Master of Ceremonies, Mr Dave Brink, Chairman of ABSA Group, Mr Happy Ntshingila, Executive Director: Marketing and Communications, Management and the staff of ABSA bank, representatives of community development projects here present, honoured guests, ladies and gentlemen. It is an honour for me to address you on this historic occasion of ABSA’s corporate social investment open day. I was very moved when offered the chance to speak here today, because my department has much in common with ABSA bank - we both share the vision of building a caring society.
We both share the conviction that all people should have equal opportunities and be accorded the right to participate in the development process and determine their own patterns and priorities of development. Together we share the view that given a chance, our people and communities are indeed capable of charting their own path to development.
From the outset, let me congratulate the leadership of ABSA bank and its employees for organising this interesting and inspiring open day session. This is a positive indication that South African companies have a strong tradition of responsibility to their communities. This also attests to our government’s long-held belief that societal responsibility can be compatible with financial business success.
The work of transforming our society from the social ills caused by centuries of apartheid social engineering will take more than just government to accomplish. I was impressed last week, by how business South Africa has embraced the concept of corporate citizenship, when I was invited to speak at the responsible business summit. ABSA was one of the prominent corporate organisations that participate at the summit which was aimed at promoting corporate social responsibility within the corporate sector.
I would like to commend the corporate sector for the significant contributions they continue to make towards changing the lives of many vulnerable people children in our country through their projects. These initiatives recognise the reality that the protection of the rights of children is indeed a national challenge which cannot be addressed by government alone.
I am impressed by the enthusiasm and commitment shown by the leadership of ABSA group to the concept of responsible leadership and responsible business conduct. An occasion of this nature provides an opportunity for all of us to witness that corporate social responsibility, when implemented appropriately, is a powerful tool to contribute to community development and holds enormous positive potential for the future prosperity of our country.
It also provides us with the opportunity to strengthen our collective efforts to move the country a further step away from the painful legacy of apartheid, poverty and social exclusion. Judging by the variety of projects and initiatives on display here today, there is no doubt that if we jointly harness the skills, commitment and visionary leadership of both government and the private sector, the sky is the limit insofar as addressing the challenges that we face.
As government we see this as an opportunity to strengthen our long-standing partnership with ABSA in pursuit of building a more inclusive society. We believe that strategic partnerships can bring the complementary skills and inputs of the public sector, the private sector, and civil society in tackling complex social and environmental problems.
Historically, discussions of issues pertaining to community development often concentrated on the role of government and civil society organisations, ignoring the crucial impact of the business sector. It is encouraging to note that the South Africa business sector has embraced the concept of triple bottom line, recognising that the social responsibility of the business sector concerns the relationships of a company not just with its clients, suppliers and employees, but also with the needs, values and goals of the society in which it operates.
I am sure we are all well aware of the magnitude of the challenges of poverty, HIV and AIDS, increasing number of orphans and vulnerable children, underdevelopment in rural areas, unemployment as well as the urgent need to enhance the lives of the marginalised and abused in our society.
Critically important amongst these are children, youth, older persons, people with disabilities and women, especially in remote rural areas of our country.
Working together with our partners in the development sector, the mandate of the Department of Social Development is to ensure the provision of comprehensive social protection services against vulnerability to all these categories of people. It was thus heartening to learn more about ABSA’s corporate social investment programmes which are implemented throughout the country. For more than seven consecutive years, ABSA has quietly gone about its work of providing much needed support to individuals, families and saving many children from dying of hunger.
As a result of ABSA’s corporate social investment initiatives, many individuals and communities in rural and urban areas who have been trapped in abject poverty are gradually being drawn into the mainstream of economic activity. Through initiatives such as re a shoma (we are working), educational, entrepreneurship and survivalist projects, new vistas open up and opportunities denied to so many for so long, come into view.
This is evident in the number of community projects on display here today and the number of people and families benefiting from them. Today, craftsmen and women who were confined to their immediate communities in selling their curios are now exhibiting their artefacts in the ABSA gallery a rarity previously regarded as the preserve of established entrepreneurs. Most importantly, many children are being given a solid educational foundation through your generous contributions to Early Childhood Development (ECD) programme spread throughout the country.
It is by no chance that ABSA bank has consistently featured highly on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange’s (JSE) socially responsible investment index. It is also by no chance that ABSA was nominated second as the most frequently nominated grant maker over a seven year period. This is what corporate social responsibility means to me and many in the development sector.
This work is particularly important to my department and we are proud to be associated in activities that uplift our communities. The ultimate goal of social development is to engender self reliance and your projects do exactly that. For me, these projects demonstrate what we can achieve when united in purpose to make meaningful and life changing contributions towards the well-being, uplifting and development of our communities.
Over the past fifteen years, government’s attempts at expanding social assistance have had very positive impacts on reducing poverty. South Africa has a large and one of the most comprehensive and sophisticated social assistance programme in the developing world. The programme offers social protection against vulnerability and is a life line to many people trapped in poverty.
Currently over 13 million citizens are receiving social assistance benefits in the form of child support grants, foster grant, care dependency grant, disability grant, older age pension grant and war veterans grant. We also provide temporary relief to destitute families the social relief of distress. Let me hasten to reiterate what President Zuma said over the past weekend, the provision of social security is only meant to be a temporary measure to address the immediate needs of vulnerable people.
I believe that most of the beneficiaries on social assistance would prefer to be linked to economic opportunities to enable them to become self reliant and the architects of their own development. We remain mindful that empowering the unemployed people and strengthening their livelihoods is a main objective of development and its principal resource. Accordingly, we are intensifying our development projects through the sustainable livelihood and community development approaches.
In order to scale up and ensure the sustainability of these projects, additional resources and expertise will be required. I therefore encourage and urge ABSA and other corporate business organisations to lend a hand in this endeavour to help us reach communities in far flung areas of our country. This is a worthwhile for our generation and many generations to come and giving communities the first foothold out of the poverty trap.
As much as the efforts of government and the corporate sector have made a dent to the poverty and hunger situation confronting our communities, if we are to totally eliminate extreme hunger, poverty and vulnerability in our midst we must all act as one. If we are to ensure that every child in the dusty streets of Tshidilamolomo in North West and Makwarela in Limpopo does not go to bed without a meal, we must begin to work tirelessly and without desire for recognition or material reward. The extrication of our children from poverty is in itself enough reward, for our children hold our destiny.
My department is committed to work together with ABSA and other corporate organisations committed to the pursuit of our shared vision and the common goal of making poverty a history. This is a priority for our government’s agenda. On this day I would like to express my sincere gratitude to everyone whose dedication and efforts have contributed to the community development projects being exhibited today. In particular, I would like to thank the management and the staff of ABSA.
In closing, I would like to say that I am confident that through our efforts and commitment, we will be able to achieve more and to be able to continue to develop even stronger partnerships of development.
It was our former President Nelson Mandela who stated that, “We must appreciate that all over the world, right down the centuries, there have been great religions that have encouraged the idea of giving of fighting poverty and of promoting the equality of human beings whatever their background, whatever their political beliefs. That spirit has lived not only in the world but in South Africa as well.”
It is this spirit of corporate citizenship that has manifested itself in the ABSA’s corporate social investment initiatives that we see here today. The main objective of CSI initiatives is to contribute to the creation of a stable and prosperous society by making a difference to the lives of as many people as possible and supporting projects that contribute to a stable society and empower a nation for greater prosperity.
It is about silencing want and hunger in our land. It is about ordinary South Africans once again doing extraordinary things for us to be a great nation. It is about making vision 2014 and the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) a reality for all. Most importantly it is about the legacy of the heroes and heroines of our struggle whose visionary leadership gave birth to the Freedom Charter. It is about ensuring that the dream of a new South Africa is not deferred.
My department looks forward to the strengthening of the partnerships with forward-looking companies like ABSA who are committed to being responsible corporate citizens, to join efforts to addressing poverty and advancing human development.
I thank you.
Issued by: Department of Social Development
19 September 2009
Source: Department of Social Development (http://www.dsd.gov.za/)
