Response by Limpopo Premier Chupu Mathabatha to the Legislature on the State of the Province Address Debate
Honourable Speaker and Deputy Speaker Members of the Executive Council
Chief-Whip of the Majority Party
Honourable Members of the Provincial Legislature Leaders of Political Parties
Ladies and gentlemen
Let me take this opportunity to thank all those members of the house for your comments on the State of the Province Address. There is no doubt that your comments will definitely enrich and add value to the plans and programmes of government going forward.
During the debate I was specifically inspired by the unison voice of honourable members. You all affirmed that it is indeed true that Limpopo is a much better place than it was in 1994.
Honourable Speaker,
In his inaugural speech in 1994, former President Nelson Mandela said these profound words when he quoted a poet, Marianne Williamson; “Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others”
The reason we are all here including leaders of the opposition is because we are all liberated. We are all liberated from our fears, our imaginations, falsehood and perceptions.
When I addressed this August House last week I recalled that it was common knowledge that we had inherited a country characterised by many social and economic problems. These problems, I said, were a direct result of apartheid’s socio-economic design.
I went further to assert that the legacy of apartheid had entrenched itself in all areas of human interaction. It has a footprint in our education system, healthcare system, trade and commerce, agriculture, sport, social security, extending as far as social relations.
Honourable Speaker and members of the house,
Despite all these inherited problems, today we are all able to say with pride and confidence, that Limpopo is a much better place to live in than it was 20 years ago.
We are able to assert that Limpopo is a much better place to live in because, in the spirit of the Freedom Charter, our government has opened the doors of learning and culture for all.
In this regard, there is no doubt that we have increased access to education for our children through pro-poor policies. There is no better articulation of these achievements than what honourable Magadzi reflected on the field of education when she contributed to the debate on Tuesday.
Honourable Speaker,
We are all agreeing that Limpopo is a much better place to live in. The government has ensured universal access to primary health care for all our people. The children, the elderly and pregnant women enjoy free access to basic healthcare.
Honourable members,
You are indeed not coerced to say that there is a beautiful story to tell, you are affirming this because evidence speaks for itself. Stating otherwise will be in conflict with the objective truth.
This indisputable truth as supported by Statistics South Africa, says to us that over 86% of households in our province have access to portable water, 87% of our households have been connected to electricity and we have built houses for tens of thousands for the poor.
Honourable Speaker,
The adverse socio-economic problems which had characterised our province when we took over in 1994 did no disappear on their own. A lot of work has gone into making Limpopo a better place that you all spoke of.
This work has been led by the ANC government working in partnership with the people of this province.
Honourable Speaker;
On Tuesday the Honourable Sikutshi of COPE raised a concern in this house relating to what he called ‘the discrimination of Blacks by their own kind’. He is of the view that job opportunities created through our EPWP programme are exclusively reserved for members of the ruling party. He compared this to the infamous job reservation policies of the apartheid regime.
If anything, the Expanded Public Works Program (EPWP) programme is helping the majority of poor people who otherwise would not have received any job opportunities, thanks to this innovative government intervention. We therefore invite the honourable member to put aside his unsubstantiated allegations and channel his energy to support this noble programme.
The second point of concern he raised relates to the government’s commitment to achieving clean audit in all municipalities by 2014.
The honourable member’s concern is that we did not say much about this target in the State of the Province Address.
The truth of the matter is that we have not relented on our quest for clean audit. Immediately after being sworn in last year, we met with all municipalities and the Auditor-General’s Office to be appraised of progress on this matter.
In our address last week, we alluded to both successes and capacity challenges at local government level. We also apprised honourable members of the decisive actions taken to address the overall capacity challenges which also speak to the issues of audit outcomes.
Long-lasting solutions to these challenges are comprehensively captured in the Local Government Turn-Around Strategy (LGTAS) and the legislative amendments we alluded to last week.
Both the LGTAS and the amendments will go a long way in addressing the challenges at local government level, and we call on all of you to contribute in making our local government work better.
Honourable Speaker,
Honourable Van Der Walt has indicated that she has in her possession the list of schools without textbooks.
She also expressed her willingness to handover such a list to my office. I am still waiting for that list honourable member, and I implore on you to submit that list, so that we do not waste any more time to help the needy leaners. I am confident that honourable Van Der Walt was not merely playing to the gallery and scoring cheap political points.
Ironically, she questions the wisdom of former President Mandela whose legacy her party wants to appropriate for having entered into an agreement with Cuba to help poor students from poor backgrounds.
It is common knowledge that South Africa-Cuba Agreement has reduced the burden of our medical schools in training doctors for this country.
These doctors are mainly deployed in rural areas where ordinarily new graduates would not prefer to work. This has gone a long way in improving our primary health care and it is for this reason that we are committing to send no less than 100 students per year to Cuba.
Honourable Speaker
Worth noting is that the honourable member raised a concern about a particular incident in which a Cuban doctor apparently misdiagnosed a patient with cancer.
I want to humbly plead with the honourable member not to be an alarmist who enjoys shouting fire in a packed cinema for nothing. I think to attribute the incident of a doctor’s misdiagnoses to his country of origin, in this case Cuba, simply borders on xenophobia.
Honourable Speaker,
Honourable Van Der Walt was very passionate in dealing with the unemployment statistics as reported in the State of the Province Address. In this regard the honourable member challenges the accuracy of 16,9% unemployment rate and submitted that the rate is actually at 35%. To substantiate her point, the honourable member argued that a significant portion of this number is made up of what she called ‘discouraged job seekers’
I wish to state in this house again, that our percentage is based on the authentic proclamation by Statistics South Africa which is an authority on this matter. This information is confirmed on page 12 of the latest StatsSA Fourth Quarter Labour Survey report. Any person holding a different view should visit Statistics South Africa Offices for interpretation and further education.
Honourable Speaker,
The Honourable Ravhuandzo expressed concern that we did not sufficiently express ourselves on corruption. We have spoken at length about the intervention of the President in this province, the measures we have taken in implementing the recommendation of section 100 (1) (b), and the role played by law enforcement agencies.
We have also said that we are strengthening internal systems to detect acts of corruption and ensure swiftly response against perpetrators.
Once more, we call on the people of Limpopo, including opposition parties, to join us in our renewed effort to fight fraud and corruption in government.
Honourable Speaker,
The honourable member further raised a concern that the province’s road map towards the implementation of the National Development Plan (NDP) is sketchy.
I wish to remind this august house of exactly what we said during the State of the Province Address on the NDP, we said then that ‘we are in the process of reviewing and aligning our Growth and Development strategy to the National Development plan with a view to put Limpopo on a higher trajectory of economic development’
This review process will allow us to have a coherent and workable Provincial Development Plan.
Honourable members,
It is time that a true South African story is told:
- The story of reconstruction and development
- The story of equality before the law
- The story of access to education for all
- The story of universal access to primary health care
- The story of free basic services
- The story of restoration of dignity for Blacks in general and Africans in particular
- The story of exposure and relentless fight against crime and corruption
- The story of shared and inclusive economy
We have indeed entered the second phase of our transition and there is no turning back.
I thank you
