Response by President Jacob Zuma during the debate on the opening of the National House of Traditional Leaders

Response by President Jacob Zuma during the debate on the opening of the National House of Traditional Leaders
________________________________________________________________________
Honourable Chairperson of the National House of Traditional Leaders, Kgosi Maubane, Kgabo!
Honourable Deputy Chairperson of the House Kgosi Makgeru, Hlabirwa wa Bauba!
Minister Masenyani Baloyi, Khalanga – Mulodzwi!
Deputy Minister Yunus Carrim, Ndaa vhoCarrim, Khakhamela!
Speaker of the National Assembly, Honourable Max Sisulu,
Chairperson of the NCOP, Mr Honourable Mninwa Mahlangu, Mrungwa!
The President of Contralesa, Adv Holomisa, Aah Dilizintaba!
The Secretary of Contralesa, Kgosi Thobejane, Ngwato wa Bauba!
Chairpersons of Provincial Houses
MEC’s present here
Distinguished Guests
Ladies and gentlemen
Good Day to you all,

The ship of State is in good hands. South Africa is poised to become a truly great nation.

Delivering the keynote address to leading personalities from black communities all over Southern Africa on 8 January 1912 Pixley ka Isaka Seme made the following call in Bloemfontein, today also known as Mangaung, and I quote:

“Chiefs of royal blood and gentleman of our race, we have gathered here to consider and discuss a theme which my colleagues and I have decided to place before you. 

“We have discovered that in the land of their birth, Africans are treated as hewers of wood and drawers of water. The white people of this country have formed what is known as the Union of South Africa – a union in which we have no voice in the making of laws and no part in their administration. 

“We have called you therefore to this conference so that we can together devise ways and means of forming our national union for the purpose of creating national unity and defending our rights and privileges.”

These words ring in the ears as I stand before you to day. 

Many will remember that Pixley Seme was addressing the founding conference of the African National Congress, the oldest liberation organization on the African continent to date and the organization that continues to lead our people.

We meet with you today “chiefs of royal blood”, ladies and gentlemen in the National House of Traditional Leaders at the place where the white Union of South Africa was established. Today we meet in what is part of the law-making process in the non-racist, non-sexist and democratic South Africa.

I have listened closely to the deliberations of the House and I am uplifted by what our leaders have said here.

The debate has covered the whole range of issues affecting the lives of our citizens, especially those living in the rural and marginalized communities.

You talked about basic services, poverty eradication, agricultural development and land reform, moral regeneration, nation building, as well as the institutional framework in which your majesties are enabled to play a bigger role in the national effort.

The debate has demonstrated the emphasis on the “leadership” element in “traditional leadership”. 

This is as it should be and has always been in the long road to freedom.

Something is different about the debate in this House. The discussion of serious issues facing the nation is free from party-political grand-standing and instead characterized by mutual respect. Again this is as it should be from the unifiers of communities and custodians of African culture.

Dikgoshi gracefully confirm that the democratic Government has performed superbly in extending social services to all our people. At the same time, as your Government is the first to admit, you also underline that much more remains to be done.

As we travel through the length and breadth of the country we are struck by the levels of poverty and deprivation that still characterize the lives of many of our people. 

At the same time, we are gratified to see the increasing levels of prosperity that graphically demonstrate that we are on the right track.

Tens of thousands of kilometres of new tarred roads criss-cross through the country linking rural communities with centres of economic activity and services. 

Low-costs houses delivered by the State are evident in many villages. 

We are also proud that the electrification programme implemented by our Government lights up our communities in a manner that millions could not dream about in a mere 19 years ago. 

Communities have running water in their homes drawn from our rivers and sometimes from boreholes into tanks provided by the State. Some of the new RDP houses have solar panels to lower the demand on the electricity grid and also to protect the natural environment.

Our traditional leaders correctly draw attention to the areas these services still need to reach. 

You work hand in hand with our democratic Government to achieve this.

As we mark the centenary of the passing of the infamous Land Act of 1913 we want to underline that South Africa and Africa has enough agricultural land to feed itself and trade with other nations. 

Much of it remains unused and underutilised. Some of it is used with the exclusive purpose of extracting super profit with disregard for the workers’ rights and starvation for millions of our people.

Members have expressed their enthusiasm to work with our Government to increase national capacity and develop the necessary skills especially among the youth to increase agricultural output. I am happy to say that our Government is implementing many programmes to this end. Working together we can achieve much more even with the limited resources at our disposal.

Esteemed leaders of our people,

We meet in hard economic times in the world. Our economy continues to experience the ill effects of the global recession in contracted production, decline in exports, low economic growth and low employment levels. 

The South African economy continues to be one of the most resilient. Still, our capacity to develop with greater speed is lower than it would otherwise have been.

It is very important therefore that we continue to do more with less. It is important also that even as we strive to obtain a more equitable distribution of national wealth we make sure that we do this in a manner that enhances rather than destroys it. 

Wildcat strikes of the type happening in the mining industry and other sectors are hardly the way to advance the interests of marginalized sections of our people in a democratic dispensation such as we have. 

We should demand better salaries and working conditions but we may not wreck the economy. 
The task of leadership today requires that we all draw the line between anarchy and constructive engagement.

As leaders of our people, Members of this House have correctly underlined the need for all of us to act against those who abuse women, children and senior citizens in our communities. 
Members have also pledged to work with our Government to stop the increase in anti-social behaviour especially among the younger generation. 

I am keen that we work together to fight the scourge of drug and substance abuse of the kind I recently encountered in the Eldorado Park community in Johannesburg. 

Mothers told of how the children steal everything including food from their own families. They talked about how the children steal even their own clothes in order to get money to buy drugs like Tik, Cat and cocaine.

They talked about how some of them have to hide money in their bodies as the children would otherwise steal it as they sleep. Such behaviour is alien and totally unacceptable. 

I am confident that you will continue to work with Government and with it double the combined efforts to rid our society of these ills. There are also other things we should eliminate from our society.

As we speak, our children are being killed by old people during the circumcision rituals that are part of the tradition of initiation of young boys into men. I am appealing to our traditional leaders to relook the way initiations are done. 

Hundreds of thousands of our children in this country and millions around the world undergo safe circumcision rituals every year. 

Our Government actually runs programmes of circumcision as part of the campaign against HIV and AIDS. There is therefore no reason to tolerate that incompetent individuals continue to do this at all.

I know Members will continue to work with our Government and treat the rogue initiation schools as criminal activities and deal with them accordingly.

We would like to extend our heartfelt condolences to the relatives and friends of the young initiates that have lost their lives over the last few weeks. No stone must be left unturned in measures to punish those responsible.

Esteemed Members,

Allow me to expand a little on the role that traditional leaders may play in the implementation of the South African Blueprint for socio-economic development, the National Development Plan or NDP 2030.

The plan is founded on Six Pillars. These are:
1. Mobilization of all South Africans;
2. Active engagement of citizens in their own development;
3. Expansion of the economy and making growth inclusive;
4. Building key capabilities (human, physical and institutional)
5. Building a capable developmental State; and
6. Fostering strong leadership throughout society.

Firstly, Members will note that every one of us is called upon to contribute to achieving the goals of NDP 2030. 

This means that leadership of all institutions have an added responsibility. They have the respect and confidence of the community. The community looks on them for guidance and advice.

Secondly NDP 2030 calls on us to build strong institutions. This also means increasing cooperation between all the institutions.

Members will also note when they familiarize themselves with it, as all of us should do, that NDP 2030 addresses itself to all aspects that you have debated here. It provides a framework for the nation, acting in unity, to address the challenges facing our people.

The NDP 2030 points out that agriculture in rural communal land has the potential to create hundreds of jobs, 300 000 to be specific. 

It also points out that much of this land has access to irrigation and that irrigation is possible in much more areas.

Furthermore, the Plan indicates that there is huge potential for agro-processing industry in many areas which adds value to the product and keeps the money circulating in the community while putting the surplus to the market. 

Closer cooperation between local councils and traditional leaders can unlock this potential.
What we need is for all of us as leaders to go out and mobilize all citizens to become, as the Plan puts it, agents in their own development.

An issue that has been raised here is the friction that often exists between the local councils and other spheres of Government on the one hand, and traditional institutions on the other. I firmly believe that this is above all a challenge of leadership. 

Traditional leaders always relied on earned confidence and respect of their subjects to maintain law and order and to mobilize the community behind common objectives. 

There were no standing armies to force the community to do the right thing. This is still true in many communities today. 

Councillors, members of legislatures and government officials are expected to exercise leadership in an inclusive manner. 

Failure to do so is more a matter of poor leadership skills and incompetence. 

The appropriate institutional framework must and will be created by Government in terms of legislation. 

Even as we apply more effort to expedite the process we must all use what we have more efficiently. The House is already working with Government and the Legislature and I welcome the call for my Office to work even more closely with you.

Members have referred to the delays in the conclusion of legislative processes relating to powers and functions especially with regard to dispute resolution. 

You have pointed out that traditional councils handle some of these matters in an inconsistent manner. Members also pointed out that the capacity of traditional councils in terms of tools of trade and other support is uneven and inadequate. 

The Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Honourable Masenyani Baloyi is 
seized with this matter and my Office is working with him to assist in the interim before all legislative procedures are completed. 

The competent committee is also seized with the review of the remuneration of Members of this House in terms of the applicable legislation.

Esteemed leaders of our people, on Saturday 25 May Heads of State and Government of Africa converge in Addis Ababa to mark the 50th Anniversary of the Organization of African Unity or AU. 

As you know the organization was transformed into the African Union in 2002. 

We are all happy that this happens when the daughter of our soil, Dr Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma is at the head of the African Union Commission. 

I know I speak for all our people when I wish the AU many happy returns in the golden jubilee!

Africa faces huge challenges of development and peace. South Africa takes its responsibility as part of the continent seriously and participates actively to address these challenges. 

We are confident that members of this House will actively participate in the Golden Jubilee celebrations and in the realization of African Union Vision 2063; a vision of a peaceful and prosperous Africa.

Esteemed compatriots

Since the last time we met we have hosted some critical international engagements. We have hosted the BRICS Summit in Durban and recently the World Economic Forum in Cape Town. 

Such international events underline the critical role that our country plays in the international arena and is an achievement for all our people.

This month we also hosted state visits by His Excellency the President of Nigeria on 6-7 May and this week His Excellency the Governor General of Canada. 

The visits took bilateral relations with the two countries to a higher level. We were truly excited to host the two esteemed leaders and their delegations.

Next month we will receive President Barack Obama of the United States who is coming to our country for an official visit. That visit will certainly further strengthen our warm and strong relations with the United States. We look forward to receiving President Obama and his delegation.

Leaders of our people standing here before you and having listened carefully to your deliberations I am even more convinced that the Ship of State is in good hands. The future of South Africa is bright.

I thank you!