Minister of Transport, Mr Sbu Ndebele
Director-General of Transport, Mr George Mahlalela
Distinguished guests
Ladies and gentlemen
Honourable minister, thank you very much for inviting me to this important event, the Torch of Peace handover ceremony.
It is encouraging to receive this symbolic torch at a critical time when our government and people are working hard to reduce the number of precious lives lost on our roads.
I would like to commend the Transport Ministry for the resolve to intensify the Make Roads Safe Campaign in line with the United Nation’s Decade of Action against Road Deaths.
This ceremony is most timely, happening at a time when the nation’s eye is on the plight of children going back to school tomorrow.
The torch of peace must remind us of the importance of school safety and benefits of acting responsibly, putting safety first.
We dare not allow the positive spirit generated by the impressive 2010 pass rate, of 67.8 percent, to be blemished by acts of crime and violence in our schools.
Learning in a safer and child-friendly environment will boost learner confidence, thus helping in improving learning outcomes. Such a climate will help us prepare learners to be responsible, law-abiding citizens.
This torch is a symbol of hope. It reflects government’s resolve to instil a strong sense of humanity, to preserve lives and to eliminate violence and crime in all their forms.
In 2011, we will use the Torch of Peace campaign to strengthen and reinforce physical safety of learners and educators. As part of our school infrastructure development programme, we will work with education MECs to ensure the provision of proper fencing and security for all schools.
Among other school safety issues, the torch will present opportunities for improving our work in combating sexual harassment and sexual violence in public schools. It must help us never to forget last year’s ugly spectre of the sexual offence involving learners at Jules High School.
In 2011, we will use the torch to promote the Speak Out Handbook for Learners on dealing with sexual abuse. We will step up our work on learner wellbeing and safety in schools in collaboration with the Minister of Police, Mr Nathi Mthethwa.
With the full knowledge that education is a societal issue, we will also be working together with communities and other key stakeholders in our quest for everlasting solutions to crime and violence in our schools, including alcohol and drug abuse.
We will work closely with Minister Fikile Mbalula of Sport and Recreation to strengthen talent development in schools and the formation of appropriate leagues for learners. In the long run, this intervention will help inculcate positive values and ethics befitting a democratic values-based society.
In 2011, we will ensure the Torch of Peace reaches all nine provinces in order to raise awareness. In March 2011, my ministry will hand the torch over to the Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development to mark Human Rights Day.
In closing, I invite all to join us in our quest to create a conducive climate for quality learning and teaching from day one of schooling, up to the very end.
Working together we can do more to create safer and caring schools.
I thank you.
Source: Department of Basic Education
