Annual Address by President Jacob Zuma to the National Council of Provinces “Taking Parliament to the People Programme” Soshanguve, Pretoria

The Chairpersonof the NCOP,

Mr. MninwaMahlangu;

Premier of Gauteng, Ms Nomvula Mokonyane and all Premiers present,

Ministers and Deputy Ministers,

Speakers of Provinces; 

Representatives of South African Local Government Association;

Members of the NCOP,

Members of the National Assembly;

Mayors andCouncillors;

Community ofSoshanguve and surroundings,

Ladies andgentlemen;

 

Good morning

 

We thank the National Council of Provincesfor bringing us together again in this important programme of taking parliamentto the people.

For many people, it would be difficult toreach Cape Town to interact directly with Members of Parliament and this augusthouse, the NCOP in particular.

 

Honourable Chairperson

 

A lot has been achieved in the past 19years, and more in the past five years of the current administration.

 

The achievements scored have been due tothe hard work of South Africans from all walks of life, working with governmentto build a better South Africa.

We thank our people for their contributionto the progress that the country has made.

 

But it is not enough. We still have a lotof work to do, working together.

 

Working together is the key to success, asemphasized by today’s theme; Working Together to Ensure Socio-EconomicDevelopment and Advancement of Our Communities.

We learn this from our founding fathers,for example Pixley ka Isaka Seme. In his historic concept paper, the NativeUnion published on 24 October 1911, in which he motivated the establishmentof the ANC, he spoke eloquently about cooperation.

 

He said the following; “I repeat,co-operation is the key and the watchword which opens the door, the everlastingdoor which leads into progress and all national success.

 

“The greatest success shall come when manshall have learned to cooperate, not only with his own kith and kin but withall peoples and with all life’’.

 

Indeed working together we will continueto do more.

 

Working together in the past five yearsmore services have been extended to many areas and communities resulting in theimprovement of lives.

These include the development of socialand economic infrastructure, targeted support of industries and businesses andcreating highly needed jobs.

 

For instance, employment has grown at anunprecedented rate of 308 000 new jobs in the quarter ending in September2013. These figures reflect the highest rate of new jobs created in over 22quarters and further lifts the overall figures of people in employment in SouthAfrica to over 14 million.

 

The people of Gauteng, Tshwane andSoshanguve have been the biggest beneficiaries of the phenomenal jobs growthregistered.  

In the same vein we celebrate theachievements since the advent of democracy, we believe levels of unemployment,poverty and inequality remain unacceptably high.

 

It is for this reason that we call forevery role-player to join us and seize every opportunity to accelerate thebetterment of our people’s lives. 

The progress we are making in jobs growthcame as a product of massive public sector investment in social and economicinfrastructure that reached new heights with over R840 billion spent since2009.

 

It is also a product of intensifiedcollaboration of the public and private sector in driving the implementation ofour economic turn-around plan adopted in 2010 to respond also to the second biggestworld recession which began in 2008 – the New Growth Path (NGP).

 

We are happy to announce that in everyjobs drive of the NGP, we are making inspiring progress that reassures us thatthe ideals of reducing poverty, unemployment and inequality can be achieved.

These are not foreign issues to the peopleof Gauteng and this region.

 

• With Gautrain, Rapid Bus Transport, road network and telecommunications infrastructure we did not only create thousands of jobs, but enabled the people of this region to enjoy a better quality of life;
• This region also has the second highest share of the R440 million provided by the Small Enterprise Finance Agency since its establishment in April 2012;
• To enhance the industrialisation of the South African economy, the Industrial Development Corporation has increased its funding approval to more than R13 billion, enhanced by its increase appetite aimed at stimulating growth of industries.
• As part of our efforts to enhance manufacturing and industrialisation of the South African economy, Gauteng has assembly plants for busses supplied to the Municipal Integrated transport system, and taxis contributing in improving locally assembled taxis from zero percent 12 months ago to over 9000 taxis entering our market in a year.

 

The buses are manufactured in Benoni byMarcopolo and Mercedes Benz while taxis are manufactured in Springs by BAW.

 

Incidentally, the NCOP sits in Tshwaneduring a busy construction period. Several projects being rolled out such asthe Pretoria Rail Ring, Hammanskraal Rail Service, Moloto Rail Corridor andalso the Bus Rapid Transport system as part of the national infrastructure rollout plan.

There may be a lot of inconveniencecurrently to the residents of Tshwane and surroundings but in the end, theresults will make life much better and much easier.

 

Life in South Africa is indeed improvingeach day, in many ways.

 

There is still a lot of work to be doneand we should do it together as South Africans from various walks of life.

One of the things we need to do better,say our people, is improve accountability especially at a local level. Thismatter has been raised during the outreach programme.

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At a local government level, the code ofconduct for councillors dictates that they should be accountable to localcommunities and report back at least quarterly to their constituencies oncouncil matters and municipal performance.

 

The Minister of Cooperative Governancewill work with the MECs in all provinces to intensify oversight and ensure thatcouncilors fulfill their obligations to the communities through effectivepublic engagements.

I also wish to emphasise that it is theduty of all public office bearers to communicate with the public and not onlycouncilors.

 

Ministers, Deputy Ministers, MECs andMayors are also supposed to meet the public regularly to report back onservices and also to obtain feedback from citizens on how services are beingdelivered by officials in their departments.  Many have been doing overthe past five years but it is never enough for a vibrant democratic governmentlike ours.

 

South Africans, especially those whofought hard to be free, want to be engaged continuously and have strong viewsabout how they should be governed.

 

The Freedom Charter says the people shallgovern. In this regard, the way we interaction is absolutely critical. If donecorrectly, continuously engagement at all levels would eliminate the reasonsfor protests as people would have more avenues to speak to government directly.

 

Honourable Members,

 

The issue of crime has also been raisedsharply, including the abuse of drugs and other substances.

 

Drug abuse perpetuates crime.

 

Addicts commit more crimes, robberies,break-ins and so on to sustain their addictions. Due to the demand that is notsubsiding, drug syndicates proliferate, infiltrating even law enforcementagencies.

 

It is even more worrying that school childrenare nowadays main targets of drug trade. Working together with otherdepartments such as Social Development, the Police will intensify their effortsto fight drug and substance abuse in these areas.

 

The police will need the support ofcommunities to fight drugs and substance abuse in this area. As Pixley ka IsakaSeme said, cooperation will be the key to our success.

 

Amongst operational crime fighting issuesraised, challenges at Ga-Rankuwa Police station and the magistrate court,particularly regarding the escape of detainees, are being addressed.

In the same manner, more towards the eastin Kameeldrift, the police are intensifying their fight against crime, whichalso includes rhino poaching.

 

Dube police station in Winterveldt willalso improve patrols in the areas which have been identified as crime hotspots.  My mentioning of these areas and issues Honourable Chairpersondemonstrates the power of the NCOP. It makes all of us to focus at communitylevels and deal with issues that affect people directly.

We should continue working together tomake our communities safe.

 

Compatriots,

 

Another area that we should work togetheron is to fight hunger. According to the Statistics SA report of 2011,approximately 12 million households are vulnerable to food insecurity.

 

The country’s socio-economic blueprint,the National Development Plan, sets out various methods and targets toeradicate poverty, reduce unemployment and eliminate inequality by 2030.

 

The NDP makes reference to a number ofsteps that will improve food security, including the expanded use ofirrigation, security of land tenure, especially for women and youth, and thepromotion of nutrition education.

 

In response to the NDP, last week welaunched the Fetsa Tlala food production programme in Kuruman, toeradicate hunger while promoting food security.

Two billion rand has been made availablethis financial year for farmer support programmes and 72% of it will be usedfor food production to support Fetsa Tlala.

 

The programme will be administered by thedepartments of agriculture in the provinces.

 

About 100 000 hectares of land willbe put under production through these programmes.

We trust that Fetsa Tlala will encouragethe development of food gardens in all households. 

 

Loluhlelo olusha lukahulumeni lokulimaiFetsa Tlala ludalelwe ukusiza umphakathi nabalimi abancane ukuze bakhiqizeukudla okuzosiza imiphakathi kanye nemindeni.

Masilime siyixoshe indlala eNingizumuAfrika yonke ngaloluhlelo lwe Fetsa Tlala.

 

Through Fetsa Tlala we are building on thegood work that government has been doing already. We have  already spentover R3 billion since 2009 through the Comprehensive Agricultural SupportProgramme and the Ilima/Letsema Programme.

 

The two programmes support  smallholder farmers and vulnerable households to produce food.

The support is in the form ofinfrastructure such as fences, boreholes, irrigation systems, poultry houses,shearing sheds and storage facilities.

 

It is also through production inputs suchas seeds, fertilisers, chemicals, day old chickens, sheep and others.

Government also provides targeted trainingfor farmers and the provision of extension advisory support. Over 102 606 beneficiarieswere reached during this period.

 

Compatriots,

 

Work continues to extend services in theareas of health, social development, water, electricity and a host of othersthat were raised during visits by MPs to various communities.

 

Life is certainly much better than it wasbefore 1994. Over the last twenty years we have worked together to change theface of our country. 

We have worked hard to improve people’slives, especially the poor.

 

But the struggle against poverty andunemployment must continue. We must work harder to make sure that every SouthAfrican can live and work in dignity.

 

Government will work harder to improve thepace of implementation and speed up the delivery of services.

 

We are making progress in our publicinfrastructure programme.

The economy will begin to grow faster aswe overcome bottlenecks in transport, electricity, water and other sectors.

Although economic transformation will taketime, government has put in place complementary policies that boost employmentand economic participation. These include the public and community worksprogramme.

 

The Employment Tax Incentive bill willalso help to absorb our people into work, especially the youth.

 

As the global outlook improves, we willalso see an improvement in growth and the job opportunities our people canaccess.

 

But South Africans cannot rely on outsidedevelopments to come to our rescue. Citizens must work with government toensure social and economic development and build our communities.

The National Development Plan provides aprogramme that can unite us as we build a faster growing and more inclusiveeconomy.

 

The plan promotes greater competitiveness,expanded public and private infrastructure, vibrant cities in which we all havea stake and stronger rural development.

 

It is important the government, business,organised workers and active citizens all collaborate on strengtheningdevelopment and inclusive economic growth in our country.  We have done itbefore, and we will continue to build on these strengths.

 

We have a beautiful country. We have donea lot since 1994 to build it.

We must now move ahead together inbuilding a truly united, non-racial, non-sexist, prosperous society in whichall citizens can look ahead and anticipate a bright future.

 

Masisebenzisane ukwakha iNingizimu Afrikaehlangene, engacwasi muntu ngokwebala nangobulili nenethemba lentuthuko nempiloengcono kubobonke abantu.

 

We thank the NCOP for bringing parliamentto Tshwane.

 

I thank you.

 

 

Issued by the Presidency