PREMIER'S ADDRESS
Thank You.
Master of Ceremonies
MEC Manana
Distinguished guests
Ladies and gentlemen.
Today we mark the launch of the Patients' Rights Charter.
Believe me when I say that I have never regarded myself as an authority on matters pertaining to health.
This has nothing to do with my legal background. It has more to do with my acceptance that people like MEC Manana, Dr Karrim, Dr Burger, Dr Classen and others have a better understanding of matters relating to the physical well-being of society.
In the same way that Reverend Solly Mahlangu is an authority on the spiritual health of people like you and me.
Ladies and gentlemen, today is a celebration of our achievements since we took office in 1994. You will agree with me when I say the era of apartheid health is gradually becoming a thing of the past.
Never again shall we allocate resources according to the colour of ones' skin. When in 1955 we declared for our country and the world that a preventive health scheme shall be run by the state.
Ladies and gentlemen when on that historic day in Sharpeville we declared that free medical care and hospitalisation shall be provided for all, with special care for mothers and young children.
We knew then, as we knew now, that those were noble ideals. That is why as government and as the ANC we can stand proudly and proclaim that every person in this country has the right to achieve optimal health. And it is the responsibility of the state to provide the conditions to achieve this.
We also stated that Health and Welfare, like other social services, and particularly where they serve women and children, must not be allowed to suffer for whatever reason.
Today the country and the province are different. The development of primary health care has been one of the most important programmes that we have implemented and pursued since we took over government in 1994.
This remains one of the most important pillars in our effort to ensure a better life for the ordinary masses of our people. We have, to some extent, been able to mobilise our people properly to respond to the health threats that confront us as a people.
These include the AIDS epidemic which, among other things, requires that we change the habits of our people with regard to issues that relate to sexual behaviour and life style.
Ladies and gentlemen, as we intensify our fight in this important front of struggle, the health struggle, we dare not forget that we are the heirs of a brave stock of health workers.
Dr Moroka, Comrade Alfred Nzo, Mam' Lillian Ngoyi, Dr Dadoo, Dr Mapetla Mohapi and Dr. Neil Aggett. The list is endless. Let us go forth from this time and place and proclaim that the torch has been passed to a new generation of South Africans.
Born in the past century, tempered by apartheid, disciplined by a hard and bitter struggle against racial oppression, proud of our ancient heritage, and unwilling to witness or permit the slow undoing of these human rights to which this fledgling nation has always been committed.
This much we pledge and more. To those of our people still struggling to achieve optimum health, we pledge our best efforts to bring healthcare within reasonable distance to your homes.
We pledge to convert our good words into good deeds. In the new spirit of FARANANI. A new partnership for progress and a better life for all.
Finally, to those who tell our people that life was better under apartheid rule, we offer not a pledge but a request: Desist from fooling our people. Let's tell those who try to mislead you that our victory against apartheid is too precious to be given up.
We stand here proudly and proclaim that the policies of some of the parties calling themselves opposition are old thick walls of ignorance.
They are, ladies and gentlemen, walls that must be directly stormed by the hosts of courage, morality, and vision, standing shoulder-to-shoulder, unafraid of ugly truth, contemptuous of lies, half-truths, circuses, and demagoguery.
The people are wiser than some of these parties think. And the ANC is the people's party. It is not the party of the rich. Not the party of the poor, not the farmer's party, not the employers' party. It is the party of no one because it is the party of everyone.
You will hear many sincere and thoughtful people express thanks and happiness that this government has been able to deliver. Although not as fast as they would have liked us to do.
They are happy that they can now get equal education. They can get medical care. They can get clean running water. They own the houses they live in.
But also you will hear many negative voices sounding out about how corrupt our government is. If the fear is corruption in official position, do you believe with Charles Evans Hughes that guilt is personal and knows no party?
Do you doubt the power of any political leader, if he has the will to do so, to set his own house in order without his neighbours having to burn it down?
We shall win the fight against corrupt officials. Those who abuse their positions and steal your money. And, my friends, even more important than winning that fight is to ensure that never again do we allow them to betray us.
That is the test - the acid, final test. We have a big task ahead of us. We will not finish in the first one hundred days. Nor will it be finished in the first thousands days. But let us begin.
In your hands, my fellow citizens of Mpumalanga, more than mine, will rest the final success or failure of our course. Since this democracy was founded, each one of us has been summoned to give testimony to its national loyalty.
Now the trumpet summons us again. To wage a war against the common enemies of man: tyranny, poverty, disease and war itself.
And so ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country.
Thank You