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Programme Director
Distinguished Guests
Ladies and Gentlemen

As we mark the historic end of the first and the beginning of the second decade of freedom, I want to salute the number of public servants who have embraced the values of Batho Pele. Many of them are going beyond the call of duty in the service of our people.

I am humbled by the overwhelming support the public servants of this province have given to me personally and to the executive collective in government.

I was truly privileged to have worked with men and women of great honour, impeccable integrity and unsurpassed wisdom throughout my terms as Premier of this province.

I will forever be indebted to the public servants of our province without whose dedication, selflessness and diligence during the embryonic stages of this government we would not be where we are today.

Through your commitment and dedication, you have added value to the lives of our people who have immensely benefited from the services that is rendered by public servants.

Together we have accomplished a lot. Let us build on our successes. Let us maintain the unity that has seen us through many a storm. It is only when we do this that we can approach the future with confidence. Our collective effort during my two terms has been my greatest motivator.

We are proud to report that we have converted a public administration that dispensed its services in a racially discriminatory and non-transparent way, less responsive to the needs of our people to one that delivered equal services to all our people.

Our goal is to serve the interest of society as a whole and to ensure that we protect and defend the freedoms, which we have long fought for and gained. We have to ensure that every person in this country has access to basic amenities and services that will allow for the full development of each member of our society.

The Northern Cape Province has come a long way in transforming the public service and ensuring effective service delivery, which had impacted positively on the lives of the poorest of the poor, people with disabilities, women, the youth of our country.

The province has sparked the development of a cadre of civil servants genuinely committed to the principles of Batho Pele and ensuring maximum development impact from the prudent utilisation of scarce state resources.

We were able to touch the lives of our people in a number of ways to ensure that their quality of life is improved.

Great strides had been made in the socio-political arena, including providing quality health care for all, better public schooling, housing, water and sanitation, education, health, electricity and improved access to social services right across our province and country.

While celebrating our achievements, we must constantly remind ourselves of the daunting challenges that lie ahead.

We must be mindful of the reality that far too many of our people are still trapped in conditions of poverty, underdevelopment and joblessness. Many of them still do not have access to clean water, sanitation, quality health care, education and shelter.

We have dedicated the second decade of democracy to solving these and other problems. We have demonstrated our ability to improve the lives of all South Africans.

We must intensify our efforts to work in partnership with our communities so that they benefit from our skills and talents in a significant manner.

We wish to caution that there are those within our public service who have not yet fully understood the critical role they play in the delivery of services. To them we say - change your attitude now, for your time is running out.

Our people deserve to be treated with the necessary respect and dignity as enshrined in our constitution.

I wish to congratulate all those who will receive the coveted awards tonight, may they inspire many more. Through this award we aim to acknowledge and to inspire contributions by our public service to deliver a conscientious and diligent service to our people.

I would also like to take this opportunity to thank Standard Bank and PricewaterhouseCoopers for their unstinting support of this private public initiative to reward public servants.

I thank you

Issued by: Office of the Premier, Northern Cape Provincial Government
5 March 2004

Source: Northern Cape Provincial Government (http://www.northern-cape.gov.za)