Hon. Premier DD Mabuza's Address at the Opening of the Mpumalanga
19 March 2010
Honourable Chairperson of the Provincial House of
Traditional Leaders, Ikosi SE Mahlangu
Honourable Chairperson of the National House of Traditional
Leaders, Hosi Kutama
Members of the National and Provincial Houses of Traditional
Leaders
Members of the Executive Council
IziNgwenyama namaKhosi
Bayete!
Your Excellencies, Traditional Leaders from our sister
Provinces, i.e
Esteemed guests
Ladies and gentlemen
I am honoured to be part of this important occasion
marking the opening of the Mpumalanga House of Traditional
Leaders. The annual opening of this Esteemed always
reminds us of our collective leadership responsibility to
advance socio-economic development and quality service delivery
to ensure that the lives of ordinary citizens in our Province
change for the better.
Chairperson, within two days, we will be commemorating
Human Rights Day Today to remember the 1960 Sharpeville massacre
in which more than 60 people were brutally murdered by the
apartheid police during a peaceful protest against the
imposition of pass laws.
We will be honouring many heroes and heroines in the
history of our liberation struggle who sacrificed their lives in
the fight against gross violations of basic human rights by the
repressive apartheid government.
For many South Africans, the liberation struggle was a
quest towards creating a rights-based society underpinned by
core values that promote the enjoyment of democratic freedoms,
justice for all, human dignity and the progressive realization
of socio-economic rights.
As we commemorate Human Rights Day, we must pay homage
to the generation of traditional leaders who fought fiercely
against colonialism and apartheid subjugation. Their
contribution will remain an indelible legacy that must continue
to inspire the current generation of traditional leaders to
advance the ideals of a human rights-based society, free from
the tyranny of poverty, social deprivation, crime and violence
against women and children.
On this important occasion of the opening of the House,
we must be reminded of our obligation to promote a rights-based
society that protects the enjoyment of socio-economic rights and
human liberties.
Traditional leaders should be reminded of their duty
towards building a moral and caring society, conscious of its
obligations to uphold the core values of respect for human
rights, human dignity and the enjoyment of human liberties
guaranteed by our constitution.
Once again, today’s opening of the Provincial House of
Traditional Leaders reminds us of our collective obligation to
address poverty and underdevelopment challenges that continue
confront the people of the Province, especially those living in
rural areas under the jurisdiction of traditional leaders.
For many poor citizens, 16 years of democracy have come
and gone without the enjoyment of socio-economic rights
guaranteed by the Constitution. For them, the realization of
socio-economic rights remains an elusive dream as they continue
to be subjected to the indignity of poverty and deprivation.
This is the reality that continues to face us as
leaders. This is the reality that must instill a sense of
urgency and galvanise our collective leadership resolve and
commitment to respond to the plight of the poorest of the poor.
As government, we remain committed towards
strengthening effective partnerships with the institution of
traditional leadership to promote development and service
delivery in areas under the jurisdiction of traditional leaders.
We are grateful that, over the years, the leadership of the
Provincial House of Traditional Leadership has worked in
collaboration with government to entrench the critical role of
traditional leadership institutions in our local governance
system.
Within the purview of our democratic system of local
government, we should continue to create space for the
meaningful participation of traditional leadership institutions
in development planning and service delivery programmes of
government. Municipalities must ensure that traditional leaders
participate and provide critical input into Integrated
Development Plans, particularly when it comes to areas falling
within the jurisdiction of traditional leaders.
Chairperson, government remains committed to
strengthening the participation of traditional leaders in
municipal councils in line with legislative requirements. In
this regard, the Department of Cooperative Governance and
Traditional Affairs is currently finalizing the gazetting of
names of traditional leaders who will be participating in
municipal councils.
At ward level, it is crucial that traditional leaders
assist in facilitating people-driven and a people-centred
development in areas under their jurisdiction. This requires
meaningful participation by traditional leaders in ward
committees and any other governance structures aimed at
fostering public participation in development and service
delivery matters.
Honourable Members, as I highlighted in my address to
this House last year, rural development linked to land reform is
one of the five priorities that the current administration wants
to pay special attention to as part of addressing
underdevelopment and poverty challenges in rural communities.
We emphasized the critical point that the commitment to create
decent work and sustainable livelihoods is a collective
responsibility that we must undertake in partnership with
traditional leaders.
Working together, we should continue to ensure that we
stimulate local economic development in rural areas to create
employment and sustainable livelihoods.
We reported that we were piloting a comprehensive rural
development programme in
Chairperson, I am pleased to report that significant
progress has been made in the implementation of this pilot in
Mkhondo municipality. Among other things:
- We have provided new houses to needy people
- We have assisted households to producing their own
food,
- We have assisted small children to access early
child hood development facilities,
- We have assisted with the provision of community
access roads
- We have provided additional mobile clinics in the
deep rural parts of the municipality
- We have developed agri-villages in partnership
with Mondi to promote integrated and sustainable human
settlements
- To date, this pilot has already created 1 011 jobs
and trained 290 Youth in various skills.
In the new financial year, we will complete the
remaining phase of the pilot project in Mkhondo. We will also
identify and begin to prepare other places where this programme
is going to be implemented in the remaining period of the term
of government
As I stated in my State of the Province this year, we
will continue to expand the Masibuyele Emasimini intervention to
alleviate poverty confronting the rural poor. As part of
comprehensive rural development, our Masibuyel’emasimini
programme will continue to provide support in the form of
tractors, fertilizers, seeds, training and mentoring to promote
food security and sustainable livelihoods in rural areas.
Traditional leaders have a critical role to play in mobilizing
and supporting communities to use land productively.
Chairperson, last year we committed to ensuring that we
would implement training programmes to empower traditional
leaders with skills in local economic development and integrated
development planning. I am pleased to report that traditional
leaders have received training in local economic development and
integrated development planning. We hope that the skills that
they have acquired through this training will enhance their
contribution to local economic development initiatives as well
as participation in IDP processes of municipalities.
Honourable Members, we are encouraged that traditional
leaders continue to play a significant role in monitoring the
implementation of government programmes in traditional
communities under their jurisdiction. We are happy that
traditional leaders have been visiting schools to assess
progress and make contributions towards improving the
performance of our schools. Traditional leaders have a crucial
role to play in working together with government towards
instilling a culture of learning, quality teaching and
discipline in our schools.
We must encourage the participation local traditional
leaders in school governance structures and programmes to
support the governance of our schools in general. Quality
education is key to eliminating intergenerational poverty and
unleashing the potential of rural communities to develop to
their full potential as citizens.
As we continue to address community health care needs,
government will continue to partner with traditional leaders to
ensure that communities under the jurisdiction of traditional
leadership have access to quality health care. This
includes active participation by traditional leaders in the
implementation of HIV and Aids programmes. It is of great
concern that
Traditional leaders have an important role to play in
helping communities to prevent the spread of HIV and Aids and
mobilizing communities to take personal responsibility for their
health. Traditional leaders must engage in campaigns to educate
communities, particularly young people, about HIV and Aids.
Traditional leaders must contribute to moral
regeneration programmes to promote positive values and social
cohesion within communities. As we fight against crime, the
participation of traditional leadership is essential in
mobilizing communities to participation in street committees and
initiatives to fight crime, drug abuse and violence against
women and children.
Honourable Members, government remains committed to
providing the necessary institutional support and the requisite
infrastructure to ensure that traditional institutions are able
to fulfill their legislative mandates.
One of the key challenges that we need to address is to
ensure that recently established traditional councils begin to
function effectively in line their legislative mandate. In this
regard, we are still awaiting the finalization of national
guidelines that will govern the operations of traditional
councils. Once these have been concluded, the Province will move
speedily to ensure that traditional councils function as
expected.
In my address to this esteemed House last year, I
stated that government is concerned that boundary conflicts,
succession disputes, and divisions within some members of royal
families as these continue to undermine unity and social
cohesion within traditional communities. To address these
challenges, we will establish a Provincial Disputes Resolution
Commission to deal with disputes in traditional communities. The
MEC for Cooperative Governance will provide details on this
matter in his Policy and Budget Speech.
Honourable Members, as part of providing institutional
support to the institution of traditional leadership, government
committed to commencing with the renovation of offices of
traditional councils, including the provision of necessary
office infrastructure and information technologies.
As part of our support programme to fast track the
renovation of offices of traditional councils, the Department of
Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs has concluded an
agreement with MRTT to commence work on the renovation of
offices before the end of this month.
Chairperson, we had hoped that by this time the
national Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional
Affairs would have released the funding framework for providing
financial support to the work of traditional leadership
institutions. Based on the national framework, we would have
ensured that the policy framework is implemented in the
Province.
Unfortunately, we have not made progress on the
finalization of the policy framework that guides the provision
of resources to support the work of traditional leaders.
However, as a Province, we have developed a draft policy
framework for consideration by the Provincial House and the
Executive Council while waiting for the national policy
framework to inform the provincial policy.
As I conclude I would like to state that, despite
challenges in some areas of our work, we will continue to work
towards building a vibrant institution of traditional leadership
in the Province. We believe that, over the last few years, we
have built a solid foundation for the effective partnership with
the institution of traditional leadership in advancing
development and service delivery improvement. This institution
has become a critical component of our democratic governance
system.
Chairperson and Members, together, we bear the light
for hope, aspirations and dreams for the poor who are waiting
patiently for water, electricity, roads, economic opportunities
as well as quality education and health care. Our task is to
respond to their plight, not to betray their hopes and
expectations of a better life.
I wish the House well in executing its duties and
responsibilities. I declare the Sitting of the House of
Traditional Leaders open.
I thank you.
Issued by: