STATE OF THE NATION ADDRESS OF THE PRESIDENT OF
Madam
Speaker of the National Assembly;
Chairperson
of the National Council of Provinces;
Deputy
Speaker of the National Assembly and Deputy Chairperson of the NCOP;
Deputy
President of the Republic;
Honourable
leaders of our political parties and Honourable Members of Parliament;
Ministers
and Deputy Ministers;
Our
esteemed Chief Justice and members of the Judiciary;
Heads
of our Security Services;
Governor
of the Reserve Bank;
President
Nelson Mandela and Madame Graca Machel;
President
F.W. de Klerk and Madame Elita
de Klerk;
Distinguished
Premiers and Speakers of our Provinces;
Mayors
and leaders in our system of local government;
Our
honoured traditional leaders;
Heads
of the state organs supporting our constitutional democracy;
Directors-General
and other leaders of the public service;
Your
Excellencies, Ambassadors and High Commissioners;
Distinguished
guests, friends and comrades;
People
of
When
she died, we knew that Mama Adelaide Tambo had been
recently discharged from hospital. But because we also knew that she had the
tenacity of spirit and strength of will to soldier on among the living, we had
intended to welcome her and other members of her family as our guests on this
august occasion. But that was not to be.
Tomorrow
we will pay her our last respects as we inter her remains. Thus she will only
be with us in spirit when in October this year, we celebrate the 90th
anniversary of the birth of her husband, the father of her children, her
companion, her comrade, and an eminent son of our people, Oliver Reginald Tambo. Once more, we convey our condolences to the Tambo family.
However,
I am indeed very pleased to acknowledge in our midst this morning the Hon Albertina Luthuli, daughter of
our first Nobel Peace Laureate, Inkosi Albert Luthuli, whose tragic death 40 years ago we commemorate
this year, remembering the tragic day when it was reported that he had been
crushed by a speeding train in the cane-fields of KwaDukuza.
His death was as shocking and mysterious as his life was a lodestar pointing us
to the freedom we enjoy today.
I
feel immensely proud that democratic
I am also pleased to welcome to the House the activists of the
1956 Women’s March and the 1976 Soweto Uprising who are sitting in the
President’s box, as well as the eminent patriots from all our provinces,
proposed by our Provincial Speakers to join the group of important guests who
have joined us today.
The government of the people of South Africa on whose behalf I
speak here today, as I have been privileged to do in previous years, was formed
in 2004, after the General Elections of that year.
At its annual January Lekgotla or Bosberaad last month, the National Cabinet that stands at
the pinnacle of the system of governance over which we are privileged to
preside, reflected on the fact that its meeting marked the mid-term of the life
of the government born of our last, 2004, elections.
Having understood this, it was natural that we should put the
question to ourselves – what progress have we made in the quest to achieve the
objectives to which we honestly told the nation we were committed, as a result
of which our people gave us the overwhelming authority to govern our country
from 2004 until the next elections in 2009!
With your indulgence, I would like to step further back, and
recall what we said, in 2004, as representatives of our people, in the presence
of our friends from the rest of the world, convened at our seat of government
the Union Buildings in Tshwane on Freedom Day, the 10th
anniversary of our liberation, and participated in the Inauguration of the
President of the Republic, whom our Parliament had chosen, respecting the will
of the people democratically demonstrated during the 2004 elections.
On that occasion we said in part:
“For
too long our country contained within it and represented much that is ugly and
repulsive in human society…
“It
was a place in which to be born black was to inherit a lifelong curse. It was a
place in which to be born white was to carry a permanent burden of fear and
hidden rage…
“It
was a place in which squalor, the stench of poverty, the open sewers, the
decaying rot, the milling crowds of wretchedness, the unending images of a
landscape strewn with carelessly abandoned refuse, assumed an aspect that
seemed necessary to enhance the beauty of another world of tidy streets, and
wooded lanes, and flowers’ blossoms offsetting the green and singing grass, and
birds and houses fit for kings and queens, and lyrical music, and love.
“It
was a place in which to live in some places was to invite others to prey on you
or to condemn oneself to prey on others, guaranteed neighbours who could not
but fall victim to alcohol and drug stupors that would dull the pain of living,
who knew that their lives would not be normal without murder in their midst,
and rape and brutal personal wars without a cause.
“It
was a place in which to live in other neighbourhoods was to enjoy safety and
security because to be safe was to be protected by high walls, electrified
fences, guard dogs, police patrols and military regiments ready to defend those
who were our masters, with guns and tanks and aircraft that would rain death on
those who would disturb the peace of the masters…
“We
have gathered here today, on Freedom Day, because in time, our people, together
with the billions of human beings across the globe, who are our
comrades-in-arms and whom our distinguished guests represent, decided to say –
an end to all that! …
“We
are greatly encouraged that our General Elections of a fortnight ago confirmed
the determination of all our people, regardless of race, colour and ethnicity, to work together to build a
“None
of the great social problems we have to solve is capable of resolution outside
the context of the creation of jobs and the alleviation and eradication of
poverty. This relates to everything, from the improvement of the health of our
people, to reducing the levels of crime, raising the levels of literacy and numeracy, and opening the doors of learning and culture to
all…
“We
pledge to all the heroes and heroines who sacrificed for our freedom, as well
as to you, our friends from the rest of the world, that we will never betray
the trust you bestowed on us when you helped to give us the possibility to
transform South Africa into a democratic, peaceful, non-racial, non-sexist and
prosperous country, committed to the noble vision of human solidarity.
“The
work to create that
Fifty years before, as they prepared to convene the Congress of
the People, which adopted the Freedom Charter, the patriots of the day had
said, “Let us speak together, all of us together – African and European, Indian
and Coloured … all the people of South Africa …Let us speak together of
freedom. And of the happiness that can come to men and women if they live in a
land that is free”.
We must today renew our pledge, to speak together of freedom, to
act in partnership to realise the happiness for all that should come with
liberty, to
work together to build a South Africa defined by a common dream, to say, together,
in action – enough of everything that made our country to contain within it and
represent much that is ugly and repulsive in human society!
We must continue to respond to the perspective we spoke of as the
present government began its term of office, fully conscious that “none of the great
social problems we have to solve is capable of resolution outside the context
of the creation of jobs and the alleviation and eradication of poverty”, and therefore that “the struggle to eradicate
poverty has been and will continue to be a central part of the national effort
to build the new South Africa”.
Responding to the imperative to move forward as quickly as
possible to build the South Africa defined by a common dream, our government
committed itself, working with all South Africans, to implement detailed
programmes intended:
·
to raise the rate of investment in the First Economy;
·
to reduce the cost of doing business in our country;
·
to promote the growth of the small and medium business
sector;
·
to speed up the process of skills development;
·
to improve our export performance, focussing on
services and manufactured goods;
·
to increase spending on scientific research and
development;
·
to implement detailed programmes to respond to the
challenges of the Second Economy;
·
to implement programmes to ensure broad-based black
economic empowerment;
·
to continue with programmes to build a social security
net to meet the objectives of poverty alleviation;
·
to expand access to such services as water,
electricity and sanitation;
·
to improve the health profile of the nation as a
whole;
·
to intensify the housing programme;
·
to implement additional measures to open wider the
doors of learning and of culture;
·
to improve the safety and security of all citizens and
communities;
·
to ensure that the public sector discharges its
responsibilities as a critical player in the growth, reconstruction and
development of our country;
·
to accelerate the process of renewal of the African
continent; and
·
increasingly to contribute to the resolution of major
questions facing peoples of the world.
Madame Speaker and Chairperson;
I am happy to report that with regard to each of these
commitments, government remains hard at work to ensure that the nation’s
objectives are met.
At an average of over 4,5%, the rate of
growth of our economy over the past two and half years has been at its highest
since we attained our democracy in 1994. Investment in the economy, by both the
public and private sectors has been increasing at about 11%, with overall
public sector infrastructure spending increasing by an annual average of 15,8%. Today, fixed investment as a percentage of Gross
Domestic Product – at about 18,4% – is at its highest
since 1991.
The number of employed people has been increasing at about
half-a-million a year in the past 3 years.
We have seen steady progress in the advancement of Black people in
the economy. From owning just over 3% of the market capitalisation of the JSE
in 2004, this has increased to close on to 5%; and the proportion of Blacks in
top management has grown from 24% of the total to 27%. Yet we must remain
concerned that these figures are still woefully low.
The advances in the economy have thrown up major challenges for
all of us. The massive and sustained increase in consumer demand reflects a
healthy growth in levels of prosperity across the population; and the major
infrastructure projects that we are embarking on demand massive input of
supplies and machinery.
But our international trade balance shows that we have not
succeeded in building the capacity to produce the consumer and capital goods
that our country needs. While household debt has increased broadly at the same
rate as growth in income, the fact that South Africans are saving less means
that we have to depend on savings from other nations. The continuing occasional
volatility of our currency has also not boded well for our export industries.
Over the past three years, the economy has created some
one-and-half million jobs. It is encouraging that in the year March 2005 to
March 2006 alone, 300 000 of the jobs created were in the formal sector outside
of agriculture, representing a growth rate of about 4%.
A small part of these are the permanent job opportunities created
through the Expanded Public Works Programme. But there is no question that this
programme can and must be ratcheted upwards quite significantly. There is also
no question that we can do much better to create self-employment through small
and micro-enterprises. And given that a large majority of the unemployed are
youth, we can do much better in terms of such interventions as the National
Youth Service and the development of young entrepreneurs.
It is a matter of pride that, in line with our commitment to build
a caring society, we have since 2004 improved service provision and other
aspects of the social wage. While beneficiaries of social grants numbered about
8 million in 2004, today 11 million poor South Africans have access to these
grants. It is encouraging that the rates of increase in uptake have, in the
recent period, been within manageable ranges, as the programmes reach maturity.
This will ensure sustainability, and employment of more government resources to
provide economic services to create more jobs and business opportunities.
The housing programme has seen close to 300 000 new subsidies
allocated in the past two years. However, as we sought to improve quality and
develop plans for those who are being missed by the public and private sector
programmes currently under way, the pace of roll-out has been much slower than
we expected. We must act to change this situation.
As Honourable members are aware, we have over the past few years
developed and started implementing various programmes aimed at improving
passenger transport. These include the taxi recapitalisation programme and provincial
initiatives such as the Moloto Rail Corridor in
These and many other initiatives form part of a comprehensive
passenger transport strategy, combining both road and rail. We will attend to
the urgent implementation of these programmes to improve the quality of life of
especially the working people.
Access to electricity, water and sanitation has improved. By 2005,
“…
We should indeed celebrate this great achievement. But it is a
fact that 8 million people are still without potable water. Many more are
without electricity and sanitation.
We are proud that within one year, we have been able to reduce the
backlog in the eradication of the bucket system in established settlements by
almost half. We are on course to put an end to this dehumanising system in
these areas by the end of this year.
We will continue to confront these challenges so as to erase in
our country that which is ugly and repulsive so that together we can speak of
freedom and the happiness that comes with liberty.
An examination of education and skills acquisition shows
improvement of quite a high base by 2004, though at a slow pace. This applies
to literacy levels, gross school enrolment and tertiary participation rates.
The fluctuating Matric pass rates do indicate that
much more needs to be done to stabilise the system and ensure steady improvement.
At the same time, the number of Matric students who
pass Mathematics at the higher grade is only slightly better than in 1995. We
also continue to show weaknesses in implementing the Adult Basic Education
programme.
While the land restitution programme has resulted in more
settlements in the recent period, we still need to put in extra effort in
dealing with remaining cases, many of which are much more complex. On the other
hand, very little progress has been made in terms of land redistribution. We
will undertake a careful review of the inhibiting factors so that this
programme is urgently speeded up.
All these economic and social programmes form part of our
strategies to reduce and eradicate the poverty that continues to afflict many
of our people. The work done during the course of last year, by women through
the South African Women in Dialogue working with various government
departments, including a visit to countries such as Tunisia and Chile where
great progress has been made in dealing with poverty, does point to some
defects in our systems in this regard. >From the experience of this
delegation it is clear that we must among other things:
This will ensure the systematic linkage of beneficiaries of social
assistance to municipal services and work opportunities, continuously focused
on the task to ensure that as many of our people as possible graduate out of
dependence on social grants and enter the labour market. In the meantime, we
will continue to explore new initiatives which will progressively improve the
social wage.
A critical leg of these social interventions should be the
intensification of joint efforts among all South Africans to improve social
cohesion.
In this year of the 60th anniversary of the Doctors
Pact of leaders of African and Indian communities (AB Xuma,
GM Naicker and Yusuf Dadoo), the 30th anniversary of the murder of
Steve Biko and the 20th anniversary of the
visit to Dakar by Afrikaner intellectuals to meet the ANC, the issue of our
variety of identities and the overarching sense of belonging to South Africa
needs to be better canvassed across society, in a manner that strengthens our
unity as a nation. Further, on this the 30th anniversary of the
banning of The World and The Weekend World newspapers, we are duty-bound to ask
the question - have we all fully internalised our responsibility in building
social cohesion and promoting a common sense of belonging, reinforcing the glue
that holds our nation together!
In other words, measures required to improve social cohesion
cannot be undertaken by government alone. We must together as South Africans
speak of freedom from want and from moral decay, and work to attain the
happiness that comes with it.
Madame Speaker and Chairperson;
I am certain that we shall all agree that working together to
achieve the happiness that comes with freedom applies equally to the challenge
of dealing with crime. In the 1994 RDP White Paper we said:
“Promoting peace and security will involve all people. It will
build on and expand the national drive for peace and combat the endemic
violence faced by communities…with special attention to the various forms of
violence to which women are subjected…
“Peace and political stability are also central to the
government’s efforts to create an enabling environment to encourage
investment…Decisive action will be taken to eradicate lawlessness, drug
trafficking, gun running, crime and especially the abuse of women and
children.”
Certainly, we cannot erase that which is ugly and repulsive and
claim the happiness that comes with freedom if communities live in fear,
closeted behind walls and barbed wire, ever anxious in their houses, on the
streets and on our roads, unable freely to enjoy our public spaces. Obviously,
we must continue and further intensify the struggle against crime.
While we have already surpassed that targeted figure of 152 000
police officers employed in the South African Police Service, and while we have
improved the training programme, we recognise the fact that the impact of this
is not yet high enough for everybody to feel a better sense of safety and
security. While we have reduced the incidence of most contact crimes, the
annual reduction rate with regard to such categories as robbery, assault and
murder is still below the 7-10% that we had targeted. And the abuse of women
and children continues at an unacceptable level.
The increase in the incidence of particular crimes during the
security workers’ strike should have brought home to all of us the fact that
the security industry cannot be handled simply as a private affair of the
private sector. Quite clearly the regulatory system that we have in place is
inadequate. This applies to such issues as wage levels, personnel vetting
systems, enforcement of guidelines on cash-delivery vehicles, and so on.
This is a matter that we shall review during the course of the
year, so that, in addition to improving the work of the police, we can together
with the private security industry create an environment in which the security
expectations of the public, in which huge resources are expended, are actually
met.
We will also continue to put more effort into improving the
functioning of our courts, to increase the rate of reduction in case backlogs.
And we will ensure that decisions to expand the Correctional Services infrastructure, improve the management of Border Control as
well as the immigration and documentation services, among others, are
implemented.
Many of the weaknesses in improving services to the population
derive in part from inadequate capacity and systems to monitor implementation.
As such, in the period leading up to 2009, the issue of the organisation and
capacity of the state will remain high on our agenda.
What has emerged, among others, as a critical area for strategic
intervention is the content of training that public servants
receive in various institutions and the role of the SA Management Development
Institute (SAMDI) which in actual fact should be the major service provider
including in the mass induction of public servants.
Compliance levels within departments, in relation to public service
and finance management legislation, have been somewhat mixed. Obviously this
cannot be allowed to continue, even if we take into account the correct
observation that auditing requirements at national and provincial levels have
become more stringent. In this regard, the application of the performance
agreement system particularly for senior management is crucial.
Programmes to improve the capacity of our local government system
continue apace. Immediately after the March 2006 local government elections,
induction programmes were conducted, taking into account that 62% of the mayors
are new.
What is of concern, though, is that in many of these
municipalities, many vacancies remain or have emerged in senior management and
the professions. For instance, in September last year, 27% of municipalities
did not have municipal managers; in the
We continue to respond to these challenges and will undertake all
necessary tasks, informed by our Five Year Local Government Strategic Agenda,
which includes hands-on assistance to municipalities by national and provincial
structures, the deployment of skilled personnel including professional
volunteers from the public, and strengthening the Ward Committees – 80% of
which have been established across the country.
The programme to align planning instruments across the spheres of
government (that is, the National Spatial Development Perspective, Provincial
Growth and Development Strategies and Integrated Development Plans) is
continuing, with pilot projects for complete alignment being run in 13 of our
districts and metros. These pilot projects should be completed by the end of
this year.
It is a matter of proud record that over half of the districts and
metros have held their Growth and Development Summits, and the rest intend to
complete this process by the end of February. This will lay the basis for
co-operation among all social partners in speeding up local economic
development.
Honourable Members;
I would like to take advantage of this occasion to express my
gratitude to Deputy President Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka for the inspiring leadership she has given to
the implementation of the Accelerated and Shared Growth Initiative (AsgiSA), working with the Ministers and Premiers who
constitute the Task Team, concretely addressing very specific issues that need
to be done to ensure higher rates of investment and labour-absorption, as well
as matters pertaining to skills development and the efficiency of the state
system. We highly appreciate the contribution of all Members of the Executive and
our public service managers, across the three spheres of government, in leading
this process and in implementing the government programme as a whole. This is
central to our efforts to erase that which is ugly and repulsive in our society
so that we can speak of freedom and the happiness that comes with liberty.
In this regard, in order further to speed up the implementation of
AsgiSA, over and above the multi-year programmes
announced in the recent past, government will this year:
·
complete the process of reviewing the country’s experience in the articulation
among such macro-economic indicators as the Exchange Rate, inflation and
interest rates, so as to put in place measures that will facilitate the growth
of industries which produce tradables for both the
domestic and export markets, and have the potential to absorb large pools of
semi-skilled workers;
·
in line with the National Industrial Policy Framework
which has now been completed, we will:
o intensify
implementation of customised sector measures to facilitate investments in
Business Process Outsourcing, tourism, bio-fuels and chemicals, and finalise
practical programmes for forestry and paper, clothing and textiles, metals and
engineering;
o develop
an overarching strategy to prioritise key interventions in mining and mineral
beneficiation, agriculture and agro-processing, the white goods sector,
creative industries, community and social services and pharmaceuticals. This
must include a determined drive to increase our national capacity to produce
capital goods. With regard to mineral beneficiation for instance, we will set
up a State Diamond Trader that will purchase 10% of diamonds from local
producers and sell them to local cutters and producers. We are happy that
DeBeers has agreed to assist free of charge with management, technical skills
and asset provision for a period of three years;
o develop
programmes to facilitate investments in sectors along the supply chain for our
infrastructure programmes, including capital goods in ICT, transport and
energy: with regard to energy, we will also expedite our work to ensure greater
reliance on nuclear power generation, natural gas and the various forms of
renewable sources of energy. With regard to communications, I am pleased to
announce that the Department of Communications together with the mobile
telephone companies and Telkom are finalising plans
to address call termination rates this year for the benefit of all consumers.
In addition, Telkom will apply a special low rate for
international bandwidth to 10 development call centres each employing 1000
persons, as part of the effort to expand the BPO sector. These centres will be
established in areas identified by government. The special rate will be
directly comparable to those for the same service and capacity per month
offered in any of the comparable countries.
·
We will also take a variety of steps to
improve competition in the economy, among others to lower the cost of doing
business and promote investment, including practical introduction of the
Regulatory Impact Assessment (RIA) system, developing high-speed national and
international broadband capacity, finalising the plan to improve the capacity
of the rail and port operators, and strengthening the effectiveness of our
competition authorities.
The progress we have made with regard to the recapitalisation of
Further Education and Training (FET) Colleges has created the possibility for
us significantly to expand the number of available artisans. Starting this
year, resources will be allocated to provide financial assistance to trainees
in need, who enter these institutions. At the same time, we shall urgently
resolve the issue of responsibilities between the national and provincial
spheres in the management of the FET system. We do hope that our efforts to
promote this area of opportunity will help send the message especially to our
young people, that artisan skills are as critical for economic growth as other
levels of qualification.
After intense interaction between government and leaders of our
universities, agreement has been reached and decisions taken on the resources
required to ensure that the skills in short supply are provided.
In this regard, we wish to commend the role played by the Joint Initiative
on Skills Acquisition (JIPSA), which brings together government, business,
labour, training institutes and others.
As the Honourable Members know, we have also significantly
increased the number of non-fee paying schools.
In carrying out this infrastructure and other programmes we will
be informed by our commitment to ensure that the 2010 FIFA World Cup is the
best ever. We wish in this regard to congratulate our Local Organising
Committee (LOC) and other partners for the sterling work they are doing.
Quite clearly, in order to ensure that all South Africans enjoy
the happiness that comes with a growing economy, these and other measures will
need to be accompanied by an intensified programme to address challenges in the
Second Economy. Because of this, during the course of this year, we will
among other things:
·
take further practical action to improve access to micro-finance including the
reach of the Apex Fund (SAMAF) and the agricultural
micro-credit fund (MAFISA);
·
ensure the proper functioning of the Small Enterprises Development Agency,
SEDA;
·
process the Companies Bill, adopted for public comment by Cabinet last
Wednesday, as part of the battery of measures to reduce the regulatory burden
on small, medium and micro-enterprises and to empower minority
shareholders and employees;
·
having surpassed the 10 000 target we set ourselves, we will increase the
number of young people engaged in the National Youth Service by at least 20 000
through 18 of our departments which have already developed plans in this
regard, enrol 30 000 young volunteers in community development initiatives, and
employ 5 000 young people as part of the Expanded Public Works Programme in the
maintenance of government buildings;
·
intensify efforts to integrate youth development into the mainstream of
government work, including a youth co-operatives programme, and the ongoing
efforts to link unemployed graduates with employment opportunities – and in
this regard we wish to thank the many companies, public and private, big and
small, which have responded in a splendid and practical manner to this
initiative; and,
·
start implementing the Communal Land Rights Act in order to improve economic
utilisation of communal land, while at the same time expanding assistance such
as irrigation, seeds and implements to small and co-operative farmers.
Honourable Members;
The economic programmes to which we have referred form part of the
concerted drive in which all of
In order to improve on the social programmes that we have
implemented over the years, we aim this year to complete the work already
started to reform our system of social security so that phased implementation
can start as early as possible. A critical part of this reform will be the task
of repairing a defect identified in the 2002 Report of the Committee of Inquiry
into a Comprehensive System of Social Security in
This will mean that all South Africans will enjoy membership of a
common, administratively efficient social insurance system, while those earning
higher incomes will be able to continue contributing to private retirement and
insurance schemes. In the discussions thus far conducted within government,
consensus is emerging that elements of this system would need to include:
·
continuation of the minimum benefits contained in our
social grants system with the benefits paid through a modern administrative
system;
·
a wage subsidy for low-wage employees, possibly
directed at first entrants into the job market, especially young people; and
·
a social security tax to finance basic retirement
savings, death, disability and unemployment benefits.
The Minister of Finance will further elaborate on these issues in
the Budget Speech. What we should underline though is that in finishing the new
social security dispensation, government will undertake a comprehensive process
of consultation with all social partners both individually and through NEDLAC.
In addition, we have also started examining measures to reach
vulnerable children over the age of 14 years.
Our programme in the social sector for this year will also
include:
·
speeding up of the construction of low-cost housing which will require the
urgent establishment of a Special Purpose Vehicle to handle finances, piloting
of the Land Use Management Bill and ensuring that the remaining elements of the
much-delayed agreement with the private sector on low-cost housing are
finalised;
·
speeding up the implementation of the taxi recapitalisation project,
implementing detailed plans for passenger rail and road transport including the
Bus Rapid Transit System in the Metros and recapitalisation of Metrorail: and in this regard, let me take this opportunity
to emphasise that government and our partners in SANTACO will not be bullied
into abandoning the taxi recapitalisation project, and any attempts to
undermine public order in pursuit of selfish interests will be dealt with
accordingly;
·
expanding access to Early Childhood Development both as part of the programme
to improve the general education system and as part of the Expanded Public
Works Programme;
·
expanding training and employment of nurses and social workers as well as auxiliaries,
increasing the number of training institutions, improving the quality of
training, and instituting a bursary system;
·
continuing with the implementation of the remuneration dispensation for medical
professionals, and providing additional resources further to improve the
remuneration levels of teachers;
·
ensuring the implementation, without further delay, of measures to reduce the
cost of medicines; and
·
continuing work to address especially the various non-natural causes of death
in our society as well as lifestyle diseases, malaria, the various strains of
TB, road accidents and violent crime.
In this regard, government commits itself to intensify the
campaign against HIV and AIDS and to improve its implementation of all elements
of the comprehensive approach such as prevention, home-based care and
treatment. We shall ensure that the partnerships built over the years are
strengthened, and that our improved national comprehensive strategy against
AIDS and sexually transmitted infections is finalised as soon as possible.
This year we shall complete concrete plans on implementation of
the final stages of our programmes to meet the targets for universal access to
water in 2008, sanitation in 2010 and electricity in 2012. We shall also
finalise the strategy and programmes to address matters of social cohesion,
including the comprehensive and integrated anti-poverty strategy we have
mentioned, as well as address issues pertaining to national unity, value
systems and identity.
All these efforts, Madame Speaker and Chairperson, must go hand in hand with a sustained drive to improve
community safety and security. In this regard, government will ensure that the
decisions already taken about strengthening our fight against crime are effectively
implemented. The challenge that we face in addressing this issue has little to
do with policies.
Rather, what is required is effective
organisation, mobilisation and leadership of the mass of law-enforcement,
intelligence and corrections officers, and functionaries of the justice system.
The overwhelming majority of these public servants have proven over and over
again in actual practice that they are prepared to put their lives on the line
and to sacrifice even the little quality time they could have with their
families, in defence of our freedom and our security.
In addition to the many ongoing programmes that we have been
implementing, government will this year:
·
continue to improve the remuneration and working conditions of the police, and
start the process of further expanding the personnel of the South African
Police Service to bring their total number to over 180 000 within three years,
and ensure optimal utilisation of the electronic monitoring and evaluation
system that has just been introduced;
·
bring to full capacity the forensic laboratories which have been equipped with
the latest technology, and ensure the optimum utilisation of the finger-print
database – indeed, many of the recent successes in solving serious crime incidents
have been facilitated by these systems;
·
bring the operations of the Department of Home Affairs to full capacity, by
filling vacant posts, improving systems and implementing other recommendations
of the Task Team that has been working with the Minister to improve the work of
this vital institution;
·
implement the recommendations of the Khampepe
Commission on the mandate and operations of the
Directorate of Special Operations (Scorpions);
·
start the process of further modernising the systems of the South African
Revenue Services, especially in respect of border control, and improve the work
of the inter-departmental co-ordinating structures in this regard;
·
intensify intelligence work with regard to organised crime, building on the
successes that have been achieved in the last few months in dealing with
cash-in-transit heists, drug trafficking and poaching of game and abalone;
·
utilise to maximum effect the new technology that has been provided to the
justice system and generally improve management of the courts and the
prosecution service, in order massively to reduce case backlogs;
·
finalise remaining elements of measures to transform the judiciary and improve
its functioning, in consultation with this eminent institution of our
democracy;
·
implement the programmes decided upon to build more corrections facilities and
realise the objectives of the White Paper on Corrections;
·
continue with the processes further to capacitate our intelligence agencies,
and ensure that at all times they operate within the framework of our
Constitution and laws; and
·
improve our analysis of crime trends to improve our performance with regard
both to crime prevention and crime combating. In this regard, we must respond
to the cold reality that, as in other countries, the overwhelming majority of
violent crimes against the person occur in the most socio-economically deprived
areas of our country and require strong and sustained community interventions
focused on crime prevention.
As we have already said, these and other measures will succeed
only if we build an enduring partnership in actual practice within our
communities and between the communities and the police, to make life more and
more difficult for the criminals.
In this regard, we are heartened by the resolve shown by leaders
of the business and religious communities further to strengthen such
partnerships on the ground, and to give of their time and resources to
strengthen the fight against crime. Government will play its part to ensure
that these partnerships actually work, and that we all act together to
discharge the responsibility to protect our citizens.
I should mention in this regard that the Ministry of Safety and
Security and the Police Service are working on proposals further to improve the
functioning and effectiveness of the vitally important Community Police Forums.
Madame Speaker and Chairperson;
Further to improve its service to the people, government should
optimise its capacity and organisational efficiency. To achieve these
objectives, we will during the course of this year:
·
strengthen monitoring and evaluation capacity across all the spheres, including
training of managers responsible for the implementation of this system;
·
complete, within the next 18 months, legislation on a single public service and
relevant norms and standards, remuneration policy and matters pertaining to
medical aid and pensions;
·
intensify outreach and awareness on issues of national spatial development,
while increasing the number of municipalities involved in the harmonisation of
planning instruments across the three spheres;
·
conduct capacity assessments and implement interventions in Provincial
Departments responsible for local government, as well as the Offices of the
Premiers, while continuing to improve the capacity of our national departments;
·
while intensifying the public sector and national anti-corruption campaign,
complete by the end of the year the process further to improve the
effectiveness of our anti-corruption strategies for all spheres of government;
·
roll out the Batho Pele
campaign at local government level, intensify outreach activities including izimbizo and set up more Multi-Purpose Community Centres
beyond the 90 currently operational; and,
·
further capacitate and provide more support to the
institution of traditional leadership.
Improving
governance also means having a sound statistical database about social dynamics
within our nation. In this regard, two major surveys will be undertaken in
2007. As of two days ago 6 000 field workers from Statistics South Africa
have gone out across our country to collect information on 280 000 households
chosen to participate in a Community Survey, which will give government as
accurate as possible a snapshot of the circumstances of citizens in every part
of the country.
In
October another 30 000 individuals in 8 000 households will be selected to
participate in
Madame Speaker and Chairperson:
Among the greatest achievements of the peoples of
We will continue to work with the sister people of the DRC, as
well as
However, while we are fully justified in celebrating the
achievements that
Our government will respond appropriately and as our capacity
permits, to the call of the African Union for assistance to the people and
government of
This year the African Peer Review Forum will complete its review
of our country. I wish to take this opportunity to thank our legislators,
government Ministers and departments, our civil society organisations and
society at large for the contribution they made to an exercise that was as
challenging as it was unique for our young democracy. We will also take the
necessary steps to implement the required programme of action that will emerge
as a result of the peer review process.
Similarly, we will continue to work with the rest of our continent
and our development partners to speed up the implementation of the NEPAD
programmes.
Just over a month ago,
In this regard we will also continue to engage the leaders of the
peoples of
We shall also continue to strengthen our relations with other
countries on the continent, our partners in
One of the critical questions that we shall pursue in this regard
is the speedy resumption of the Doha Development Round of WTO negotiations. We
are convinced that solutions to the logjams currently being experienced can be
found, and that it is in the long-term interest of developed and developing
countries alike that these talks should reach fruition.
Madame Speaker, Chairperson and Honourable
Members;
Since the popular mandate of 2004, we have made welcome progress
in further changing
But the message that our collective experience communicates to all
of us is that, working together, we can and shall succeed in meeting the common
objective we have set ourselves as a nation - to build a better life for all,
in a country that no longer contains within it and represent much that is ugly and
repulsive in human society.
We should today, even more confidently, speak together of freedom.
We should dare to act in concert to pursue the “happiness that can come to men
and women if they live in a land that is free”.
We are not there yet. But no one, except ourselves,
shall ensure that this dream is realised. And so, let us roll up our sleeves
and get down to work, fully understanding that the task to build the
Thank you.