ADDRESS BY PREMIER
Comrade Master of ceremonies
Members of the Provincial Executive Committee
ANC delegates to the Lekgotla,
Comrades, leaders and delegates of the Women's and Youth Leagues,
The South African Communist Party,
The Congress of South African Trade Unions,
The South African National Civic Organisation and other organisations of the mass Democratic movement,
Distinguished guests.
We meet here today a few months before the 90 th anniversary of our movement the African National Congress. This year, the year of the African Century also marks the 40 th anniversary of our liberation army Umkhonto we Sizwe.
We should, as a movement, start now making preparations for both anniversaries. We also take this opportunity to lower our banners in memory of outstanding comrades who passed away during this past year. They include Solly Maseko, Mthunzi Vilakazi, Star Choma, Christine Methule and many others.
Comrades, we meet a few weeks after the people of this province again expressed their faith in the ANC by voting overwhelmingly for an ANC-led local government.
Allow me to use this opportunity to thank all cadres of the movement and the alliance who made this victory possible. But the biggest appreciation must go to those men and women – young and old; black and white – who once again renewed our mandate to accelerate change.
Comrades, one of the biggest challenges ahead is to ensure that the new structures of local government function properly, that they serve the people and that they do not allow for any corrupt practice.
Our structures at the metropolitan, district and local levels have to assist to ensure that the councils function effectively and efficiently.
We must do that while guarding against those who want to disrupt the work of the councils and councillors. In the past we have witnessed instances where some of our members tried to unseat councillors for purely selfish reasons.
All our structures at the local level will have to assist to ensure that we succeed to meet our commitment to our people so to organise ourselves that our mayors and councillors keep regular contact with the people to report and be accountable to them.
It will be the task of our structures at the local level to ensure that this happens. These structures will also have to work among the people to ensure they, too, support the councillors they have elected, so that these are able to carry out their own functions.
To be able to carry out this mission properly, it will be necessary that the relevant organs of our movement are fully familiar with the programmes of the councils.
This will enable them to popularise these programmes among the people, help in their implementation and assist in ensuring that the councillors account regularly for problems experienced and progress achieved.
There must be synergy in what all three spheres of government do. There must be constant cooperation and regular contact. As we gather at this provincial Lekgotla and begin our deliberations on important policies of our movement the African National Congress, let us do so fully aware that we carry with us the expectations and hopes of millions of our people.
Hope that our discussions and decisions we take here will accelerate change and improve their lives. We met here to review and discuss the implementation of resolutions we took at the NEC Lekgotla.
To judge whether such policies as we had formulated and had been implementing were correct, to assess what changes needed to be made and what gaps to be filled.
We gathered here to reflect on whether we had, in our practical behaviour, remained true to our objective of serving the interests of the people by unreservedly pursuing the goal of a better life for all.
We meet to assess our state of organisation - to see whether we were a fit instrument to discharge the responsibility of leading our country as it goes through the difficult process of social transformation.
And having made the assessment and criticised ourselves where necessary, we would then decide on the corrective measures that would need to be taken, point the way forward on our continuing march of liberation and elect a leadership we would be confident would discharge the mandate that Conference would evolve.
We kept these matters in sight because we are the ANC!
We are the ANC because we are committed to the eradication of poverty and can never say our work is done while with our own eyes we see the suffering of the rural masses and the blight of the squatter camps that surround our towns and cities. As the ANC, working with other formations, we must ensure that our people are lifted above the levels of poverty.
One of our priorities in government is to grow and expand the economy, the creation of more job opportunities and further strengthening the material base for the provision of a better life for all.
We must, as a matter of urgency, assist local government in identifying opportunities of economic development and job creation in their areas.
I believe that economic growth and human development are linked and should have the aim of achieving sustainable improvements in the quality of life of all South Africans.
Economics is about people, their work, their ownership of productive assets or lack of it, their share of what they produce, what they buy and sell, their accommodation, their recreation, in fact every element which we describe as quality of life, flows from the structure and management of the economy.
Economic growth must be sustainable, both economically and environmentally. Investment must create jobs.
There should be a strong bias towards labour intensive investment and must emphasise small business development and human resource development. Investment must contribute towards growth and development in the economy.
In our province tourism, mining and agriculture are three key factors.
Mining is a key sector for employment and foreign exchange earning. Mineral resources are inputs into many important value-adding industries.
Maximising employment in agriculture remains a key focus for ANC policy. To this end, land reforms resulting in smaller farming units will be pursued, as they are less capital intensive and will result in more jobs per unit of land.
Tourism is an important sector for job creation. It needs to be prioritized and adequately supported to enhance its performance and job creation in the economy.
The strategy to realise the potential of the tourism sector must be government led, private sector driven and community based. It must aim at creating synergies involving our districts, towns and local communities, the accommodation sector, the transport sector.
And the hospitality sector, conservation authorities and the principal provincial marketing agency the Mpumalanga Tourism Authority.
The success of growth and development must be measured also in terms of our economy's capacity to create new jobs and as far as possible safeguard existing jobs. We must also accelerate the implementation of programmes to address youth unemployment.
Together with the people, experts in the field and the leadership at local government and branches, establish committees that will work tirelessly to increase job creation opportunities locally.
These efforts will then be co-ordinated at district and inter-district council level. To this end I intend establishing an economic development think-tank in a few weeks' time.
However, these objectives cannot be achieved by the government working alone. The private sector must also be fully involved, from large to medium, small and micro enterprises.
We call on the business community and labour to respond strongly and positively to the economic challenges we face as a country and a people. We are convinced that there are many opportunities waiting to be exploited.
As the President said, we can no longer afford the hesitation we have experienced among some business people in the past with regard to raising our growth levels and the adoption of a wait-and-see attitude, driven by false and unfounded pessimism.
In order to give credence to our co-ordinated efforts we have to re-align our existing branches and regions to fall in line with the present municipal boundaries where possible and feasible.
The boundaries of ANC structures below provincial level do not presently correspond with the boundaries of local government structures, thus creating problems of coordination and accountability;
Our movement has the responsibility to transform society and ensure good governance, and that the ANC should be structured in such a manner to ensure effective coordination.
Therefore, the boundaries of our structure should correspond with those of government.
The branch is the basic unit of the movement, and has the important responsibility in local communities to mobilise people to participate in the transformation process and improve their quality of life, to explain the policies of the movement to communities and to ensure that the movement remains rooted amongst the masses of our people.
That is why it is important that we as a province should work towards the realignment of ANC structures with new municipal boundaries.
The ANC controls these municipalities providing us with an opportunity and a challenge to effectively use this sphere of government to accelerate development and transformation at local level, in line with our vision to build non-racial, non-sexist and prosperous communities.
We all agree that the branch is the basic unit of the ANC and a primary vehicle for the participation of member in the political life of the movement.
This means that we should build and strengthen our branches as agents of change and vanguards of their communities, taking up campaigns around local development and community problems.
Also to mobilise and inform communities around government programs, direct the work of local government, engage different sectors of the motive forces in their communities by strengthening the Alliance, the League.
And building local broad fronts for transformation and targeting through specific programmes the working class, the poor and most vulnerable in communities.
We believe the realignment of structures would reinforce the ability of the movement to provide leadership to local government structures and also lead our community struggles for the creation of non-racial and non-sexist communities, local economic development and a people centered and poeple driven society.
To this end we adopt the one ward one branch and one metro/district one region as the primary organisational approach, allowing for flexibility where the need arises. These demarcations should as far as possible also inform the structure of the Leagues.
We must start with that work immediately given the fact the we will be holding our provincial conference before August this year. Before our provincial conferences we must have held our regional and branch conferences.
It is rare that history gives us an opportunity and the means to truly change society. This year, fate bestowed on us with this gift. We will begin with a journey to branches and regions in order to harness the potential for realigning our branches.
As we do so let us protect and guard the precious legacy of our movement. Let us defend its unity and integrity as committed disciples of change. We must do so while pursuing its popular objectives like true revolutionaries who seek only to serve the nation.
History sits in judgment, and each one of us has a stake in the verdict. In its outcome lie the hopes of our masses and the future of our young.
What our movement needs now are comrades committed to making this the province and country of our dreams. We need comrades who are true to the dictates of the movement.
Something else comrades.
This year we have also set as a priority the establishment of an efficient and effective administration and putting in place of a financial accounting system that will also be both efficient and effective.
These are issues of governance – the manner in which government manages society. Good governance means the effective and efficient ways government does that it is mandated to do.
The aim for good governance should be to, treat everyone fairly; operate efficiently and quickly; ensure productivity and honesty.
Government must also be “customer-friendly," acting to help, not hinder; provide consistency and continuity of policies and changing only to improve.
A first task of good governance is to have strong and competent internal institutions and structures.
A corrupt and ill-equipped administration only gives life to criminality, which dampens productive activities. A weak internal revenue agency brings about more shortfalls and deficits, which impair the government's ability to improve social services.
Government indeed must undergo a continuous process of reinvention to increase its capacity. Good governance also means promoting accountability and transparency in decision making.
In the government sector, fostering efficiency and reducing corruption are basic though difficult reforms to undertake.
We must be accountable to the ruled, and the citizenry must be well informed of various views and issues for them to make rational choices.
Decision-making should be predictable, transparent and participatory. The participation of civil society groups in public affairs must be enhanced if not institutionalised.
These democratic processes are valuable in promoting government efficiency and responsiveness.
We intend intensifying our Batho Pele campaign to ensure an efficient and peopled centered public service. Particular attention will be paid during this year to improve the quality, efficiency and people-centeredness of services in all departments.
We will engage the public sectors unions on our collective role in the transformation of the state and ensure that our branches, other sectoral formations play an advocacy and supporting role to ensure the improvement and expansion of basic services.
Comrades, our central mission is the creation of a democratic, non-racial, non-sexists and prosperous South Africa. That is why we should intensify our campaigns for the deracialisation of South Africa, against racism for the creation of a non-racial society.
Campaign for the empowerment of women, against sexism and gender inequality for the creation of a non-sexist society; And for the reconstruction and development, against poverty and under development for the creation of a prosperous and equitable society.
To this end we must conduct sustained and multi-faceted programme for he building of a united and non-racial South Africa. This programme will include such facets as a mass campaign to raise public consciousness on racism.
And to encourage an atmosphere of zero tolerance of racism, tribalism and xenophobia and to unite the people of south Africa in a determined effort to end all racial disparities in our society and all manifestations of the legacy of apartheid.
We must as a movement focus on developing a common south African identity embracing all sectors of our society in the areas of heritage, culture, history, symbols, sport and the building of a new patriotism.
As a movement we must ensure that our branches and allied structure take forward the fight to protect and assert the human dignity and non-discrimination of vulnerable sectors such as children, farm and domestic workers, women, people living with HIV/AIDS, youth and the disabled.
Another campaign we should wage earnestly and with more conviction is the fight against sexism.
We must conduct a sustained campaign for gender equality based on the decisions of the 50 th National conference and the NGC to raise public consciousness on sexism and the empowerment of women.
Comrades we must encourage an atmosphere of zero tolerance of sexism and unite the people of South Africa in a determined effort to end all gender disparities in our society. We must end all manifestations of sexism arising from tradition, colonialism and apartheid.
The campaign should include facets such as raising national consciousness on gender in ANC branches,
In society and in socialising institutions such as the family, school and religious, cultural and sports formations. There needs to be a special focus on the position of the girl child and young women. We must conduct a concerted campaign against violence against women.
We must promote gender equality and the empowerment of women as a central component of the African renaissance and part of a worldwide struggle for an end to the second-class status of women.
Finally we must intensify our program for reconstruction and development and to conduct a sustained campaign against poverty and underdevelopment. These will include our campaign to ensure that we have health for all.
To this end we must provide health services, expand our primary health care to all and provide quality health care within the overall context of fighting poverty.
We must mobilise the broader sections of our society to speed up the implementation of the Five-Year Strategic Plan on HIV/AIDS, STD's and Tuberculosis.
Before I sit down allow me to touch on the following matter.
It is the task of the ANC to continuously engage in robust debate with media institutions, civil society, business people and intelligentsia regarding our vision and programme and to win over significant sections of these institutions to the values of a non-racial and non-sexist democracy.
These we must do as a united force and in alliance with our partners. We therefore have to strengthen political work by the ANC in the trade union movement, including the steps agreed on at the October 2000 NEC and through bilateral meetings with COSATU.
We must also prepare for our lekgotla with the SACP to discuss strategic questions such as the role of the SACP, the state and transformation, the relationship between the democratic state and the union movement, minimum programme of the alliance in the current phase (theory of the transition) and the role of each partner in this phase and programme.
The SACP should be requested to prepare on these issues and our political education committee to prepare papers for discussions of the PWC and PEC.
We must hold a lekgotla of the Alliance to discuss the minimum program of the alliance, the state and social transformation, the role of each partner and a review of the functioning of alliance structures.
Comrades, effectiveness and regular meetings of the alliance structures and ongoing bilateral engagements with COSATU and the SACP will lend strength to our efforts for a joint strategy in all we do.
We are looking forward to a fruitful lekgotla characterised by robust debate all aimed at making our country the best place to be. Remember it is the name of the millions who voted for the African National Congress that we are here today.
Let us protect and guard the ANC's precious legacy; defend its unity and integrity as committed disciples of change and pursue its popular objectives like true revolutionaries who seek only to serve the nation.
Amandla !