Honourable Speaker and Deputy Speaker of the Northern Cape Provincial Legislature
Honourable Premier of this great Province Mme Sylvia Lucas
Members of the Executive Council
Members of the Provincial Legislature
Our esteemed District and Municipal Mayors
Our Traditional and Religious Leaders
Veterans of the Liberation Struggle
The people of the Northern Cape
Distinguished guest
Members of the media
Ladies and gentlemen
Fellow South African
Ndiyanibulisa nonke
Molweni, dumelang, goeie more, good morning. The year 2015 is the Year of the Freedom Charter and Unity in Action to Advance Economic Freedom. It is the year of going the extra mile in building a united, democratic, non-racial, non-sexist and a prosperous South Africa. I am proud to witness 21 Years of Freedom and Democracy in our country.
On the 60th anniversary of the Freedom Charter, the Department of Roads and Public Works is proud to render services to the people that contribute to nation building, poverty alleviation, building a social capital, youth development and simultaneously develop a well integrated infrastructure network in the Northern Cape Province. In alignment with the principles contained in the Freedom Charter our plight have been to change lives, improve the quality of living, bring forth change and to move rural communities to a higher social and economic trajectory.
On this day I reflect back, on South Africa’s colonial history of oppression and slavery, that gave rise to the Dompas and Dopstelsel, robbing people from their human rights and stripping away their dignity. We still remember the bombings, assassinations, abductions, interrogations, torture and imprisonment of our people who took a stand to fight and liberate themselves from the atrocities perpetuated to them by the oppressor. The apartheid government under the leadership of the National Party became a symbol of death. The testimony of Dr Wouter Basson (a South African cardiologist and former head of the country's secret chemical and biological warfare project) clearly gave evidence to the existence of cruelty of an oppressive system.
Allow me to call the demon by its name: “Apartheid”, you have come and gone, never, but never shall we allow ourselves to be oppressed, misused and demoralised by a fellow human being.” We have overcome the apartheid system and all its manifestations, and we buried the Pass laws, Group Areas and Bantu Education Act. Steve Bantu Biko in his book I write what I like, writes: (Open quote) “If South Africa is to be a land where black and white live together in harmony without fear of a group exploitation, it is only when these two opposites have interplayed and produced a viable synthesis of ideas and a modus vivendi (meaning a working agreement between opposite parties). We can never wage any struggle without offering a strong counterpoint to the white races that permeate our society so effectively.” (Close quote)
In remembrance of our past, let us not become similar to the oppressing former National Party Government, by attacking foreign nationals. Let us continue to pray for uniformity as we sing: Nkosi Sikelel‟ iAfrika, that God may bless the sons and daughters of this continent. As a leader in the post-1994 dispensation, I quote the well-known statement of our late Ntate Nelson Mandela: (Open quote) “If there are dreams about a beautiful South-Africa, there are also roads that lead to their goal. Two of these roads could be named Goodness and Forgiveness” (Close quote)
Currently the second phase of our struggle is towards economic freedom and to see radical change in the economy of South Africa. Commemorating the second decade of living in a free and democratic society, it is crucial to acknowledge the sacrifices and contributions made by our own stalwarts. We are glad to recently rebury the remains of Nat Nakasa, John Beaver “JB” Marks and Moses Kotane, giving them a dignified burial which marks a new chapter in South Africa’s struggle.
Honourable Speaker, during President Jacob Zuma’s State of the Nation Address (SoNA) in Parliament, Cape Town, on Thursday, 12 February 2015 he introduced a nine-point plan to ignite economic growth and create jobs, namely:
1. Resolving the energy challenge.
2. Revitalising agriculture and the agro-processing value chain.
3. Advancing beneficiation or adding value to the mineral wealth.
4. More effective implementation of a higher impact Industrial Policy Action Plan.
5. Encouraging private sector investment.
6. Moderating workplace conflict.
7. Unlocking the potential of small, medium and micro enterprises (SMME's), cooperatives, township and rural enterprises.
8. State reform and boosting the role of state-owned companies, information and communications technology infrastructure or broadband roll-out, water, sanitation and transport infrastructure.
9. Operation Phakisa, which is aimed at growing the ocean economy and other sectors. In the light of the above-mentioned nine-point plan, the Department of Roads and Public Works has been actively involved in terms of creating a Public Private Partnership (PPP) with especially the mining industry to unlock investments for the maintenance of our provincial roads and the training of unemployed youth to become qualified Artisans.
Full Speech [PDF]
