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9 February 2009

Salutation,
Madam Speaker,
Deputy Speaker,
Mr President,
Honourable members,
Distinguished guests,
Ladies and gentlemen

Last Friday we were challenged by our President in his State of the Nation Address to have hope about our future as a country and people he called on us to have the resilience of Madiba's long walk to freedom. We know from our struggle against apartheid and the last fifteen years of freedom that the source of resilience is our collective strength as a nation working together for a better life for all. We should be able to claim what we have achieved as a nation on the basis that our success is the result of the actions of each one of us, working towards the same goals.

As government, we will not abrogate our role and responsibility. We are not a government that sits back, watching. We don't put the fate of our country in the invisible hand of the markets. We are a developmental state, we lead where we ought to, facilitate where we must, and even regulate where necessary.

We are in the trenches, through many of our programmes, combating poverty, inequality and unemployment; promoting shared economic growth and closing the gap between our first and second economies. But there is just so much we can achieve on our own, but more when we work together.

Madame Speaker

The Southern Africa Trust, a non-governmental organisation (NGO) that promotes regional policy dialogue on poverty issues, has posted a question on its website, which is: "If you could change one thing forever, what would it be?" Lorna Maseko, SABC TV Producer and Presenter, gave an answer that speaks to the core of the philosophy of the kind of a nation that we have been working so hard to build:

"If I could change one thing forever, I would start with me and then the community around me. So many times we want to change the world and it just takes a look around, people in our immediate surroundings need the help that we could offer without having to travel miles away."

Many South Africans across race, religion, regions, gender and class share and practice this attitude. For instance, Florence Mbokazi, of the Masoyi home-based care project in Mpumalanga which caters for orphaned children, gave an account of how government and the people like Lorna Maseko work together to alleviate hardships in our communities:

"We are working hands to hands with all the departments. The Department of Education, the Department of Health, the Department of Social Development, and we are also working directly with social workers and teachers. We are hands to hands. We refer each other. Like the Department of Education, when they see a particular child in need they refer to home-based care. And then the Department of Health, if they see these people have TB but they don't have food, we have food, they refer to us. If we see people who need a drip we refer to the Department of Health. Also, we find the children who must get grants and we refer them to the Department of Social Development."

These are the life experiences of South Africans working together to respond to challenges. I wish to commend the Children's Institute and the University of Cape Town for putting together a booklet from which the above life experiences are drawn. We have also commenced many programmes that improve the dialogue between business, Government and Labour, not least the Joint Working Group meetings that are frequently held with relevant representatives.

A recent example of the outcome of such constructive dialogue has been the Joint Statement of Response to the International Economic Crisis in which business, government and labour drafted and tabled a short- and medium-term plan to work together in order to ride the current economic crisis with the least fallout, as well as to be able to respond to the recovery in a proactive manner.

The Joint Initiative on Priority Skills Acquisition (Jipsa), which is a high level, collaborative initiative of government, business, organised labour and the education and training sector to accelerate the provision of priority skills, is yielding encouraging results.

The Jipsa strategy involves broadening the training pipeline, retaining people in skilled employment, and training them more effectively and to higher quality standards. Jipsa depends on the consistent and committed participation of all its social partners. The work of Jipsa has influenced a paradigm shift around skills development, enabling various players to see it in a new light.

Honourable members

The ANC-led government has since 1994 enjoyed the support of the overwhelming majority of our electorate based on its clear and practical programme aimed at reversing the legacy of apartheid and taking our country to greater heights. In its election manifesto of the inaugural democratic elections of 1994, the ruling party was humble but ready to lead our country:

"The ANC is ready to govern: we are ready to listen. In developing our policies over the years, we have consulted widely, most recently in People's Forums. We have also discussed with role players in the economy, education and other areas."

Within five years since 1994, the ANC-led government had laid the foundation for a South Africa we want by, among others:

* putting in place one of the best constitutions in the world
* sweeping away racist and oppressive laws
* introducing 497 laws (94 – 98) to ensure equality and improve the lives for all
* putting in place measures to bring about equality in the treatment of all South Africans, including introducing affirmative action
* entrenching worker rights
* setting in motion measures for improving the quality of life for all South Africans particularly in the areas of water and sanitation, housing, accessible health care, land reform and education.

In its 1999 election manifesto, the ruling party, accordingly, committed itself that:

"We will build on the foundations that have been laid, which were not there when we took over, to achieve faster progress towards a better life for all."

For the current mandate that is now nearing its end, the ANC-led Government was informed by the commitment made to the electorate in 2004 to build "A People's Contract to Create Work and Fight Poverty". In its Manifesto for the 2004 elections, the ruling party looked back to the previous ten years and the road ahead:

"The change that happened 10 years ago was a result of struggle and sacrifice. Led by the African National Congress, it was change that created an opportunity for us to chart our future together.

"Over the past ten years, after centuries of colonialism and apartheid, a new era has dawned for South Africa."

Honourable members

The President addressed us on Friday on how the ANC-led government has lived up to promises made in the past and the Programme of Action to enable the next Administration "to hit the ground running".

The ruling party has been consistent in its election manifestos and the programmes developed in government that:

* we can do more when we work together
* we learn from our experience
* we want faster change to achieve more
* we will listen to our people and respond to their voices

Our government imbizos are but one example of how we reach out to voices in our communities. The War on Poverty Campaign has also enabled us to interact intimately with the challenges of poverty on the ground.

Madame Speaker

Government has been sincere and the first to admit that in spite of all the achievements that are well documented by our work across the country, on our continent, and across the world – that more still needs to be done and that, still, we can do better when we work together.

Some of our compatriots have sounded alarm bells that we are about to become a "failed state". Others, like one of the contributors to the recently launched 2008 Transformation Audit of the Institute for Justice and Reconciliation, claimed that: "We have a fractured, weak, incompetent state".

Surely, they don't know the South Africa we live in. Failed states do not have functioning parliaments like the one we have; failed states have no well run economies that can even survive the weight of crumbling global financial markets; in weak incompetent states people don't dare speak out about the Head of State and continue to be free.

We have been frank about challenges facing our public service, and we have even instituted corrective measures to improve our efficiency and effectiveness in the delivery of Government services. But our country would not have survived the recall of the former President, for example, had it not been for our dedicated and patriotic public servants who ensured that the transition was smooth and painless for our country and people. All in all we have a competent and hard working civil service that holds our country together and ensures that the machinery of the state runs regardless of political storms.

Perhaps, these critics should listen to the words of Lira, our songbird, in her response to the aforementioned question posted on the website of Southern Africa Trust, when she said:

"If I could change one thing forever I would change the way that we as South Africans see ourselves and our country. We never celebrate the great things about ourselves. We are so easily willing to put emphasis on the negative. Have you looked around and realised what great people we are? We thrive under difficult situations, we are forgiving and innovative. I say we start celebrating who we are!"

I also wish to refer them to the website of the International Marketing Council which is carrying the photo of James Bond, Aston Martin, holding the Proudly South African flag key-holder.

The poet, Kira Sutton, joins Lira and James Bond in his "I Have a Dream for This Nation":

"I have a dream for this nation, for which we should learn to be proud
That it would start with YOU
And move through the crowd
Let's spread the love, the faith and the hope
This country is full of potential
Only fear will cause us mope!"

Our people also have full confidence in our democracy and the direction it is following. The Results of the 2008 Voter Participation Survey of the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) which was commissioned by the IEC shows that almost 80 percent of the respondents were interested in national and provincial elections, as opposed to 19 percent which was not interested. The survey also showed that 75 percent of the respondents vote because they believe their vote can make a difference as opposed to 31 percent who thought voting is just pointless. Honourable members, 68 percent of the respondents indicated that they vote to ensure that they get quality education, health and better service.

Honourable members

We still need to do more, together, to achieve the objectives we set for ourselves. When South Africans flock to the polls in the coming months they will be doing so with high expectations. Like the 68 percent in the HSRC survey, they will want the new government of the next five years to continue the effort to provide quality health, education and better services.

Those in our rural areas who have always turned up in big numbers to cast their vote, want to see our land reform programme accelerated and their part of our country fully developed. The unemployment rate, which is still high by our standard, has to be decisively tackled by improving and accelerating our programmes which are aimed at creating decent work and sustainable livelihoods.

Our work in turning around and revamping our criminal justice system has to be stepped up to intensify our fight against crime and corruption. Young people remain high on the Government agenda. Institutional support is one way we can ensure our young citizens are developed.

I have no doubt that the merger of the Umsobomvu Youth Fund (UYF) and the National Youth Commission (NYC) into one entity, the National Youth Development Agency (NYDA), will go a long way in fast-tracking and streamlining youth development in our country. This is an example of how we have learnt lessons from our experiences of the past fifteen years and agreed on a way of how to improve our institutions.

This new agency will maximise new and existing youth development programmes, with the view of strengthening implementation capacity at local and provincial levels. We call on all young people to support and interact with this Agency after its launch later this year.

The electricity shortages at the beginning of 2008 made everyone aware of the critical importance of improving energy efficiency. We will continue to work with stakeholders, especially through the National Stakeholder Advisory Council on Electricity and at National Economic Development and Labour Council (Nedlac), to address the challenges arising out of the campaign for energy efficiency. We particularly want to thank organised business and organised labour for their strong co-operation.

I take this opportunity to applaud the eThekwini Municipality for launching an Energy Office which is the first of its kind in South Africa. This office aims to "establish the municipality as a leading local authority in promoting and implementing energy management to achieve a sustainable energy future for businesses and residents of eThekwini".

Honourable Members

The President paid tribute to some of our fallen heroes, including members who served this institution, our Parliament, with honour and commitment. The coming elections will give the party that will win a mandate based on a programme presented to the electorates. But we all, collectively, have a responsibility as leaders of our various political formations to make our country work and realise the dream that heroes like Solomon Mahlangu and Onkgopotse Tiro were prepared to sacrifice their lives for.

It is a relatively small proportion of our population who are active members of political parties; the majority of our people are in church, sporting, cultural and other civil society organisations. This means that our people, as they indicated in the HSRC survey, trust that we can lead them responsibly, and in the right direction; and they are always ready and willing to work with us for a better South Africa. We must not fail them; we must not disappoint them. We should derive our inspiration from the Preamble to our Constitution, that:

"We, the people of South Africa,
Recognise the injustices of our past
Honour those who suffered for justice and freedom in our land;
Respect those who have worked to build and develop our country;
Believe that South Africa belongs to all who live in it, united in our diversity."

I thank you.

Issued by: The Presidency
9 February 2009