Dinner of the 12th Regional International Labour Organisation Seminar held at
the International Convention Centre, Durban
8 October 2007
Minister of Public Works Ms Thoko Didiza
Ministers of Public Works from across the continent
MECs for Public Works in all of Africa
Members of Parliament
Members of International Organisations
Ladies and gentlemen:
This evening we are part of an Africa which is fast emerging out of its
cocoon, and reclaiming its part in history. At the political continental level
we have set up the African Union and its operational structures, and we are
fast proceeding on the path of regional integration, good governance and
democratic principles.
We are here as part of this International Labour Organisation (ILO) Regional
Seminar because we share the vision of an Africa which is integrated,
prosperous and peaceful, an Africa driven by its own citizens, a dynamic force
in the global arena.
The Africa we are here to fashion is an Africa reconciled with itself and
with its Diaspora, an Africa which starts to use its own resources to play a
major role that as African Union Commission Chairperson, Alpha Konare said,
"can legitimately claim in a polycentric and more equitable world, where there
are no economic, political and ideological hegemonies which characterised the
previous century".
The African Union Roadmap as outlined by Professor Konare details "priority
programmes" which cover practical ways of bridging the digital bridge, pushing
for equitable world trade, food security and self-sufficiency, generating
investment on the continent, and linking Africa with the Diaspora. That plan
also includes workable proposals for encouraging education, deepening peace
efforts, distributing clean water and fighting disease on the continent.
In order to answer fully the question detailing where we want to be in
future, it is important that we ask some uncomfortable questions about our past
and present. We must continue to ask why it is that Africa is home to the
poorest and marginalised while we possess massive human and natural resources?
It is a fact that Africa accounts for 30 percent of the total mineral reserves
on earth, including 40 percent of world's gold and 60 percent of cobalt. South
Africa alone accounts for 70 percent of the world's platinum.
This continent is a leading coffee and cocoa producer. Africa is awash with
diamonds and oil in numerous countries yet we account for just one percent of
the world's GDP and barely two percent of global trade. As a result of this,
Africa's population lives on less than a US$ dollar per day on average. Our
people remain highly restricted to their countries with little freedom of
movement thus hampering knowledge sharing among different communities.
During my address earlier today, I spoke of illiteracy, access to housing,
sanitation and electricity as defining poverty in KwaZulu-Natal. This challenge
is not limited to KwaZulu-Natal. Poverty is a continent-wide challenge which
requires the collaboration of many so we can end it. This seminar will no doubt
provide more answers and brings us closer a better Africa and a better
world.
Britain's Prime Minister, Tony Blair, called Africa's poverty "the
fundamental moral challenge of our generation." The UN secretary general, Kofi
Annan, spoke of a generation that could make poverty history. During the World
Trade Organisation meeting in Hong Kong in June 2006, trade ministers from 149
countries agreed to eliminate export subsidies for farm products by 2013,
opening up new opportunities to farmers from poor countries which now have to
compete against subsidised products. The ministers also vowed to offer
technical export assistance to poor countries and to get rid of cotton export
subsidies this year.
The world in which we seek to get rid of unemployment and poverty in Africa
is a changing world in which President Thabo Mbeki has regularly joined other
leaders in calling for transformation of international government. It is a
world which is slowly opening up to the reality that Africa's dependence and
relative inequality is a direct result of its relationship with the developed
world.
This world also accepts that if Africa was once the home of mathematics and
sciences, it will be so again. As Africa was once the academic centre of the
world, it can be so again in future. In the pyramids it is clear Africa was
once the home of architecture and planning, we are here today to ensure that it
is so again in future.
In conclusion the International Herald Tribune said in an editorial at the
beginning of last year. "The world needs no more speeches about global
poverty.
The six million children under five years who die every year of diseases that
can be easily and cheaply treated do not need more lofty goals. Nor do the 40
million young people still unable to go to school, or the 300 million Africans
who lack access to clean water. The time for talking is over. Our resolution
for the new year is to keep track of how many of last year's promises turn into
something more than words."
Let us implement our plans, dedicate our financial resources towards the end
of poverty and unemployment in all of Africa.
I thank you
Issued by: KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Government
8 October 2007
Source: KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Government (http://www.kwazulunatal.gov.za/)
