N Pandor: Anglo American Sowetan Young Communicators Awards 2007

9 June 2007

Mr Thabo Leshilo, Editor in Chief of the Sowetan
Ms Cynthia Carroll, CEO Anglo American
Mr Fred Phaswana, Chairman of Anglo American South Africa,
Mr Philip Baum Acting CEO of Anglo American South Africa,
Mr Daniel Ngwepe, Executive Director of Public Affairs for Anglo
American,
The nine national finalists,
Distinguished guests, teachers, parents, learners
Ladies and gentlemen

It is a pleasure to be here this morning. Congratulations to all
participants for reaching this stage of the contest! Over the past decade, this
public-speaking competition has uncovered talent, confidence and passion in our
schoolchildren. For example, most famously Zola (Bonginkosi Dlamini) won in
1996. Recently Asanda Magaqa, a runner-up in 2001 and now a SABC radio news
journalist won the Vodacom Journalist of the Year for Radio. First-class oral
communication is a cornerstone of success in the contemporary working world.
Being able to write well is of course critical as well, but speaking skills are
becoming far more important than ever before, because of the way Information
and Communication Technologies (ICTs) have changed the world and the world of
work in particular.

Speaking well can be learned but there are only a few who have silver
tongues � or should I say platinum tongues. That is what this competition
encourages. We need good speakers, good explainers, people who can see the
complexity in things but have the ability to explain complex things in simple
terms and you have to do that if you are to explain things to a live audience,
because audiences are seldom able to absorb complicated facts and figures. The
personal, practical and cultural benefits of participating in public speaking
are tremendously rewarding. Speaking well builds confidence in yourself and
allows you to communicate your ideas effectively.

Aggrey Klaaste knew this. He knew about the importance of public speaking
but he knew about lots of other things as well. The more I think about his
nation-building projects, the more I admire the forethought of the man.
Initiatives like the Sowetan-Old Mutual-SABC Community Builder of the Year
Awards, the Sowetan-Transnet Foundation-SABC Massed Choir Festival, the Aggrey
Klaaste Maths, Science and Technology Educator of The Year Awards and Anglo
American-Sowetan Young Communicators Awards. He encouraged young people to rise
above their circumstances in search of excellence. He encouraged young people
to study further, to have great expectations of themselves and to set
themselves ambitious goals. Many of the community projects that he designed
live on today, having gathered further financial support and in certain
instances have become successful small businesses.

The challenge for the future in this regard is perhaps even greater than in
the past. His nation building projects have become established and in becoming
established they have created new traditions. They have created new traditions
for younger children to aspire to and to excel in. I have devoted much of my
time this year to reflecting on the need to pursue excellence in education. We
need to ensure that we uphold excellence in order to conquer the vestiges of
inferior education and low expectations that persist in our system and parts of
our society. We need to affirm excellence and to challenge mediocrity because
that is what our greatest leaders did, from Albert Luthuli to Nelson Mandela.
They stood up for excellence, they did not have low expectations of themselves
or their teachers, they held out against inhuman odds in the struggle for
democracy and freedom.

There is nothing Eurocentric or foreign in the pursuit of excellence rising
above and beyond our circumstances has been a strong driver of social change.
Your excellent efforts today complement positive aspiration and belief in
oneself. We need excellence in order to learn how to aim our expectations. We
need to ensure that best practice spreads from our best schools to the rest,
from our best universities to the rest and from our best colleges to the rest.
Excellence is the locomotive of improvement. Your participation in this
competition, one that builds skills and character signifies your commitment to
striving ever upward. Each of you embodies that South African Spirit that is
reflected so eloquently in the description of South Africa as a land of
possibility. You also set a benchmark for others to pursue, copy and even
better. Each year the themes are challenging intellectually stimulating and
entertaining. You Excel.

In concluding, I offer my heartiest congratulations to all the winners. I
hope that the overall winners will go on to become leaders in whatever walk of
life they choose in the future. To those who did not win today, your turn is
sure to come.

I thank you.

Issued by: Department of Education
9 June 2007
Source: Department of Education (http://www.education.gov.za)