address by Hon. Premier TSP Makwetla at the Moloto Provincial Prayer day
Tweefontein, Moloto Road
12 August 2007
Master of Ceremony, Rev M A Moshaba,
His Grace, the Right Revered Leader of the Zion Christian Church, Bishop B E Lekganyane,
All Elders of the Church and its hierarchy,
The Premier of Limpopo , Hon Sello Moloto,
The Leadership of the government of Mpumalanga , both the Executive and Legislature and MP's,
Honourable Mayors and Councillors,
All political party leaders, and community leaders including those from the Labour and Business sectors,
Our revered Traditional Leaders and spiritual leaders,
The Municipality of Thembisile Hani and the District of Nkangala,
Distinguished Dignitaries,
All worshippers and followers of the phenomenal Zion Christian Church (ZCC),
Residents of Mpumalanga,
Fellow congregants.
It is with humility and a sincere sense of appreciation that I rise on behalf of our province to convey our immense gratitude to the leadership of the ZCC and its faithful members, for the privilege accorded us by convening this assembly in our province, to bring us prayers of goodwill and sympathy in the many challenges of our lives as communities.
There can be no denying the universal truth that from the beginning, in its completeness, human life arguably consists of the material and the spiritual dimensions of existence. Those who are philosophically inclined will talk about the “main questions of philosophy”, the relationship between matter and consciousness, and those who are centred by the Holy Book will refer to Deuteronomy Chapter 8 verse 3, “That man does not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the Lord…”. To be optimally mobilised, therefore, we must, of necessity, be spiritually charged.
Fellow congregants, this mass prayer meeting is to us in government even more inspiring because it is a partnership with a faith-based organisation of long-standing within the African Independent Churches, which were established as a significant movement of political protest, a response of the African masses to the process of colonial expansion, towards the end of the 19th Century South Africa.
Whereas in the past white pressure led Africans to offer resistance by appealing to ancestral spirits, these new churches signified the usage of a new tool in the struggle for freedom: the use of a Christian framework to express African equality in the age of white domination.
Today we have descended on this area from far away places across our country, to pray for an end to the human carnage besetting the now widely known Moloto Road , dubbed "The Road of Death".
We indeed bring prayers to comfort the many families who have lost their loved ones on this road over time, to soothe their wounds, and offer them our support. But we are also here to pray so that lives can be saved. It is our hope that this mass prayer meeting will also assist to generate broad awareness that will help us turn the corner in the protracted challenge to make Moloto Road a safe and secure road for road-users.
As a province we have undertaken decisive interventions to tame the Moloto Road . In the period between November 2001 and June 2006, we spent a total of R281million to widen the entire Mpumalanga section of the Moloto Road . In the process we also constructed 22 public stop stations for taxis and buses along the road.
However, much more work still needs to be done, including intense public communication to get the cooperation and participation of everybody to turn the improvements made on the road into a commensurate benefit to the community. The biggest challenge is to change the culture and behaviour of our road users, especially drivers.
One of the problems we must be determined to work on is the change of mindsets. We must inculcate the culture of courtesy and calmness among our drivers towards other road-users; a high voluntary compliance level to road regulations such as not cutting corners when procuring drivers licences, abstaining from drinking and driving, be a disciplined driver, don't violate every rule in the book, always keep left and pass right, don't hog the road. These basics and others will help us get somewhere in our desire to bring an end to these premature senseless deaths.
It is our intention to drive the ‘Moloto Road Safety Plan' as a special project and we need community awareness and participation. We seek to achieve dedicated attention of all drivers when entering Moloto Road and for the duration of their stay on it, to exercise special vigilance. To this effect we intend increasing signage and information along the road and dedicated law enforcement.
Further infrastructure work to minimise the chances for accidents is in the pipeline. This includes the construction of pedestrian overhead bridges and the fencing of the road from pedestrians and live-stock. The CSIR is busy designing that customised fence for us.
Fellow congregants, all the above interventions notwithstanding, the problem of Moloto Road is a problem of untenable volumes of traffic this road carries between this place and Pretoria every day of every working week. It is comforting that we have all come to the acceptance that relying on road transport only to provide for human movement to Pretoria and back everyday is not sustainable. Hence both the Province and National Government have agreed on laying a railway line parallel to Moloto Road as a long-term solution and part of developing a comprehensive integrated public transport system which incorporates different transport modes for different destinations which inter-connect with one another.
The planned Moloto Rail Development Corridor has been registered as the Province's only ASGI-SA project to create jobs on a massive scale for economic benefit to the area. While addressing public transport needs, this infrastructure investment should serve as a key lever for stimulating regional and local economic activity that will reduce poverty in this economically depressed part of our Province, as one of our ‘Big 5' provincial flagship projects.
This project will also improve regional accessibility and linkages, and broaden economic development and investment activities along the corridor. The projections show that a substantial number of jobs will be created and prospects to change the profile of the Thembisile and Dr JS Moroka municipalities are convincing.
Ladies and Gentlemen, fellow congregants, the success of all the work I have enumerated, will to a large measure depend on our attitude towards labour as communities and as a society. Only if we have a healthy sense of the place labour occupies in our desire to see development in our country, will we succeed. For as long as more people are tempted to seek quick riches without regard for how much they put into their successes, these challenges and more will elude. We must inculcate values of social accountability, dignity and integrity.
In this respect, this institution, the ZCC, has over many years become a reputable brand that enjoys the admiration and respect of all South Africans. The moral uprightness of its millions of members, their spirit of hard work and belief in earning through an honest day's labour is legendary.
In this regard, the edifying words of His Grace Bishop Lekganyane in his Easter Message to the country, when he said, none and no-one within the ZCC must think they can commit criminal activities with the hope that they can come and receive blessings from the Church and have their sins forgiven. But, to the contrary, those who entertain such foolhardiness, can only draw the wrath of the Church and the Almighty to themselves.
The government alone cannot eradicate the national scourge of crime and criminality. It is for that reason that the Government in Mpumalanga values the partnership it enjoys with the ZCC in tackling these challenges.
Members of the public must continue to support Community Policing Forums and the police in the battle to take back our streets and cities in preparation for 2010 and beyond. We have done it before, no-one must make us believe that it will not happen.
With respect to the challenge confronting us today, to end the bloodbath on the Moloto Road, we must go back and build a strong partnership between drivers, passengers, transport operators, the local municipality, the taxi associations, faith-based organisations, provincial government, pedestrians, shebeen owners and everybody else to change this environment.
In conclusion, as we pray today, let us also keep on our thoughts those citizens in our province and beyond who were recently victims of the runaway veld fires which left many parts of the Province resembling a wasteland.
For all the work before us, and the many overwhelming national challenges of our country, we plead for God and the gods' intervention, we pray for rain and peace.
We thank you for coming.
May God Bless You.