institute of South Africa.

A research study was commissioned to investigate the economic impact of the
discontinuation of railway services on small towns. The results of the study
will be released during this year. Another set for this year is on the state of
small to medium enterprises in the province.

It is encouraging to note the keen interest demonstrated by some of the
leading financial institutions in SMME development and access to finance. With
specific reference to young people we have evolved the Youth Co-operatives
Centres Roll-Out Plan in terms of which the youth would be developed from
informal and casual income generation approaches to more business-like
practices.

In terms of agricultural development some progress has been registered,
including through the facilitation of farmer loan funding and the Western
Frontier Beef Beneficiation Programme. We also have land reform initiatives,
specifically redistribution and restitution; the Wolmaranstad goat processing
project; the Mechanisation Programme; and the Nguni Cattle Development
Programme.

For the artistically inclined we have established forty SMME's in craft,
leather, paper, grass and beads businesses, creating at least two hundred jobs.
We anticipate support for another 60 businesses over the next three financial
years. On a related note the establishment of the North West Craft and Design
Institute is being finalised through a multi-stakeholder partnership.

Other poverty alleviation interventions include support for more than 50
SMMEs through the procurement of goods and services during the commemoration of
national days; major sports and recreation games.

In support of Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment our Public Works
Department awarded tenders to the value of R413 million to Historically
Disadvantaged Individuals (HDI) contractors during the 2006/07 financial year
alone, and a further R135 million in 2007/08. More than 86% of the tenders went
to HDI's.

For our SMME's too, then, Madam Speaker, the vision lives on.

Moral regeneration and social cohesion

One of the things we are increasingly recognising, Madam Speaker, is the
rapid decline of morality in our communities. This manifests itself in a
variety of ways, including disrespect for others, abdication of parental
responsibility, vandalisation of public property, and abuse of state
resources.

Failure to meaningfully nap this emerging social monster in the bud could
spell disaster for our democracy and the achievements of the past 15 years. It
is for this reason that, as government, we developed a programme on Moral
Regeneration and Social Cohesion. Through this programme the province advocates
a society free from racial prejudice, xenophobia, tribalism, other forms of
intolerance, and the abuse of the elderly, the disabled, women and
children.

One of the successes of this programme in 2008 was the hosting of district
youth summits on moral regeneration. These culminated in a provincial summit,
which served as a platform for young people to talk about issues of responsible
citizenship, patriotism and ethical consciousness. Without reservation, young
people committed themselves to working for a caring society and to take their
responsibilities seriously.

Through this programme we have pursued the development of ethical conduct
across all sectors so that we can, once more, be able to look one another in
the eye and say, without any consideration of race, social origin or political
affiliation, "You are my sister, you are my brother; I am my sister's keeper, I
am my brother's keeper".

It is values of brotherhood and sisterhood like this which shall ensure that
our vision lives on.

2010: Delivering a soccer world cup to be proud of

Madam Speaker, with regards to 2010 we promise that Rustenburg, as the Host
City, will successfully deliver a 2009 Confederations Cup and the 2010 FIFA
World Cup. As the Provincial Government we have made a commitment to support
Rustenburg and the Royal Bafokeng Administration in their endeavour to deliver
on this spectacle.

Preparations to host the Confederations Cup are well on track in relation to
the upgrading of the Royal Bafokeng Sports Palace and related infrastructure,
the volunteer programme, safety and security, health, disaster management and
the mass mobilisation of our communities. The match venue will be handed over
to the LOC and FIFA before 14 June 2009, when it will be hosting the first
match to be played in it after the Peace Cup and the British Lions tour shall
have been used as trial runs.

Together with other stakeholders, we shall ensure the full participation and
economic benefit of communities neighbouring the host city, including the
wearing of the Bafana Bafana sportswear every last Friday of the month until
the beginning of the FIFA World Cup matches in 2010.

That, Madam Speaker, shall ensure that our vision of a Soccer World Cup to
be proud of lives on.

Building safe communities

Our criminal justice departments have worked tirelessly and closed ranks in
order to win the fight against criminals. The establishment of the Provincial
criminal justice cluster and provincial case flow management, chaired by the
Judge President Mogoeng Mogoeng, has contributed immensely towards the high
rate of arrests and conviction of criminals in the province.

We are also pleased to report that we continue to reduce contact crimes by
between seven to 10% as promised. These crimes include murder, rape, assault,
robbery, car and truck jacking, house and business robberies. We are also
mindful of the fact that some of these crimes still remain a problem to the
community and we will do everything in our power to fight against their
perpetrators. House robberies, business robberies and car hijacking, which we
refer to as "Trio Crimes", will continue to receive special attention by the
police, especially in Rustenburg, Brits and Fochville, where car and truck
jacking proliferates.

We are also mindful of the fact that our rural communities continue to lose
their livestock, which is the backbone of their economy. While we have been
successful in arresting a number of syndicates, we will continue to intensify
implementation of the Provincial Stock theft business plan.

Madam Speaker, I am also pleased to announce that we have been highly
successful in all other general crimes, including bank robberies, cash in
transit heists, ATM bombings and burglaries. Crimes against women and children
will also remain on top of our agenda, and we will continue to provide support
to the victims through our victim support programmes and other government
programmes.

The implementation of the Crime Prevention through Environmental Design, the
maintenance strategy and the development of safety plans by municipalities will
all complement other efforts to make our province safe. While the police do
everything in their power to combat crime, we also need to continuously
mobilise communities against crime. I would therefore like to thank the
business sector for its involvement and plead with it to continue supporting
the fight against crime.

We re-commit ourselves to taking the fight back to the criminals and win it.
This, I must stress, will only be successful through the continued partnership
between the police, community policing forums and the business community. It is
through such partnerships that our vision will continue to live on.

These partnerships must extend to our fight to make our roads safe for both
drivers and pedestrians. Our Arrive Alive campaign during the festive season
taught us much about interventions required to reduce road accidents and
deaths. These include traffic control centres, weighbridges and roadblocks.

Women, the youth and people with disabilities

Madam Speaker, part of our mandate is to work towards the advancement of
women and children, the eradication of all forms of gender discrimination, and
the implementation of equality for everyone.

When we began our term we adopted the Integrated Provincial Gender Strategy
and the Gender Matrix plan. The strategy has yielded some positive results
towards the empowerment of women. In the Provincial public service alone, as of
November 2008, 64% of our employees were women, compared to 59% in 1997. We
currently have 106 senior women managers compared to 186 senior male managers.
At the middle management level we have 382 women and 863 men. At the junior
management level we have 3 890 women and 2 540 men.

We will continue empowering our women managers to ensure a 50-50
representation at all levels. Gender Focal Points have accordingly been
established in 80% of our provincial departments.

Matters concerning the youth are dealt with through the Youth Commission.
The Commission's mandate is to advocate and lobby for youth programmes across
all government departments on policy matters through the Legislature and the
Office of the Premier. The key elements of this mandate, as determined by the
National Youth Service, include community service, the acquisition of skills
and exit opportunities.

The focus of the Commission during the last 5 years has been on skills
development, moral regeneration, health and education programmes. Under skills
development we managed, inter alia, to equip young people with skills in
carpentry, landscaping, construction and information technology. A total number
of 410 young people were recruited and trained in this regard. Of these youth,
56 were absorbed into permanent jobs while 356 were engaged on a 15-month
learnership contract, with 40 of them later permanently employed by the private
sector.

One of the successes of the Moral Regeneration Programme among young people
was a series of district youth summits on moral regeneration. These culminated
in a provincial summit which served as a platform for young people in the
province to talk about issues of responsible citizenship, patriotism and
ethical consciousness. Without reservation young people committed themselves to
work for a caring society and to take their responsibilities seriously.

On health and education the Commission has recruited and trained 450
Community Health Workers from various communities in the province. This
programme helped young people meet entry level requirements to be trained and
employed as auxiliary nurses. We also trained 50 young people in computer
skills under our e-learning programme. 160 unemployed graduate educators were
recruited and trained as assistant teachers to provide administrative support
to substantively employed educators. 349 young people were trained as ABET
educators to help reduce the high illiteracy rate in the Province. 160 young
people were also trained and are on site in schools to help refurbish and
repair school desks.

Madam Speaker, the protection of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
remains high on our priority list. Our country has signed and ratified both the
United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and its
Optional Protocol. As a Province we were part of the South African delegation
to the UN First Conference of State Parties to the UNCRPD in November last
year. This Conference deepened our understanding of the relationship between
the global developmental agenda and the rights of people with disabilities. Our
Office on the Status of Persons with Disabilities (OSDP) will continue to
co-ordinate the disability program in the Province in a manner that ensures the
implementation of the different articles of the UNCRPD.

The Provincial Disability Forum continues to function well as a platform of
engagement and interaction between government and organizations of people with
disabilities. We have successfully launched similar structures in the Bojanala
and Dr Kenneth Kaunda Districts. We will cover the remaining districts before
the end of this year. We will also begin the process of establishing the
Provincial Disability Machinery, which is aimed at bringing all sectors
together so that they can make a contribution to the disability agenda.

Madam Speaker, I need to however indicate that regarding employment equity
for persons with disabilities, more is required from us. Of the target of two
percent we currently stand at 0,12%. The Job-ACCESS provincial intervention
strategy is being finalised to ensure that by the end of 2010 all our
departments have met this target.

Land redistribution and restitution

Madam Speaker, between 1996 and 2008 the Provincial Land Reform Office
transferred 285 000 hectares of land under the redistribution programme.

As at 31 December 1998, 1 219 land claims had been lodged. Of those, 96%
have been processed, with 154 000 beneficiaries getting 304 000 hectares of
land restored to them.

We remain committed to land redistribution and restitution, but the land
price constitutes the greatest threat to the 30% target for land reform. Other
challenges range from limited budget allocation, staff capacity and settlement
support grants.

Conclusion

Our vision, however, lives on, Madam Speaker, and whatever happens, it shall
be realised. It shall be realised as we, mindful of the debt of service and
development we continue owing our people, prioritise the five focus areas that
define our plans moving forward, and including the 24 Apex priorities which
define the macro governance of our country.

Emphasis and focus will be particularly placed on the following:

When the voting is completed on the 22nd of April we will expect the next
legislature and the executive to build on the economic successes of the last 15
years.

We can expect that government will take all steps necessary to ensure the
success of industrial policies which will lead to the creation of decent and
sustainable jobs.

Government will further be expected to work towards achieving sustainable
livelihoods. Our children, particularly those in previously disadvantaged
areas, must benefit from a renewal of our schooling and education systems. In
this regard the work already embarked upon on increasing the number of early
learning centres will be intensified.

All efforts will be made through aggressive prevention campaigns and
increasing access to ARVs to drastically reduce the rate of HIV infections and
AIDS. All efforts will be made to upgrade and improve the health services at
our public hospitals and clinics. In this regard we take pride in the large
numbers of clinics we have built in the last 15 years.

Madam Speaker, I have earlier spoken about our province being predominately
rural. Government will continue to empower rural communities through, amongst
others, improved rural farming thus ensuring food security in those areas.

As indicated earlier, we will also root out corruption and fight crime in
every sphere of our lives, ensuring that we leave no space available for any
criminal activities.

In a very real sense, Madam Speaker, all these are not part of our vision,
but they are our vision of this province even as we close our term.

In closing, Madam Speaker, we conclude our term at a time when our economy,
both provincial and national, is stable. We cannot, however, escape some of the
seismic movements of the world economy, but we dare not panic. We must stay the
course, and continue living our vision of the 6,6% economic growth we require
annually to continue making a dent on our unemployment and poverty figures. Let
us not be derailed by the current economic instability of the world. As Rudyard
Kipling says in his poem "If":

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you

If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken
And stoop and build'em up with worn-out tools;

If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on!"

If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And - which is more - you'll be a Man, my son!

If, indeed, we heed the wisdom of that poem, we shall note that even as
challenge and anxiety stare us in the face, the year 2009 offers us great hope
and promise as we elect a new government, inaugurate a new President, host the
Confederations Cup, and round off our preparations for the 2010 Soccer World
Cup.

I thank you all.

Issued by: Office of the Premier, KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Government
13 February 2009