ADDRESS BY PREMIER
Deputy Minister Bridget Mabandla
MEC Siphosezwe Masango
Mayor Isaiah Khoza
Distinguished Guests
Ladies and Gentlemen:
Everytime I get invited to an occasion that sets as its goal the improvement of the lives of our people, I feel a tinge of excitement.
Excitement because I realise that as foot soldiers we are indeed carrying out the command from our commander-in-chief President Thabo Mbeki to unite in action for change for a better life for all.
Going through the invitation, I was struck by the noble ideals by the organisers of this mobile craft unit. Allow me to read a few excerpts from it:
“Through this clinic we hope to expose our rural and largely disadvantaged community to the important role that the visual arts and crafts play in cultural tourism, providing every person in our province with an opportunity to take part in the tourism sector”.
They go on to say that: “The craft clinic will meet the needs of the people of Mpumalanga by providing them access to the expanding job creation possibilities in the visual arts and crafts and at the same time stimulating the advancement, talent and skills of our people.”
“There is a critical need for rural-based crafters to have access to information, industry, exposure to art, materials, equipment and most importantly to be a part of the ever-developing global market and changing trends.”
Ladies and gentlemen, the movement of people, money and ideas across space has never been more fluid than today.
While much of this tends to be generated by and between metropolitan centers, profound impacts are also being felt in rural areas, which have been heretofore protected by their very isolation.
Most of us in this room can, at the touch of a button, order a pizza, transfer money from one account to another or find out what the weather is like in Johannesburg. But better still we can chat to a friend in London, or order the latest Black mambazo CD from a store in the US. Isn't it amazing that we are now able to fit the world in the palm of our hand?
Indeed the marvels of since and technology have opened new horisons, not only for us in Mpumalanga, but for all mankind. If you have a telephone, you can access information on anything. That is why it is true that in this dotcom age if you are not dotcom literate you are dotcom dead.
In developed countries, information technology has for years been playing an important role in the provision of social services, public safety and criminal justice.
Computers have made social security claims processing quicker, education more accessible and tracking criminals faster. But is it true for Africa, particularly Southern Africa. Let us pause and consider the following:
The three most industrialised countries have nine per cent of the world's population. These three industrialised countries account for half the world's income. And they account for more than a third of its purchasing power.
The development gap is striking: Over half of the world's population has never made a phone call;
Sub-Saharan Africa has only one percent of the world's telephone lines but 10 percent of the world population;
Tokyo and New York as cities have more telephone lines than all of sub-Saharan Africa.
Mind-boggling.
Ladies and gentlemen, the information and communications revolution offers us an unparalleled opportunity to leapfrog into the African century.
Rather than a choice between falling behind slowly or falling behind faster, powerful new technologies now allow countries, regions, enterprises and individuals direct access to the world's expertise, markets, knowledge base, and financial resources. This access can provide the tools for accelerated economic and social development.
That is why I believe that the aim of this initiative here today is to develop information society technologies to enable workers and enterprises, in particular SMMEs, to increase their competitiveness in the global marketplace.
This competitiveness must occur while at the same time improving the quality of the individual's working life, so that he or she can be free from many existing constraints on both working methods and organisation, including those imposed by distance and time.
I am sure we all know that with globalisation came the breaking down of barriers and the increasing irrelevance of geographic location for business.
People are shopping on the Internet, with their goods coming from who knows where. CNN, broadcasting from Atlanta in the US, enters every home around the globe.
Globally, there is now remarkable consensus that emerging technologies will have a revolutionary impact on both economic activity and the social fabric of a nation.
I am convinced that basic science and intellectual capital will play a more fundamental role in socio-economic development than it has been the case in the immediate past. Most countries see the promotion of innovation as one of the key elements in revitalising their economies.
In South Africa, with our tremendous social and economic needs, the promotion of innovation is also the key to development. Thus the Mobile Craft Clinic must be seen in the context of beginning a process that informs our quest for global competitiveness.
It requires our serious reading and analysis as we seek to prioritise areas of implementation. But we have to be careful that the technological and scientific advancement that emanates from this initiative does not end up being the preserve only of scientists and researchers.
We must ensure that the languages of technology do not become arcane metalanguages only for the initiated yet inaccessible to ordinary people.
Technological and scientific advancement must belong to all the people of South Africa and Mpumalanga, so that they use it to face the every-day challenges of our world and also prepare them for the encounters that lie ahead.
Last Wednesday on one of our Outreach Programmes I visited a place called Lutsaba near Ermelo. These are a people that have not benefited from technology. Like millions in other parts of the country and the province, they struggle to survive in conditions of poverty, deprivation and underdevelopment.
The question they ask is - what are you doing, you in whom we have placed our trust, what are you doing to end the deliberate and savage violence against us that, everyday, sentences many of us to a degrading and unnecessary death!
Those who stand at the gates are desperately hungry for food, through no fault of their own. They die from preventable diseases for no fault of their own. They have to suffer a humiliating loss of human dignity they do not wish on anybody, including the rich.
The fundamental challenge that faces this project is that, credibly, we must demonstrate the will to end poverty and underdevelopment.
In this regard, we will have to ensure that the poor play their role not as recipients of largesse and goodwill, but as co-determinants of what happens to the common universe of which they are an important part. We must, together with the people, work out ways of ensuring that the rural economy can tap into the global village.
In short we must allow our people direct access to the world's expertise, markets, knowledge bases, and financial resources. Remember, globalisation is like a tidal wave that can either submerge us in its wake or move us forward in its crest. So the choice is ours: Do we want to be overwhelmed by it or do we want to triumph by it.
Finally, those who run this project should be accountable to the rural cultural workers. And the cultural workers 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 this project must be enhanced if not institutionalised.
I thank You.