Programme Director
Members of the Executive Council
Honourable Mayors
Honourable Members of the Provincial Legislature
Councillors
Officials of provincial and local government
Representatives of community-based organisations and NGOs
Distinguished guests
The people of Gauteng
Today’s occasion forces one to cast one’s mind to the profound words expressed by none other than the great wordsmith of the 20th century and the eminent political leader of the period, Mr Winston Churchill, who once said:
“The empires of the future are empires of the mind”
Although one may generally hold a different political perspective to that of Mr Churchill, but he remains one of those leaders who inspired his nation when it mattered most. At this stage of our development as a young democratic nation, we need inspiration. We need lofty ideals that can unite and spur all of us into measured and meaningful action. It is only when we share ideas and dreams that we can build “empires of the future” as expressed by Churchill. It is the ideas, the material of dreams, coupled with pragmatic action that can propel us to a future which we can all be proud of.
As the current generation we should also be proud that we are the product of the heroes and heroines who when faced with demeaning political conditions rallied and canvassed the views and dreams of the masses of South Africa to produce a document which formed the basis of the democracy we enjoy today.
The Freedom Charter, as the radar that directed and focused our struggle against the inhuman and brutal apartheid system, was adopted at the ‘Congress of the People’ in Kliptown in 1955. It framed the hopes and dreams of our people, with ideas and insights collected through an inclusive public participation process. Those who came together on 26 June 1955 represented a truly diverse gathering, a gathering of people from different race groups, genders, backgrounds, abilities, beliefs, educational levels, economic standing and experience. Together, they crafted a vision of the future South Africa characterised by freedom, equality and justice for all.
Nearly 57 years later, we view ourselves as blessed with many of the freedoms crafted into the words of the Freedom Charter. We have an internationally recognised Constitution, supported by an independent judiciary. All citizens over the age of 18 enjoy suffrage right. Our people can move and interact freely, regardless of the colour of their skin.
Clearly, it is only through long-term planning for the future and delivery on this plan that we will be able to fundamentally shift the negatives and build on the strengths we have to offer, to create the type of place we feel proud to leave to future generations.
Programme Director
In Gauteng, we have grown the economy, rolled out infrastructure projects that rival those of our global counterparts, and addressed a significant portion of the backlogs in basic goods and services that we inherited in 1994. Our province is described as the economic heartland of the nation contributing 33.9% of national GDP, while the wider Gauteng City Region (GCR) within which our province falls contributes approximately 43% of national GDP, reflecting the value of this wider space for national prosperity. With approximately 41.9% of our 11.3 million inhabitants originating from beyond our province, we are blessed with great diversity, and a population of people with varied talents and unique perspectives. This is the potential of the GCR.
Those who came before us, who dreamt of and planned for a different future when they gathered in Kliptown, took part in building the foundation for a long-term plan. Today, I am pleased to launch both the Gauteng 2055 discussion document, and with it, the Gauteng 2055 public participation campaign and the Gauteng 2055 brand. With these, we confirm our commitment to long-term planning, recognising the need to think beyond short-term, to create the type of generational change evident in many of the successful regions of the world.
Countries and regions that have focused on long-term plans and their rigorous implementation are reaping the benefits. While we acknowledge that many aspects of the future are unpredictable, long-term planning helps establish adaptability and resilience to change. It is these characteristics that have seen city-regions such as Hong Kong and London transform from trading ports with monoculture societies, to financial hubs strengthened by diversity. China, Malaysia and India, all credited for their long-term planning efforts, have experienced radical shifts in key indicators of growth and development. These examples represent what is possible with concerted effort, a future vision and the collective will to create change.
We have done much work in developing the foundation for our long-term plan. Research carried out since 2005 has focused on the potential of the Gauteng City-Region the GCR establishing an understanding of this integrated cluster of cities, towns and connective nodes that together make up the economic heartland of South Africa. In 2009, the Gauteng Provincial Government identified a range of scenarios for the GCR, acknowledging the possible challenges and outcomes we may face in 2055, 100 years after the adoption of the Freedom Charter. Subsequent analysis has built on this, providing a view of our current reality – as reflected in the discussion document we launch today.
As we plan for our future, we will ensure alignment with the National Planning Commission’s long-term National Development Plan, ‘Vision 2030’. Simultaneously, we will focus on the development of a plan rooted in our local reality.
Planning for our collective future requires the input of all, as full participants in this journey. For this reason, the discussion document we are launching serves as a platform for building a ‘people’s vision’. We have chosen to lead a discussion process with stakeholders through highlighting key principles, issues and areas for debate, and in this way, build the content of a long-term plan for the city-region. Today marks the start of a conversation in which all across the city-region can participate, contributing towards a collective set of ideas for our shared future.
The Gauteng Planning Commission will collate, review and consider all information, insights and perspectives arising from the public engagement process. A refined set of ideas for the vision of our future, and how we will collectively realise it, will then be incorporated into a long-term plan for the GCR, namely ‘Gauteng 2055’ that will be finalised in the latter part of this year. If Gauteng and the wider GCR is to fulfil its promise, we must embark on long-term planning that is owned and driven by all of us.
With these words, I hereby launch the Gauteng 2055 discussion document.
The document contains the following elements:
- A conceptual framework that reflects on our vision for 2055, the key ideals that underpin it, and the role of all stakeholders in realising this dream;
- The path we have travelled to date and the current realities we face;
- A set of proposed vision statements in relation to each ideal, with the key issues we need to debate framed as questions.
- We invite all of you, as individuals, as civic leaders in your own right, and as representatives of various interest groups, to think about the future you hope for and to engage with the ideas and questions included in the discussion document. We call on each of you to participate in a shared conversation and engage in such hard questions as:
- How do we grow our resilience to economic change and the potential threat economic crises at the global level pose?
- Should we leave ailing geographical economies to decline, focusing our efforts on areas with real growth potential?
- How do we build self-reliance, and realise the benefits possible from all sharing in our collective responsibility to this place, and its future citizens?
- How do we encourage social cohesion and understanding, in a context often afflicted by forms of violence and discrimination despite all the efforts we have made, together?
- How do we promote sustainable development, in the context of immediate needs faced by those ‘without’?
- How do we build regional opportunities, technology and innovation into our infrastructure choices?
These questions reflect the types of discussions we hope to have in the months ahead. We look forward to your inputs as we plan our future together, while building on all we have achieved to date.
Today, we are also launching the Gauteng 2055 public participation campaign, and with it, the Gauteng 2055 brand.
The brand itself is reflected in the logo included here, underpinned by the words “My province Our Future”. The colours reflect on our diversity, and the hope we believe lies in the future we will be able to craft together. It talks to our future path. We have chosen a flowing text, representative of the fact that this campaign is about gathering the inputs and ideas of all our people. We envisage an iterative process, with inputs and insights emerging as we walk through the months ahead. This is about building our collective future, a future that depends on us all. I invite you to join us on this journey.
The public participation campaign that will roll out over the coming months will involve four pillars of engagement. These include a focus on:
- Intergovernmental consultations;
- Community engagement;
- Targeted stakeholder consultation; and
- A mass media campaign.
We aim to run a dynamic campaign that captures the public’s imagination, building on the ideals and dreams represented in the Freedom Charter and our democracy’s Constitution. We will focus on ensuring effective intergovernmental alignment through engagement with all spheres of government, while using various platforms as we interact with residents, communities and stakeholders, to build an inclusive vision and a plan that encompasses the insights of all.
Our intergovernmental campaign will include a range of technical engagements in relation to the four content areas we are focusing on. We plan to engage with key intergovernmental stakeholders from national government, our neighbouring provinces, and all municipalities within Gauteng. We also look forward to sessions with our provincial departments and agencies, and thank our MECs and HODs for their support in these efforts. In developing the plan, we look forward to engaging with the Gauteng Legislature, as the elected representative of our communities and invite all members of the Legislature to join us in this journey.
To support community participation, we plan to roll out Gauteng 2055 kiosks across our regions, in the places people gather, at shopping centres, campuses, taxi ranks and Thusong Service Centres, for example. Leaflets about Gauteng 2055 will be distributed, encouraging members of the public to contribute their ideas. Citizens and members of civil society will be able to make submissions through various channels face to face, through izimbizos; directly at the Gauteng 2055 kiosks; through email; through our dedicated online Gauteng 2055 website (www.gauteng2055.gov.za); through a door-to-door campaign that will roll out across the province; and through the Facebook and Twitter pages we will be launching. You will be able to find the most recent posts and tweets on our ‘G2055’ facebook page, and at our tweet handle, ‘@g2055’.
My first tweet and facebook post is going up as I speak - inviting all residents and citizens of Gauteng to comment and contribute to Gauteng 2055. Please join the conversation.
As part of the public participation campaign, we will engage with academics, researchers and students, with the support of the Gauteng City Region Observatory. Meetings, workshops, seminars and symposia targeted at various stakeholder groupings will take place over the coming months. We will concentrate on all stakeholders – with targeted sessions focused on business and professional associations, labour, special interest groups representing women, children, the youth and people living with disabilities, NGOs, CBOs and Faith Based Organisations, to name just a few. We will work with the Department of Education, as we encourage students in our schools to share their ideas of the future Gauteng they hope to live in. These are our ultimate stakeholders – the ultimate recipients of the GCR in 2055; the generation we will hand this future to.
As you know, the month of June is a watershed period in the history of our liberation struggle. During the month ahead, we will focus on a number of public participation activities that specifically address the issues faced by this critical group of stakeholders.
Over the coming weeks, you will also witness various thought pieces and ideas in the media in print form and on the radio. We will be focussing on community and campus radio stations, alongside commercial platforms, to create awareness and encourage people to participate. We thank the media for supporting us in these efforts.
We also thank each of you present today, given the important role you can all play in spreading the word of Gauteng 2055, and encouraging others to engage with us in this important conversation.
All the elements of the campaign will ultimately culminate in a major stakeholder summit, which will be held at Kliptown in the third quarter of the year. At this summit, we will bring together the ideas and insights that have been gathered. This will allow us to realise the power of collective insights, such as those that were collated through the Congress of the People campaign, and which ultimately resulted in development of the Freedom Charter itself. At this summit, we will jointly reflect on the ideas emerging for the plan of our future, and with this, develop a shared vision and programme for 2055.
This is the opportunity for all of us to influence the course of development and thus history. We should not be counted amongst those who are endowed with the gift of sight, yet lack the vision. We should be the stock that is revered for demonstrating leadership by translating vision to reality because that is the true measure of leadership.
I thank you in advance for your full engagement in the public participation process that lies ahead. I look forward to the insights we will collectively build, as we plan, together, for a GCR that represents the future we hope to build for posterity.
Dankie. Ngiyabonga.
