Dorothy Mahlangu, tabled at the Gauteng Legislature
15 June 2006
Comrade Speaker,
Honourable Premier,
Colleagues in the Executive Council,
Members of the provincial legislature,
Executive mayors,
Speakers and Municipal Managers,
Leaders of political parties,
Distinguished guests,
Members of the media,
Ladies and gentlemen,
Introduction
As we reflect on what happened 30 years ago there is a lesson in the erudite
words of Primo Levi, an Italian-Jewish writer and chemist whose writings have
been read predominantly in terms of the Holocaust: âFor those survivors,
remembering is a duty. They do not want to forget and above all they do not
want the world to forget because they understand that their experiences were
not meaningless.â
Tomorrow our nation will celebrate the heroic action of our youth on 16 June
1976. It was 30 years ago that Soweto students took to the streets in defiance
of a murderous and brutal state to protest against the inhumane and inferior
system of Bantu education.
Talking of the 1976 uprising we are also reminded that this is a year in
which we lost the stalwart of our struggle umamâ uEllen Khuzwayo. The ideal of
a better life for all where government governs according to the will of the
people was a life long struggle of mamâ uKhuzwayo. Her memory and that of many
heroes of our struggle including those who fell during the 1976 uprising, will
continue to inspire all of us as we endeavour to make the lives of all our
citizens better.
The recent death of a great man Eric Molobi, a gallant fighter and icon of
our struggle whose dealings in business world was about turning the tide of
poverty. Lest we forget.
When the youth took to the barricades 30 years ago Soweto was governed by an
un-elected Administration Board. The whites-only Johannesburg Council had
neither the legal responsibility, nor the political desire to contribute
anything to the development of the township. The revenue generated by the
concentration of economic activity in the whitesâ only city was used for the
benefit of whites, while Soweto was a neglected dormitory, a resting place for
workers in which business activity was severely restricted.
How far we have come in a mere 30 years! Today not only do all the people of
the city elect the Johannesburg Council, but the driving imperative behind all
the council's work is the need to improve the lives of the poor and vulnerable.
The results of this work can be clearly seen by those who remember the
dormitory township of 1976 and compare it with the revitalised and vibrant
Soweto of 2006.
This monumental transformation of local government institutions has not been
an easy or simple task. Our new developmental and democratic local government
institutions are young, but growing up fast. Our government and the Department
of Local Government in particular has the critical task of nurturing and
building these new institutions so that they emerge as healthy and strong
adults with the capacity to act for the sustainable transformation of our
communities.
To arrive at this destination we are in today, our people have translated
the Freedom Charter into reality. They believe in the Charter when it declares
that; âThe people shall govern!
The Freedom Charter states that:
* âEvery man and women shall have the right to vote for and to stand as a
candidate for all bodies which make laws.â
* âThe people shall be entitled to take part in the administration of their
country.â
* âThe rights of the people shall be the same, regardless of race, colour or
sex.â
* âAll bodies of minority rule, advisory boards, councils and authorities shall
be replaced by democratic organs of self government.â
Comrade Speaker,
Our work as a Department aims to support and monitor municipalities in the
province. We do so with the aim of realising our vision of an ideal
municipality; a municipality with;
* an Integrated Development Plan (IDP) that is the expression of state wide
planning and which includes a balanced infrastructure investment and
sustainable economic development
* universal access to quality, affordable and reliable municipal services as
well as equal, easy and convenient access for the public to the municipality
and its services
* sound financial management systems that facilitate timely and accurate
accounting for public resources, an effective anti-corruption programme and a
clean audit report
* functional and effective community participation mechanisms and a ward
committee system which ensures feedback and responsiveness to community
needs.
Five-year review
When our people went to the polls to elect their representatives in the
recent local government elections earlier this year, they expressed their
confidence in our plan to make local government work better. Our approach to
implementing this plan is based upon the detailed work that the Department
undertook as part of the Local Government Performance Review.
The main aim of the review was to assess and document local government
achievements, challenges and to improve on our work in the first five years of
democratic and developmental local government.
The review indicates that despite the challenges of amalgamation and the
creation of new institutions in the context of an entirely new legislative
architecture, municipalities in Gauteng have created stable, democratic and
accountable local authorities that are able to comply with basic tenets of
democracy and good governance. Despite service delivery backlogs and the harsh
legacy of apartheid town planning our municipalities have done well with regard
to the delivery of basic services such as water, sanitation and electricity to
all citizens.
A number of challenges were however identified. These included the filling
of vacant posts, capacity constraints, the effective implementation of
performance management systems, some municipalities have not completed their
establishment processes and have deficiencies in professional and technical
skills.
Our priorities include building financial management and billing systems of
excellence while also making swift progress towards eradicating the
infrastructure and service delivery backlogs.
I wish to take this opportunity to assure the House that together with the
newly elected councillors and local government leadership, we will work
collectively as we seek solutions to the problems affecting our communities
building on the solid foundation we have laid in the last five years. We
recently held assembly of councillors where we were charting the way forward,
taking into consideration the Five-Year Local Government Agenda and the Gauteng
Provincial Government priorities.
On the other hand, municipalities have embarked on their strategic planning
sessions so that we progress towards realising our objectives to change the
lives of our people for the better.
The ANC led government has developed a plan to make local government work
better for you. As the Department we are working towards ensuring that
councillors are responsive, accountable and effective and that local government
practitioner understands and honours the duty to respect and serve the
people.
Monitoring and evaluation
In order to provide effective support to municipalities, the Department has
the constitutional and statutory obligation to monitor and evaluate the
performance of all municipalities in the province.
Our programme aims to monitor municipalities and assist them in realising
progress in the following Key Performance Areas (KPAs):
* institutional development and transformation
* service delivery and infrastructure development
* financial management and viability
* democracy and good governance
* local economic development.
In order to give effect to this work, the Department will launch its
monitoring and evaluation framework soon. The framework seeks to ensure the
collection, collation and analysis of financial and operational data and
service delivery in relation to the five KPAs.
This information will be made available to management structures of the
Department in order to refine our work in municipalities. It will also be made
available, in the form of regular reports, to intergovernmental structures and
municipalities. This analysis which is based on quantitative data will be
augmented by evaluation studies and ongoing qualitative analysis of
municipalities.
To assist with the implementation of this agenda, the Department has
designed its programme for 2006/07 with the main purpose of providing a
proactive support to our municipalities. Accordingly, I would like to outline
some of the key programmes of the Department budgeted for in the current
financial year in support of our goal of developmental and democratic local
government.
Local government support
The Department has played a significant and leading role in providing hands
on support to municipalities in the province, especially local and district
municipalities. In the last financial year we acted consistently to resolve
problems and build capacity in municipal institutions.
This included, for example, the deployment of senior managers from the
Department to the Kungwini and Nokeng Tsa Taemane local municipalities. In
September last year the Department deployed its Director of Finance Joe Gomba
to Kungwini Local Municipality and this year we deployed Mpho Mogale, the
Chief-Director of Governance to Nokeng Tsa Taemane Local Municipality to assist
in ensuring that those municipalities are viable entities.
They have implemented turn around strategies on areas of finances, human
resources, infrastructure development and the establishment of sound
administrative processes which were problematic in the past. Their work is
already yielding positive results.
In dealing with issues of corruption the Department is working with the
Special Investigations Unit (SIU) to root out bad elements in municipalities.
We have demonstrated our seriousness in dealing with acts of corruption in
municipalities such as Emfuleni and Kungwini where senior staff members and
councillors have either been fired, suspended or are facing criminal
charges.
Comrade Speaker,
The departmental budget has grown from R129 million in 2005/06 to R210 million
in 2006/07 and this represents a 63 percent increase from last yearsâ budget.
The increase is due to the additional allocation for the construction of the
Provincial Disaster Management Centre and the completion of the Community
Development Workers (CDWs). We have allocated R50 million to municipal support.
The overriding objective of this plan is to ensure that district and local
municipalities are brought up to the required standard that enables them to
deliver basic services, improve infrastructure development and become
financially viable.
Our specific focus is to:
* expand and grow technical, financial and institutional capacity of
municipalities in a sustainable manner
* assist with interventions that will enable municipalities to become
financially viable
* provide support that would address service delivery and capacity building
challenges during post local government elections
* support municipalities in order to enable them to be functional and
stable.
Although the Municipal Infrastructure Grants (MIG) are national government
grants that go directly to municipalities, the Department is playing a leading
role in ensuring that the funds are co-ordinated and utilised
appropriately.
The work we have done through Project Consolidate has highlighted the
deficiencies in technical skills in some municipalities. We recognise that
unless we urgently address these capacity issues our programme will be placed
in jeopardy.
As part of ongoing support to municipalities, the Department is working with
the South African Institute of Civil Engineers (SAICE).
We have deployed 19 senior engineers, five unemployed graduates and 21
students in need of experiential training to Emfuleni, Kungwini, Merafong,
Midvaal, Lesedi, Mogale and Randfontein local municipalities. These teams are
involved in a variety of projects including master planning, MIG and capital
project management to accelerate the delivery of infrastructure addressing
critical operational and management issues including improving water quality
and addressing sewerage spillage problems.
Since the start of the project to deploy engineers in municipalities in
February, the following have been achieved:
* projects to the value of R55-million have been completed
* several MIG projects that had been delayed due to procurement processes have
commenced.
In addition the Department in conjunction with the South African Institute
of Chartered Accountants (SAICA) will deploy 14 chartered accountants to local
and district municipalities to assist them with the implementation of the
financial intervention strategies. These finance specialists aim to put in
place effective financial management systems and assist municipalities in
preparing credible monthly and annual financial statements and clean
audits.
Financial advisory committee
Last year when I presented the Departmental Budget Vote speech, I announced
amongst other things that I would set up a Financial Advisory Committee on
municipal finances to assist the Department in dealing with the financial
challenges of municipalities.
Today I am pleased to inform the House that the committee has been launched
and has already started with its work. I trust that this intervention will help
to turn around the finances of municipalities, so that the issues raised by the
Auditor-General, can be dealt with in a systematic way and that we can create a
financial sustainable local government.
The committee's work will support municipalities to comply with the
Municipal Financial Management Act (MFMA). I would like to take this
opportunity to express our sincere appreciation to the members of the committee
for their unselfish service.
To improve our ability to meet our statutory obligation, we have entered
into a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Gauteng Provincial Treasury.
We are confident that by working closely on these matters the Department and
Provincial Treasury will be able to proactively strengthen the capacity of the
provincial government to fulfil its constitutional role in monitoring and
oversight of municipal structures.
Municipal debt
We are working with municipalities in the province in developing strategies
to deal with local government debt, which stands at a staggering R17 billion.
This is a cause for concern and the lack of payment is hampering service
delivery. It is imperative that municipalities recover the money owed to them
especially by government departments, businesses and people who can afford to
pay but choose not to pay for services rendered. Municipalities should enforce
their credit control measures and to name and shame defaulters especially big
businesses and those masquerading as the poorest of the poor.
Municipal managers have also been tasked to monitor the payment level of
their employees and councillors to ensure that they pay for services. It is
important that we lead by example while we advocate for people to pay for
services. Defaulting councillors and government employees do not belong in the
public service.
20 priority townships
Comrade Speaker,
Early this year in his address to this House, the honourable Premier announced
a focused effort by government to invest in infrastructure in 20 priority
townships. The Department in partnership with the Department of Housing will
assist the municipalities to develop special IDPs for these townships. Such
IDPs will assist in ensuring that the envisaged development and investment in
those townships is done within an integrated framework.
For instance this would also require that the Municipal Infrastructure Grant
(MIG) funds are biased towards this project. For the current financial year
R330 million will be invested from MIG funds to upgrade these townships.
Water and sanitation
We committed ourselves to eradicate all the 12 332 identified buckets by the
end of June 2006 in order to give people the dignity they deserve. Therefore,
it gives me pleasure to inform the House that we have made progress in this
regard. We have eradicated 11 500 identified bucket systems in Rietvallei,
Masetjhaba view phase one, two and three Wedela, Kokosi X99 phase one,
Bekkersdal and Evaton and replaced them with water borne toilets. In Westonaria
we have replaced the identified buckets with solar sanitation and in Impumelelo
buckets have been replaced with ventilated improved pit latrines (VIPs).
However, as we continue with the project we experienced some challenges in
other areas. In Alra Park, there was some resistance from some members of the
community who were opposed to VIPs being installed. In Kokosi there were delays
due procurement processes and in Ratanda, the project was put on hold because
the provincial housing departmentâs has declared the area a fully-fledged
township and they will now built houses. And instead of a VIPs, water borne
toilets will be installed on those stands.
We envisage that all the remaining projects will be completed by the end of
the year. We are confident that we will fulfil our mandate of eradicating all
the bucket toilets in the province.
Electricity distribution industry restructuring
The Department will continue to work with the relevant stakeholders and
Gauteng municipalities in the restructuring of the Electricity Distribution
Industry (EDI). To address this goal, we recently co-hosted an electricity
summit with EDI Holdings where we outlined the work that we will have to do in
facilitating the establishment of the three Regional Electricity Distributors
(REDs) in Gauteng.
We continue to hold the view that the EDI restructuring has to be done in
such a way that it does not negatively impact on the finances of municipalities
and that it happens within the framework of our economic development
priorities.
I can proudly say that metros are ready to roll out the REDs, especially
Ekurhuleni and the City of Johannesburg. There is a need to assist Tshwane
Metro to move at the same speed with other metros to prepare for the
implementation and roll out of the REDs.
Cabinet has recently decided on the establishment of a seventh, national
RED. In the context of our policy choices in relation to the global city region
and the need to integrate planning and implementation across the province, we
will continue to engage this process with a view to ensuring that the
restructuring of the electricity distribution industry contributes towards our
goals. In particular we believe that the district and local municipalities in
the province should belong to the metro REDs in order to enhance provincial
integration.
Community development workers
Comrade Speaker,
Last year we announced the deployment of 198 Community Development Workers
(CDWs) and a further 319 CDWs are undergoing an intensive learnership programme
at University of South Africa (UNISA) and will be deployed next year. A budget
of R61 million has been allocated to support the CDW programme in the current
financial year.
This is part of the governmentâs plan to deepen democracy and to speed up
service delivery. The role of the CDW is to strengthen co-ordination and
interaction of service delivery at the local level and improve peopleâs access
to governmentâs service delivery and information.
Honourable members will recall that the CDW programme is a new experience
for government where government workers are not office bound but rather are
based at various communities across the province. Collectively, with all
sectors of our communities and especially ward councillors and ward committees
we would have to share lessons and experiences in order succeed in this
endeavour. These foot soldiers are doing a sterling work in their respective
communities and we will document their work in the media and other forums.
Already the CDWs have managed to:
* assist members of the community to access social grants and identity
documents
* assist communities with problems relating to housing, e.g. title deeds,
housing waiting lists and housing subsidies
* assist with voter education, awareness and registration campaigns
* assist in ensuring that ward committees are established and functional
* assist with school learner registration
* assist with the mobilisation of youth and women in the months of June and
August
* assist with the development of integrated food security
* develop profiles of 130 wards.
Cross boundary municipalities
With regard to the aftermath of the new demarcations, we have extensively
engaged the leadership of the affected areas and the two neighbouring provinces
(North West and Mpumalanga). Key to this engagement is the assurance we have
given that Gauteng will continue until the end of this financial year to
support municipalities that were part of Gauteng before the new
demarcation.
For instance, we are continuing to provide support and financial transfers
to implement Municipal Infrastructure Grant (MIG) projects in Merafong Local
Municipality until the end of the current financial year. This is important to
ensure that there is continuity in service delivery and a smooth hand over to
our neighbouring provinces.
To support this process an audit of assets and liabilities by all departments
in the affected areas has already been concluded and all Service Level
Agreements (SLAs) will be signed before 30 June 2006.
In the coming year the Department will also pay increased attention to the
question of resolving difference around the inner boundaries of
municipalities.
The other implication of the changes in provincial boundaries is that the
Gauteng will be strengthened by the participation of traditional leaders in our
system of government for the first time. In this regard it gives me great
pleasure to welcome Inkosi JJ Mahlangu and Kgosi KC Kekana.
This is an indication that the institutional of traditional leadership
occupies an important place in our province and country at large as custodians
of culture and custom. The Department will ensure that our traditional leaders
are provided with the requisite support and capacity to fulfil their important
obligations.
Land management
The Department will implement the Land Management Programme, which will
ensure that the management of provincially owned land complements development
agenda as articulated in the Gauteng Growth and Development Strategy (GGDS) and
the Global City Region perspective. The Department will ensure the effective
management of land, disposal of land for livelihood purposes, support land
reform processes and review the Provincial Land Invasion Policy.
We are also developing policy guidelines on the disposal of provincially
owned land by the end of September 2006.
The Department has completed the Land Asset Register and is now ensuring
that the register is being mapped into Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to
ensure that the register is used effectively as a decision making tool.
The Department has successfully concluded some transaction in respect of
Alexander Urban Renewal Project; however we are experiencing some resistance
from landowners who want to sell land to government at exorbitant price. In
other instances there are problems absentee landlords creates a problem.
Disaster management
Comrade Speaker,
We recognise that with the 2010 World Cup and our day-to-day responsibilities
to protect our citizens, Disaster Management is a crucial component of local
government priorities. Last year the Disaster Management Plan for the province
was developed and this was followed by the development of the Disaster
Management Centre Framework and Model.
Our focus this year is to assist municipalities to implement the Disaster
Management Act and work towards ensuring that there is synergy and
co-ordination between the provincial and municipal disaster management
centres.
Accordingly, the recent allocations of R25 million for the 2006/07 and R20
million for 2007/08 will be used towards the establishment and construction of
a world class Provincial Disaster Management Centre. Municipalities have been
brought on board and discussions are currently ongoing with the Department of
Roads, Transport and Public Works.
With regard to the disaster training, we have received support from United
States Agency for International development (USAID) for the training of urban
search and rescue responders by members of the United States of America (USA)
Fire and Rescue Services to the tune of R800 000.
The outcome of our work around disaster management is illustrated by the
substantial drop in fires in informal settlements in the province. We embarked
on a public education programme aimed at combating the spread of fires in
informal settlements last year, through Public Information Education Relations
(PIER). One of the main points was to teach people to have their dwellings
constructed meters away from each other so that fires would not spread to large
numbers of shacks.
We also promoted the development of âbucket brigadesâ where informal
households would have immediate access to water which would enable them to
rapidly extinguish a fire in its incipient stage. The successes of these
efforts are reflected in the fact that in most informal settlements we have had
few dwellings destroyed than during the same period from March 2005 to May
2006. Although we continue to be concerned about fires in high-rise buildings,
the number of informal settlement fires dropped by 30 percent in the
province.
Women in local government
The Women in Local Government Awards we held last year demonstrated the
quality of work done by women at the local government level. The objective of
such awards is to recognise and support women participation in local government
and provide them with a platform to share and exchange ideas.
It is important to ensure that womenâs work at local government is
co-ordinated, profiled and elevated to the required levels. We have recognise
that there is a need to formulate an overall objective to achieve gender
balance and bring on board women groups, government departments, community and
private sector at the early stages of the awards. I have seen the commitment,
dedication, passion and most of all hard work displayed by our women in
municipalities.
This year marks the 50th anniversary of the 1956 Anti-Pass Campaign by our
courageous mothers and grandmothers. This is an opportune moment for the
Department to commemorate and remember this day as a critical milestone to
women emancipation in our country. With this in mind, the Department will host
a one-day seminar to commemorate the work done by women in municipalities.
The seminar will also serve as a tool to orientate the newly elected women
councillors responsible on the progress and challenges to date, strategic
interventions that are required in order to identify priorities for the next
five years. This yearâs summit must consolidate the womenâs efforts to create
better life for all. But most importantly this seminar must be able to address
the gaps which were identified in the past 10 years of democracy regarding
women issues and development.
HIV and AIDS
Comrade Speaker,
The Local Government Performance Review has identified major gaps in how local
government responds to the scourge of HIV and AIDS. Despite the best intentions
of our municipalities and the resources that the Department has transferred R24
million up to January 2006 to municipalities we cannot say we have succeeded in
achieving our objectives.
An amount of R22 million has been allocated to improve these interventions
in the current financial year. At the end of this month the Department in
partnership with the Multi-Sectoral AIDS Unit (MSAU) will host a two-day
Municipal HIV and AIDS Indaba, with 450 participants, ranging from municipal to
civil society representatives. We recognise that the widespread of HIV and AIDS
has a massive impact on local communities and that it is imperative that
municipalities play a major role in addressing this challenge. In the indaba we
will assess our progress and shortcomings and collectively develop and
implement strategies and plans.
Business and local government survey
As part of our ongoing work to build the Department as a source of local
government knowledge, we will conduct a business satisfaction survey. This
survey will be in the same lines as the citizen satisfaction survey we
conducted last year. The main aim is to ensure that the views and concerns of
business are understood, especially in the context of our endeavours to grow
the economy and build local government capacity to facilitate investment.
Integrated planning
On 1 March 2006, our people voted for an ambitious agenda of transformation.
At the end of this term of office of local government we will be judged against
our ability to deliver on the commitments we have made:
* halving poverty and unemployment by 2014
* realising universal access to basic services (water, sanitation and
electricity)
* improving the quality of municipal services, especially for the poor
* eradicating bucket toilets by 2006
* tarring of all roads by 2009.
Only by co-ordinating and integrating both the plans and the activities of
the three spheres of government can we hope to realise these goals. This is
especially so in Gauteng where our small geographic space, large population and
highly integrated economy means that national departments, the provincial
government and municipalities are compelled to act together in unity.
The Global City Region perspective is a compelling vision which imposes on
all of us the critical imperative to align both long-term strategy and short to
medium term planning. To do so means a process of continuous engagement in the
spirit of cooperative governance.
In this process, no sphere of government can claim to have all the answers
to the complex questions that are posed. Each of us, by virtue of our
particular location in our system of government is able to contribute a unique
perspective on the complex challenges we must confront. Only by listening to
each other and learning from each other can we produce the results that our
people expect.
The starting point for an integrated government plan is the municipal IDP.
Not only are IDPs defined by statute as âthe principal strategic planning
instrument which guides and informs all areas of development" but together with
the Provincial Growth and Development Strategies (PGDS) they have also been
identified as the most strategic instruments to achieve greater alignment and
harmonisation with the National Spatial Development Perspective (NSDP).
With one or two exceptions we are satisfied that the IDPs adopted by
municipalities in our province are credible. Building on this achievement, we
must now ensure that IDPs become an expression of the plans of all three
spheres of government.
To achieve this vision, we are determined to improve the IDP engagement
process which the Department leads on an annual basis. The recently concluded
2006 IDP engagement has broken new ground with regard to the extent of
consultation, input and engagement across all three spheres of government
around the common framework of the municipal IDP. However, much more work needs
to be done. In particular we must ensure that the IDP engagement becomes an
ongoing process to which all sector departments in the province contribute.
Popular participation in local government
But these IDPs are not only the expression of government's technical plans.
Indeed, the IDP is also the primary instrument of democratic and popular
accountability of local government.
A responsive and people driven municipal agenda can only be realised through
the active participation of local residents in the shaping of municipal
programmes and projects. Municipalities are therefore required to develop
effective community participation strategies to deepen local democracy.
We have come a long way since the days when un-elected Administrative Boards
governed our townships. Not only do our municipalities have a solid electoral
mandate, but the institutions of substantive community participation in their
work are growing stronger every day. Ward committees are one of these
instruments and it will be a key priority of the department to ensure that
these are strengthened in the coming year.
These ward committees have been established in most wards but their
functionality in some areas has to be strengthened. We are paying serious
attention to the challenges facing ward committees with the view of ensuring
that communities take part in determining the core municipal processes in IDPs,
budgeting and performance management processes.
Conclusion
The achievements recorded by local government in the past five years should
not make us lose sight of the challenges that lie ahead. These include high
rate of unemployment, poverty and migration trends thus creating even more
deficiencies in our infrastructure roll out progress.
Dealing with these challenges will require the collective effort of all
stakeholders, especially the three spheres of government. As we rise to these
challenges there is a need to ensure that we identify possible areas of
improvement and ensure that we put our people first. As our commitment to Batho
Pele principles, the Department will increase its efforts towards the building
an effective and efficient local government that will benefit all.
My sincere thanks go to the Premier for his guidance and leadership; my
colleagues at ExCo for their support and executive mayors for their continuing
support and co-operation as we strive to create functional and caring
institutions. Let me also thank the Portfolio Committee on local government for
their oversight role and for keeping us on our toes, as well as the
administrative leadership of our municipalities for the work we have done
together and we continue doing.
Allow me to extend words of appreciation to the Head of Department, Mr Oupa
Seabi; the entire staff of the Department, for their hard work in carrying out
the mandate of the Department and my office staff and their families for their
dedication and unwavering support.
Let us take a leaf from Nigerian author Ben Okiri who once said: âOnly those
truly love and who are truly strong can sustain their lives as a dream. You
dwell in your own enchantment. Life throws stones at you but your love and your
dream change those stones into flowers of discovery. Even if you lose, or are
defeated by things, your triumph will always be exemplary. And if no one knows
it, then there are places that do. People like you enrich dreams of worlds and
it is dreams that create history. People like you are unknowing transformers of
things, protected by your own fairytale and love.â
I thank you!
Issued by: Department of Local Government, Gauteng Provincial
Government
15 June 2006
