T Makwetla: Mpumalanga State of the Province Address

Address of the Premier of Mpumalanga Thabang Makwetla at the third
joint sitting of the third democratic Legislature, Nelspruit

17 February 2006

Madame Speaker and Deputy Speaker of Mpumalanga Legislature
Chairperson of the House of Traditional Leaders in Mpumalanga
Members of the Executive Council
Honourable Members of the Mpumalanga Legislature and Members of
Parliament
Honourable National Ministers and Deputy Ministers
Chairperson of the IEC Dr Brigalia Bam
SAPS Acting Provincial Commissioner, Commissioner Johanna Nkomo
The provincial Auditor-General Mr Douglas Maphiri and the provincial Public
Service Commissioner, Mr David Mashego
Our revered traditional leaders, Amakhosi/Magosi
Our Honourable Mayors and Leaders of SALGA
Former Premier of Mpumalanga Dr Mathews Phosa
Former Premier of Mpumalanga Hon NJ Mahlangu
Honourable Ms Nomzamo W Madikizela-Mandela
Heads of Departments
Heads of our Parastatals
All eminent dignitaries
Comrades and Friends, Compatriots, Ladies and Gentlemen

We have again rendezvoused as public representatives and
well-wishers of our province, Mpumalanga , to mark the beginning of yet another
programmatic year as we journey through time towards our proverbial ‘promised
land' – a united, non-racial, non-sexist, democratic and prosperous country and
province.

Again we stand at the summit of another hillock, to have a view
of the lay of the land, the terrain behind us and the road ahead. We do so with
increased confidence believing that our new experiences, the exciting
achievements scored and the instructive failures and set-backs encountered,
have equipped us to navigate the terrain ahead of us better and efficiently.
Our commitment and seriousness can only be judged by the extent to which we use
these lessons to devise better strategies and solutions to the many challenges
that confront us.

The year 2005 experienced an aggressive further extension of
better life to many more citizens in our province as increased numbers of
beneficiaries were brought into the social security net. New families were
housed; more people were removed from the population of the unemployed;
thousands were provided with standard sanitation; more people, hundreds, were
provided with treatment for HIV and AIDS; villages were economically
rehabilitated by supporting and enhancing their capacity to till the land
again, and those with an entrepreneurial spirit held by the hand to make their
dreams come true.

Still and all, alongside these solid advances, some of our flanks
were breached. There are still cases of citizens who succumb to preventable
diseases including typhoid, and we were also unable to sustain our remarkably
improved performance record of our schools, registered in 2004.

Even against these seemingly insurmountable challenges, we must
triumph. The author of the poem “Don't Quit” shares this advice:

“When things go wrong as they sometimes will;
When the road you're trudging seems all uphill;
When the funds are low, and the debts are high;
And you want to smile, but have to sigh;
When care is pressing you down a bit –
Rest if you must, but do not quit.
Success is failure turned inside out;
The silver tint of the clouds of doubt;
And you can never tell how close you are;
It may be near when it seems so far;
So stick to the fight when you're hardest hit –
It's when things go wrong that you must not quit.”

Madam Speaker, this is the spirit that was displayed by the
legendary Chief Bhambhatha of the Zulu colonial resistance fame hundred years
ago, whose epic guerrilla warfare rebellion at the impregnable forests of
Nkandla (against the introduction of poll-tax) we commemorate this year.

In spite of the repeated orders of his foes and the plea of his
sympathisers to surrender, saying “S'gananda phuma eNkandla”, it only happened
literally over his dead body, which was decapitated by his colonial persecutors
and his skull displayed as a trophy.

Madam Speaker, honourable members, in less than a month from now,
we will publicly table and launch the year-long heritage research work which
was undertaken under the leadership of Prof Peter Delius in collaboration with
the National Heritage Council, sponsored by First National Bank. Quite
evidently, there are very many inspirational things about who we are as
communities of this region. What is instructive about this province is the fact
that with a surface area of only 88,529 square kilometres, the second smallest
after Gauteng , it has the fourth largest economy in South Africa . This was
not by accident, but a combination of several factors embedded in our heritage,
including the fact that long before gold was mined in Johannesburg in 1870,
mining activity had already commenced in Mpumalanga , with the mining of coal
in Witbank in 1868. However, what is important, as Stefan Schirmer remarks in
the research work to be released soon, “Wealth did not emerge automatically in
Mpumalanga ; it was created by entrepreneurial individuals, organisations and
towns. The heritage of this wealth creation is an important resource, which
should be nurtured rather than neglected or destroyed. But the way wealth was
created in the past has also left a negative legacy that must be transformed.
Wealth creation took place in a context of race and gender discrimination,
which ensured that white males were disproportionately represented among
entrepreneurial groups… Efforts have to be exerted to ensure that a non-racial,
non-sexist economic system flourishes in Mpumalanga . The economic system also
needs to be made broader and more inclusive.”

Schirmer's concluding remarks on the story uncovered by this
research, must be taken to heart by all patriots in this province to reclaim
the past to define the future. It is indeed exciting and inspiring to
appreciate just how much of our past speaks to many challenges of today,
ranging from culture to some of the practical problems of government delivery
work, such as natural resource management and conservation, to ensure
sustainable development.

The current challenges of water resources management as amplified
by the Delmas crisis and environmental health management, among others, should
not have occurred if we were alive to and sustained our environmental
management heritage. As Jane Carruthers argues in the researched material,
“This area of eastern South Africa has been an important arena of creative
responses to natural resource management.” The home of South Africa's first
National Park, the Kruger National Park, “Mpumalanga has the distinction of
being the nurturing ground for ideas that were eventually to transform
conservation thinking in South Africa” at the end of the 19th century and the
turn of the 20th century, she argues.

As a province we must commence a broad-based community crusade to
reclaim this legacy, as we tackle today's challenges. In this regard there is a
lot we can learn from our sister province Alberta , in Canada , a country with
an impressive legacy in this respect.

Madam Speaker, to underline the importance of our heritage, allow
me to evoke the thoughts of a young school girl from Valencia Combined School
in Nelspruit, the winner of the Mpumalanga leg of the 2005 Sowetan and Anglo
American Young Communicators Awards, Busisiwe Madonsela. From her essay she
first makes the point that she is an African, and that this land's heritage
defines her. She says, and I quote,

“The heritage of this land tells me where I come from…. Heritage
is what is left behind from the past. It is the most accessible part of
history. It begins at home as it is that which we inherit. It is interaction
with other people and the communication links that have been developed within
our country and in the memories of our families, friends and fellow citizens….
Our sense of identity as members of families, communities and citizens of South
Africa within the broader continent of Africa is also part of our heritage.

It is important that we conserve and cherish our heritage.
Imagine you wake up one morning to discover that you have lost your memory. You
cannot remember the names of the people in the house who are getting dressed or
making coffee. Never mind their names, you cannot remember ever having seen
them before. You can't place yourself in your surroundings and you have no idea
where to go once you have been dropped off at school. For once, the excuse “I
have forgotten to write my homework, sir”, is completely true!”

“You don't know whether to go to the sports meetings”, she
continues, “because you do not even know whether you can play sport.”

“What I am trying to emphasise,” Busisiwe says, “is that people
who know nothing about the past are like people who have amnesia.

The celebration of our heritage provides us with opportunities to
engage in uncovering aspects of our heritage that we may not ordinarily focus
on.

It gives us an opportunity to develop an awareness that heritage
is created from history and memory… It educates and it deepens our
understanding of society and encourages us to empathise with the experience of
others… It facilitates healing materials and symbolic restitution and it
promotes new and previously neglected research into rich oral traditions and
customs.”

She concludes with a quote, which says, “A nation without a past
is a lost nation, and people without a past are people without a soul.”

And finally she says, “I must say, it was an honour for me to
wake up in South Africa today!”

Honourable Speaker, I have generously lifted these excerpts from
Busisiwe Madonsela's essay because they succinctly capture the meaning and
value of the heritage research project we have just concluded for our province.
Once again the spirit of partnership from First National Bank (FNB) in
developing our province is commended.

As part of those things which will go a long way in giving
impetus to this heritage crusade, I am pleased to announce the release of
another set of new geographical names for publishing, by the Mpumalanga
Geographical Names Committee.

Madam Speaker,

We are a nation with great goals. We may not reach them all this
year. Maybe not even in this decade. But we will eventually reach them. The
lesson of our history - and the lesson of the last 11 years - is that great
goals are reached step by step, always building on our progress. Always gaining
ground as we build on the hope of our people. Of course, you can't gain ground
if you're standing still.

A number of people in the province have added to this growing
buoyant mood and spirit of hope. Some of them are in the House today.

* Last year a young man who lives not far from here raced his way
into the hearts of the people of Mpumalanga by grabbing the coveted Gold Medal
in the 2005 Comrades Marathon. Sipho Ngomane is a classical example of how one
can rise above one's circumstances and adversity. We congratulate him for the
inspiration he gave to thousands of our youth in the province. Sipho Ngomane,
in spite of hailing from Msogwaba, one of the communities with a youth problem
due to a desperate lack of facilities, and regardless of the experience of
having been mugged and robbed of his running shoes, more than once he defeated
this environment and became the very best in the whole country.

* Allow me also to thank another young man who hails from
Embalenhle in Secunda, the winner of our Mpumalanga Premiers Disability
Achievers Awards 2005, Sabelo Nkosi. He helped a number of blind people in
Ermelo and Secunda to transform grief into positive action. He is a valuable
partner in promoting an understanding of disability issues within communities
and in mobilising support for dignity, the rights and well-being of people with
disabilities. The centres he established in the two towns have done wonders in
promoting self-reliance amongst blind people.

* We welcome the Ntombe Youth Project from Piet Retief for their
spirit of Vukuzenzele. They displayed entrepreneurship in starting a
brick-making project. The project has been able to create job opportunities,
benefiting both the youth as well as senior community members in their
locality.

* Noelani Benett , Mpumalanga 's best student for the 2005 matric
results, is the holder of the Thabo Mbeki Education Trust bursary. She is one
of the high watermarks of talent in our province.

Madam Speaker,

When we spoke in this august house a year ago, we pledged to
direct all our efforts towards creating opportunities for decent work and
sustainable development in a vibrant people-centred province. We pledged to
promote investment, provide equitable and wide-ranging development
opportunities for the citizens, ensuring that ours is a province where high
levels of education and health are attained.

Whereas our hunger for success is beyond doubt, our capacity to
exploit the opportunities our province evinces, is inadequate. The province is
awash with opportunities in mining, agriculture, forestry, tourism,
manufacturing and services including high technology. Such possibilities,
however, will remain a distant mirage if people have no capacity to harness
them. The recent opening of the furniture technology centre in White River to
broaden the skills base and participation of communities in furniture
manufacturing, bears testimony to this. The same applies to efforts to
formalise the informal small-scale mining groups in Nkangala and Ehlanzeni
districts.

These are but few of the initiatives we have embarked upon to
promote black economic empowerment in the province. Black Economic Empowerment
is not only essential from a fairness point of view but also an economic
imperative since it ensures greater demand for goods and services, which in
turn drives growth. Empowerment however, will not have the desired long term
impact if driven only by the cutting up of the economic cake of the first
economy. In order for second economy players to be fully integrated into the
first economy, they must independently take advantage of the opportunities
created by government policies and programmes.

One of the constraints to many government delivery programmes, is
the managing of government work, such that we are quick to detect and respond
to practices where government policy goals tend to undermine one another.

A critical implication of this is the need for previously
disadvantaged business people to elevate their standards, professionalism,
efficiency and quality of goods and services delivered as part of government
procurement. Only in this way will black business be a true partner to
government in the delivery of services to the people. To this end, government
will soon co-host a workshop with NAFCOC to address the key constraints
responsible for the failure of some SMMEs to meet their contractual obligations
in the government procurement system, consequently undermining government
delivery programmes, be it the delivery of incomplete housing structures, poor
quality road construction, the non delivery of learner and teacher support
material and the unreliable transportation of learners to school. This
challenge has wrecked many government programmes and threatens the attainment
of our delivery targets and the realisation of Vision 2014. I am happy that the
NAFCOC leadership responded positively and sought to take the lead in finding
solutions. I wish to commend them for this leadership example.

With the launch of the provincial Small Enterprise Development
Agency (SEDA) in January, we look forward to more efficient, consistent and
focused support, mentorship, tender advice and training for SMMEs in the
province.

This year on the occasion of the 30th Anniversary of June 16, it
is only proper that we pause and ponder at what we have done to advance youth
economic development. We welcome the initiative by the Youth Council to convene
a summit for this purpose soon.

Each generation has unique challenges to confront, given the
circumstances of its epoch. Each generation gets an opportunity to realise its
destiny, or to fail it.

Madam Speaker,

Part of the process of realising higher levels of economic
development and operational efficiencies was the streamlining of our
parastatals. These were MEEC (the Mpumalanga Economic Empowerment Corporation)
and MII (Mpumalanga Investment Initiative) on the one hand and MTA (the
Mpumalanga Tourism Authority) and the MPB (Mpumalanga Parks Board) on the
other. We are happy to report that this process is at its final phase. The
process of appointing the new Boards and executive managers, is afoot.
Mpumalanga now has two new entities namely, MEGA (the Mpumalanga Economic
Growth Agency and MTPA (the Mpumalanga Tourism and Parks Agency). We wish to
thank all those who assisted in the legislative processes, public
participation, organisational development, forensic audits and due diligence
analysis.

We have strengthened the implementation of the Expanded Public
Works Program (EPWP) learnership, and the EPWP life-skills training and skills
programme. Indeed our EPWP continues to provide work opportunities for our
people, including the implementation of Local Economic Development in order to
provide work in the places where our people live. Our EPWP is on course to once
again exceed our targets in job creation despite the fact that our targets were
doubled in this financial year.

Honourable members,

There is incontrovertible evidence that countries with fewer
natural resources such as agricultural land, fisheries, forests and minerals
realise extraordinary achievements than those with such resources. This
seemingly contradictory and counter intuitive outcome, lies in the fact that a
people without natural resources are quick to realise that they are the
ultimate economic resource themselves. They increase their reliance on
themselves and dig deeper into their creativity and innovation to elevate their
living standards.

There is no doubt that we have achieved a lot of commendable
success as a province. However, until we appreciate the centrality of people in
the economic dynamic, and until it permeates our thinking, we will continue on
a path of success that is below our full potential and devoid of excellence. We
therefore must declare war on mediocrity and average performance.

As representatives of the people, we must double our efforts to
create an even better environment that will enable our people to realise a
better life through higher levels of socio economic development. As we create
this conducive environment, we are confident that people will increasingly
realise their full potential, ‘abantu bayo vuka bazibambele'.

On this occasion last year, we reported with enthusiasm and great
expectations on the provincial Growth and Development Summit. Progress was made
in this regard. Structures were established and coordinated to action our plan.
Government wishes to recommit to this agreement and call upon business and
labour to continue supporting the effort to strengthen coordination towards
implementation of relevant projects. Our people rightfully expect nothing less
than success in this regard.

The South African economy has continued on the longest upward
trend of the business cycle, posting previously unheard of and surprisingly
higher than expected levels of growth. This robust economic growth, while
driven largely by relentless and potentially inflationary consumer spending,
has enabled our monetary authorities to afford the economy stable interest
rates. Such stability remains an essential ingredient of the investment climate
by enabling access to cheap capital and longer term investment planning. It is
our sincerest hope that the medium, micro and big enterprises operating in our
province will take full advantage of this climate that government has created
and plan for new investments and increased output.

Indications are that over the past year the economy of the
province can be expected to have continued to grow at a higher rate than in the
past. We eagerly await the official release of the relevant growth estimates.
The countrywide positive trend in economic growth has resulted in the welcome
increase in levels of employment. In this context, manufacturing and services
sectors will in the coming period have to grow substantially to absorb new
entrants into the labour force.

For us to experience higher levels of growth we need a reliable
and efficient logistics system to move goods across the province. The damage
caused by overloaded heavy vehicles on our Provincial roads is still a major
concern, particularly on the coal haulage routes in the Gert Sibande Region.
The province has developed an integrated overload control strategy to acquire
the necessary infrastructure for effective overloading control. The plan is to
commence with the phased implementation of the strategy in the 2006/7 financial
year.

The first new Traffic Control Centre will be built in Ermelo
followed by upgrades and new facilities at Kinross, Bethal, Standerton, Balfour
and Oshoek. The construction of facilities will then be rolled out to other
strategic locations in the province. The plan is to complete the entire
required infrastructure for effective overload control within 3 to 5 financial
years.

We also expect several sectors of the provincial economy to
experience higher levels of growth due to the national effort towards
accelerated and shared growth:

* The Moloto rail development corridor is proceeding to its next
stage, R11,4 million will be spent in the next financial year on further
feasibility studies. This high impact project is hoped to bring accelerated
economic growth and increased labour absorption. As our provincial Accelerated
and Shared Growth Initiative for South Africa (Asgisa) flagship project, it
will arguably become the biggest government infrastructure investment our
province has experienced in the recent period.

* A major growth area in the provincial economy is the energy
sector. The accelerated shared growth of the economy has major implications for
energy demand that will result from new investments. Next week Wednesday Eskom
will officially mark the coming into operation of the Camden Power Station
which started generating power in June last year. The other two are expected to
follow soon.

* Project Turbo, at a projected total investment of R13 billion
(thirteen billion rand), is said to be Sasol's largest capital project since
the completion of the original Secunda facilities.

We are particularly satisfied that Sasol informs us that the
originally projected huge shortfall in labour was substantially met from
sourcing labour for Project Turbo locally due to amongst others, enhanced
training initiatives. We are informed that of the initially projected shortfall
of 2500 skilled artisans, only 385 (three hundred and eighty five) foreigners
were temporarily imported and have since left. Through concerted training
initiatives, an estimated 716 (seven hundred and sixteen) artisans will be
added to the country's skill pool. The project peaked at 13 000 (thirteen
thousand) personnel on site in October 2005 collectively in Secunda and
Sasolburg.

We look forward to the benefits to the provincial economy in the
form of the new skill pool, new permanent jobs and the 15% procurement spend
allocated by SASOL to BEE suppliers. Sasol has also allocated 75% of project
Turbo's expenditure, about R 9,7 billion, to South African suppliers. We
encourage the youth, the disabled and women to take advantage of these
procurement opportunities.

Ladies and gentlemen,

While it is heartening that the structure of the economy is
changing towards higher value and wealth-creating secondary and tertiary
sectors such as manufacturing and services, including real estate, we would
like to see the more labour absorbing primary sectors such as agriculture and
forestry achieving levels of growth that will make a significant impact on
unemployment.

We therefore welcome the job creation that has resulted from
increased investments by companies such as Vuka forestry holdings. In a sector
in which new permanent jobs have in the recent past been elusive, Vuka was able
to create three hundred and fifty (350) new permanent jobs in forestry
management in the Bushbuckridge and Hebron areas. In addition, three hundred
(300) new jobs were created in the Piet Retief and Lusaba areas related to
timber harvesting and production.

For rural areas with high dependency rates, every new job is
significant because a good number of stomachs will not go to bed painfully
empty. It is for this reason that we find the on-going farm evictions in our
province a cause for concern.

In addition to undermining people's constitutional rights, this
tendency to simply evict people from farms where they have all the rights to
reside, undermines government efforts to improve livelihoods and unnecessarily
increases the burden on urban infrastructure. In this regard the province will
sponsor dialogue on the feasibility of building agro-villages as a sustainable
way to provide labour to the farming sector, going forward, while raising the
living standard of farm workers and improving access to government delivery
programmes.

Madame Speaker,

We are happy to report that the intervention government
considered to diversify our attack on rural poverty, is showing exciting signs
of success. In the spirit of Clause Five of the Freedom Charter, the
aspirations of our struggling peasants are beginning to be met. The Masibuyele
emasimini project will result in the productive use of land by those who have
it, no matter how small. We hope to take it to a higher level in the coming
financial year. Pilot sites were set up in areas such as Daggakraal in Gert
Sibande, Matibidi in Ehlanzeni and Rooifontein in Nkangala. More tractors and
other agricultural machinery will be bought, seeds and water harvesting through
dams will be provided. We will provide pre-and post settlement support to those
communities that have received land as part of the restitution process.

The Comprehensive Agricultural Support Program (CASP) will be
entering its third year of implementation in 2006/2007 financial year. During
the 2005/2006 financial year CASP has provided financial support for the
implementation of 63 agricultural infrastructure projects to improve
agricultural productivity and enhance sustainable land reform. In 2005 a total
of 230 beneficiaries were supported to make their farms more productive through
the needed infrastructure. We will continue to support the emerging farmers.
Our diverse agrarian reform must succeed.

Madam Speaker, we now all agree that ‘all politics is local' to
emphasise the indisputable importance of local government in government service
delivery programmes. Indeed nothing exists in any community if communities do
not experience it in their localities, be it safety and security, efficient
health services, education, the list is endless. That is why municipal Izimbizo
have assumed top priority on the Presidency's agenda. Over the last five years
we have heard views of the people on the many pressing matters in our
communities during these outreach fora. Hence the adoption of a plan to make
local government work better for all South Africans.

The new councils we established five years ago had to work with
the reality of historical neglect. In some areas there was no local government
to speak of, in particular the rural and black areas in the peripheries of
urban centres.

Some councils had to contend with the legacy of the Bantustan
system, where whole communities were dumped in remote areas, far from
infrastructure and economic opportunity determined solely by the racial logic
of apartheid. Many of our councils have tackled these service delivery backlogs
in earnest. It was indeed inspiring to see that Mpumalanga municipalities
dominated the coterie of municipalities which were isolated for early
deliverables under Project Consolidate because the criteria used said something
about the existence of advanced plans and a capacity to roll-out some of the
prioritised services in these municipalities.

Many of our people have had water and sanitation problems in the
past and much has been done to assist them to alleviate the backlogs. The
Province has decided to develop a Water Infrastructure Blue Print that outlines
how water infrastructure will be rolled out in the Province to the Year 2010.
More than 60% of the population in the Province is now receiving safe and clean
water. There still remain pockets of poverty areas in the Province with serious
water infrastructure backlog and sanitation facilities that are below
acceptable standards. In order to realise our targets for water and sanitation
provision, we are engaging with our partners, the Department of Water Affairs
and Forestry (DWAF), the Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA), district
municipalities and other stakeholders.

For this project, like other projects, we intend to augment our
capacities through targeted deployment of project management skills in order to
correctly tackle issues such as planning, water demand management, operations
and maintenance, infrastructure refurbishment and the general managerial
skills.

The province will conduct an audit of all small towns where
municipal offices were closed down after the 2000 demarcation of municipalities
with the view to restoring them as multi-purpose community centres (MPCCs) to
enhance service delivery.

In this financial year we will resume our programme to provide
rental stock housing in the three urbanised centres of Witbank, Secunda and
Nelspruit, which was put on hold in order to prioritise incomplete housing
projects in the province.

In 2005/2006, the Province committed a budget of R234 million for
the completion of incomplete Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP)
houses. A target of 17 084 houses was set in this regard. To date, the Province
has managed to deliver 11 504 units. For 2006/2007 financial year, a budget of
R170 million has been allocated for new projects. For the same financial year,
the province will continue with the completion of 7517 units of incomplete RDP
houses, and begin with new projects with a target of 5432 units set to
accelerated housing delivery for our people.

Honourable Members,

Our commitment to improve health-care in the province continues.
More people have access to Primary Health Care through the strengthening of the
District Health System. In order to improve the quality of services in
hospitals we are improving the quality of management among others by appointing
CEOs to each hospital. To make them efficient, a set of functions will be
delegated to them with effect from the beginning of the financial year in
April. Numerous health facilities in the province are covered in dust as we
roll-out the programme to physically rehabilitate many of our hospitals and
augment the capacity of some of our clinics through the Hospital Revitalisation
Programme.

Our call for partnerships with research institutions has borne
fruit. We have a joint research venture with SANTA, the Medical Research
Council, Harvard University , and other agencies to address some of the
unanswered questions around Multiple Drug Resistance TB transmission and other
airborne infections.

To improve access to primary health care, especially to our
people in remote areas, the Province has committed R6-million to procure mobile
clinics that will ensure that health care services are brought to where our
people are.

To protect our children the aged and the disabled from the worst
ravages of poverty more than 595 000 people receive social grants in the
province. There are 492 687 children receiving nutritional cooked meals over a
5-day week basis. In this regard, R84,5 million will be allocated to sustain
the school nutrition programme.

The safety of our people is a prime concern to us, and we are
committed to turn Mpumalanga into a policing model for others to emulate by
implementing the ‘Afrika concept'. This concept is about localising policing by
placing resources both human and logistics at the police stations. The capacity
of police stations to fight crime must be enhanced. Essentially, the
intervention is aimed at making the establishment less top-heavy and more
community-centred.

Madam Speaker,

In line with the Freedom Charter's call for “Opening the Doors of
Learning and Culture”, we established an additional 110 Early Childhood
Development (ECD) sites to bring the total of these sites to 825 sites. We also
opened 122 new ABET centres across the Province and introduced accredited short
courses in the economic growth sectors of Construction, Energy, Tourism, small,
medium and micro enterprise (SMME) and Agriculture.

Our plan of putting together a programme that would improve
career guidance and bursary schemes for young people from rural areas, is at an
advanced stage. The Mpumalanga Youth Commission and the Department of Education
have collaborated in this effort.

This year we will be fast-tracking the establishment of the
National Institute for Higher Learning as prescribed by the Amended Higher
Education Act of 1997. The Minister of Education will appoint its Board not
later than June 2006. We have budgeted R6 million for this.

For the recapitalisation of FET Colleges the Province will spend
R32 million to position them appropriately to make a significant contribution
to skills development in the Province, and ensure that curriculum delivery
meets labour market demands. R126,6 million will be spent on school
infrastructure.

The Province is concerned about the 3.2% drop in Mpumalanga Grade
12 Matric Results and recognises that drastic steps need to be taken to take
the Province to higher performance as far as matric results are concerned. The
Province has committed R4,6 million targeted at implementing the matric
recovery plan.

A comprehensive set of interventions will be implemented to
address critical areas of under-performance.

Madam Speaker, may I take this opportunity to congratulate the
Mbombela Local Municipality and all other stakeholders who worked tirelessly in
order to ensure that Mpumalanga 's capital city, Nelspruit, hosts the 2010
World Cup. The socio-economic and cultural legacy of this spectacle cannot but
be overwhelming.

For the province to benefit optimally from hosting the 2010 World
Cup, all the necessary infrastructure, from the construction of the new stadium
and bulk infrastructure, to the provision of health and hospitality facilities
must happen. In this respect only global standards will do.

On 27 September 2006 our province will be hosting the National
World Tourism Day.

This big event on the Tourism calendar is a major opportunity for
the province to harness its tourism potential. In addition, the province will
be hosting the Africycle tour in October 2006. This is a cycle tour that is set
to attract all levels of amateur cycling enthusiasts, both local and
international. With a route specifically designed to expose the breath-taking
beauty of our province, maximum advantage must be taken to exploit this
international exposure.

No effort shall be spared in making these tourism events a major
success. We call upon all players in the provincial tourism industry to play
their part in making the month a success.

Madam Speaker, honourable members, the year 2006 marks the 20th
anniversary of the tragic death of President Samora Machel and 33 of his
countrymen during a plane crash at Mbuzini. The late Pres. Machel supported and
allowed liberation movements in the then Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe ) and South
Africa to have a home in Mozambique . Our people shall forever be indebted to
the internationalist spirit of Camarada President S Machel.

President Samora Moises Machel also helped to create the Southern
African Development Community as an engine for regional co-operation to lessen
dependence of South Africa to safeguard the interest of Africa 's
liberation.

In order to prepare for this event a task team will be
established to take full advantage of this occasion to address other omissions
we have not corrected over time.

The Mbuzini Public Library will be officially opened and handed
over to the municipality as a build-up to the actual day of the
commemorations.

To advance our growth and development objectives our province
will continue to nurture and cultivate partnerships with other provinces
globally. In this endeavour our work calls for increased diligence and a more
targeted approach.

We will continue to strengthen our partnerships with the province
of Maputo , Alberta in Canada and North Rhine Westphalia in Germany with a
special focus on human resource development.

Honourable Members,

None of the goals we set for ourselves can be realised unless
government pays particular attention to its institutional capability. In the
context of a People's Contract, we must get better at mobilising capacity of
all stakeholders in support of national developmental goals. This includes
strengthening all structures of public participation.

Our own capacity as a Provincial Administration needs to improve.
Last year we reported on the findings of our skills audit in the province,
covering senior and middle management levels. In the coming financial year we
will be rolling out a comprehensive programme to build capacity of our
management.

An executive development programme will be launched by June that
will be compulsory for all senior managers in the province. Other elements
include strengthening recruitment and selection, performance management, as
well as coaching and mentoring. In March this year we will be hosting the first
annual Senior Management Service Conference in the province. This will assist
us to build our executive team as a province, and to ensure our senior
management work from the same basic script.

While we build our capacity over time, some flagship deliverables
needs particular attention. To this end targeted programme management
interventions will be emphasised this year, to complement the capacity of
departments. Among others, we will be putting in place programme management
units in the Office of the Premier and Department of Local Government and
Housing, to give effect to the priority projects we have branded as “
Mpumalanga –in- Action”.

While some of our public servants have made headlines for the
wrong reasons, we want to salute those of our public servants who have given
their all to make our programmes succeed. To realise our objectives, each of us
must give a 101% effort. Each of us must at all times understand that we belong
to this administration, we care about what it needs to achieve, and we serve
selflessly and consistently the people of this province. This gives effect to
our Batho Pele campaign.

In this regard, honourable Members, allow me to acknowledge the
team of Mpumalanga 's best civil servants in the Year 2005. The sterling work
done by the Nooitgedacht Agricultural Centre in Ermelo to expand our
agricultural technology research and development capabilities to all farmers,
including emerging farmers, has to be commended. They have managed to empower
emerging farmers to participate in their own development to the extent that
they now own their own herds of cattle and are involved in cattle breeding,
with specialised knowledge. The team at Nooitgedacht is a proud example of
dedicated civil servants in Mpumalanga .

Madam Speaker, honourable members, honoured guests, ladies and
gentlemen, we have confidence in our people, because it is they who catapulted
this province to higher levels of economic growth and social development. It is
through the creativity and innovation of all our people in their various social
and economic formations that we are today finding the best solutions to some of
the complex challenges we face. To conclude, let us again return to the wisdom
of the Holy Scriptures Proverbs Chapter 6: Verses 10-11,

“A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands
to rest - and poverty will come at you like a bandit, and scarcity like an
armed man.”

“Ubuthongo obuncane, ukozela okuncane, ukusonga izandla kancane
kuze kulalwe, besekuthi ubumpofu bakho bufike njengomhambuma, nokuswela kwakho
njengomuntu wesihlangu.”

Our people, from all walks of life, are displaying a great sense
of keenness to be part of the process of rebuilding the country as we continue
to create a better life for all. The hope that is present in Mpumalanga ,
derives from these collective efforts.

I thank you.