The Chairperson of the Provincial House of Traditional Leaders,
Honourable Members of the Provincial House of Traditional Leaders,
Leadership of Contralesa
Esteemed Traditional Leaders of our province
Head men and women
Executive Mayor and mayors
Honourable councillors and other community leaders present here
Stalwarts and Veterans of our liberation struggle
Distinguished guests
Ladies and gentlemen
Programme director,
Today 24 August 2013 offers an important historical opportunity to the Ba-Maseke community to reflect and assess their challenges and we are looking forward to determine where we can improve the livelihood of this closely knit community. This august occasion, the coronation ceremony of Kgoshi Seele Gabriel Malatji of Ba-Maseke Community must assist us as government to continue with our agenda of further transforming the institution of traditional leadership whilst continuing to lay one brick on top of the other. Today, 24 August 2013, marks the dawn of a new era for the proud community of Ba- Maseke gathered here as witnesses as we officially recognise Kgoshi Seele Gabriel Malatjie as their Senior Traditional Leader succeeding his father, the late Kgoshi Albert Matome Malatji who passed on last year.
May his Soul Rest in Peace! As we celebrate this occasion, the founding fathers of the Ba- Maseke community are also rejoicing with us as the leadership baton is passed on to Kgoshi Seele Malatji, who is determined to guide and lead this community to greater heights of development, prosperity and a better life for everyone in this community. The founding fathers of this community expect of him to continue to be the guardian of this community’s rich history and cultural heritage. They will indeed feel let down if the gains they made in defending their customs and traditions, despite the brutality of colonial domination, are not advanced.
Correctly so, the founding fathers of this community have high expectations that Kgoshi Malatji will deliver this community from the icy and painful grip of poverty and underdevelopment. It is for this reason that those of us gathered here today have a duty to wish our senior traditional leader well as he takes forward the long and hard journey of leading his people to prosperity.
As you will know, Traditional Authority is, in fact, the bedrock of democracy in southern Africa. It is a tried and trusted system that existed for centuries before the colonisation of our continent. Heroic early leaders such as King Sekhukhune, Makhado, Malebogo, Nghunghunyane, Makgoba and Mokopane fought valiantly against the colonialist attempt to subjugate them, occupy their land and eradicate their system of government and authority.
Cognisance should be taken that the establishment of the Department of Traditional Affairs by President Jacob Zuma in 2009 is a real indication of a government committed to affirm traditional leaders and the role of traditional leaders in their communities. The institutions of Traditional leadership and customary laws are given due recognition by the constitution of the Republic of South Africa in terms of Chapter 12 and Schedule 4.But over and above the African National Congress (ANC) led government in consultation with various stakeholders within our broader society have promulgated so many progressive legislations and policies to support traditional leadership and institutions. Here we refer to legislations like the Traditional Affairs, Institutional Support and Coordination. The National House of Traditional Affairs Act, the Commission for the Promotion of the Rights of Cultural, Religious and Linquistic Communalities Act and many more. Section 81 of the Municipal Structures Act of 1997 for example provides for the representation of traditional leaders in municipal councils
We are happy to report that the National Department is busy assisting traditional institutions with the necessary tools of trade that will enable those institutions to provide services to their communities. The National Traditional Affairs Bill is being processed to address the provincial disparities in the treatment of traditional leaders. This is done to strengthen the institutional support of these traditional affairs ‘institutions and to further enhance the development of appropriate norms and standards, systems and regulatory framework governing traditional leadership and institutions as entrenched in our constitution.
In his official opening of the House of Traditional Leaders this year, the state President, Jacob Zuma said I quote... "This year marks a centenary of the Natives Land Act of 1913 which has since its promulgation and commencement; it turned our African people into wanderers, labourers and felt rejected in their own land". The African National Congress was the first amongst political parties in our country to address the question of traditional leadership. Its first constitution, adopted in 1909, provided a forum within Congress known as Upper House of Chiefs. Matters which affected areas under the jurisdiction of Traditional Leaders and were of their interest were constitutionally referred to Traditional Leaders as an organised body in the Upper House. It is our Traditional Leaders who were very central in the creation of the African National Congress in 1912 and have been prominent among the leaders of the different formations of liberation movements.
This attitude of the ANC created a framework, which allowed Traditional Leaders to look at local problems and address them from the point of view of the national and provincial agenda, which sought to advance the interest of the African majority against the oppressor. This means our traditional leaders have a compelling obligation to ensure that the ANC continues to work very hard to achieve all the objectives behind which it was formed. Traditional leaders have a responsibility to assist in building a united society where people are not valued according to their ethnic identity.
Our Traditional leaders carry on their shoulders the task of ensuring that our future as people is better than the previous moments. We are jointly expected to ensure that the dreams and aspirations of our people are achieved and celebrated. We have always said that traditional leaders in our province are an integral part of government institutions required by history to participate in every effort that is aimed at improving the living standards of our people.
Together we can make Limpopo and our country as a whole the land of opportunities for the present and future generations. We must build confidence amongst our people and ensure that our movement is cemented by success.
Our institution of Traditional Leadership continues to enjoy an indispensable place in our democratic system of governance. The legislative framework that is now firmly in place has clearly enunciated the purpose and role of this institution in our society. We can now say that there is an unparalleled certainty in the future existence and recognition of this institution. As always, our Government will continue to rely on your wise counsel on matters of traditional leadership, custom, heritage and language as you are the rightful custodians of these values.
This democratic government of the ANC established the House of Traditional Leaders which is guaranteed by the Supreme law of the land, the Constitution. It is this House that has an official mandate to ensure preservation of ethos, values and norms of our African traditions and culture. We should through this House ensure that we influence government policies to conform with and not leave out our traditional and cultural values. We must be relentless in maintaining and promoting moral regeneration amongst communities which was destroyed by the apartheid system of colonialism.
We expect traditional leaders to play an active role in the direction of our municipalities, not only as people who are invited to meetings, but most importantly as people who offer advice in what ought to be done to improve municipal service to our people. We expect our traditional leaders to participate in both the planning and development of IDPs in municipalities affecting their areas of jurisdiction. This is the one way in which we can jointly succeed in pushing back the frontiers of poverty and underdevelopment in our rural communities. It is for this reason that we take this opportunity to congratulate those of our traditional leaders in our province who are actively participating in the governance of their municipal areas, either as elected public representatives or as traditional leaders of the people.
We must make the point that that under the leadership of Kgoshi Malatji, we are certain that the community of this area must take part in their own development. You must desist from being innocent bystanders in the on-going endeavour to improve the quality of your lives. You must join hands with the traditional leadership led by Kgosi Malatji and put your collective shoulder to the wheel in order to launch a sustained onslaught on poverty and underdevelopment in this area. It is this partnership between Kgoshi and the community that will bring prosperity to this community and make it an envy of all in our province and indeed the whole country. More importantly, it is this partnership that will give practical meaning and resonance to the saying that: "Kgoshi ke kgoshi ka sechaba".
Equally important, we who are gathered here today must make a call to our Kgoshi to forge strong partnerships with local government structures in this area. The daunting task of provision of free basic services can only be completed through partnerships and cooperation with all stakeholders including traditional leaders. As government continues its delivery of services, Traditional leaders always played a meaningful role in the identification of beneficiaries for all free basic services. We cannot tolerate a practice where wrong beneficiaries are identified as deserving while the right beneficiaries are relegated to the background. We have since 1994 as the ANC led government, in partnership with our traditional leadership build 39 218 house in this district of Mopani. In Ba-Phalaborwa local municipality of which Maseke village is part, we ensured that 8 087 families are decently housed. This is can only be done by the ANC led government which once proclaimed in its Freedom Charter that: "There shall be Houses, Security and Comfort". We are not looking back and we shall continue making this revolutionary tenant a reality for our people in this province. The ANC led government has never failed before and it will not fail its people now. There is still a lot that must be done and together we shall achieve. The work has started and we must not be defocused.
Councillors in this area and Kgoshi must understand that their roles are complementary. You must embrace each other for the greater good of the community you serve. You both have a duty to work together in order to facilitate sustainable development in this area. Should you neglect this duty; the only losers will be the community you are supposed to serve. We will as part enhancing communication between ourselves and our senior traditional leaders be upgrading all cell phones of all traditional leaders. By the end of this very month every senior traditional leader will be having a new gadget in their hands, getting in touch with us on issues of service delivery in their respective areas.
As government, we move from the premise that the institution of traditional leadership has earned for itself a special place in the hearts and minds of our people. It has distinguished itself as a progressive force for change in our country and has played a critical and decisive role in resisting colonial aggression. It is therefore imperative for our traditional leaders to conduct themselves in a manner that befits the institution.
That today we count ourselves among the liberated nations of the world is in part due to the heroic contributions of traditional leaders in our country. Working together with the elected representatives of our people, the institution of traditional leadership has a duty to entrench and broaden the gains of democracy in our country and more specifically in the rural areas.
We must not lose sight of the fact that we share a common vision and a common passion to improve the quality of life of our people. It is this spirit that must guide us as we face the challenges ahead. It is this spirit that must cause us to face the future with confidence that the scourge of poverty and underdevelopment in our communities will eventually succumb to our collective and determined push.
We call upon all those traditional leaders who are involved in leadership disputes to fully cooperate with the Kgatla Commission on Traditional Leadership Disputes and Claims for speedy resolutions of such claims. Our people need leadership. The Commission which started its work on May last year has been hard at work since its inception. Of the 522 leadership disputes received, it has to date completed 72 cases with about 50 currently receiving attention. We expect the Commission to be done with its work of settling all the submitted disputes by end of 2015.
Our province hosted a very successful 2013 initiation school season with no death cases reported and it is all because of the good bond and cooperation we have with our Senior Traditional Leaders. We strongly believe that initiation schools are an important part of our culture that must only be promoted, but must also be protected at all costs. It defines who are and traditional leaders are sole custodians of our heritage and this ancient cultural practice. We all know that no initiate deserves to die because of negligence of some people.
Programme director, Although the province had a death free initiation schools, we were disturbed by the high number of illegal school despite our many calls to Senior Traditional Leaders to ensure that must not happen if your application has not been approved. We once more appeal for cooperation in this important regard. We must operate within the prescribed laws for the sake of our young boys who should enjoy this important passage to manhood and return home being men of values and cultural ethics. We need to work together on this issue as it is highly unacceptable to run an initiation school without the necessary approval from the department and this is a practice that we cannot allow to continue.
In closing, programme director, I would like to emphasise that the task of strengthening democracy in our country and improving the lives of all South Africans is the responsibility of all leaders in our province – traditional, religious and the elected. We ask that we join our hands and build vibrant and self-sufficient traditional communities, and in so doing restore our African Heritage and Culture to its rightful place. We join many in this community and indeed the whole of Limpopo in wishing Kgoshi Malatji the best for the future.
May his community prosper and most importantly turn their backs on poverty and underdevelopment under his capable leadership. It is what we do in the sunlight of our freedom that counts. Our future is greater than our past. Our mission as government is to integrate traditional affairs for sustainable development and social cohesion, to promote and preserve culture, heritage and our culture in diversity. Working Together We Can Do More!
Thank you.
