Speech by the Deputy Minister of the Department of Telecommunications and Postal Services, Honourable Prof. Hlengiwe Mkhize during the occasion of high tea party for Anglican Church of Southern Africa at Uhuru Braaihouse and Kids Emporium, Pretoria West
Topic: “How Women and Young Women can develop and Identify Building Opportunities within DTPS”
Father Albert Mkhonza;
Pastor Thabo Masinya;
Ladies and Gentlemen.
Introduction
I greet you all in the name of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ of Nazareth. Allow me to express my profound gratitude for the invitation to fellowship with you this afternoon. It is indeed a great honour for me to bring my personal greetings to one of the most significant Christian communities in our land.
At the outset, I would like to share with you an extract from Luke 12:33-34, which reads: “Sell your possessions, and give to the needy. Provide yourselves with moneybags that do not grow old, with a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also”.
This I believe through your journey as Christians you have already adopted and can be seen in your daily lives. As a Christian youth, mother or sister you need to also constantly guard against your conduct even when doing something good for the society or your community. The book of Matthew 6:1-4 says:
“Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven. “Thus, when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you''.
This should be the foundation for every Christian.
Church Leadership
The Church has long been an instrument for action, liberation, social change, and development. Some of you might be aware of the landmark Kairos document which became a strong voice against Apartheid from mobilized and organized church leaders. This document was published on the 25th of September 1985. It took the church leadership to stand up and say enough is enough in protest against the Apartheid State Orchestrated violence in the townships. The church leaders who initiated the drafting of the Kairos document which was an embodiment of all concerned Christians did not turn a blind eye.
A recent illustration of what strategic church leadership can achieve, emerged in 2006, when 189 member states of the United Nations adopted eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). At their core is the intention to alter the reality of global poverty fundamentally.
They set out to:
1. Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger
2. Achieve universal primary education
3. Promote gender equality and empower women
4. Reduce child mortality
5. Improve maternal health
6. Combat HIV/AIDS, Malaria and other diseases
7. Ensure environmental sustainability
8. Establish a global partnership for development
Again, the church made a rapid response to a call by the United Nations, for governments to achieve Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). In June 14-15, 2010, during the United Nations General Assembly Hearing with Civil Society on the Millennium Development Goals, the World Council of Churches (WCC) released a statement entitled “Tackling the Roots of Poverty.”
The WCC statement begins by asserting that, “For Christian churches and the worldwide ecumenical movement, eradicating poverty is nothing less than a moral and ethical imperative.”
The WCC statement goes on to state that the prevailing logic that unfettered economic growth is necessary for progress. Instead, they argue that, governments and international institutions should urgently develop economic frameworks and adopt policies which are “pro-poor, promotes redistributive growth, encourages universal provisioning of common social goods, for sustainable production, focuses on investments in small-holder agriculture and ecological protection.”
The commitment of the World Council of Churches in supporting developing countries to achieve the MDGs shows that the church is embedded in a secular society.
As of today, progress on MDGs is mixed. The wealthy nations have failed to meet their pledges of funding developmental programmes in developing countries. In Africa, benefits have not accrued sufficiently to the poor.
The church has a significant role to play in the community, more especially in the promotion of the society’s well-being. One of the world’s greatest philanthropists and the icon of our democracy, uTata Nelson Mandela when addressing Parliament in Cape Town on 05th February 1999, called for the reconstruction of the soul of the nation, he said: "the RDP of the Soul: by this we mean first and foremost respect for life; pride and self-respect as South Africans rather than the notion that we can thrive in senseless self-flagellation."
I believe he said this in realising that in reality there is a mismatch of what our culture teaches us versus our behaviours as society. There is also that need for us as a nation to go back to the principles of “ubuntu”, which is really what our constitution is based upon. All these calls for the active influence and participation of the church.
The Significance of the Anglican Church of Southern Africa Leadership
The Anglican Church of Southern Africa had a significant role to play during and after the apartheid era to ensure that South Africa is a free and fair country whilst also liberating poor communities from poverty. The leaders of this church have lived the scripture, Proverbs 31:8-9 which says that:
“Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute”
We have witnessed the excellent leadership of Archbishop Desmond Tutu who has become one of the icons of freedom in South Africa. He also advocated for emancipation of the poor. In 2007, just before the 32nd G8 summit in Heiligendamm, Germany, Tutu called on the G8 countries to focus on poverty in the Third World.
His successor, Archbishop Winston Hugh Njongonkulu Ndungane was nothing different. He continued to fight for the voiceless and also rallied on behalf of those suffering from HIV/AIDS. Even after retiring from his pastoral duties he remained committed to serving poor communities. When announcing his retirement, he was quoted saying:
"Happily for me, there is life after being an Archbishop and there are many projects I wish to pursue once I have retired," he said. "I will continue my interest in issues of development. More specifically I intend to continue my involvement with the African Monitor - the stand-alone body I have set up to monitor donor funding and the use of that funding in Africa."
The current Archbishop, Archbishop Thabo Makgoba, had a huge responsibility to fulfil when he took the reigns as the Archbishop after the two great leaders who preceded him. He is also a proponent for the fight against poverty, inequality and unemployment. He has a development trust, Archbishop Thabo Makgoba Development Trust which aims to have a greater social impact by addressing socio-economic challenges of inequality, poverty and unemployment in Southern Africa. The trust does this by proving educational opportunities, skills and entrepreneurial development as well as promote health awareness.
This Church has also produced great leaders who have worked tirelessly both locally and internationally to address the challenges we are facing as the country. Some of these leaders are:
Adelaide Tambo who received the Order of the Baobab in Gold, one of the highest honours by the post 1994 South African government. The South African Anglican Church awarded her the Order of Simon of Cyrene, the highest award given to laypeople for distinguished service. She became the founder member of the Afro-Asian Solidarity Movement and Pan-African Women Organisation after she together with her husband, Mr Oliver Tambo were asked by the ANC to go and carry the organisational work outside the country. She assisted in identifying and financially assisting some of the families whose children left South Africa after 1976 uprisings.
Mr Oliver Tambo benefited from being a member of the Anglican Church as he was put through the institutions run by the Anglican Church, including an Anglican hostel at Fort Hare.
Mrs Sally Motlana was the Vice-President of the South African Council of Churches and an Anglican leader. She was a freedom fighter who used the Anglican Church as a weapon in the revolution.
Mrs Joyce Kalaote, the illustrious Black Consciousness stalwart who passed on last Thursday night last week was a stead-fast leader of the Mother’s Union of Anglican Church who fearlessly added their voice to irrepressible calls for a Black Bishop when few thought it possible.
Dr Brigalia Bam has held various posts throughout the world. She was the Africa Regional Secretary and Co-ordinator of the Women’s Workers' Programme for the International Food and Allied Workers Association based in Geneva. She has co-ordinated the World Young Men’s Christian Association’s International Training Institute and Programme, as well as its affiliate, the Development for Human Rights. She was also Executive Programme Secretary for the Women’s Department of the World Council of Churches. Between 1997 and 1998, Bam served as General Secretary of the South African Council of Churches from 1994 to 1999.
Socio-economic Challenges in South Africa
As a nation and as government we are still faced with the triple challenges of poverty, inequality and mass joblessness. These are challenges which affect each and every one of us and our different families. Our government is working very hard to resolve this in order to create a balanced society.
To overcome these challenges the government’s National Development Plan Vision 2030 provides an opportunity for the church leadership to take its rightful place by guiding the nation on strategies which will create a better tomorrow for all. Organised business, the unions, political parties have commented on it and the church leadership cannot afford to be silent. It has to forge ahead and give strategic leadership.
For the church to take its rightful place and grow in society, it has to strengthen its systems of care and compassion. It has to be actively responsive to the needs of the people.
Government opportunities
The ICT Sector has been no exception to government’s continued effort to address issues of inclusion and transformation. Government’s deliberate move to inclusion of vulnerable groups such as women in the ICT Sector was seen through the South Africa Connect, National Broadband Policy.
South Africa’s Broadband Policy was published on 06 December 2013. It gives expression to South Africa’s vision in the National Development Plan. South Africa Connect outlines a number of activities to improve broadband in South Africa. The vision for broadband is that by 2020, 100% of South Africans will have access to broadband services at 2.5% or less of the population’s average monthly income. A four-pronged strategy, with both supply- and demand- side interventions will close the identified gaps between the current status of broadband in the country and the vision in the NDP.
The Information and Telecommunications Sector has been declared by government in the Industrial Policy Action Plan as a game changer. Broadband roll-out, which is one of the main activities in the sector is featured as one of the President’s nine-point plan to boost the economy. It is because of the utilities such as broadband that the ICT Sector is cross-cutting and useful to all the other sectors in the economy.
The success of government’s inclusive and competitive agenda hinges on women given their numbers in society in general. Although the good story is beginning to emerge, especially in the ICT sector, an inclusive agenda needs to be driven decisively, throughout the value chain e.g. education for critical skills, SMME development, software development, manufacturing of mobile phones, wires and cables to networks.
We are indeed blessed to be living in a country that has overcome so much and now brims with so much promise. Our role is to continue the struggle for equality on all levels that our women leaders of the past decades have fought for. Today we are faced with different challenges, yet our response should be the same – unite and support each other in overcoming the obstacles we face.
Women within the Gender and ICT Strategy
The Department of Telecommunications and Postal Services has adopted a Gender and ICT Strategy to guide the implementation of Gender empowerment programmes within government, State Owned Companies, the private sector, relevant community based organizations and amongst South Africans at large. The aim of the strategy is to increase the uptake and usage of ICTs amongst women and young girls. Young women should make ICT a career of choice. Having built the necessary capacity amongst them, they should also be supported to acquire and build capacity in the creation of new business as well as promotion of ownership of established ICT businesses in the country. For this, the Black Economic Empowerment policy has created an enabling policy environment for women to thrive.
Education and investment in skills for the 21st century
Young Women must take advantage of the existing opportunities in electronics manufacturing, in audio-visual content for television production, and in the field of electronic engineering. The technology field offers a wide range of career possibilities where roles such as systems design and development or integration and software engineering are highly demanded in the commercial market. Today, online businesses are growing where the sale of services is managed through the internet. E-Commerce is driven by innovation and new ideas. Women are encouraged to take advantage of these opportunities.
Young women must take up opportunities provided by community radio and community television. Our Young Women must also undertake study opportunities provided by our government in the higher education system and bursaries provided by the private sector with specific focus to ICTs.
Access to ICT is essential for women entrepreneurs in starting and growing a business and overcoming barriers they face. Without access to ICT, women are at greater risk of being left behind as agents of change and leaders in a rapidly changing global society. We must ensure that women young and old, at all social levels and in all countries, can access and use such technology.
iKamva National e-Skills Institute (iNESI)
There are opportunities like iKamva National e-Skills Institute which is a partnership between government, the private sector and the community. As part of implementing South Africa Connect, the iKamva National e-Skills Institute (also known as iNeSI) was launched earlier last year by our government. iNeSI is one of the interventions aimed at the development of local e-skills that are required by the sector and the user skills necessary for social and economic inclusion to secure and create jobs. INeSI is a multi-stakeholder collaborative network.
Through collaboration, iNeSI is e-skilling the nation for equitable prosperity and global competitiveness. It focuses primarily on four components: evidence-based research, teaching and learning, innovation, and monitoring and evaluation framework. Women must seize the opportunity to enlist themselves as primary beneficiaries of this program.
INeSI is able to achieve its aims through building a multi-stakeholder collaborative network. This allows for the massification of e-skills delivery at all levels in society - thought leaders, ICT practitioners, ICT users and the ICT illiterate.
The network consists of:
- Institutions
- Universities
- FET colleges and civil society
- Corporate partners/business
These network supports government's e-skills agenda offering their development training with the intention of contextualising it within the South African and African environment. They do this by:
- Assisting with research, promoting the innovation application factories and assisting with which local apps will work.
- Global development partners and agencies.
- Drawing on their experience, architecture and framework, and ensuring their network is channelled through iNeSI.
Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment
On the issue of the Black Economic Empowerment broadly, the Department is undertaking measures to fast-track black economic empowerment in the ICT sector. Our focus includes the subsectors included in the ICT BEE Charter Code, namely Broadcasting, Telecommunications, Electronics and Information Technology / e-Commerce.
Incentives for industrialisation
One of the key economic priorities in South Africa is industrialization. As part of government’s radical economic transformation programme for this administration, we aim to create hundred black industrialists in the next three years, who will participate in the productive sectors of the economy.
Government’s position on Industrialisation was cemented during the issuing of the seventh issue of the Department of Trade and Industry's Industrial Policy Action Plan (IPAP) in May this year. The plan highlights the development of a specific support framework for black industrialists.
The IPAP 2015’s Black Industrialists Development Programme is aimed at promoting industrialisation, sustainable economic growth and transformation through the support of black- owned entities in the mainstream of the South African manufacturing industry and related manufacturing sectors.
Radical inclusion of rural schools and connectivity of rural communities
We have been going around the country connecting rural schools and communities. The joy of seeing the excitement on the children’s faces after touching a laptop or a tablet for the first time is fulfilling. We do this to show them that once one institution is connected it creates room for other institutions to be connected and the community to also get wireless internet connectivity. Our private sector partners such as MTN, Telkom, USAASA, and Huawei help us in getting the area connected.
Conclusion
In conclusion, I would like to share with you Proverbs 11:25 which reads:
“A generous man will prosper; he who refreshes others will himself be refreshed”
The church leadership of the 1980s analysed the social situation based on their membership’s everyday experiences and produced the 1985 Kairos document.
This document was said to be an open document, meaning it can be developed and adjusted as the need arises. The methodology used is still relevant today, producing a voice of the people about the direction the country should take through popular participation, which is critical.
The church leadership role will give hope not only to South Africans but to the continent which to a large extent, expect South Africa to use its infrastructure for strengthening new development partnerships for equal beneficiation .Leadership is critical for outcomes which will change the lives of people.
I wish you God’s blessings and wisdom as you celebrate your Annual Patronal festival.
I thank you!
