Honourable Speaker and Deputy Speaker;
Honourable members of the legislature and the NCOP; Members of the Executive Council;
Executive Mayors and Mayors of our local municipalities; Members of the Diplomatic Corps;
Provincial Commissioner of the Police;
Acting Director General and heads of Departments; Leaders of opposition parties;
The leadership of the ruling party, the African National Congress
Chairperson of Limpopo House of Traditional Leaders; Our esteemed Majesties and Royal Highnesses; Former MPs and MPLs;
Stalwarts and veterans of our struggle;
Leaders of our Chapter nine and chapter ten institutions;
Leaders of religious leaders;
Leaders of organised business and labour;
Youth, women, community leaders and media representatives; Distinguished guests;
Comrades, ladies and gentlemen:
Good morning, Thobela, Goeie more, Ndi matsheloni, Avuxeni!
It is humbling to stand before you, to deliver the first State of the Province Address on this occasion of the official opening of the fifth legislature of Limpopo Province.
extend my gratitude to you Madam Speaker for affording me an opportunity to speak to the people of our province through this address.
This seating of our Legislature takes place amidst exciting developments in our country. It is the first seating that ushers in the 3rd decade of democracy and freedom, and more importantly, it takes place in a month in which we commemorate and celebrate the 1976 youth uprisings.
These young people declared to the world that the life span of any unjust system is determined by the oppressed people themselves.
Their courage and sacrifices accelerated the downfall of the system of apartheid and ushered in the freedom and democracy we celebrate today.
We owe it to this generation to guard against the reversal of the gains of our struggle and more importantly improve the conditions of living of our people, young people in particular.
Madam Speaker and esteemed members of the House;
There is no denial to the fact that we have, indeed, come a long way. I remember when we started 20 years ago in 1994, the Premier of the then Northern Transvaal Province Advocate Ngoako Ramathlodi described the difficulties of that time using the metaphor of a crawling baby; he said “we owe it to ourselves to be bold and courageous. That is how children walk. They fall and rise again, fall and rise again, until one day they walk without falling. We can and must emulate them”
Since then, we have worked hard together to eradicate the oppressive legacy of apartheid and colonialism.
We have indeed fallen and rose, fell and rose; and now we rise and rise, we rise and rise!
In this regard, we have made significant inroads towards achieving the objectives as set out in the Freedom Charter, the historic document that guided and continues to guide us in our struggle for total liberation.
We have built a South Africa that truly belongs to all who live in it, Black and White,
The people are indeed governing and continue to be masters of their own destiny,
There is no doubt that the dignity of our people has been restored as they all enjoy equal rights before the law,
We have expanded access to housing and other basic services such as electricity, water and sanitation to millions of our people,
We have improved access to quality education and healthcare services;
The safety and security of our people remains high on the agenda of this democratic government,
We have built an inclusive economy that has created jobs for thousands of our people;
The lives of our people have vastly improved and Limpopo is a much better place to live in than it was in 1994. There is no doubt, whatsoever in my mind, that Limpopo is a home to all irrespective of tribe, colour and race.
Honourable Members and the people of Limpopo,
It goes without saying that we have made significant advances in building a South Africa as envisioned in the Charter.
Nevertheless, much more still needs to be done to fully realise the shared dream I have referred to, the dream of a better life for all.
As we enter the second phase of transition, the focus must be on the radical transformation of the economy.
Honourable Members,
This phase is about confronting the new enemy of our people, the enemy that finds expression through poverty, unemployment and inequality.
It is therefore against this background that in these five years our programme of action as government will be anchored on the priorities as identified in the election manifesto of the ANC.
These include but not limited to:
- The development of our rural communities, through agrarian and land reform,
- The expansion of the productive capacity of the economy and creation of jobs,
- The expansion of health care infrastructure and provide primary health care services,
- The provisioning of adequate human settlement and related basic services
- The provisioning of quality education and training
- The expansion on water infrastructure and sanitation in far- flung areas and rural settlements of our province, and above all
- The fight against crime and corruption.
Madam Speaker;
Before I elaborate in detail on our plan of action over the next five years, I would like to take this opportunity to commend the Independent Electoral Commission for yet again delivering another round of free, fair and credible.
The overwhelming mandate that we received on the 7th of May was humbling. It has re-affirmed the trust and confidence of the people of Limpopo in the ruling party to continue to govern. As public representatives in this legislature, we therefore have a mammoth task to ensure that we do not disappoint our people.
Madam Speaker;
The mandate of our people was very clear.
They want us to re-double our efforts in addressing the challenges of poverty, unemployment and inequality as identified in the NDP. We should know that, poverty, unemployment and inequality have the potential to risk the democracy and stability we are enjoying today.
As the Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP) has correctly stated, “No political democracy can survive and flourish if the masses of our people remain in poverty, without land, (and) without tangible prospects for a better life. Attacking poverty and deprivation must therefore be the first priority of a democratic government.”
Madam Speaker;
As we said earlier, we have entered a phase in our transition that requires decisive steps to help eradicate poverty, create jobs and reduce inequality.
This ANC government is committed to building a developmental state that is capable of leading efforts to overcome unemployment, poverty and inequality. We will, in partnership with the private sector, organised labour and civil society, work together to create conditions for the acceleration of economic growth and stimulation of job creation.
This will require us to institutionalise long-term planning, integration and coordination to drive industrialisation, manufacturing and infrastructure development programmes.
It will also require of both the government and private entities that are doing business in Limpopo to procure their goods and services in this province. This will assist in increasing local production and ultimately supporting the creation of sustainable and decent jobs.
We must actualise our resolve to build an economy that is people-centred, people dominated and people lead.
Nevertheless, our province has experienced a decline in economic growth from 4.5% in 2007 to 1.1% in 2014. Obviously we have not escaped the impact of the 2008 global economic meltdown.
In an effort to put our economy on a higher trajectory of growth and development, we have identified infrastructure development, industrialisation and manufacturing as new game changers. This will be in addition to mining, agriculture and tourism.
We have therefore set ourselves an economic growth target of 5% by 2019.
Madam Speaker;
Social and economic infrastructure is the backbone of the economy of our province. The next five years will, therefore, see us accelerate infrastructure development programmes to unlock the economic potential of our province.
We have put together a team of officials to develop Limpopo Integrated Infrastructure Master Plan (LIIMP) to define the infrastructure development and delivery agenda of the province over the next 20 years and beyond.
We have also begun with the process of developing the Provincial Development Plan consistent with the National Development Plan.
Madam Speaker;
We will also be engaging in deliberate programmes to support and revive the provincial art and entertainment industry so as to unlock job opportunities for our young people.
The government will also consolidate the public works programme to create more jobs for our people. Working together with the private sector we intend to create no less than four hundred and twenty six thousand (426 000) jobs in our province by 2019. This will contribute to the national NDP target of 6 million jobs by the same period.
In this regard, we will work to ensure that the majority of these jobs are long term and benefit mostly the historically marginalised sectors of our society, that is, youth, women and people living with disabilities.
Honourable members
Economic scientists will attest to the fact that small business contribute immensely to both local and national economies. Accordingly, we will, through the Limpopo Economic Development Agency strengthen our support to small and emerging businesses.
To this end, the Executive Council has taken a decision to allocate more resources to LEDA so that it could do a lot on what I have just mentioned.
This will include a multi-pronged approach to youth economic empowerment. The specific measures will entail consistent mentoring of youth on entrepreneurial skills through the provision of financial and non-financial support.
Cooperatives and SMMEs will form the backbone of our economic interventions in the province. To that effect, we will ensure that at least 10% of procurement of goods and services by Government should be from both the Cooperatives and SMMEs. We implore on the private sector to do the same.
In this regard we are convening a meeting with organised business in the province to engage on the contribution of the
private sector in the economic growth and development of the Province.
In an effort to expand the productive capacity of our provincial economy through industrialisation and manufacturing, we will resuscitate the Provincial Industrial Parks as well as implement the Special Economic Zones in Lephalale, Musina and Greater Tubatse.
Madam Speaker;
We have identified agriculture as one of the strategic drivers of the economy. As the province we are the lead producer of high value agricultural commodities, tomatoes at 60%, and potatoes at 21%, citrus at 32%, avocados at 58% and mangos at 75%. Citrus, avocados and macadamia nuts are our largest foreign income earners.
It is against this background that our programme of action over the next 5 years must help us to maintain our position as the food basket of the country and the SADC region.
The next five years will see us facilitating the conversion of two hundred thousands of under-utilised land in communal areas and land reform projects into productive units. This will also include the revitalisation of irrigation schemes.
We will also focus on building capacity for farmers and agricultural cooperatives.
In an effort to ensure food security and sustainable livelihoods, we will intensify Fetsa tlala programmes especially in our rural areas.
We are also encouraged by the review of the land restitution and redistribution policy, let alone the extension of the deadline for land claims to 2019. We call on our people to take advantage of this extension.
It is our view that this will go a long way in addressing the historic challenge of land disposition and depravation. At the same time, this is expected to respond to the decline in the contribution of agriculture to the GDP.
Madam Speaker
The success of our economy and any other aspect of our life starts in the classroom. We will therefore be working to improve the quality of our basic education while on the other hand expanding access.
I know that with regard to the latter, bringing access to basic education, the government has done significantly well. However, the challenge remains the equal access to high- quality education.
Going forward, we will be focusing more on ensuring well- qualified teachers for our children, proper educational facilities, timely delivery of leaner-support material and proper school management.
Insufficient teacher supply, particularly in the areas of Maths, Science and Technology is a matter of great concern to this government. In this regard, the Executive Council has tasked the MEC for Education to look into issues of revamping the old Colleges of Education.
Madam Speaker;
As a measure of improving the quality of teaching and learning, we will be strengthening monitoring controls in all our schools. I can’t agree more with President Zuma when he says: teachers must be in class, on time and teaching. Equally, learners must be in class, on time and learning.
We will also demand visible leadership from our school principals.
Madam Speaker;
We cannot over-emphasise the significance of the involvement of parents in the education of their children. Parents must make
sure that they support the SGBs and also hold them accountable. They must also make sure that their children are at school on time and also supervise them with their school work.
Parents should also assist the schools with the general discipline of their children. In this way, we will be able to make our schools real community centres of excellence.
To encourage attendance and improve performance, we will be expanding access to the School Nutrition Programme. We will also ensure easy and safer access to school for our learners by increasing the number of learners benefiting from the Scholar Transport Programme.
Honourable members would remember that our collective and relentless efforts have seen us improve our Grade 12 results from a mere 48.9% in 2009 to over 70% in 2013. This is a remarkable achievement, but we are capable of much more than this. Our target for this year is no less than 80%.
Honourable Members;
We can achieve this and a lot more if we join hands and together make the education of our children a societal issue. We must accept that we all have a role to play in the education of our children.
Madam Speaker;
Our dream of a better life for all will be deferred to eternity if we do not take care of the health of our population. A healthy nation is a winning nation.
In this regard, we recommit ourselves to the provisioning of a comprehensive health service that promotes good health, prevent illness, and provide care and rehabilitative services to the ill and people with disabilities.
We are working in partnership with the national government to ensure the successful implementation of the National Health Insurance Plan. This will help us to strengthen and expand our free primary health care programme, improve management of public hospitals, and reduce the costs of private health care.
In these five years, we will continue our fight against HIV and AIDS, TB as well as non-communicable diseases. We call on all our people to join us, because as government alone we cannot defeat this scourge.
Madam Speaker;
Having noted that some of our hospitals are not functioning optimally, the Executive Council convened an urgent summit of hospital CEOs to develop mechanisms in terms of which the identified challenges can be resolved.
To that end, we have developed a Turnaround Strategy to be implemented immediately. We have set aside no less than R145 million to purchase and repair critical equipments for all our hospitals in need. These items include:
- Boilers
- Autoclaves machines
- Laundry machines
- Theatre equipment
- Kitchen equipment
- Electrical generators
- Mortuary and kitchen refrigerators
We will also pay special attention to non-negotiables in the improvement of the health system such as finances, information management, leadership and Human Resource Management.
It is high time that our hospitals are no longer called by derogatory names such as ‘Maotong a gago, and Re boile fela’.
It is our firm believe that this Turnaround Strategy will go a long way in improving the conditions of our health facilities and ensuring universal access to primary healthcare services.
We are also purchasing no less than 50 ambulances in this current financial year in an effort to improve the response time of our Emergency Medical Services (EMS).
Madam Speaker;
The shortage of doctors in our hospitals remains a challenge. At the beginning of the year we sent no less than 110 students to Cuba for medical training as doctors. In this current financial year we have committed further resources to send another group of 110 medical students to Cuba.
I also wish to welcome and commend the President’s announcement during his State of the Nation Address that ‘by January next year, the first intake of medical students will be enrolled at a new medical school at the University of Limpopo.’
I am also delighted to announce that as the provincial government we will be offering bursaries to this first intake of medical students.
Honourable Members
We are all agreed that an accountable, responsive and capacitated local government is required in our endeavour to speed up the delivery of services to our people.
The crucial tasks bestowed on our municipalities cannot be over emphasised.
It is in this context that we are identifying struggling municipalities that will become areas of focus in the implementation of our programme of action over the next five years.
Our support to municipalities will be based on responding to such challenges as:
- Poor accountability and relationship with communities
- Problems with the political administrative interface
- Poor compliance with the legislative and regulatory frameworks
- Corruption and fraud
- Lack of proper planning and poor project management,
- Lack of forward and integrated planning on current and capital projects,
- At times lack of suitably qualified and skilled personnel and, above all,
- None and under-expenditure of the Municipal Infrastructure Grant.
Our province cannot afford to lose these Grants to other provinces on yearly basis, while the province remains with such a huge infrastructure backlog.
In this connection, we will establish a team of knowledgeable individuals to assist in addressing these challenges that are hindering service delivery.
This effort will enable the provincial government to oversee the performance of municipalities and, more importantly, ensure that communities are empowered to hold public representatives accountable.
Madam Speaker;
The people of Limpopo need water and we shall provide them with water. It is unacceptable that communities around Nandoni dam and other water sources are not the primary beneficiaries.
On the contrary, we find that water from these sources is being piped to faraway places while local communities remain without even a single drop of water. As government, we are going to ensure that this situation is reversed as soon as it is possible for the benefit of the communities in question.
Madam Speaker;
The fight against crime and corruption is one of the critical priorities identified by this government. This is simply because, more than anything else, crime and corruption undermine society’s ability to operate fairly and efficiently, let alone the government’s ability to deliver on its mandate.
Our commitment, therefore, is to act decisively against corruption, both in public and private sectors. This we will do using the strong anti-crime and corruption institutions we have at our disposal.
The Premier’s hotline, including those equivalent facilities in our municipalities, should make it easier for citizens to report incidents of corruption. You do not even have to be sure that corruption is taking place or has taken place; just a reasonable suspicion of corruption is enough to be reported.
Madam Speaker;
Crime also undermines many of the constitutional rights of our people, including the right to life, the right to freedom of movement, the right to property and the right to privacy.
The mushrooming of taverns and shebeens in our townships and villages, mostly planted in front of our schools and churches also contributes to the scourge of crime.
We cannot afford to have a society whose pastime is drinking. This often results in women and children abuse and other crimes. This must stop and stop right now!
Esteemed Members,
To improve accessibility to policing services, the province has increased its police stations to 84 from 97. These have been augmented by the establishment of 42 satellite stations in rural areas and we will be establishing many more over the next five years.
In an effort to promote good relations between the police and our communities, community policing structures such as the Community Policing Forums (CPF) and Community Safety Forums have been established. We call on our communities to establish many more of these structures.
United in action, we can win this war against crime and corruption.
Esteemed Members;
Traditional Leaders remain reliable custodians of our culture and tradition.
Of the 312 applications received for initiation schools this season, 275 have been approved, whilst 37 have been declined. To date we have not experienced any casualty in the initiation schools in our province, and for that we commend the traditional leaders and other stakeholders involved. Once more Traditional Leaders have distinguished themselves as true and reliable custodians of our tradition.
However, it has come to my attention that there are attempts to run illegal initiation schools in some parts of the province. The department of CoGHSTA is investigating this matter and I call on those involved in this illegal practice to stop.
We implore on this House to finalise the Bill on initiation schools so that we can deal with these people who continue to undermine this cultural practice of African people.
Madam Speaker;
We also take pride in announcing that we have paid the salary
arrears and scale adjustment for traditional leaders this week. Other tools of trade for traditional leaders will be a subject of priority attention for the provincial government in the current financial year and beyond.
Madam speaker;
As government we will be implementing the reform measures as captured in the Public Service Charter. To that effect, we have set ourselves the objective of building a disciplined, people-centred and professional public service.
As a means of improving their skills, public servants will be sent to the newly established School of Governance. This will also help us to produce public servants who are modelled around and have internalised the Batho Pele Principles. Madam Speaker;
The NEDLAC resolution demands of government to have no less 2% of people living with disabilities in the employ of the public service. We are delighted to announce that as a provincial government we have surpassed this target at SMS level.
Over the next five years we undertake to increase the number of people with disabilities in the employ of provincial government.
We will also work hard to ensure the full implementation of progressive legislations such as the Promotion of Equality and Prevention of Unfair Discrimination Act, so as to protect and advance the rights of people living with disabilities.
Madam Speaker
It is now two and half years since the Cabinet’s decision to place 5 of our provincial departments under administration in terms of section 100 (1) (b) of the Constitution.
As we all know, this measure was necessitated by the need to restore the province to a sound financial footing and thus build a sustainable capacity in government. Equally important was the need to ensure full compliance with all legislation, including the Public Finance Management Act.
I am, therefore, pleased that both the Provincial Executive Council and section 100 (1) (b) Administrators are of one view that the province has turned the corner.
As I reported in the previous State of the Province Address, the Provincial administration has normalised its financial affairs and regained its corporate governance competency. We have turned the situation around and we are no longer in the red.
I would therefore like to take this opportunity, on behalf of the Provincial Government and the people of Limpopo, to thank the section 100 (1) (b) administrators for the good job well done.
Madam Speaker;
As I move towards my conclusion, I wish to thank some of our gallant athletes who made us proud during the recent Comrades Marathon in Durban.
Of the top ten positions, four are from this province, with Mr Ludwick Mamabolo taking position two.
Amongst the leading top ten women was Martinique Potgieter, also from this province.
Although we are not participating in the 2014 FIFA World Cup as a country, Limpopo was represented in Brazil by a group of four grannies of Vakhegula-Vakhegula football club led by Manana Bheka Ntsan’wisi.
These athletes are in the House. Mr Ludwick Mamabolo, Ms Martinique Potgieter and our Vakhegula-Vakhegula please stand wherever you are in the gallery.
Madam Speaker;
I have since directed the MEC for Sport, Arts and Culture to urgently call a Sport Summit of all sporting codes in the Province.
This Summit will, amongst others, inform us in terms of improving sporting activities and participation across the Province. In the same vein I also believe that there is a need for an Art summit to look into issues of interest and concern to our artists.
I also wish to congratulate Polokwane City FC for retaining their PSL status. We would also like to commend Black Leopards for the determination and form they displayed during the play-off, this form should be carried throughout their renewed battle for promotion next season.
I also like to take this opportunity to congratulate the CEO of the Limpopo Gambling Board, Mr Serobi Maja, on his recent election as the Chairperson of the Gaming Regulators Association of Africa.
I also wish to acknowledge the presence of two young women; Miss South Africa Second Princess, Mmatlala Mokoko and Miss Limpopo, Kholofelo Lekganyane who have also graced us with their presence.
Madam Speaker and esteemed Members of the House;
We are indeed moving Limpopo forward. From here on, our province must never be the same again. Our freedom cannot be taken for granted. The youth of 1976 and all the other generations did not fight in vain; they shed their blood so that we could be free in the land of our birth.
From here on, we must all commit to hard work and nothing less; we shall spare neither strength nor effort until the dream of a better life for all is fully realised.
Allow me as I conclude to borrow from the timeless words of one of Africa’s greatest sons, the first President of Ghana, Kwame Nkrumah, when he said:
“...the task ahead is great indeed, and heavy is the responsibility; and yet it is a noble and glorious challenge
– a challenge which calls for the courage to dream, the courage to believe, the courage to dare, the courage to do, the courage to envision, the courage to fight, (and) the courage to achieve...”
Indeed the task ahead is great and it requires courage, commitment and collective effort.
Tau tša hloka seboka di šitwa ke nare e hlotša Molete sekuba!
