The Premier of the Free State, Mr Ace Magashule
Members of the Executive
Chairperson of the National Council of Provinces, M J Mahlangu
Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly
Members of the Provincial Cabinet
Members of Parliament
Councillors
Mayors
Representatives of civil society and NGOs
Participants in the People’s Assembly
Ladies and gentlemen
It has been an enriching experience to be here at this People’s Assembly listening to the debates between members of Parliament, civil society and the many people and organisations represented. We are humbled by, and grateful for, the opportunity to engage directly with the people we, as Parliamentarians, serve.
It is critical for us to understand the challenges the people face and in this spirit Chairperson Mahlangu and I paid an unannounced visit to the townships of Thaba-Nchu and Botshabelo yesterday. We wanted to see for ourselves the conditions our people face in their daily lives. It was clear to us that basic services, such as water and electricity are lacking in these communities. It was heartening to see the spirit of our people and that they had not abandoned hope that their communities can be uplifted. They want to be active participants in shaping their lives and not merely passive recipients of government support.
As you are aware, the theme for this year’s People’s Assembly is “Towards a people-centred transformational agenda” which seeks to place government’s agenda at the centre of our oversight activities. Whilst Parliament provides a national platform for our oversight and legislative work, the People’s Assembly is one of several mechanisms that we deploy to encourage and facilitate public participation.
Ladies and gentlemen
This gathering brings to mind the historic multi-racial gathering, which we know as the Congress of the People held in 1955 in Kliptown, Johannesburg. This most crucial public participation event came to fruition under the guidance of many giants of the congress movement – Chief Albert Luthuli, Dr Yusuf Dadoo and the Reverend Trevor Huddleston, to name a few. It brought together people from all over the country; whilst en route, hundreds more were prevented by the police from attending the convention.
People of all hues, black, coloured, Indian and white, represented by the ANC, the South African Indian Congress, the Coloured People’s Organisation and the Congress of Democrats came together for two days to draft and adopt the Freedom Charter.
These famous words fill us with pride – “We, the people of South Africa, declare for the country and the world to know that South Africa belongs to all who live in it, black and white, and that no government can justly claim authority unless it is based on the will of all the people; that our people have been robbed of their birthright to land, liberty and peace by a form of government founded on injustice and inequality; that our country will never be prosperous or free until all our people live in brotherhood, enjoying equal rights and opportunities;
that only a democratic state, based on the will of all the people, can secure to all their birthright without distinction of colour, race, sex or belief; and therefore, we, the people of South Africa, black and white together equals, countrymen and brothers adopt this Freedom Charter;…”
We are proud of that moment which saw us unified in purpose and strong in virtue. By a show of hands, the 3000 delegates attending the convention endorsed the many clauses in the charter. Most importantly, the document which emerged, the Freedom Charter, is the cornerstone of our Constitution and therefore, belongs to us all.
In a memorandum circulated at the convention, it was said, “We cannot for one moment stand aside from the burning daily issues of our people. We cannot miss a single opportunity for leading the people’s struggles of the day. To do so would be to lose the leadership and support of the people.”
The Freedom Charter continues to be a living document which we continue to draw key lessons from and the square in Kliptown has been renamed Freedom Square so its place in our history is forever acknowledged.
Ladies and gentlemen
The Congress of the People has provided us with a blueprint for how public participation should operate within our democratic framework. It is not only a blueprint, but it is an ideal for which we should strive – the free exchange of ideas, no matter how divergent, and unity in purpose. We also recognise that for our democracy to serve us all we still need the “leadership” of the people.
The People’s Assembly concept was introduced by our democratic parliament to capture this impetus.
Ladies and gentlemen
Parliament convened its first People’s Assembly away from Cape Town in 2005 in Kliptown which was chosen to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the Congress of the People. According to Parliament’s “In Session”
“Like it was 50 years ago, the country’s citizens in their diversity laid out their vision for our country. By so doing they provided even more substance to the strategic shift by Parliament - from a focus on legislation, to providing more of an oversight role and increasing public participation - becoming a people centred Parliament.”
The theme for the People’s Assembly in Kliptown was "People's Voices Shaping the Future", which emphasised that the voice of the people was important then and remains so today.
At the time, the Minister of Public Service and Administration Minister Geraldine Fraser-Moleketi, said that the People’s Assembly reflected the organic link between government and the citizens, when people’s concerns were addressed by public representatives. The People’s Assembly seeks to bridge the gap between the people and government and brings our democracy alive.
Since Klipton in 2005 we have held People’s Assemblies in Oudsthoorn, Southern Cape, Mbizana in the Eastern Cape and Bushbuckridge in Mpumalanga, and now here in Mangaung in the Free State.
Ladies and gentlemen
We are required by the Constitution to enable parliamentarians to seek and heed the views of the public in our law-making and oversight duties. In terms of Chapter 4 (59) of our Constitution, Parliament must facilitate “public involvement in the legislative and other processes of the Assembly and its committees”.
The People’s Assembly was launched as a major public participation platform that affords communities the opportunity to directly engage with their public representatives – at locations which are easily and affordably accessed. We recognise that most of our people cannot afford to make their way to Cape Town, the seat of Parliament and incur expenses like hotel stays.
The principles guiding our practice of public participation give members of the public the right to be involved in decision making processes. In addition, there is the expectation that the views of the public will be considered and will influence policy or legislation being considered by MPs. But the founding principles of the Constitution go further than that: they implore us to improve the quality of life of all our people and free the potential of each person. Parliament has a crucial role to play in this regard.
Ladies and gentlemen
Our country still faces huge historical and structural economic imbalances. Successive growth plans of the government have resulted in progressive economic growth but have not resulted in meaningful labour absorption. This year’s State of the Nation Address sets the tone and pace towards job creation by committing all government departments to this objective and outlining specific programmes that are set to boost employment.
Government has declared 2011 to be the year of job creation. The energies of every government department, at all levels of government – national, provincial and local, must be focussed on this effort. It is the collective responsibility of us all, the business sector included, to make this a national effort.
The New Growth Path (NGP) commits government to identify areas where large-scale employment creation is possible and to developing a policy package to facilitate employment creation in labour absorbing sectors. The policy’s principal target is to create five million jobs over the next 10 years. To achieve this, the NGP identifies “job drivers” or key areas where employment creation is possible. These are:
- Infrastructure: energy, transport, communications, water and housing
- Support for main economic sectors: agriculture and agro-processing, mining beneficiation, manufacturing through the Industrial Policy Action Plan (IPAP2) and tourism
- New economies: green economy and knowledge economy
- Social capital: the social economy and the public sector
The Comprehensive Rural Development Programme focuses rural priorities on infrastructure development, whilst the National Rural Youth Service Corps seeks to provide skills development and job creation for the youth in rural areas. It is a two-year skills development programme where young people from the age of 18-35 from 3 300 rural wards are trained in various skills while receiving a stipend of R1 320 per month for the duration of the programme.
The youth are equipped with theoretical and practical knowledge to create employment for themselves and other people in their communities. Since its inception, this programme has recruited about 7 956 young people from different provinces, and specifically, 7 000 jobs for young people in rural areas have been created.
I make mention of these programmes because they should provide our MPs with a basis with which they should assess whether these initiatives are successful within our communities. Our oversight activities in rural areas must look at the sustainability of the job opportunities provided, and whether the government department concerned is doing enough to market these opportunities to young people here, in the Free State, and elsewhere. It is our responsibility as Parliamentarians to play an active role in responding to the needs of our people and not merely to wait, in Cape Town, for government to report to us.
Ladies and gentlemen
The government has also committed to the attainment of the Millennium Development Goals, a United Nations initiative to focus collective energies on reducing global development deficits. The MDGs are:
Goal 1: Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger
Goal 2: Achieve Universal Primary Education
Goal 3: Promote Gender Equality and Empower Women
Goal 4: Reduce Child Mortality
Goal 5: Improve Maternal Health
Goal 6: Combat HIV and AIDS, Malaria and Other Diseases
Goal 7: Ensure Environmental Sustainability
Goal 8: Develop a Global Partnership for Development
Each goal comes with specific measurable targets and, as such, provide key indicators for our oversight programmes.
The role of Parliament should be to oversee and scrutinise whether government is reaching the MDG targets, and if not, why not. Parliamentarians should raise issues of concern relating to the MDGs on behalf of their constituents. This is why engagements of this nature are critical – it informs MPs of the concerns of our people.
Ladies and gentlemen
South Africa is playing host to the 17th United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, commonly referred to as COP17. It will be held in Durban in December and governments from all over the world will be coming together to again attempt to achieve consensus on the key concerns due to environmental change. Parliamentarians from our country and others have a crucial role to play in the run-up to the event and therefore, in shaping the outcome.
Ladies and gentlemen
Prior to this People’s Assembly Parliamentary Portfolio Committees conducted oversight visits in the Free State to obtain first hand information on issues that affect our people.
The findings of the committees, which were debated in commissions yesterday, have highlighted a number of issues. The picture painted of service delivery is mixed but, it has to be said, there is much to criticize in our infrastructure, human resources and provision of basic services.
Our deliberations will result in recommendations that will be tabled and referred to the Executive for their consideration. But it is important that these reports do not gather dust. Our recommendations must be formally made, with time-frames, followed up with the relevant government departments, and most importantly, our communities must get feedback.
It is essential that this happens so that we maintain the faith of the people in our system of democracy. For without that, the pride that we feel for the bravery of our forefathers in standing up to the apartheid regime, and setting us such high standards, will be mere vanity.
We must live up to their ideals, with integrity and without fear. As they did.
I want to take this opportunity to thank all the participants in this People’s Assembly, for without your many and varied voices, this event will be the poorer. I thank the provincial government of the Free State for welcoming us so whole-heartedly and enabling us to engage with the people.
I thank you.
