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King Mpondombini Sigcau
The Executive Mayor of OR Tambo District Municipality
The Principal, Mrs Nobaza
Master of ceremonies
Distinguished Guests
Ladies and Gentlemen

It makes me happy to share such a special event with you. It is special because this official opening of Khotso Junior Secondary School bears significant testimony to what we are aspiring to in South Africa today.

Since its humble beginning in 1981 when the late Mrs Bethinja Sethuntsa donated her house to the community as a school, Khotso Junior Secondary School reflected the participation and cooperation of local leadership and the community.

To this united drive in the interest of improved education for our children, the assistance of big business and government was also obtained to extend the facilities and which will lead to broader school activity.

What place it is indeed a development to be proud of. Facilities like this are proof that government is sincere when it talks of creating a better life for our people. Your patience with us has finally been rewarded with such facilities. During his State of the Nation Address in Parliament in February, President Thabo Mbeki called on government officials to ensure that no child will ever study under a tree.

We are opening this school during a week that is very important in Government calendar; that is the Imbizo Focus Week, a week that pays attention to the child, a week that is focusing on the Public Service during what is known as the productivity week.

In particular during this current Imbizo Focus Week, government at all levels is again engaging with communities around projects, as we are doing here, to discuss activities and suggestions to improve implementation and delivery.

October is the time where we reflect on past achievements in the field of social development and all its many forms and shapes within communities.

As South Africans we are fighting the scourge of poverty on a daily basis. As a young democracy, there are many frontiers that we have to deal with as a country in order for us to ensure future socio-economic growth and expedient development of our human resources.

The October 2002 Social Development campaign also involves thousands of volunteers from youth and women's organisations and public servants who are putting in extra time and effort to register children who qualify for grants. This campaign is part of Social Development Month held under the theme "Lend a Hand to Protect Children's Rights."

I fully support Minister Zola Skweyiya who has indicated that we are on course with more than two million children registered to receive their grants. We must keep the momentum so that every child who is entitled does indeed get his/her grant. This is a constitutional imperative and is a very critical part of our poverty alleviation programme.

The Department of Social Development has established a system of home and community-based care centres operating in all nine provinces while community caregivers are being trained continuously.

Between 2001 and 2004, an allocation of R25 million from the HIV/AIDS budget has been allocated to establish 100 community-based support structures. In addition, a three-year budget of R60 million for 144 rural food production clusters was made available. Some poverty pockets have however still to be attended to, as management structures at community level need to be developed and more coordination between partners is essential.

The latest statistics showed there were 660 000 orphaned children under the age of 15 in South Africa. These figures make one understand the concern about and focus on the plight of children.

Currently the overall budget for all the monthly grants is R24 billion. An additional R100 million has been set aside for poverty alleviation this year and R46 million has been reserved for HIV/AIDS projects.

Some 2,3 million children had been registered for child grants by 31 August. As government we have set the target of registering 3 million more children for grants by the year 2005 and at least one million more by the end of March 2003.

To ensure an appropriate response to the President's directive, Social Development Minister Zola Skweyiya, and other government officials kick-started a national home visit campaign to register eligible children, as part of the Social Development Month.

The children who will be registered are children with disabilities who qualify for the Care Dependency Grant, children who are orphans and qualify for the Foster Care Grant as well as those under seven who qualify for the Child Support Grant.

Allow me to share with you a brief requirement for these grants:

* To qualify for a care dependency grant you must be a South African citizen, except for foster parents; must reside in South Africa; the age of the child must range from one to 18 years; a medical or assessment report confirming disability is needed; and the care dependant child or children must not be permanently cared for in a state institution.

* For a foster child grant you need a court order indicating foster care status; an identity document or birth certificate bearing the 13-digit numbers in respect of each child; and provide test requirements in respect of the child's income.

* To qualify for a child support grant you must be a South African citizen and reside in South Africa; must be the primary caregiver of the child or children concerned; the child or children must be under the age of seven; must meet the requirements of the means test; must provide a 13-digit bar-coded identity document of the caregiver; and a 13-digit birth certificate of each child.

Because we really want to make a serious effort to meet the target in the interest of our children, we have brought some forms along for application. The centre for this area where the completed forms may be lodged is the Department of Social Development's office in Port St Johns.

Let us acknowledge what each party does in the process of growth and development; let us share the credit for our joint success as South Africans. As this school has grown, let us support the rest of our community to do the same. We all have a part to play in making our country an even better place, with more opportunities for all.

I do want to believe that during our discussion time now, we will again benefit by sharing information on government activity and obtaining your views and suggestions on how implementation can be improved.

A school must no longer be regarded as an 8 -2 facility; it should also be used as a facility for the rest of the community, a place where people could be taught skills, a place where adult education could take place. The society in which we live is not dynamic but all of us need to catch up with the times. We need to address various challenge in our society in a matter that brings life and hope to our people. A challenge which says we must all lend a hand in making sure that our country become the type of place wherein people feel safe, cared for, wanted and that each and everyone of us has a role to play in making sure that as we move from generation to generation we shall be builders of the future of our country giving full meaning to phrase "Proudly South Africans".

Issued by the Department of Public Works