The Chairman Mr Sipho Mseleku,
Government representative present,
Representatives of the Johannesburg City Council,
Leaders of different organisations,
Distinguished guests,
Ladies and gentlemen,
All protocol observed.
It is an honour and privilege for us to participate in this auspicious occasion. I’m humbled by the invitation to remark about the incredible work of God, exhibited in the formation and exponential growth of the Global Round-Table (GRT).
In 2009 when the Global Roundtable was established it was not envisaged that it will become such a resounding success. This is a story of thought, activism, leadership and God’s miracles!
Allow me to draw a parallel to the establishment of the African National Congress (ANC) in 1912. The key objective of its establishment was to find solutions to unjust and discriminatory acts of exploitation and violence against our people. Today the country is experiencing respect for human rights that are protected by the highly respected constitution of the country.
The leadership of the Global Roundtable is highly commended, for what is becoming a symbiotic formation to address challenges in the African continent. This is evident in this year’s theme – “Harnessing Africa’s Economic Development Potential and Africa as the Epicentre of the World Economy”. The South African government and people of this country are enthusiastic about the role they play together with other leaders of our continent in finding lasting solutions to all her challenges.
We are further encouraged by your objectives, among which are ‘Intellectual and skills development’ and ‘Financial Development’ which looks at the issue of wealth creation and estate planning. This recognises that challenges of our people include limited skills and influence on issues of finance and property ownership. Both the ANC and government are hard at work to find solutions to these complex challenges.
There is no doubt in my mind that your organisation will contribute to the economic growth through business leadership, harnessing requisite skills, and increased influence and ownership. Our major task as leaders is to make Africa a fast growing continent by recognising its natural resources and establish own capacity to beneficiate our minerals.
As government we introduced the function of Performance Monitoring and Evaluation in 2009 to provide an opportunity for all stakeholders to understand the impact of our policies and programmes. The departure point for us has been the ‘five government priorities’ as well as the adopted ’12 Outcomes’ that are aimed at promoting effective delivery, access to services and the creation of much needed jobs.
During the 2009 State of the Nation Address, President Jacob Zuma said “The creation of decent work will be at the centre of our economic policies and will influence our investment attraction and job creation initiatives. In line with our undertakings, we have to forge ahead to promote a more inclusive economy”.
This message was reiterated in the 2010 State of the Nation Address when he said “research has indicated that we can create jobs in six priority areas. These are infrastructure development, agriculture, mining and beneficiation, manufacturing, the green economy and tourism. We cannot create these jobs alone. We have to work with business, labour and the community constituencies. Experience shows that we succeed when we work together”.
The New Growth Path provides bold, imaginative and effective strategies to create the millions of new jobs South Africa needs. It also lay out a dynamic vision for how we can collectively achieve a more developed, democratic, cohesive and equitable economy and society over the medium term, in the context of sustained growth.
The strategy sets out critical markers for employment creation and growth and identifies where viable changes in the structure and character of production can generate a more inclusive and greener economy over the medium to long run. To that end, it combines macro economic and micro economic interventions.
The shift to a new growth path will require the creative and collective efforts of all sections of South African society. It will require strong leadership from all of us. It takes account of the new opportunities that are available to us, the strengths we have and the constraints we face.
We will have to embark on joint action to change the character of the South African economy and ensure that the benefits are shared more equitably by all our people, particularly the poor.
As a first step, we will prioritise efforts to support employment creation in the following key sectors:
- infrastructure
- the agricultural value chain
- the mining value chain
- the green economy
- manufacturing sectors, and
- tourism and certain high-level services.
In conclusion, the measures in the New Growth Path (NGP), taken together, constitute key means to address the income inequalities in our society. They place decent work at the centre of the fight against inequality but also include measures such as skills enhancement, small enterprise development, wage and productivity gain-sharing policies, addressing the excessive pay gap between top and bottom, progressive taxation and support for the social wage, meaning public services targeted primarily at low-income households.
The Department for Performance Monitoring and Evaluation (PME) will now facilitate the process of regular reporting and monitoring of progress against the agreed outputs and targets in the delivery agreements. This process will foster an understanding of how the various spheres of government are going to work together to achieve the outcomes.
Many aspects of the delivery agreements are already being implemented. This process therefore, is intended to strengthen current systems to ensure a coordinated and results focused approach to service delivery.
Furthermore, the government will soon release a mid-term assessment report to enlighten us on the progress its outcomes. This will allow stakeholders, including GBR, to discuss and give crucial feedback on government performance.
GBR is undoubtedly an important stakeholder in our country – South Africa.
To GBR, I wish you continuous success in your endeavours.
I thank you!
