Master of ceremonies, Mr Mike Sutcliffe
Chairman of Iqraa board, Mahmoud Youssef-Baker
Iqraa board of trustees
Distinguished guests
Honoured guests
Good morning,
I am most humbled to be given the opportunity to participate in discussions that are aimed at strengthening the provision of humanitarian services to our needy communities. I want to extend my sincere appreciation to the Iqraa board of trustees for the invitation.
Government is particularly pleased by your resolve to continue to respond with the greater commitment and urgency to rid the world of human suffering. According to the United Nations (UN) Millennium Declaration, "Men and women have the right to live their lives and raise their children in dignity, free from hunger or injustice”. It is for these reasons that we value the work of this organisation.
This conference takes place at the time when the people of this province are still in the buoyed mood following the most successful general elections which were largely free and fair. Ordinary citizens, academics, religious leaders and civil society demonstrated through ballot boxes that indeed democracy is alive in this province. Many of them participated in the elections which is a crucial aspect of quality assurance.
I want to take this opportunity to express my appreciation to all of you for the role you played to ensure peaceful, transparent and democratic general elections. More importantly, I stand before you today truly humbled by the unwavering support that has been provided to the provincial executive council since the inauguration day.
We are overwhelmed by the words of encouragement coming from across all communities in KwaZulu-Natal. This display of unity, which this province is so rightly famed, has made our few days in office an unforgettable experience. We have committed ourselves to serve the people with respect and we will always remember that we serve at the pleasure of the electorate.
Distinguished Guests, government’s quest to overcome poverty, unemployment, inequalities and social fragmentation will be successful through public-private partnership. We have realised that unless we partner with the civil society and the private sector we will never avoid a trajectory of increasing affluence of the few and deepening levels of poverty of the majority.
Today, I believe, we are making a step towards strengthening the partnership between government and Iqraa Trust and many other organisations that you work with. The extent and depth of poverty is far greater in this province than the other large provincial economies such as the Western Cape and Gauteng given that the majority of our people live in rural areas.
The war against poverty and the rising cost of food prices is not going to be easy. Partnership and the culture of volunteerism is the only answer.
Over the past ten years, Iqraa Trust has demonstrated that through humanitarian services, we can help restore the dignity of our communities, especially the children.
During the International Year of Volunteers, UN secretary-general,
Kofi Annan, described volunteerism as follows: ‘Volunteerism is not a matter of wealthy and generous people dispensing largesse to the poor. It is people from all works of life and strata of society, who have made the choice to serve their fellow men and women.”
I have no doubt that with organization such as Iqraa Trust we will succeed in our quest to ensure a better life for all. In South Africa, 35 percent of the people in South Africa are vulnerable to food insecurity of whom women, children and the elderly are the worst affected.
* 23 percent of them at risk of experiencing hunger,
* Estimated that 1,5 million children or about one quarter of children under the age of six are said to have been stunted through chronic malnutrition,
* Malnutrition has been cited as the primary cause of child mortality and morbidity in South Africa
Here in KwaZulu-Natal,
* in 1999, 48 percent of children experienced hunger,
* in 2005 there were approximately 3,4 million orphans in South Africa, of which one quarter or 26 percent were resident in KwaZulu-Natal,
* estimated 35 percent of the population of KwaZulu-Natal is food insecure,
* this currently exacerbated by the escalating food prices and about 3,5 million people in KwaZulu-Natal are in need of an intervention to enhance their food security.
The survey by Statistics South Africa shows that the cost of food increased by 17 percent between May 2007 and May 2008.
The price of vegetables increased by 26,41 percent and that of fresh meat by 12,59 percent.
Statistics released in June 2008 by Statistics South Africa show that food inflation averaged 18,9 percent in KwaZulu-Natal and was six percentage points above the national average of 18,3 percent.
Food inflation for KwaZulu-Natal urban areas was 19,3 percent while Durban/Pinetown area recorded the highest food inflation of 20 percent followed by Pietermaritzburg at 19 percent.
Food inflation in other urban areas in KwaZulu-Natal averaged 18,9 percent whereas in rural KwaZulu-Natal inflation averaged 17,7 percent.
Over the next five years therefore our main objectives as the provincial government are:
* maximising the agricultural potential of the province and
* ensuring food security
* provision of decent education
* provision of quality healthcare
* creating decent jobs
* fighting crime
* nation Building and good governance.
There is an unrealised potential in agriculture in the province to the tune of 366 percent of present production. We want to grow the sector to enhance the export capacity. The newly constructed Dube Trade Port will assist us to reach untapped markets.
The agrarian revolution programme remains the most important provincial government’s strategy aimed at reviving rural economy, reverse the scourge of poverty and ensure food security. It allows us to mobilise already existing resources such as communal land and take advantage of indigenous farming skills.
On 18 July we will be launching One Home, One Garden Campaign which is aimed at sustaining food security for household food consumption and to mark our food security programme. One person must try to do good just for one person. We want to use this campaign to mobilise the people of KwaZulu-Natal to fight poverty.
There was an involvement of the broader society in the fight against apartheid; we are convinced as government that we will succeed in the fight against poverty if we work together. I invite the civil society and advocacy groups to join government. We can only achieve our objectives through collaboration.
As government we believe that the success of the developmental effort depends on harnessing networks in ways that ensure that interests become complementary to the developmental effort. Government has the responsibility to give leadership to these interactions. It represents the collective will of a nation. It has the ability to articulate long-term objectives that enable a nation to achieve economies of scale through the coordinated and coherent effort of many actors.
Since 2004, this government has attached particular importance to this quest, through its emphasis on social partnership and attention to the concept of a developmental state. Education has been identified as one critical priority in the new term, all in the context of the fight against poverty and delivering a better life for all our people.
We have a huge backlog. Based on the 2007 national education infrastructure management system data, the province is short of 10 898 ordinary classrooms and 30 028 toilets. We want to improve matric pass rates in mathematics and science. We want to give our children skills relevant to our economic situation.
We have called on communities in general to join government as we embark on a campaign for a better education for our children. There is African maxim which says “your child is my child and my child is your child”. This campaign must help our youth to avoid contracting HIV and AIDS and reduce teenage pregnancy at schools. It must also teach our youth love and compassion to support those affected already, and create a caring environment for orphans and other vulnerable groups.
This campaign must restore our national pride in our children; teach them the values of Ubuntu, democracy, human rights and responsibilities to make them leaders for the coming generations.
It is evident that the massive amounts of resources necessary to adequately address the backlogs are not possible to mobilise within the next five years. Given current budget trends over the medium term expenditure framework (MTEF), 8 750 classrooms, 15 000 toilets, and 30 schools are planned for the next five years. Construction of 15 schools will begin this year.
We are determined to reverse the situation and work towards the millennium development goals (MDG) targets:
* halving the infant, child and maternal mortality rates by 2014
* ensuring effective implementation of the comprehensive plan for fighting HIV/ AIDS and associated infections
* increasing the availability of anti-retroviral treatment to 80 percent by
2014
* reduction of new HIV infections by 50 percent by 2014
* a TB cure rate of 85 percent by 2014 and
* reducing new levels of TB by 50 percent by 2014.
Government has embarked on a campaign for creating healthier and sustainable communities. This is a campaign that will take place in communities. We are saying communities must be at the forefront of the provision of quality healthcare. Government will be there to offer support.
Challenges posed by disasters
The gains that we have made in our quest to reconstruct and develop this province are threatened by recurring veld-fires, storms and floods.
The disastrous impact includes the destruction of road infrastructure, schools, homes, small businesses and agricultural production capacity. The total number of houses built since 2004 to 2008 in response to various forms of disasters is 25 000. The most recent housing backlog statistics in KwaZulu-Natal as provided by Statistics South Africa estimates is 906 536.
We need civil society to be organised in order to participate in disaster management forums involving government, civil society and donors. We also need you to participate in civic society forums for advocacy and be part of the monitoring and evaluation of government programmes during the implementation.
That will create a true partnership and will also give us the support that we need to ensure that government is in constant contact with the community.
I thank you.
Issued by: KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Government
2 July 2009
Source: KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Government http://www.kwazulunatal.gov.za/
