His Majesty King Zanozuko Sigcawu, Zanozuko!!!
Honourable Members of the Executive Council present here today;
Honourable Members of the Provincial Legislature in our midst;
Honourable Members of the Portfolio Committee for Sport, Recreation, Arts and Culture;
Executive Mayor of OR District Municipality
Mayors and Councillors representing all municipalities that have graced this occasion, including our host, Ingquza Hill Municipality;
Traditional leaders from all corners of the province who have graced this occasion;
Leaders of religion from all denomination in attendance here today;
Living Human Treasures in our midst including survivors and families of victims of the massacre including other unsung heroes and heroines of our glorious liberation struggle;
Heads of Government Departments and other government officials;
Heads of museums and other cultural institutions;
Representatives of business, and members of the media;
Distinguished guests,
Ladies and gentlemen.
Programme Director, we are gathered here today to commemorate the 53rd anniversary of the Ngquza Hill Massacre, at a time when the African Continent celebrated the 50th jubilee of the formation of the Organisation of African Unity in Addis Ababa in Ethiopia in 1963.
Furthermore, this event takes place at a time when South Africans are commemorating 100 years of the imposition of the infamous Land Act of 1913 that resulted in massive marginalisation and dispossession of land and property of millions of historically disadvantaged black South Africans.
More importantly, this event also takes place at a time when we have launched Youth Month in an attempt to commemorate Youth Day.
Programme Director, the massacre that took place here 53 years ago, immediately after the infamous Sharpeville Massacre had a significant impact on the liberation movements and was a catalyst for introduction of the armed struggle against the apartheid regime. The struggle by rural communities and political activists from this area spurred all like-minded revolutionaries to come to terms with the painful fact that they could no longer delay a military confrontation with a minority regime that advanced a divisive system, what the United Nation had proclaimed to be a ‘crime against humanity’.
The Ngquza Hill Massacre was thus a turning point in the struggle for liberation, and it fast-tracked the birth of ANC’s Umkhonto we Sizwe and the PAC’s Azanian People’s Liberation Army (APLA) respectively. Military wings of other progressive movements such as AZAPO’s Azanian National Liberation Army were introduced later to galvanise support against apartheid.
Fifty three (53) years later, we are gathered here today to reflect on the past whilst at the same time forging ahead in our goal to build a better future for all South Africans, black and white. South Africa today is a leader on the African Continent, and we are a member of prominent global structures such as BRICS, a collaboration of fastest developing economic powers outside the European Union.
As a developmental state with a social contract with its people, South Africa has a responsibility to forge ties with progressive countries and movements that recognise the country’s liberation heritage, while at the same time recognising our massive potential to contribute not only to the development of Africa as a whole, but also the entire world.
For these engagements at continental and global level to make sense to our people, they must translate into job opportunities and socio-economic development of our impoverished communities.
The government of the Eastern Cape is working closely with national and local governments to ensure the struggle of local gallant warriors who paid the ultimate price of death to secure us this democracy was indeed not in vain. We are in talks with a wide variety of stakeholders including business to ensure there is massive investment in the province, particularly in previously economically neglected areas. That is why we are pushing for economic development of the Wild Coast so that local people, youth and women in particular, can benefit from opportunities that these initiatives will create.
In this regard, we need to ensure that business people that intend participating in the local economy, transfer skills to young people and women in a manner that will empower them. We also want local business initiatives to have a ripple effect and contribute to development of other initiatives in a manner that would be beneficial to all the people of the areas where projects are rolled out in the entire Wild Coast.
Programme Director, the Eastern Cape Development Corporation (ECDC) has facilitated a R2.4 billion mixed property development in Lusikisiki (Lusipark), which is part of the Wild Coast development. This project will not only benefit the local Small, Medium and Micro Enterprises (SMME) in Lusikisiki, but will also stimulate growth in other related sectors. In this regard, the ECDC has made inroads in ensuring that the SMMEs in the eastern part of the Eastern Cape are able to obtain the full range of services offered. This was done by expanding the existing offices and opening up of a satellite office in Mt Ayliff. There are two more offices, one in Mthatha and one in Butterworth.
The ECDC has further agreed with the Department of Economic Development and Environmental Affairs to allocate R10 million of the co-ops fund in the Wild Coast towards co-operatives that demonstrate economic viability and financial sustainability even without continued ECDC financial support. The new revitalisation of the Port St Johns initiative is being actively supported by the ECDC through other SMME support measures.
Programme Director, the National Department of Water Affairs has put aside funding to construct a new dam on the Xura River to address the “inadequate” supply of water to Lusikisiki and 23 rural villages. This will indeed improve the lives of our people who have had to endure drinking un-purified water for decades.
Sithi luntu olumnyama ingakumbi oMama abayaziyo intlungu yokuthwala I Emele entloko siyokukha amanzi emlanjeni. The dam, together with the development of groundwater and the upgrading of the regional bulk water system to augment the existing supply area, will result in the Lusikisiki Regional Water Supply Scheme being expanded to supply a further six villages.
The estimated cost of the dam was R320 million, and government is committed to rolling out the project to ensure local communities benefit socially and economically from the project roll-out. Xa kusakhiwa iDama elinje ke zininzi izakhono ezifunekayo, eziquka I plumbing. Abantwana bethu abaphumelele kwi FET College ezifana neCicirha kufuneka ibengabo abafumana amathuba emisebenzi azakuvela. Ndicela ukuba iNkosi, noCeba zeziyinike ingqwalasela lonto kwangoku kungekaqalwa ukwakhiwa.
Asifuni ukubona kusiliwa ngento eziphathelene nengqesho xa kusakhiwa eliDama. Lonto izakulibazisa ukuziswa kwamanzi acocekileyo eluntwini.
Government has also invested R25 million in upgrading of the OR Tambo Heritage Landscape in Mbizana. The Upgrading of the entire landscape is in progress and a lot of work has been undertaken. More than 100 local people have benefited from the job opportunities that the project has created. The project seeks to profile and mainstream the selfless contribution of our local icons to the national struggle for liberation in South African and across our borders. More importantly, celebration of this national heritage is being done in a manner that promotes local economic development and job opportunities for local communities.
Closer to home, the Department of Arts and Culture has put aside R15 million to construct the Ngquza Hill Heritage Centre that will bring much needed services closer to the local communities. Progress on the project had been delayed by the compulsory Environmental Impact Assessment that had to be conducted to ensure development of the heritage facility did not impact negatively on the environment.
I am therefore pleased to announce that results of the assessment have been positive, and the Department of Arts and Culture has given the Independent Development Trust the go-ahead to implement the project as planned. Construction of the facility is imminent.
Furthermore, the provincial Department of Sport, Recreation, Arts and Culture has put aside funds to refurbish the dormitory that was used by Oliver Reginald Tambo when he was a learner at Holy Cross Mission. The department is in the process of inviting prospective service providers to submit tender bids to undertake the task, as there are plans to unveil the finished product during Heritage Month in September, later this year.
The department will strengthen relations with the local organising committee to ensure this task is implemented effectively and efficiently. It should be noted that the Holy Cross Mission had developed a lot of other national stalwarts of the liberation struggle and captains of business. We are also aware of the fact that many local activists who had been harassed and targeted by state security agents during and after the infamous massacre that took place here on 06 June 1960, sought refuge and received protection from that institution.
Some of them are here to tell the tale today. The national and provincial governments are working closely to ensure the entire precinct is declared a National Heritage Site by virtue of its historical and cultural significance. The South African Heritage Resources Agency (SAHRA) has incorporated Holy Cross Mission in their submission to the SAHRA Council for the site to be declared with other sites associated with OR Tambo as a National Heritage Site.
The actual declaration will take place after infrastructure development has been completed on both sites (Mbizana and Flagstaff).
Programme Director, we are making a clarion call to civil society and business to join government in our quest to create a better life for all of our people. Let us utilise our heritage resources effectively to enable them to generate decent jobs for local communities. Let us also use these facilities and objects as instruments to educate our people, particularly the youth, about the important role their forebears have played to achieve this democracy we are all enjoying today. That way, all of us would begin to understand why it is critically important for us to defend the gains of our revolution.
Let me also take this opportunity to invite you to be with us at Zikhova Village in Tsholomnqa this coming Saturday 8 June 2013 from 10h00 to 13h00 where His Excellency President Jacob Zuma will unveil memorials dedicated Nomatshaka and Malcomess Mgabela, icons of the liberation struggle from the Border Region of the province who sacrificed their lives for freedom of all South Africans.
A memorial dedicated to heroines from the Buffalo City Region will also be unveiled by ANCWL President Angie Motshekga at the same venue as part of the programme.
We need to pay homage to heroes and heroines of our liberation struggle, and other heroes and heroines will be celebrated throughout the year in all corners of the Eastern Cape. We therefore need to work as a united team in our quest to build a better South Africa.
I thank you!
