Programme director and Executive Mayor of Ngaka Modiri Molema Municipality, Mr Themba Gwabeni
Honourable Premier, Mme Maureen Modiselle
Honourable MEC for Social Development, Mme Kasienyane
Mayor of Ratlou Local Municipality, Mr Francisco Ntwe
Kgosikgolo ya Barolong, Rre Lekoko
Councillors, Ward Committee members present
Bomme le borre
Dumelang ba gaetsho, Le kae?
From the outset I want to thank the masses of our people assembled here today for taking the time to be part of this important process in the life and development of Tshidilamolomo village and the rest of Ngaka Modiri Molema District Municipality. I see this community outreach programme as a significant step towards making a reality of the maxim first enshrined in the Freedom Charter: "The people shall indeed govern!"
It is indeed a pleasure to join during this historic week as we celebrate the 91st birthday and the inspirational life of Nelson Mandela. For the better part of his life, he committed himself to improve the lives of ordinary people across the globe. And that is what we seek to do here today, improve the lives of the poorest of the poor by ensuring that they have access to services.
This is a wonderful day for our municipality because it symbolises the coming together of important role players that help define our government as a caring government. I am glad to join you here today because occasions of this nature give us a chance to review how far we have been able to fulfil our mandate of uniting in action for change. Most importantly, these occasions give us an opportunity to improve on those areas where we are lagging behind.
Bomme le borre,
We came here today to bring government and its services closer to you but more importantly, to interact with you all about the levels and standards of government service delivery in the local communities.
The community profile that we conducted in the local communities highlighted a number of challenges that still confront our people. I do not want to repeat these as all speakers before me have mentioned earlier. However, what I want to highlight is that our government is committed to work together with you to find practical ways of addressing the identified challenges. As a start, we have invited all important stakeholders and government departments in our province to come and talk to you about different government services and how you can access them.
Today we are here to give effect to government's Batho Pele principles. Our government introduced concept of Batho Pele in 1997 to promote the notion of putting people first and inculcate the culture of effective and efficient service delivery within the public service. I am happy to see that our officials have responded in this manner to give hope to people of Tshidilamolomo and surrounding communities. Our core business as public servants, irrespective of our positions, is to serve our people. Government business is about improving the lives of our people. As President Zuma highlighted in his State of the Nation Address, the time for lazy and corrupt officials is over.
Programme director,
Over the last 15 years the African National Congress-led government has made remarkable improvements to the lives of the indigent in this country, especially in the provision of housing, water, electricity and homes to millions of our fellow citizens. Through the social assistance programme, we have extended social protection to millions of South Africans through the provision of social assistance programme. To date over 13 million South Africans are the recipients of social grants. These grants provide a lifeline to the nations poorest. We are well on the way to building a new society, one in which the rights espoused in the Constitution and the Freedom Charter, become a reality for all of our citizens.
The Department of Social Development provides many services to our people. Key among these is the provision of Early Childhood Development (ECD) programme. The early years of a child's life, especially the first five years of life are very precious. During this period, children learn more quickly than at any other time. We cannot shy away from the fact that access to basic social services is the right of all children. Children aged between 0 and four constitute almost ten percent of the country's total population-an asset for our country's future. In response to this imperative we have developed the National Integrated Plan for Early Childhood Development which seeks to provide our children a better start in life. This plan establishes a solid foundation of physical, emotional, psychosocial, cognitive, and healthy development for our children.
This morning I visited few ECD centres in this area and I was heartened by their good work despite the difficult conditions under which they operate. We will work together with the provincial department to ensure that these centres are registered and they receive necessary support from government. Our priority is to ensure that we register as centres in rural areas as possible. Equally important, we will train ECD practitioners through the Expanded Public Works Programme This plan is our contribution towards ensuring that our children grow up in an environment that is conducive to their care, development and protection.
I want to appeal to parents and caregivers to enrol their children with ECD centres and give them the best start in life. If you are the owner of such a centre please visit the Department of Social Development’s information desk ensure that it is registered as these centres are eligible for funding from our department.
One of our greatest challenges is to find ways to give hope and meaning to our younger generation. In this regard we have launched the Masupatsela Youth Pioneer Programme to ensure that young people are actively involved in the construction of a strong democratic state. All the municipalities, including Ngaka Molema District Municipality, should participate in this programme. I therefore want to encourage the youth of the local communities to make use of these opportunities to improve their lives and those of their communities.
Honourable Premier
Our society faces the disturbing and growing phenomenon of substance. What is more disturbing is that an increasing number of young people in both urban and rural areas are dependent on drugs and alcohol. Substance abuse has devastating impact. Research shows that alcoholism and multiple drug abuse have been associated with the alarming rate of crime and exposure to violence. It is widely accepted that drug abuse is now the single largest factor in the spread of HIV infections.
Substance use during adolescence has also been associated with involvement in crime and gang-related activities as well as unwanted teenage pregnancies. Our government under the leadership of the African National Congress (ANC) is deeply concerned about the damage and pain that drugs cause to families. The youth need to be empowered to take control of their lives and not let drugs control them. Guided by the National Drug Master Plan 2006-201, my department has initiated a number programmes to confront this problem head on. The Ke moja- I'm fine without drugs campaign aims to build the resilience of young people against drugs by actively engaging them in cultural and sporting activities. We have a rich cultural history which we can use as an empowerment tool for young people.
Ladies and gentlemen
Over the past fifteen years assessment of government performance has continually shown that it is at the local government level where we need to accelerate service delivery. The local municipalities remain the most appropriate level of intervention because it is the sphere of government closest to the people. Partnerships between the three spheres of government are premised on the fact that local municipalities should be at the forefront of social and economic development. It is therefore important that we work together to maximise the impact and effectiveness of our programmes in communities. This is a prerequisite and a cornerstone of the government's Anti-Poverty Strategy.
As a short-term intervention, we have identified a number of key services that are essential to alleviating poverty and hardship in Tshidilamolomo and the surrounding areas. Among these is the provision of social grants, food parcels, Identity Documents and Birth Certificates as well as the distribution of information on economic opportunities and development initiatives.
The Department of Social Development has thus partnered with the Department of Home Affairs, SASSA, Office of the Premier, Ngaka Modiri Molema District Municipality and a host of other key partners to bring the afore-mentioned services to you today. As a long-term plan, we will put together an action plan to address all the identified problems. This plan will highlight key responsibilities of all the stakeholders and will have clear deliverables and timeframes. Each of the stakeholders will be held accountable in accordance with the plan.
With these words, I would like to thank the officials who worked tirelessly to make this a success. I also want to thank the people of Tshidilamolomo and the surrounding communities who came to be with us today. As President Zuma outlined in his State of the Nation Address, the fight against poverty remains the cornerstone of our government's focus. For as long as there are families who goes to bed with empty stomach, and children who do not have a decent education, this government shall not rest and shall not falter, in our drive to eradicate poverty.
There is no greater task in front us than improving the lives of the many people in our country through government’s rigorous programmes aimed at fighting poverty and underdevelopment as we have demonstrated here today. We are therefore very delighted to have been part of this outreach programme and to re-commit ourselves to the promise we made to our people through the Freedom Charter and the Constitution. We will continue to work tirelessly to deliver basic services to rural areas. I urge you all to engage us directly, to have your say and to lend us your support.
As government we know that we know that we can only build a prosperous and caring society if our people have the means to earn a living, educate our children, have decent homes, and only if we government listen and respond to your needs. Let us work together to advance the developmental agenda in our own lives and communities.
Ke a leboga.
Issued by: Department of Social Development
21 July 2009
