Programme director
Representatives of donor and development community
Captains and leaders of the private sector
Distinguished guests
Ladies and gentlemen
It is my great pleasure to join you here today at this very important breakfast briefing to discuss the issue of development. What makes this gathering more interesting is that it takes place at the time when our country celebrates the 53rd Anniversary of the historic Women's March to the Union Buildings against pass laws that were introduced at the time.
How refreshing it is that today, as I cast my eyes around this conference centre, I note with great pride the number of women in the forefront of community development and nation building initiatives. From the outset, I would like to congratulate the organisers of this event from Soul City and the staff of my Department of Social development, the majority of which is women, for jointly organising this important event.
Allow me, programme director, to sincerely thank you for making time in your busy schedules to be here this morning. Your presence confirms that you share the concerns of our government of promoting development in our country, even in the midst of the current economic crisis. It is an expression of our shared values and principles which transcends sectoral differences.
This breakfast meeting is part of ongoing consultation with our Social Partners as we seek to strengthen partnerships with all sectors of society, which partnerships are a prerequisite for social development in our country. As government we strongly believe that to build the nation, a social contract between business, civil society and government is essential.
Ladies and gentlemen, we are here to commence with the processes regarding the Kwanda project which is all about empowering people at grassroots level to actively participate in their own development. As you all know, the development of a country is based on the development of its communities. The socio-economic prosperity of any country is determined by the quality of life of its citizenry. Hence, in order to ensure that there is progress in a community, it is vital to target the women and youth to be equipped with the necessary skills and knowledge.
Ladies and gentlemen, community development is a structured intervention that gives communities greater control over the conditions that affect their lives. It might not solve all their problems, but it does build up their confidence to tackle such problems more effectively.
Enshrined in our Constitution are the rights of all people to dignity, equality before the law, freedom and security. The Constitution commits government to take reasonable measures, within its available resources, to ensure that all South Africans have access to housing, healthcare, education, food, water and social security. It is therefore our obligation, particularly as government, to ensure that we work with all our people like you in order to provide these services.
Noting the progress that has been made after our first democratic elections, a lot still remains to be done, given the fact that the relic of apartheid's social and economic legacy still remains visible throughout the country. Our government firmly believes that all people should have equal opportunities and be accorded the right to participate in the development process and also share in the wealth of our country. We see this as enhancing and furthering the aims of Vision 2014 and bringing us closer to the attainment of the Millennium Development Goals.
Programme director, allow me to reflect on the priorities that we have identified for the Department of Social Development and at the same time indicate how these link with the Kwanda Project. As you all know the main and daunting development challenge for our government is eradicating poverty. Thus our priorities are aligned to poverty alleviation as well as complete eradication and are as follows: To,
* manage social grants in an efficient and effective manner as a poverty alleviation tool
* introduce and implement a comprehensive social security
* ensure a coordinated support for poverty alleviation projects, especially for children, older persons, unemployed women, youth and people with disabilities
* strengthening developmental welfare services and sustainable livelihoods
* increased support for community and home-based care for individuals and communities affected by HIV and AIDS
* ensure the enhancement of our efforts to build families and communities within the context of our Moral Regeneration Programme
* coordinate national action for social crime prevention.
I am convinced, ladies and gentlemen, that if we can all work together towards addressing these priorities, we will go a long way towards ensuring that the goals of sustainable development are realised. I therefore appeal to all of you gathered here today to consider tangible ways in which you can partner with us to implement these priorities.
Given the magnitude of socio-economic challenges confronting our country, public-private partnerships remain the only viable option to ensure effective access to services, especially for the poorest sections of our society. Thus, any innovative idea which is aimed at addressing poverty reduction is welcome. This is exactly what the Kwanda project is all about; empowering people at grassroots level to actively participate in their own development. Kwanda is a social enterprise vehicle for enhancing a more inclusive and community-driven development process.
The fundamental purpose of Kwanda project is to teach people of our country that through cooperative self help and a united approach to common problems, the vast potential for their own self improvement can be translated into effective programmes which can do much to improve their standard of living.
A preview of Kwanda television series illustrates that when potential beneficiaries make key project decisions; participation becomes a self-initiated action and entrenches ownership of such projects. We all know that participation by all necessary role players is a prerequisite for project sustainability, which is an important aspect in the development equation, especially in view of the limited resources within our social sector.
Kwanda seeks to empower the unemployed and encourages self reliance rather than dependency. Vulnerable people are offered the opportunity to become participants in enterprises, thus promoting greater inclusion and solidarity within the community. It helps to address the wider development challenges ranging from food security, HIV and AIDS, child protection, women and youth empowerment and contribute to the general well being of participating communities. It exemplifies the values of social responsibility and highlights the importance of engaging individuals to serve their community.
On many occasions, we invite the business sector to gathering of this nature to request donations for charity or disaster relief. However, today is different. We invited you here to come and not only witness for yourselves that given a chance, communities are indeed capable of charting their own path towards development, but also to support such endeavours as we continue to roll out these community development programmes. It is clear from what we can see that the Kwanda project deserves greater support, given the critical social development role that it plays in our society.
We have to date received some significant support from our private sector partners already. I take this opportunity to thank the Corporate Sector and all Institutions for providing the generous support and funding for this new initiative. Without funding and other needed resources, a project of this nature will not succeed even as we go forward. I also hope that all other remaining private sector partners will follow in the footsteps of the following companies and institutions: MTN, BP, SABC, PEPFAR, SALGA, CDC and DFID, and engage social enterprises of this nature in order to ensure that Kwanda projects have the necessary resources at their disposal to work optimally towards its noble objectives. There are many more opportunities for collaboration which can also result in both economic as well as social returns for our partners.
In his State of the Nation Address, President Jacob Zuma committed his government to a new era of innovation and creativity in delivering public services. Our goal is to deliver public services which will be the pride of our country, Africa and the world. I am sure that most of you know the high degree of importance that government places on the role of the private sector in attaining our national priorities.
The Kwanda initiative provides us with an opportunity for Public-private partnerships, which encourage innovation and creative thinking while allowing us to address service delivery and fiscal challenges. There is no question that excellent synergy can be forged between the public and private sectors, recognising and drawing upon the expertise and legitimate objectives of both parties.
Ladies and gentlemen, we need your participation in ensuring that our vision of building a caring society is achieved. I would like to once again congratulate Soul City and all Kwanda partners for this initiative and I sincerely hope that in the near future, their outreach goes beyond the current five selected communities.
Your effort to empower poor these communities serves as an example to other leaders in the business sector. We strongly believe that your contribution is an investment in our social capital development and that such partnership arrangements will continue to provide expertise and capital beyond what we as government can do alone.
I am confident that all of you want to put your shoulders to the wheel, to our mutual goals of enhanced economic prosperity. May I take advantage of this breakfast briefing to call upon your support for this project once again. I also want to make a request that we work together in building our partnership database and networks beyond today.
It now gives me great pleasure to invite on the stage, the models to showcase some of Kwanda's clothing designs.
Ladies and gentlemen, the stage is yours.
I thank you.
Issued by: Department of Social Development
11 August 2009
