Members of the Executive Council
Executive Mayors and mayors of our local municipalities,
Veterans of our movement
The Acting Director-General,
Heads of Departments
CEOs and Managing Directors
Senior Government Officials
Representatives of all sectors,
Members of the media,
Fellow South Africans,
Good morning!
Thank you for honouring our invitation to this important occasion.
The month of April remains the most important in the political calendar of the liberation movement and the liberation struggle as a whole, and Government in particular.
During this month, we remember and commemorate the political murder of Solomon Kalushi Mahlangu, a young hero of the South African revolutionary struggle, a survivor of the Soweto and other massacres and a dedicated opponent of racism, Apartheid and colonial domination.
We remember during this month, the brutal assassination of Chris Hani whose death was designed to derail and frustrate our final push to freedom and democracy.
Merely two days from today, we will also commemorate the 21st anniversary of the death of President Oliver Reginald Tambo, the longest serving President of the African National Congress and a revered icon of our liberation struggle.
These Heroes left us a significant and enduring heritage and legacy, one which enhanced our new constitution, contributed to the inclusive and equitable policies of our democratically elected government.
The year 2014 represents a historic milestone of twenty years of freedom and democracy in our country.
We use this special occasion of review to reflect on what has been achieved in our province over the past twenty years. These achievements are the achievements of the people of Limpopo, working together as one.
We come from a difficult past of contradictions.Our forefathers dreamt from 1909 when they formed the South African National Native Congress that, the future should be a better one for the majority African people. They reckoned that it is a trasversy of justice for a minority people to rule over the majority.
Program Director,
The 20 year Review which I am honoured to release here today, forms part of our continuing celebrations of our 20 years of freedom and democracy. I am also confident that this Review will necessitate a healthy dialogue on what has been achieved and the work that still needs to be done.
This Twenty Year Review is pillared on facts and figures and it is an honest diagnosis of the state of our province.
We have designed this Review to indicate the progress we have registered and to also openly highlight the mistakes made and the difficulties encountered in our relentless pursuit to better the lives of our people.
We are releasing the Review just weeks before the fifth National General Elections which will for the first time be conducted in the absence of the first President of a democratic South Africa, His Excellency Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela.
There can be no better tribute to President Mandela than to utilise this right that he and his comrades scarificed the better parts of their lives fighting to achieve.
Those who campaign against voting, or the so-called ‘Spoil the ballot’ campaign stand opposed to everything that Mandela stood for.
I am saying this because we all know the high premium that President Mandela placed on voting. He said after voting for the first time in 1994 that “This is for all South Africans, an unforgettable occasion. It is the realisation of hopes and dreams that we have cherished over decades”.
Nelson Mandela knew, as we all should know, that a vibrant democracy is necessary to allow those at the helm of state power to address the basic needs of the masses of the people such as: the creation of jobs, building of houses, the provision of electricity, building of schools and hospitals, providing free, compulsory quality education, running water, and paved roads.
This review is therefore dedicated to the living memory of President Nelson Mandela.
Ladies and gentlemen,
We have traversed a long, dusty and bumpy road. At a political level, we have consolidated our democracy and institutionalised a culture of human rights.
We should indeed be proud of our remarkable achievements.
Thanks to our progressive Constitution, we enjoy freedom of movement and of association, the right to own property, the right not to be detained without trial, freedom of expression and freedom of the press, religious freedom and freedom of sexual orientation.
Women have equal rights before the law which did not exist before 1994. Our Affirmative Action policies have greatly benefitted women and restored their inherent, God-given dignity.
Workers have 20 years of enjoying rights including trade union workplace organising, collective bargaining, equal pay for equal work, health and safety, affirmative action, skills development, minimum wages for workers in vulnerable sectors, the right to strike, and the right to peaceful protest.
All South Africans have the right to assemble, to demonstrate, to picket and to present petitions, provided this is done peacefully and unarmed.
Ladies and gentlemen,
The past twenty years have been about accelerated advance for the delivery of basic services. We have during the period under review managed to electrify over 87% of households in the province.
We have connected about 86% of households with clean portable water.
We are proud to mention that during this period, we have housed over one million people.
We however accept difficulties in the areas of access to sanitation and refuse removal. Currently, just above 38% of households in the province have access to proper sanitation and with about 22% enjoying access to refuse removal. It is however important to note that although the figures in these areas are lower, they represent a significant improvement from what was the status quo in 1994.
Ladies and gentlemen,
In the past 20 years we have focused most of our attention and recourses on revitalising Health Care Facilities and the training of health care professionals.
As you would know, our health care approach is premised on the understanding that health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease.
As a result of our efforts in this area, Limpopo remains the third lowest province affected by HIV epidemic.
We have tested nearly 1 million people for HIV by 2013 and we have put over 200 000 people on ART.
Through our partnership with Cuba, we continue to train an admirable number of young people as Doctors in Cuba every year.
Programme director,
Our record on education since 1994 speaks for itself. To date over 94% of learners in this province are not paying school fees as a result of our No-Fee-School policy.
The government has introduced the Scholar Transport Programme with a view to ensuring easy and safer access to schools. To date about 19 162 learners are benefitting from this program.
We are also proud that we have put no less than 96% of learners in quintile 1,2 and 3 on our National School Nutrition Program.
The end result of all these efforts is that we have managed to increase the Matric pass rate from 38% in 1994 t0 71.8 in 2013.
Programme Director,
According to the latest Labour Force Survey by StasSA Limpopo has the lowest unemployment rate in the country at 16.9%. Poverty levels have also dropped from 55% in 2005 to 44% in 2011.
However, we remain concerned that so many of our people remain trapped in the dehumanising web of poverty and unemployment.
We will work hard in the coming years to unlock the huge economic potential in our mining and agricultural sectors. The essence of this is that we need to do more in order to fight-off poverty and create jobs for our people.
Programme directors,
It does not require the genius of a rocket scientist to confirm that we have achieved a lot in the past 20 years. Objective facts and statistics are there for everyone to see.
Building on the successes of the past twenty years, we shall indeed move Limpopo forward.
As they say in Xitsonga ‘Mintirho ya bulabula’.
I thank you! NDAA,THOBELA!
Report is now presented to Maphoto.
