Chief Whip of the Majority Party in Parliament and representative of the South African Interfaith Council, Dr Mathole Motshekga
MEC for Education in Gauteng, Ms Barbara Creecy
Chief Rabbi of South Africa, Dr Warren Goldstein
Members of the School Governing Body and the Representative Councils of Learners (RCL)
Principal, educators, and learners
Distinguished guests
Ladies and gentlemen
I’m glad to return to your school this time to launch, in the Gauteng Province, the Bill of Responsibilities Campaign, in partnership with Lead-SA and the South African Interfaith Council.
I still have very fond memories of my last visit to this school, on 26 February 2008. At the time, we had assembled together to launch the historic partnership between your school and Siemens South Africa.
This morning, we are gathered here to talk about a very important campaign that goes deep into matters related to building a caring and loving society we all seek and aspire to live in – a society based on a culture of human rights for all and respect for all persons.
On Monday, 21 March, we celebrated Human Rights Day, a very important day in our national calendar reminding us of the painful struggles our people had to wage to create a new society based on the values of human dignity, equality and freedom. That historical day is meant to remind us of the many heroes and heroines who gave their lives so that we can enjoy the fruits of freedom.
Celebrating Human Rights Day as we did on Monday, helps remember our long walk to freedom which gave us a new Constitution, in 1996, that has been received by many as one of the most progressive and democratic constitutions in the world.
The Constitution of 1996 was a milestone in our journey to build a united, non-racial, non-sexist, democratic and prosperous society. It extends many rights to all of us including the right to education for all children and the right to life for all South Africans.
I am fully aware that many of us, particularly young people like you, are familiar with the rights provided for in the Constitution. A worrying fact which has brought us here today is that many people, young and old, do not pay much attention to the fact that every right that we enjoy comes with a corresponding set of responsibilities and obligations.
The Bill of Responsibilities, which we have decided to promote through this campaign that we are launching today in Gauteng, at this school, was introduced in March 2008 as a guide that must draw the attention of learners and schools to this fact that rights come with responsibilities and must be exercised without violating the rights of others.
This Bill of Responsibilities is a practical document outlining the responsibilities and obligations corresponding with the rights found in the Bill of Rights, in Chapter 2 of the Constitution, which is the supreme law of the Republic of South Africa.
It calls upon all of us, as learners, teachers, parents, and communities, to work together to inculcate a culture of responsible citizenship in our schools.
With the support of our partners who formed Lead SA in 2010, Primedia and Independent Newspapers, as well as the South African Interfaith Council, we want to appeal to the young people of our country to read and deeply understand their rights as enshrined in the Bill of Rights. And with that understanding, we appeal to the young people, our learners, to extend the same to others in the school community better to promote a conducive environment for quality teaching and learning to take place.
Far too often little recognition is made of the inextricable link between rights and values. Our rights regime draws sustenance from the particularities of the value system under which the human rights regime is itself articulated.
But what are values? As the Report of the Working Group on Values in Education (2000:10) says, by values we mean “desirable qualities of character such as honesty, integrity, tolerance, diligence, responsibility, compassion, altruism, justice and respect”.
“We would like our young adults to possess these values, and, therefore, our schooling system to actively promote them” (Ibid). It is for this reason that we are taking a concerted effort to take the Bill of Responsibilities to our schools and learners actively to promote the founding values of our Constitution that are embedded in our Bill of Rights.
By asking you, as learners, to read and familiarise yourselves with the Bill of Responsibilities, we are saying that you should be fully aware of what the Bill of Rights entitles you to. Most importantly, we are also saying that as a learner, you should be aware of the corresponding obligations each right imposes on you.
For example, as learners you have a right to basic education that is guaranteed in our Constitution. But implicit in this right is the corresponding responsibility and obligation to see to it that you arrive at school on time, that you do your homework, that you respect your teachers and fellow learners.
We exhort you, through the Bill of Responsibilities, to ensure that no child in your school is abused, ill-treated or discriminated against by you and/or by others, on any grounds, be it based on race, gender, class, language, national origin, religion, or sexual orientation.
By making the school a safe and caring environment for ourselves and for our fellow citizens, we will be assisting our government in making sure that the right to basic education is extended to all.
For example, by making sure that you are not complicit in violating the right of the child to education, you will be assisting us in making sure that we reach our goal of keeping all learners at school. Ultimately, you will have assisted us in taking our people out of poverty and want.
Education is one proven vehicle through which we can extricate the majority of our people from the scourge of poverty. We all have a role to play no matter how small.
We must take this campaign of promoting the Bill to all our schools. It is the most effective way of teaching learners about the values of rights and responsibilities; it is an effective tool for preventing evils like teen pregnancy, drug and alcohol abuse, illicit sex on school premises, violence and criminality.
The Department of Basic Education has taken a significant step by developing a Teacher’s Guide meant to assist schools to promote rights and responsibilities among the young.
I am grateful that in Lead-SA, we found an excellent partner through whose extensive media network, both in print and electronic, the message on the Bill of Responsibilities will be able to reach the vast majority of our people.
We see the Lead-SA campaign as a clarion call to the nation to do the responsible thing – supporting the education of the future leaders and citizens of our country.
I also would like to acknowledge other organisations, which, in the intervening period, have made an effort to spread the message. Here I would like to thank the National Religious Leaders Forum, under the leadership of the Chief Rabbi of South Africa, Dr Warren Goldstein who contributed immensely to the development of the Bill of Responsibilities.
We are greatly indebted also to the newly formed South African Interfaith Council which deserves special mention. I am confident that the inter-faith community to which the South African Interfaith Council has direct access will also ensure that the Bill of Responsibilities does not reach young people only, but also touches the lives of adults and their families.
In closing, I urge every learner here and elsewhere in the country, to adopt as a daily prayer the Preamble to the Bill of Responsibilities. It says, “I accept the call to responsibility that comes with the many rights and freedoms that I have been privileged to inherit from the sacrifice and suffering of those who came before me. I appreciate that the rights enshrined in the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa are inseparable from my duties and responsibilities to others. Therefore I accept that with every right comes a set of responsibilities.”
Thank you.
Source: Department of Basic Education
