Programme director,
Executive Mayor,
Mayors and councillors present,
Our Donors,
Our beneficiary, Mme Regina Malehu Mohlabafase,
Distinguished guests,
Residents of Sehlomamotheka,
Members of the media,
All others present and all protocol observed,
Good day!
Programme director,
It is quite pleasing that we have gathered to empower yet another woman just as we wrap up the activities of a month dedicated to celebrating women of this country. Women all over this beautiful province deserve better and we will not rest until women get what they are rightfully guaranteed by the Constitution. We have been saying since the beginning of the month that we must continue to provide opportunities for women to reclaim their rightful position in society. Gone are the days when a woman would not own a proper house where she can happily raise her children. Today we are witnessing the fruits of freedom and democracy.
The good thing about us, as a country is that we have made enormous progress in becoming a gender sensitive society. Our constitution provides for equality for all and when you disempower a woman you are basically disempowering the whole nation. That is why we must not only highlight the issues of women during Women’s month.
Our daily efforts should be aimed at giving opportunities to women, economically and otherwise. Having said that, what is critical is that we need the contribution of both women and men to succeed as a human race. Both women and men are the wings of society, we need both wings to fly high and defeat the triple challenges of inequality, poverty and unemployment in this province. So both wings should be equally developed. The effort to overcome the history of inequality requires the full participation of every man, woman, youth and children.
Living in a safe shelter is very empowering and we believe that toady we shall depart here to our respective destinations having empowered the Mohlabafase family.
Working together with our business people, a house has indeed been built for this family and today we are proudly gathered here to celebrate with the Mohlabafase family as we officially hand over the keys to this house. Let me state that this establishment boasts three bedrooms, a living room and kitchen and it is handed over to them fully furnished. We are handing over the house as a sign that this Government under the leadership of Premier Chupu Mathabatha, together with its partners, does keep promises it makes to its people.
We are giving this house in line with the principle that is enshrined in the Freedom Charter that “There shall be houses, security and comfort”. That is why we are handing over this house not only a house but a house with furniture, which explains comfort as contained in the Freedom Charter.
We all know the key challenges our communities are facing and we call on those who are privileged to confront the desperate plight of society’s have-nots.
Our determination to provide shelter to our people is still intact. Relating to what we are doing here today, at his inauguration as President of the Democratic Republic of South Africa, on 10 May 1994, Nelson Mandela said: “Out of the experience of an extraordinary human disaster that lasted too long, must be born a society of which all humanity will be proud”. This family has over three decades been living in poverty and we all know what poverty does to a person. It takes away the most important thing in you, your dignity. Today and beyond, this family will be treated with respect and dignity by one’s fellow citizens and this is what we promote through the rendering of quality service. Today we have done so and we shall not rest as long as our people’s dignity is fully restored.
Programme director, our housing delivery milestones from that historic year of 1994 are impeccable.
Our achievements since 1994 with reference to the provision of housing in this district are as follows. We have completed 43 290 houses in Mopani district. In this Local Municipality, we have completed 6 071 houses. We will be working with each one of you to ensure that we identify the right beneficiaries that deserve proper shelter in this locality. Alert us as and when you feel that your own neighbor needs assistance.
What we have done in this area is not enough and I must admit, we still need to do more for our people. You will recall that during the year 2013/14, we experienced challenges regarding the Human Settlements grant. The National Department withheld our grant due to allegations of supply chain irregularities. We have since addressed all those challenges. In this area Letaba municipality was allocated 600 units. Out of this figure, 278 units were supposed to be built in this ward. We are busy finalizing our procurement process and a contractor will be allocated to build all these houses that I have just mentioned. We shall also ensure the 35 incomplete houses in this ward are completed as a matter of urgency. It is my expressed conviction that we can’t continue to roll out new houses while we know that there are incomplete houses. We must work together and guard against illegal occupation of the houses government provides for you, blow the whistle when people rent them out for commercial purposes and also bring to our attention when these houses are sold. They are not meant for any of those things.
I am convinced and believe that should we master this unselfish way of doing things, we will intensify our war against poverty and provide as many of our people with decent quality housing and other important services.
As many of you know, as government, we have made it very clear that we will place the most vulnerable members of our society high on our priority list when we allocate houses. The most vulnerable members are those who are destitute, orphans, the elderly, sickly or people living with disabilities.
We also have stated that it will be impossible for us to meet the needs of all our people by ourselves as government. We have to enter into sustainable partnerships with all stakeholders if we are to mount a serious challenge against poverty and unemployment. We are close to signing a memorandum of understanding with the SABC that will see us fast tracking the delivery of houses in the province in addition to what we will be building as a department every financial year.
The task of developing the province belongs to all of us, whether we are public officials or private citizens. We want a province where all of our people have access to basic services and all other amenities in proximity. Without inputs and contribution from our partners, this goal will be very difficult to achieve. While the work is still huge, we should rejoice if we manage to provide anyone with decent shelter because what it means is that we have less family living in squalor in our province.
Let us all go out and make a difference by placing the lives and needs of our poorest of the poor in our hands. It is only our collective leadership and efforts that can see us building sustainable communities. We really need to move South Africa forward!
I thank you.
