Statement on the virtual Special Cabinet Meeting of Wednesday, 9 December 2020

A virtual Special Cabinet Meeting was held yesterday Wednesday, 9 December 2020, to deliberate on an appointment in the Department of Tourism. Cabinet approved the appointment subject to the verification of qualifications and the relevant clearances.

Ms Mirriam Mmaditonki Setwaba was appointed Deputy Director-General: Tourism Sector Support Services at the Department of Tourism.

Enquiries:
Phumla Williams
Cell: 083 501 0139

Distinguished Guests,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

I am pleased to welcome you all to this inaugural investment conference.

We are pleased and humbled that you have responded to the call by the government and the people of South Africa to participate in this conference and  thus be part of a new dawn in our country.

 As representatives of the domestic and international investment community, as representatives of business organisations and international financial institutions, by your presence here, you have chosen to walk with us along the path of growth, employment and shared prosperity.

Like us, you believe that South Africa is a land of opportunity – a land where the soil is rich and the oceans teem with life, where the beautiful vistas of our country are spectacular and its diverse people are vibrant and resilient.

For you know that its people are its great wealth.

Like us, you believe that there is vast potential in South Africa; and that it has enormous potential that has been constrained for decades by narrow prejudice and debilitating human neglect.

Together with us, you celebrated the miracle of our peaceful transition to democracy.

You were there when we began to rebuild our economy and fundamentally change the fortunes of our people.

You witnessed both our achievements and our missteps.

You supported us and wanted us to succeed as you wished us well.

And when we stumbled, you looked on with concern and disillusionment when it seemed that we may squander the remarkable inheritance of Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela.

Yet, throughout these difficulties, you have retained an abiding interest as both domestic and international business in the fortunes of this country.

We know that, like the people of South Africa, you have harboured a profound hope that we will prevail.

This inaugural South Africa Investment Conference is therefore an expression of a shared hope and a renewed confidence.

It is a bold and unequivocal statement that we are determined to put behind us the period of uncertainty and discord and embrace a future of cooperation and partnership.

We are here to declare that we are determined to build a country that is driven by enterprise and innovation, to develop an economy that is diverse and resilient and prosperous, and to create companies that achieve sustained returns not only for their shareholders, but also for the workers that drive them and the communities that support them.

We are country that is rich in ways that we often do not appreciate.

There are few places in the world that have the abundance of minerals that lie beneath the ground on which we now stand, that have the soil to sustain such a diversity of plants, crops, livestock and game, where the sun shines nearly all year around and where the golden beaches stretch on forever.

We have an incredible natural inheritance, whose economic and social value we have not yet even begun to effectively explore.

Our political and social inheritance, by contrast, is deeply contradictory.

Through decades of deliberate underdevelopment, the majority of South Africans were dispossessed of their land, assets and livelihoods, and denied the education and the skills that make meaningful participation in the economic life of the country possible.

The devastating effects of this manifest injustice still define our society and severely constrain our economic development.

The continued exclusion of millions of South Africans – particularly as it relates to skills and to ownership of assets – is the single greatest impediment to the growth of our economy and the development of our society.

It explains the persistence of poverty, unemployment and inequality nearly 25 years into our democracy.

It is for this reason that we have placed economic growth and job creation at the centre of our national agenda.

It is for this reason too that we have prioritised the education of our children and the skilling of our workforce, and it is for this reason that we are accelerating the provision of land and other assets to the poor and marginalised.

And it is for this reason that in April this year we launched an ambitious and, in the history of our country, unprecedented, drive to raise at least $100 billion in new investment over five years.

We did so understanding that no meaningful growth and no significant job creation would be possible without a massive surge in productive investment in the economy.

Over the last half year, as we have prepared for this Investment Conference, our four Presidential investment envoys – Phumzile Langeni, Jacko Maree, Mcebisi Jonas and Trevor Manuel – have travelled across the country and around the globe to meet potential investors.

Invest SA, our award-winning investment promotion and facilitation agency, has compiled an investment book of projects that represent great potential.

Today, a number of local and international companies will make announcements on investments to expand existing operations in the country or establish new ones.

In addition to the announcements that will be made at this conference we have received investment pledges from a number of countries.

We have appointed task teams to work with these countries to convert these pledges into investments.

We have emphasised the need for more South African companies to lead the investment charge, demonstrating that they have confidence in this economy and in its ability to deliver decent and reliable returns.

In furtherance of this, I call upon South African companies to engage with our investment envoys on their investment plans, including capital expenditure programmes, so that we can have a better idea as a nation what the future portends for our country on the economic growth landscape.

This conference takes place in the wake of a number of decisive measures we have embarked upon in the last few months to improve the investment environment.

Following thoroughgoing consultations with various role players in our economy, we have been addressing issues of policy uncertainty and regulatory obstacles that have impeded investments in a number of industries.

We have been working with the World Bank to improve the ease of doing business in South Africa and crafting a new FDI strategy for the country.

Invest SA is intensifying its facilitation and aftercare service in terms of international best practice.

Together we are working to fast track investment projects and reduce red tape.

As part of the decisive measures that we have had to take, we have had to confront challenges in some of our largest and most strategic state owned enterprises, which have experienced years of poor governance, a decline in financial and operational performance and corruption.

Given the crucial role of these state owned enterprises in the economy, as providers of critical infrastructure and bulk services, it is essential that they be restored as engines of growth and development.

We have replaced the leadership in several state owned enterprises, ensuring that we have people with experience, integrity and the relevant skills who are now leading the development and implementation of sustainable business models.

As a country, we have also had to confront the bitter reality that several public entities have been severely affected by corruption and the phenomenon of state capture.

One of the urgent measures we have had to take is to end such corruption and hold those responsible to account.

We have established a commission of inquiry into state capture that has begun a thorough and far reaching investigation into these practices.

We have also established commission of inquiry into the South African Revenue Service and the Public Investment Corporation, institutions that are both vital to the effective functioning of our economy.

We are certain that these commissions will not only unearth all instances of malfeasance and governance failures, but will help to restore the integrity, credibility and effectiveness of these entities.

As we put in place the pillars of sustained growth into the future, we are working to address immediate concerns, specifically the effects of two quarters of negative economic growth.

Last month, government announced an economic stimulus and recovery plan that aims to restore growth, save existing jobs and create new ones.

As part of this plan, we are taking immediate steps to finalise reforms in key sectors like mining, oil and gas, tourism and telecommunications – all of which are sectors that have great potential for growth, but which have been constrained by policy uncertainty.

The revised Mining Charter has been finalised.

This is the outcome of extensive and meaningful consultation between government, community, labour and business and represents evidence of our commitment to solving the challenges in the sector collaboratively.

Government has decided to draft separate legislation for the oil and gas industry, settling a long-standing dispute that will provide direction and certainty to an industry with great potential.

Through the publication of a new Integrated Resource Plan for public comment, we have provided detail on the country’s future energy requirements.

Government also signed off a number of outstanding renewal energy supply agreements, bringing significant further investment into a growing sector of our economy.

We have finalised consultations with the telecommunications industry and other stakeholders to ensure allocation of spectrum reduces barriers to entry, promotes competition and reduces costs to consumers.

Our independent communications regulator is now preparing to licence available high demand spectrum.

We have initiated a review of our visa regime to facilitate greater arrivals of tourists, highly skilled individuals, business people and investors.

We are reprioritising our budget – within the existing fiscal framework – to invest more in those activities that will boost growth, including agriculture, township and rural businesses, and infrastructure.

We do so in a severely restricted fiscal environment.

As the Minister of Finance indicated when presenting his medium-term budget policy statement earlier in the week, we are determined to ensure public spending remains within sustainable levels – and that we generate greater revenue by pursuing growth with a single-minded determination.

We see infrastructure investment as a critical enabler of growth and job creation, and are therefore consolidating government infrastructure spending into a single Infrastructure Fund.

We intend to use that Fund to leverage investments from development finance institutions, multilateral development banks, asset managers and commercial banks.

A dedicated team will oversee the implementation of an extensive infrastructure programme covering areas like water, transport, energy, telecommunications and social infrastructure.

Despite the challenges of the present, our economy has several fundamental strengths that makes it a suitable destination for investment.

South Africa has established a diversified manufacturing base that has shown its resilience and potential to compete in the global economy.

Yesterday I had occasion to open the R1 billion Gibela passenger train manufacturing factory in this province.

The investment is a collaboration between Alstom from France and a local consortium made up of black businesses and the community.

The factory employs 800 workers, of which half are women.

We applaud this investment as it confirms South Africa’s manufacturing capability.

Multinationals with a presence in South Africa cite numerous advantages, from excellent financial systems to world-class infrastructure.

South Africa is a regional manufacturing and services hub on the African continent, and, for many companies, serves as a base to export products globally.

We have done much work in recent years to improve investment incentives, establishing, for example, several special economic zones across the country, each having unique offerings for investors.

These include ready infrastructure for business development, reduced costs for key inputs such as land, water and electricity, and reduced corporate tax rates.

We are determined that our economic policy must facilitate inclusive growth.

Given our country’s history of dispossession, and the continued economic exclusion of millions of our people, we have a responsibility to bring all our people into the economic mainstream.

Earlier this month, we convened a Presidential Jobs Summit, which brought together government, business, labour and the community sector to determine a set of practical, achievable interventions that would increase the pace of job creation.

The Jobs Summit agreed on more than 70 focused interventions that will, among other things, boost domestic demand, increase and broaden exports, create pathways for young people into work and develop sectors such as agriculture, manufacturing, mining and the waste economy.

In addition, we are intensifying work to build a robust and effective education and skills development system that equips our youth for the workplace of tomorrow.

It is important to note that seven of South Africa’s universities are in top 500 in the world.

There are nearly a million students in higher education, and there has been a marked increase in science, technology, engineering and mathematics graduates.

We have implemented policies to promote black economic empowerment, to provide black people, women and people with disability with the assets and opportunities they need to participate more meaningfully in economic activity.

Another area that is critical to economic transformation is land reform, which is currently a focus of intense debate across South African society.

There is general agreement among most South Africans that we need to accelerate land reform not only to redress a historical injustice, but also to effectively unlock the economic potential of the country’s land.

We have appointed an Advisory Panel on Land Reform, which comprises people with extensive experience in farming, policy development, academia and law.

The panel will advise government on the implementation of a fair and equitable land reform process that redresses the injustices of the past, increases agricultural output, promotes economic growth and protects food security.

We are committed, as government to pursue a comprehensive approach to land and agrarian reform that ensures transformation, development and stability, while providing certainty to those who own land, to those who need land and to those who are considering investing in the economy.

Our approach reaffirms the constitutional protection of property rights, which, among other things, prohibits the arbitrary deprivation of property.

Together with robust legislation to protect foreign investments, an independent judiciary and the firm rule of law, our Constitution should allay any fears that investors may have of factories being expropriated.

South Africa’s strategic position at the tip of Africa, makes it a key investment location, both for opportunities that lie within its borders and as a gateway to the rest of the region.

Earlier this year, African heads of state agreed to the establishment of an African Continental Free Trade Area that will provide access to a market of more than 1.2 billion people and a combined GDP of more than $3.4 trillion.

This will fundamentally transform the economies of many African countries and will further enhance the attractiveness of South Africa – with its diverse manufacturing base, advanced infrastructure and sophisticated financial sector – as a compelling investment destination.

Distinguished Guests,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

As South Africa emerges from a period of great difficulty and uncertainty, as it confronts challenges that are immense – but not insurmountable – we can declare with confidence that South Africa is a land of untold opportunity.

It is a land that has known the pain of division and conflict and deprivation.

But, equally, it has experienced the exhilaration of liberation and knows very well the value of partnership and collaboration.

It is therefore our great pleasure to invite you to become our partners in realising the great possibilities that this country has to offer.

We invite you to invest in our mines and factories, farms and game parks, call centres and technology hubs, refineries and solar farms.

We invite you to invest in our people, to harness their energy and unleash their latent capabilities.

We invite you to become valued partners in realising the vision – and sharing the benefits – of a new era of renewal, an era of discovery, an era of prosperity and progress and promise.

I thank you.

Programme Director, Minister Susan Shabangu,
Minister of Women in the Presidency, Ms Bathabile Dlamini,
Minister of Justice and Correctional Services, Adv Michael Masutha,
Chief Justice, Hon Mogoeng Mogoeng,
Speaker of the National Assembly, Ms Baleka Mbete,
Representatives of civil society,
Fellow South Africans,
 
We are gathered here – as South African women and men – to respond to a crisis that is tearing our society apart.
 
It is a crisis that affects every community in our country and that touches the lives of most families in one way or another.
 
Gender-based violence is an affront to our shared humanity.
 
The unrelenting murder of women – for no reason other than that they are women – is steadily corroding the soul of our nation.
 
Survivors of sexual violence and abuse – be it physical, psychological or economic – often live with these scars for the rest of their lives. 
 
When abuse occurs in a situation of trust, whether in the family, the church, in schools or elsewhere, the sense of betrayal is intensified. 
 
The physical and psychological effects may recede, but they very rarely disappear.
 
One moment of violence can have permanent consequences. 
 
Most of us know someone who is a survivor of gender-based violence or who has in some other way been affected by this evil.
 
In August, I made a commitment that we shall convene this Summit to develop a national plan of action against gender-based violence. 
 
This promise was made following the activism, borne out of pain and anger, of those who held marches around the country to highlight the scourge of gender-based violence and femicide in this country. 
 
We are agreed that we need a multi-sectoral approach that responds to the demands of the marchers, and strengthens the broader interventions that address the causes and effects of such violence. 
 
We are here today to listen and learn from the experiences of survivors; to hear their voices and to have the lived experiences of women and children inform our responses to gender-based violence. 
 
Gender-based violence is a global phenomenon.
 
The World Health Organisation tell us that 35% of women worldwide experienced either physical or sexual intimate partner violence or non-partner sexual violence in 2013.
 
This is an alarming figure that underscores the need for global cooperation in overcoming gender-based violence.
 
In South Africa, we know that the problem is even more severe.
 
We are a country with relatively high levels of violence and criminality. 
 
Slightly more than 20,000 people were killed in the past year, the majority of the perpetrators and victims were men. 
 
The most recent data from the World Health Organisation shows that South Africa’s femicide rate was 12.1 per 100,000 in 2016. 
 
This was almost five times higher than the global average of 2.6 per 100,000. 
 
According to the SAPS Crime Statistics report of 2018, femicide increased by 11% over the last two years. 
 
Stats SA reports that 138 per 100,000 women were raped last year, the highest rate in the world.
 
We cannot, and we will not, rest until we have brought those figures down to zero.
 
We are aiming for a femicide rate of zero per 100,000.
 
We want to reach a point where no woman, child or man has to experience the violence, violation and trauma of rape.
 
There is no acceptable level of gender-based violence.
 
We want to eradicate it.
 
Ladies and Gentlemen,
 
Women are often violated by their intimate partners, often in the privacy of their homes. 
 
They are slapped, hit, raped, assaulted and emotionally abused and killed because they are with a man who feels entitled to exert power and control over them.
 
There is a danger that society begins to normalise such practices. 
 
That is why we need to be vigilant. 
 
Condemnation needs to be constant and consistent, perpetrators need to be prosecuted. 
 
It requires that we address societal issues of patriarchy, economic relations and changing the way of thinking about gender relations. 
 
Patriarchy means that men feel entitled to exert economic and other forms of power over women. 
 
This can lead to situations where women may find themselves tolerating the injustices perpetrated against them simply because they may have inadequate economic or emotional resources to walk away from a dangerous relationship. 
 
Social perceptions about the roles of girls and boys, and preconceived notions of how women and men should behave, are often harmful to the development of both sexes.
 
When we improve the way we raise our children we can go a long way to preventing violence against girls and boys. 
 
We must raise boys and girls with the knowledge and understanding that no person has the right to treat them as inferior or to harm them in any way and that boys and girls are equal in all respects.
 
A society that does not support notions of authority and control over women, and does not tolerate violence against women, is more likely to reduce gender-based violence. 
 
We must name and shame those who perpetrate violence against girls and women. 
 
Most importantly we must ensure that our law enforcement officers are trained to investigate the cases of abuse to get convictions in these cases.
 
There are several intersections between violence experienced by women and violence against children. 
 
The effects of trauma on children are quite severe and last well beyond the immediate instances of violence. 
 
Children who experience violence are more likely to experience violence or become perpetrators of violence in adulthood.
 
The Department of Basic Education needs to complete its curriculum transformation programme, especially the auditing of learning materials for latent sexism and racism. 
 
The Department also needs to urgently speed up its programmes aimed at offering psycho-social support to vulnerable learners. 
 
The programme to train officials and educators to recognise abused and at risk learners was started in two provinces in 2015 and needs to be mainstreamed by including such training in the pre-service training curriculum.
 
Alcohol and drug abuse is a major risk factor associated with gender-based violence.
 
Researchers suggest that alcohol and drugs either induce violence or are used as excuses for perpetrating violence on women and children.
 
Our country has significant substance abuse problems and we need better policies and programmes to prevent substance abuse.
 
Our society is too tolerant of violence against women, often forcing women to withdraw charges against the perpetrators.
 
Very often families exert the most pressure on women and children not to press charges against abusers.
 
A critical component of prevention strategies for gender-based violence is the empowerment of women.
 
Studies that were conducted here in South Africa show that where interventions are linked to the economic and social empowerment of women, intimate partner violence is decreased.
 
Where women become more economically, socially and culturally empowered they develop greater capacity to extricate themselves from abusive situations.
 
We need to invest more in research that develops evidence-based interventions to end gender-based violence.
 
Research shows contradictory results about whether the economic and social empowerment of adult men makes a marked difference on whether they continue to perpetrate violence.
 
However, better results are found where education programmes target boys and young men. 
 
Boys and young men who participate in school-wide programmes targeting change in social attitudes tend to show a marked reduction in peer violence. 
 
This points to the need to target our education programmes at young children in order to make a difference in attitudes from the start. 
 
Despite having progressive laws and being a signatory to many international instruments – such as the Convention for the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women and the UN Declaration of Basic Principles of Justice for Victims of Crime and Abuse of Power – our country does not have an effective, coordinated response to the scourge of gender based violence. 
 
This failure to implement our laws and policies effectively is doing a complete disservice to survivors of gender-based violence and others affected by violence. 
 
Protection orders can be obtained in terms of the Domestic Violence Act and, once issued by a magistrate, are enforceable throughout the country, but very often survivors have to flee to other parts of the country where it becomes difficult to obtain copies of those orders without going through the whole process again. 
 
We should examine the possibility of introducing a national registry for protection orders. 
 
Government has responded to two specific demands raised during the August marches – conducting a review of national plans to end gender-based violence and the development of a National Action Plan on gender-based violence. 
 
Together with civil society organisations, we have undertaken a review of our Programme of Action on Violence against Women and Children, and plan to launch the revised POA 2019–2023 during the 16 Days of Activism.
 
A frequent complaint is that the police and the court system are not equipped and capacitated to effectively assist survivors of gender-based violence and sexual assault. 
 
This is tragically borne out by the numbers of women and children who tell stories of being turned away by the police when they go to report crime, the number of rape and sexual assault cases which are never prosecuted, and the low percentage of successful prosecutions of these cases. 
 
As we work to address this, we need to hear from those who interact with our criminal justice system.
 
Please tell us what is working, where we need to improve, what needs to be scaled up and what must be done away with. 
 
We are asking you, who deal with these issues on a regular basis, to work with us in developing effective response and support mechanisms. 
 
The Thuthuzela Care Centres, our unique one-stop, integrated response to incidents of violent sexual acts against women and children, aim to reduce secondary victimisation, improve conviction rates and reduce the cycle time for finalisation of cases. 
 
This is one of our more effective interventions and we must develop concrete proposals on how we can strengthen the operations of these centres. 
 
We agree with the demand that we must continuously ensure that lay counsellors at these centres undergo ongoing training to deal with the needs of victims of violence. 
 
One of the specific demands raised by activists was to establish a central, national coordinating structure for gender-based violence. 
 
We should discuss here what form this should take, what must its mandate be and who should be on this structure.
 
Government has done extensive work in this area and as part of the review of the POA on Violence against Women and Children, the Department of Social Development has identified a number of possible models that are being assessed for their effectiveness and efficiency. 
 
We now need to engage with the proposals from civil society and see where we find each other. 
 
We must seriously re-examine how we talk about violence against women and children and how our discourse reflects societal norms. 
 
It was extremely distressing to hear ordinary South Africans question why a parent would let a child play by herself after a six year old was recently raped at a well-known restaurant. 
 
The degree of victim blaming evident in this statement is appalling.
 
We find similar or worse victim blaming in statements such as “Why does she stay with him if he beats her?” or “Why did she wear a mini-skirt to the taxi-rank?” or “How drunk was she?” 
 
The language we use, too often, places the responsibility on the victim to not be raped or hit instead of placing the blame where it belongs: on the perpetrator. 
 
This expression of patriarchy makes it even harder for survivors of gender-based violence to seek justice.
 
As a society, we must applaud the courage of women like Cheryl Zondi who are prepared to testify about their ordeals.
 
As a society, we must express our deep gratitude to them for leading the way in the struggle against sexual violence and affirm our commitment to support and protect them. 
 
Let us pledge here and now to begin to change the way we communicate about gender-based violence and sexual assault. 
 
Our language must empower and support the voices of survivors.
 
The communication commission at this Summit needs to propose how we educate the media, and more importantly, broader society on how to communicate in gender sensitive ways. 
 
South Africans have consistently shown that we have a great capacity to deal with big, contentious issues through meaningful and respectful dialogue. 
 
Let us now do this again. 
 
Let us put aside the issues that divide us and work together for the greater good.
 
I call on all South Africans to become champions of the fight against gender-based violence and femicide. 
 
This is a societal problem that requires multi-faceted, society wide responses. 
 
Personally, I pledge to you that government is here, we are listening and will continue to respond to your concerns. 
 
We are looking to this Summit to provide clear direction on a comprehensive national response to gender-based violence. 
 
I am convinced that by working together, by confronting difficult issues, and by mobilising all South Africans, we shall create a society where women and children feel safe and are safe at all times and in all places. 
 
I thank you.

Your Excellency, the Federal President of Germany, 
President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, 
Members of your esteemed delegation, 
Members of the media, 
Ladies and Gentlemen, 
  
Let me begin, Mr President, by expressing my appreciation for the useful discussions we have just concluded on South Africa’s strategic relationship with Germany.
 
I also want to express my appreciation to you and Chancellor Angela Merkel for the gracious hospitality extended to me and my delegation when we attended the G20 Africa Summit in Berlin a few weeks ago.
 
South Africa welcomes this opportunity to renew and deepen our political, trade, investment and people-to-people relations.
 
It is 20 years since South Africa last hosted the President of the Federal Republic of Germany on an official visit.
 
President Steinmeier and I used this historic opportunity to discuss issues of common interest and have briefed each other on developments in our respective countries and regions. 
 
We agreed to continue our efforts to further expand trade and investment between South Africa and Germany.
 
Germany is South Africa’s third-largest global trading partner and one of the largest foreign investors, with more than 600 companies operating in South Africa, sustaining approximately 100,000 jobs.
 
This provides a firm foundation to grow our economic relationship in line with our effort to significantly increase investment in the country and, as part of the Jobs Summit agreements, to develop our export capacity.
 
As was evident from our engagement with German business leaders in Berlin last month, South Africa is seen as an important investment destination and there is great interest among German companies to expand their presence here. 
 
We used that opportunity – as we did again today – to express our appreciation for the significant role that German companies continue to play in developing skills and building capacity in South Africa. 
 
By developing skills through vocational training, German companies are among those that are empowering South Africa’s youth and increasing opportunities for gainful employment.
 
We also used this opportunity to thank the German government for the technical and financial support it has provided to South Africa in areas like health, education, skills development and renewable energy.
 
Our discussions today also covered areas of cooperation on regional and global issues.
 
We applauded Germany’s role in promoting the G20 Compact with Africa, which aims to mobilise private sector investment in participating African countries.
 
This initiative represents an opportunity to drive development through greater and more sustainable investment.
 
Since both our countries have been elected as non-permanent members of the United Nations Security Council for 2019-2020, we have agreed to work together to promote global peace and security but also to promote multilateralism and strengthen the multilateralism system.
 
We are particularly interested in achieving the African Union goal of silencing the guns on the continent by 2020, and welcome Germany’s contribution to the continent’s own efforts to advance peace and stability.
 
Once again, I wish to thank President Steinmeier for visiting South Africa, for renewing the strong bonds that exist between our two nations and for making our discussions today a great success.
 
I thank you.

Honourable Chairperson of the National Council of Provinces,
Deputy Chairperson of the National Council of Provinces,
Honourable Members of the NCOP,
Premier of Gauteng,
Mayor of Ekurhuleni,
MECs and Provincial Speakers,
National and Provincial Chairpersons of SALGA,
Chairperson of the National House of Traditional Leaders,
Religious, community and traditional leaders,
Distinguished Guests,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
 
It is my privilege to address this special sitting of the National Council of Provinces, which is a vital part of our democracy and which gives voice to the diverse views, needs and interests of the South African people.
 
The NCOP is one of the most important instruments of the Constitutional principle of cooperative governance, linking the national, provincial and local spheres of government.
 
It is in our provinces and municipalities that we are charting the course for our country’s development by providing water, electricity, housing, health care and other services to our people.
 
Most of the work of improving people’s lives happens locally.
 
The drafters of our Constitution recognised that a strong, effective and capable local government system is necessary for meaningful transformation and progress.
 
The Constitution clearly outlines not just the developmental duties of municipalities, but also places an onus on national and provincial governments to support and strengthen them to enable them to perform their functions.
 
As such, the NCOP can be justifiably proud of its innovative programme of Taking Parliament to the People.
 
Every year, our MPs conduct oversight activities to identify challenges with government’s service delivery programmes, and make recommendations on how these can be resolved.
 
We are striving to consolidate the gains of our democracy and chart a new trajectory for development in difficult times.
 
In the past few years, we have seen a rise in service delivery protests across the country.
 
What is troubling is that these protests have become increasingly violent.
 
Municipal IQ, an organisation that monitors local government, noted earlier this year that 94% of the service delivery protests recorded so far in 2018 involved elements of violence.
 
In some instances, people have resorted to the wanton destruction of public property.
 
While there can be no excuse in a democratic society for violent protest and the destruction of property, it is necessary that we own up to some of our own failings in government.
 
When citizens complain about lack of services and are treated with condescension, indifference and sometimes arrogance by officials, they resort to other, unacceptable, methods.
 
This tells us that we have sometimes strayed from the principles of compassion, service, accountability and transparency.
 
We have sometimes strayed from the principles of Batho Pele.
 
The levels of disaffection and dissatisfaction highlight a growing impatience at the slow pace of service delivery and unhappiness with the quality of services provided.
 
We are not meeting the expectations of our citizens.
 
It is not acceptable that communities can be left without access to water for months, even years.
 
It is not acceptable that sick and dying patients are left languishing in waiting rooms at clinics and hospitals before they are attended to by a health professional.
 
It is not acceptable that victims of crime are unable to obtain recourse because their police stations are poorly-run or poorly resourced.
 
What is most unacceptable is that some of our people have become resigned, so accustomed to poor levels of service delivery, that they believe that the abnormal is normal.
 
The role of our MPs in providing oversight and in holding organs of state accountable for service delivery is therefore vital.
 
At this time, we have to face up to a number of sobering realities.
 
We need to face up to the fact that, despite improvements in some areas, the vast majority of our municipalities continue to achieve poor audit results.
 
This points to a lack of compliance and internal controls, and, in some cases, the outright abuse of state funds.
 
We need to face up to the fact that many municipalities find themselves in a protracted financial crisis, unable to properly fulfil their responsibilities to residents.
 
The reasons for this range from financial mismanagement and non-payment for services to the absence of a meaningful revenue base and a weak economy.
 
This requires the attention of all spheres of government and it requires the close attention of the NCOP.
 
We need to face up to the fact that unless we are able to bring our economy out of this period of stagnation, we will be unable to create a better life for our citizens.
 
When our economy is strong, when our people have jobs, when government has more resources, our ability to deliver good, quality services is vastly improved.
 
We have embarked upon a new path of growth, renewal and transformation.
 
Our economy has faced a number of challenges over the past decade, resulting in slow growth and deepening unemployment.
 
This has constrained our ability to increase social spending, build and maintain infrastructure, and above all, to create a conducive environment for the creation of jobs for our people.
 
However, we have taken decisive steps to start to turn this around.
 
In an improved political environment, and through a combination of economic recovery measures and policy reforms, we are working to restore the economy and capacitate the state to fulfil its developmental mandate.
 
We are working to ensure more effective delivery of houses, of social security, of education, of health care and other essential services.
 
We are doing everything within our means to ensure that the growth of the economy benefits all, especially society’s most vulnerable.
 
In September this year, we announced an economic stimulus and recovery plan containing a range of measures to ignite economic activity, restore investor confidence and create new jobs.
 
It also included measures to address challenges in education and health care and improve municipal social infrastructure.
 
We are reprioritising public spending to ensure that resources are directed to activities that have the greatest impact on growth and jobs.
 
In his Medium-Term Budget Policy Statement, the Minister of Finance announced that an amount of R50 billion has been reprioritised to address infrastructural and other challenges in our public health care and education systems, and to bolster the Expanded Public Works Programme.
 
It is a priority of this government to improve ageing, dilapidated and outmoded social infrastructure, whether they are hospitals, clinics, schools, water and sanitation facilities or police stations.
 
If we are to industrialise as a country, we need reliable, world-class infrastructure that ensures greater integration, connectivity and development.
 
We are therefore establishing an Infrastructure Fund to coordinate infrastructure initiatives across government.
 
This fund will be capitalised by government, but will also draw in resources from the private sector and international financial institutions.
 
The economic stimulus and recovery plan also focuses on unlocking the potential of key growth sectors such as agriculture.
 
We are increasing resources to provide support to black commercial farmers to increase their entry into food value chains.
 
We are facilitating the signing of leases to enable farmers to mobilise funding for agricultural development.
 
We are only too aware of the legacy of apartheid spatial planning that has resulted in the neglect of both township and rural economies.
 
That is why we have earmarked several industrial parks in these areas for revitalisation.
 
This will go a long way towards providing opportunities for entrepreneurship and job creation.
 
We are clear that employment and economic opportunities must be created where people live.
 
Honourable Members,
 
Getting our people working, and providing a favourable economic climate for jobs to be created and sustained, is the greatest task of the present.
 
In October this year, we convened a successful Jobs Summit, which agreed on a range of measures to create more jobs, to avoid jobs being shed, to facilitate more investment in black-owned enterprises and to support companies in distress.
 
The summit was a collective show of strength of the partnership between labour, business, government and communities – and we look forward to the implementation of a framework agreement that has the potential to create around 275,000 jobs annually.
 
We are immensely encouraged by the commitment made by the financial sector of R100 billion to support mainly black-owned businesses over the next five years.
 
South Africa has also successfully hosted two landmark investment summits in the past two months – the South Africa Investment Conference and the Africa Investment Forum.
 
The overwhelming consensus at both of these events was that our country, despite recent challenges, is a favourable destination for investment.
 
Several companies, many of them international, announced investments in the country, either to establish new operations or to expand existing ones, confirming South Africa’s global competitiveness.
 
These announcements, together with the many other investment pledges we have received, underline the critical importance of well-run and capable provincial and local governments that are able to sustain the pipeline of investment.
 
Whether it’s a factory or a mine, a call centre or a shop, every investment is located in a municipality.
 
It is therefore vital that municipalities create an environment where businesses are able to operate without difficulty, with access to reliable services and efficient regulatory processes.
 
There needs to be effective coordination between municipalities and provincial and national government bodies to remove obstacles to investment.
 
Ultimately, our ability to deliver on our commitments – to fight poverty and inequality and grow our economy – rests on making the most efficient and effective use of limited resources.
 
The people of South Africa have entrusted us with the responsibility of leading them and improving their lives.
 
We can and must attend to the core business of government and not allow ourselves to be distracted from carrying out this responsibility.
 
We have registered significant gains in our quest to deepen democracy, to strengthen the capacity of the state to deliver, and to deliver a better life for all.
 
We are emerging from a period of turbulence that we must now put behind us.
 
Now more than ever we must send a signal that ours is a government committed to openness, to transparency and above all, to accountability.
 
The National Council of Provinces, and indeed our entire Parliamentary system, is constitutionally and ethically bound to these principles.
 
When local and national government is not working, it is Parliamentary oversight that will put us back on course.
 
We must work with our municipalities to ensure greater levels of compliance.
 
We must dutifully fulfil our functions as MPs to ensure that policies are being implemented at a local government level.
 
Shortcomings must be identified, remedied and resolved.
 
We must take seriously and act upon information concerning corruption in our municipalities – where political patronage is being dispensed in return for favours, or where service delivery is suffering because a few, well-connected individuals are the beneficiaries of state largesse.
 
We must find lasting solutions for the many problems in local government – for when local government fails, South Africa fails.
 
Over the past year, you have traversed South Africa as part of bringing Parliament to the People.
 
You have conducted oversight visits, held public hearings, conducted monitoring and evaluation, and made recommendations on how we can improve our programmes.
 
These recommendations must be acted upon by all those responsible.
 
South Africans expect of us that we are in government not for personal material gain, but to improve their lives.
 
There can be no higher calling than being of service, and we are duty bound to ensure this is done with diligence and humanity.
 
In this spirit of selflessness exemplified by the likes of Tata Nelson Mandela and Mama Albertina Sisulu – whose centenaries we observe this year – let us take forward our task to correct past mistakes and build a better society.
 
The time you have left as the Fifth Parliament is brief.
 
So use it well and use it wisely.
 
Let unfinished business be concluded, and let the concerns raised during this year’s Parliament of the People be resolved.
 
We are united in our commitment to cooperative governance.
 
Although we may have political differences, we share a common sense of purpose and have a common duty to serve our people.
 
It is when we work together – as different parties, as different spheres of government, as different sectors of society – that we make the greatest progress in transforming our society and building a new nation.
 
I thank you.

Your Excellency President Temer,
Your Excellency President Putin,
Your Excellency Prime Minister Modi,
Your Excellency President Xi, 
Distinguished Guests,
Ladies and Gentlemen, 

It is my honour to once again have the opportunity to meet with you on the margins of the 2018 G20 Leaders’ Summit to coordinate our common positions in the international arena and to build further on the discussions that we had during the 10th BRICS Summit in Johannesburg in July.

The Johannesburg Declaration that we adopted in July is a culmination of the more than ten years of successful BRICS cooperation. 

Importantly, this cooperation has steadily become more practically oriented.

Through various mechanisms, working groups and constructive dialogue, we are pooling our resources and capabilities towards developing and implementing practical solutions to many contemporary challenges. 

One of these challenges is in the area of peace and security.

We should, as a collective, be at the forefront of solution-seeking interventions and move towards more pro-active approaches to maintaining peace and security. 

In this regard, more needs to be done to address the conflicts that persist in the Middle East and Africa, and the resulting humanitarian crises, abuses of human rights and social and economic disruption. 

As we have consistently reiterated, multilateral efforts should be supported as the primary approach to deal with terrorism and conflict. 

The United Nations should be the primary forum for such interventions.

On the African Continent we have seen the positive effects of cooperation between the UN and regional organisations such as the African Union. 

In view of the ongoing challenges in Syria, Yemen, Palestine, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Libya, South Sudan and the Central Africa Republic, we should continue to support cooperation between the UN, the AU and others. 

In the economic sphere, as we note that unilateral tendencies seem to be gaining traction, we should uphold the principles of multilateralism. 

The increasingly inward-looking and bilaterally-oriented approach to trade agreements is of concern. 

Coupled with the evident rise of trade protectionism, these factors are directly undermining the multilateral trading system as agreed in Marrakesh in 1994 and again in Doha in 2001.

The current challenges in global trade necessitate that we use all available policy tools, in accordance with our commitments in the multilateral trading system, to achieve the goal of sustainable, balanced and inclusive growth. 

We must hold steadfast to the objective of creating a world that is conducive for sustainable development and shared prosperity, not only for our own nations, but also for the broader community of emerging markets and developing countries. 

While our meeting takes place in an environment of uncertainty and growing unilateralism and protectionism, this Forum has demonstrated its capacity to make our voices heard in the international arena. 

We must continue to leverage our position on the global stage as a means to continuously reaffirm our commitment to multilateralism and to a fair and just rules-based, transparent and inclusive multilateral trading system.
 
We reaffirm our commitment to financial cooperation and to furthering the prospect of financial integration, which will help address the development needs of BRICS countries and other emerging markets. 

As we approach the G20 Leaders’ Summit, South Africa stands ready to work closely with its G20 partners to ensure the implementation of G20 commitments, particularly with regards to the development aspirations of Africa and least developed countries. 

Like the majority of G20 members, South Africa seeks language in the G20 Leaders’ Communique that reflects a strong commitment to the Paris Climate Change Agreement and a sense of urgency for its implementation, especially around financial commitments, technology transfer and means of implementation support. 

Global trade is at the core of the G20’s mandate and we expect the G20 to show leadership in light of current global trade tensions. 

South Africa stands ready to work together with BRICS to ensure a trade outcome that shows a strong G20 commitment to a multilateral trading system, with the World Trade Organisation as the premier body in international trade. 

South Africa seeks BRICS’ support for the implementation of previous commitments of the G20 to support industrialisation in Africa and least developed countries as agreed in 2016 at the Hangzhou Summit.

We seek support for the G20 Partnership with Africa, the Compact with Africa and previous commitments on support for the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development in Africa, among others.

South Africa seeks BRICS’ support for the G20’s continued prioritisation of efforts to address illicit financial flows as a developmental issue for Africa. 

To this end, the G20 Hangzhou Summit in China in 2016 agreed that there should be continuous work on addressing cross-border financial flows derived from illicit activities, which hampers the mobilisation of domestic resources for development. 

South Africa will continue to support further G20 consideration of the report by the World Customs Organisation on this matter and a reflection of this important issue in the Leaders’ Communique. 

The G20 needs to discuss growing levels of inequality within and among countries, and the widening developmental divide between the global North and South. 

South Africa looks forward to working with other BRICS countries to ensure the G20 demonstrates leadership in preventing a global economic crisis. 

There is therefore a need for the G20 member countries to play a role in unlocking resources needed for inclusive growth and sustainable development for all countries and peoples.

There is much that the BRICS forum – with its shared outlook and a decade of effective cooperation – can do to advance this agenda and encourage all G20 countries to play a positive and meaningful role in building a better, safer and more inclusive world.

I thank you. 

Minister of Energy, Mr Jeff Radebe,
Minister of Justice and Correctional Services, Adv Michael Masutha,
Minister of Police, General Bheki Cele,
Members of the NDPP Advisory Panel,
Members of the media,
Fellow South Africans, 
 
Today, I am announcing the appointment of a new National Director of Public Prosecutions. 

 This follows the order of the Constitutional Court on 13 August 2018 that the President appoint an NDPP within 90 days. 

In making this order, the Court highlighted the severe challenges that have confronted the National Prosecuting Authority in recent years, including leadership instability and a decline in public confidence in the institution.

Among other things, the Court said: 

“The rule of law dictates that the office of the NDPP be cleansed of all the ills that have plagued it for the past few years.” 

The court was concerned about the dysfunctionality of the NPA when it said: 

“With a malleable, corrupt or dysfunctional prosecuting authority, many criminals – especially those holding positions of influence – will rarely, if ever, answer for their criminal deeds… 

“If you subvert the criminal justice system, you subvert the rule of law and constitutional democracy itself.”

In appointing a new NDPP, we are addressing the state of dysfunctionality and deficiencies in the NPA that were identified by the court. 

The National Director of Public Prosecutions occupies a vital position in our democracy, and makes an essential contribution to upholding the rule of law and ensuring the efficiency and integrity of law enforcement. 

At this moment in our history, as we address matters that South Africans are most concerned about – such as state capture, corruption and widespread crime – our country needs a National Prosecuting Authority that is above reproach in the performance of its mandate and that enjoys the confidence of the public. 

The NDPP must ensure that the National Prosecuting Authority exercises its functions without fear, favour or prejudice and should not be beholden to any vested interests, whether in politics, in business or elsewhere. 

The NDPP needs to be able to take decisions independently and impartially. 

In appointing the new NDPP, I decided to depart from previous practice. 

While recognising that the Constitution requires that the NDPP is appointed by the President as head of the national executive, I sought the assistance of a panel of individuals from the legal fraternity and Chapter 9 institutions in recommending suitable candidates. 

The members of the panel were Minister Jeff Radebe, as chairperson, and Auditor-General Kimi Makwethu, South African Human Rights Commission Chairperson Bongani Majola, Jaap Cilliers from the General Council of the Bar of South Africa, Richard Scott from the Law Society, Lutendo Sigogo from the Black Lawyers Association, Lawrence Manye from the Advocates for Transformation and Mvuzo Nyotesi from the National Association of Democratic Lawyers. 

Following a process of nominations, shortlisting and interviews that were open to the media, the advisory panel proposed five candidates for the NDPP position. 

After consideration of their recommendations, I have decided, in terms of section 179 of the Constitution, to appoint Adv Shamila Batohi as the new National Director of Public Prosecutions. 

I am confident that Adv Batohi possesses all the attributes of a capable NDPP. 

Throughout her extensive and distinguished career, and in the course of the selection process, she has shown herself to be a fit and proper person. 

She started her public service as a junior prosecutor in the Chatsworth magistrates’ court in 1986 and steadily rose through the ranks to become the Director of Public Prosecutions in KwaZulu Natal. 

She was seconded to the Investigation Task Unit established by President Nelson Mandela in 1995 and later served as the first regional head of the Directorate of Special Operations based in KwaZulu-Natal. 

For much of the last decade, she has served as a Senior Legal Advisor to the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court. 

As the NPA Act requires, she has the experience, conscientiousness and integrity to be entrusted with the responsibilities of this office. 

Despite the many challenges the NPA has faced in the past, we know that there are women and men of great ability, experience and commitment within the NPA who are dedicated to doing their job and doing it well. 

It is our collective responsibility to ensure that the conditions exist for them to effectively serve the cause of justice and to meet the great expectations that the South African people have of them. 

As this administration, we stand ready to provide whatever assistance necessary to the National Prosecuting Authority to ensure that it is able to fulfil its constitutional mandate without let or hindrance, fear or favour.
 
In conclusion, I would like to thank the members of the advisory panel for the diligence and care with which they undertook their task, and to thank Minister Radebe for chairing the panel. 

I also wish thank all the candidates who made themselves available for appointment to this important position. 

I wish Adv Batohi and the entire leadership and staff of the National Prosecuting Authority well in the work that lies ahead. 

Advocate Batohi will commence her duties in February 2019 after serving her notice as Senior Legal Advisor at the ICC.

It is now my pleasure to call on Adv Batohi to make a few remarks. 

I thank you.

Programme Director, Minister Lindiwe Zulu,
Minister of Trade and Industry, Mr Rob Davies,
Minister of Economic Development, Mr Ebrahim Patel,
Premier of the Western Cape, Ms Helen Zille,
City of Cape Town Executive Mayor, Mr Dan Plato,
Distinguished Guests,
Ladies and gentlemen,

It is a great pleasure to be here today at the dawn of a new era for the community of Atlantis.

The Atlantis Special Economic Zone, which we are launching today, is an integral part of our effort to reignite economic growth by attracting investment and creating jobs. 

We know that without significant economic growth, we will not be able to create work for the people of the province and the country, and without substantially higher rates of investment, we will not achieve growth.

We have therefore embarked on a range of measures to mobilise investment into our economy.

And we are working to direct that investment to those industries that have the greatest potential for sustainable growth and to those parts of the country that have the most to benefit.

The Special Economic Zone programme has been identified as one of the critical economic policy instruments for promoting industrialisation. 

The nine SEZs that have been designated as part of this programme have several important features.

They are located in areas both of need and opportunity.

They are being established close to where our people live, where there is often deep poverty and where there is a great demand for jobs.

At the same time, these sites have been selected for their proximity to ports, logistics hubs, related industry or raw materials.

Most of the SEZs focus on a specific industry, encouraging the development of clusters of suppliers and service providers.

By concentrating industrial value chains in these areas, collaboration is encouraged and costs are significantly reduced.

These SEZs can contribute much to reshaping the spatial landscape of the apartheid economy.

Importantly, these SEZs attract foreign and domestic direct investment into the productive economy through a range of benefits.

The SEZ programme is supported by a competitive incentive package, which includes, among others, a 15% corporate tax incentive, employment tax incentive, accelerated depreciation allowance, VAT and customs exemption, and infrastructure support. 

The special economic zones are key to unlocking the country’s competitive and comparative advantages.

The programme has so far managed to generate R11.6 billion worth of private investments into the SEZs. 

There were 115 operational investors in the SEZs at the end of the second quarter.

As we develop these special economic zones, we need to be expanding the range of our ambition.

We need to see these zones as manufacturing hubs for the entire African continent, capable of reaching and servicing a rapidly growing market for goods and services.

We need to seize the opportunities presented by the African Continental Free Trade Area and by the continent’s need for massive infrastructure investment.

The Atlantis Special Economic Zone was conceived as an integrated and sustainable economic development intervention in a region with both great promise and several social challenges. 

Atlantis used to be an area designated for special tax incentives, and was successful in creating industries and jobs. 

We are certain that these successes can be repeated and surpassed.

The launch of the Atlantis SEZ is the culmination of an extensive process of consultation and technical evaluation.

It is the product of close cooperation between different spheres of government working together towards the realisation of a common goal.

The public consultation process involved stakeholders such as organised labour, business and the broader community.

In giving approval for the designation of this SEZ, Cabinet set out two main conditions.

Firstly, the Zone must have community and organised labour representatives on the entity’s board. 

Secondly, the local community and SMMEs must be prioritised in the SEZ’s job creation and empowerment programme.

This is part of our commitment to put people first as key drivers of the economy.

I am pleased to note that the process of ensuring community representation and promoting SMMEs is at an advanced stage. 

The fundamental premise of the Atlantis SEZ is to unlock the underlying economic value of existing and underutilised infrastructure through the creation of a green tech manufacturing hub. 

This includes exploiting its strategic location with its access to major national roads. 

Its proximity to two ports, in Cape Town and Saldanha, provides advantages for exporters.

The Atlantis SEZ is expected to grow the green tech sector in the Western Cape more broadly and revitalise Atlantis as a key industrial node in the region. 

The Atlantis Zone has already attracted four large green tech investors, which are fully operational. 

Gestamp Renewable Industries, which we visited this morning, was the first of these investments. 

The company invested R300 million and has created about 220 jobs in Atlantis. 

The other investors are Resolux with an investment of R25 million, Kaytech with an investment of R130 million, and Skyward Windows with an investment of R50 million. 

In addition to secured investments, The Atlantis Zone has an investment pipeline valued at R2.4 billion. 

In the short to medium term, the zone is projected to create over 1,400 jobs in Atlantis. 

Through manufacturing, job multipliers are estimated to rise to about 4,500 for the West Coast region. 

The Atlantis Zone programme clearly demonstrates what we can collectively achieve when we take an integrated approach to economic development. 

We must continue to harness the power of initiatives such as the Atlantis Zone, which bring together business, organised labour and government in a single marketplace.

It is only through partnerships like this one that we can succeed in building an enduring economy.

It is only through mobilising our collective resources that we can have the financial means to invest in businesses and jobs.

It is the interests of our people that we must promote above all else.

It is their wellbeing and their prosperity to which we must dedicate our every effort and our every capability.

That is why we need investment across South Africa, why we must work together, and why we are launching this Atlantis Special Economic Zone today for our people. 

I thank you.

Programme Director,
Minister of Labour, Ms Mildred Oliphant,
Premier of Gauteng, Mr David Makhura,
Ministers and Deputy Ministers,
Nedlac Executive Director, Mr Madoda Vilakazi,
Representatives of organised labour,
Representatives of business,
Representatives of the community constituency,
Workers of South Africa,
Compatriots,

It was here, in Kliptown, in 1955, that the Congress of the People declared, for all our country and the world to know, that there shall be a minimum wage for all workers.

Now, over six decades later, we have gathered at this historic place to sign the proclamation for the introduction of the country’s first national minimum wage.

We have gathered here to declare that from the 1st of January 2019,  no worker may be paid below the national minimum wage.

This is a great achievement for the working people of South Africa, who have had to endure generations of exploitation.

It is a great achievement for the labour movement, which has placed this fundamental demand at the centre of its struggle for better conditions for workers.

The national minimum wage should also be seen as an achievement for business, for it demonstrates the commitment of employers to fairer wages and better working conditions.

It is a great achievement for a young democracy that is striving to overcome a legacy of poverty and severe inequality.

Today’s signing ceremony is the culmination of several years of intense deliberations among the social partners.

There were many areas of divergence, several disagreements, many setbacks.

Yet, even at the most difficult of moments, the parties were united by a shared desire for a more equal, more prosperous South Africa.

In this sense, the national minimum wage represents the triumph of cooperation over conflict, of negotiation over confrontation. 

The national minimum wage does not stand alone. 

It is an important part of a broader engagement among social partners on how to reduce wage inequality and promote labour stability in South Africa. 

It is a decisive step towards the achievement of a living wage and a more equal distribution of income and wealth. 

We have heard the voices of those who say the starting minimum wage level of R20 an hour is too low. 

We agree. It is far below what we would want workers to earn. 

But we must understand that in setting the starting level, the social partners sought to strike a balance – between the need to measurably improve the income of the lowest paid workers and the need to sustain and increase levels of employment. 

The social partners agreed on this starting level because the available evidence showed that it would not lead to widespread layoffs, but at the same time would increase the earnings of as many as six million working South Africans. 

It is structured to make a real difference in the lives of ordinary South Africans without negatively impacting the economy. 

We should expect that this additional income will contribute to greater consumption and higher demand, contributing in turn to greater economic growth and more jobs. 

If implemented comprehensively, with appropriate use of exemptions and other safeguards, we see the national minimum wage as an instrument of economic stimulus. 

The national minimum wage takes effect in the 25th year of our democracy – a quarter century in which the rights of workers have been progressively enhanced and entrenched. 

In giving effect to the Freedom Charter, we have put in place legislation to provide for trade union workplace organisation, collective bargaining, the principle of equal pay for work of equal value, improved health and safety, affirmative action, skills development, the right to strike, and the right to peaceful protest. 

These achievements fulfil a global commitment to the achievement of fundamental rights and freedoms. 

Earlier today, at Constitution Hill, we celebrated the 70th anniversary of the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. 

This Declaration, which binds all humanity to a common set of values, holds that: 

“Everyone has the right to work, to free choice of employment, to just and favourable conditions of work and to protection against unemployment.” 

And, importantly for us today: 

“Everyone who works has the right to just and favourable remuneration ensuring for themselves and their family an existence worthy of human dignity...” 

As we gather here in Kliptown, let us reaffirm our shared commitment to ensure that all the people of this land may achieve an existence worthy of human dignity. 

Let us do so mindful of the past that we are working to correct and the future that we are working to build. 

For as we celebrate the great achievement of a national minimum wage, we need to acknowledge that the world of work is being transformed. 

Technological advances are having a profound effect on production, employment, governance and social relations. 

Many of the workplaces of tomorrow will be unrecognisable. 

Occupations that have been around for decades will cease to exist. 

These changes are also being driven by forces like climate change and demographic shifts within and between countries.

These changes present significant risks for a country like South Africa, with high unemployment, low skills levels and widespread poverty.

Unless we respond appropriately, this 4th Industrial Revolution could deepen the inequality in our society at the very moment we are introducing measures like the national minimum wage to reduce it.

It could deepen unemployment and leave those without appropriate skills languishing on the margins of the economy.

Yet, the 4th Industrial Revolution also presents great prospects for progress and inclusive prosperity.

It holds the promise of new and better jobs – jobs that are more fulfilling, better paid, safer and healthier.

It presents countless opportunities to deploy technology to address social problems and solve developmental challenges.

It could reshape the relationship between work and life, between learning and earning.

If, as South Africa, we are to avoid the risks of the changing world of work, and instead seize the opportunities, then we need to start immediately to ready ourselves for these changes.

We need to approach this challenge as we have approached so many others – through collaboration and partnership.

In the same way that we worked together to introduce a national minimum wage, we need to organise ourselves as social partners to prepare for the new world of work.

We should not allow technology to determine our future.

Instead, we should use technology to shape the inclusive, prosperous and free society that we seek.

This means that we must adopt policies and build institutions that can direct, regulate and mediate the uncertainties of a rapidly changing economy.

It means that we must invest in the capabilities of our people, providing them with the means to acquire skills, to reskill and to upskill.

We must give real effect to the notion of lifelong learning, because the skills you acquire in your 20s may be different from those that you will need in your 40s.

We will need to assist people through several periods of transition, as established industries are disrupted and as occupations disappear. 

This demands the undivided effort of government, business, labour and various structures of civil society. 

It demands that we act decisively and that we act with urgency. 

Fellow South Africans,

With the introduction of the national minimum wage, we are establishing a firm platform for a social pact on the future of work.

We must sustain the momentum of this moment, not only to address the very pressing economic challenges of the present, but to ready ourselves for the economic opportunities of the near future.

Allow me in conclusion to thank all our partners in NEDLAC, whose hard work breathed life into the national minimum wage.

Most importantly, I want to acknowledge and appreciate the contributions made by South Africans from all walks of life during the extensive consultation on the national minimum wage. 

Today, we are fulfilling a promise that was made over 60 years ago by the representatives of our people on this very ground.

Today, we are making a new promise, as the representatives of the social partners, to build a new world of work in which all may realise their potential and none are left behind.

I thank you.

United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Ms Michelle Bachelet,
Ambassador of the European Union to South Africa, Mr Marcus Cornaro,
Members of the diplomatic community,
Minister of Justice and Correctional Services, Advocate Michael Masutha,
Justices, Ministers and MECs,
Members of the Mandela and Sisulu families,
Chairperson of the South African Human Rights Commission, Advocate Bongani Majola 
Chairperson of the Board of the Foundation for Human Rights, Ms Thoko Mpumlwana,
CEO of the Nelson Mandela Foundation, Mr Sello Hatang,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

It is a great honour and a privilege to be here this morning as we join countries around the world in marking the 70th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. 

I would like to particularly welcome the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Ms Michelle Bachelet, and congratulate her on her appointment. 

We look forward to working with you in advancing the aims of your office, and to playing our part in entrenching a culture of human rights not just in South Africa but across the globe.

Today, we stand on ground heavy with history, a place of both tragedy and triumph. 

Once a prison where the apartheid regime enforced control and terror, this is now the seat of our Constitutional Court. 

Constitution Hill is more than a monument to the past, it is testament to the resilience and unshakeable strength of the human spirit.

The founder of democratic South Africa, President Nelson Mandela, was incarcerated twice at the Old Fort in the early 1960s. 

When he returned decades later to open the Nelson Mandela Centre of Memory and Commemoration he spoke poignantly of his experience, and of the former jail being turned into a place of commemoration “so that future generations will remember what their freedom has been built on”.

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights was adopted at a time when the nations of the world were etched with the scars of war. 

It too is a reminder to current and future generations of what our freedom has been built on. 

The values it espouses – of equality, freedom and dignity – bind us together as the universal fellowship of humanity. 

They commit us to building a world free of oppression and discrimination. 

The Declaration is an implicit rejection of movements, ideologies and doctrines that seek to divide us.

It is a rejection of racism, sexism, homophobia, xenophobia and all other forms of bigotry and prejudice.

This historic declaration, this manifestation of humanity’s common conscience, significantly influenced the development of South Africa’s constitutional order. 

It is no coincidence that our Constitution was signed into law by Nelson Mandela on the same day that the Universal Declaration of Human Rights had been adopted by the UN General Assembly 48 years earlier.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Twenty-four years since the birth of democracy in South Africa, our constitutional order is vibrant, dynamic and in good health. 

Our Constitution, with its Bill of Rights, underpins all our actions as a government working hard to improve the material conditions of our people, uphold the rule of law and safeguard fundamental freedoms. 

It was the Universal Declaration of Human Rights that contributed most to entrenching human rights principles into our law, perhaps more than any other international legal instrument.

I had the privilege of being part of the team that was given the momentous task of drafting South Africa’s first democratic Constitution. 

It was a heady and exhilarating time, but a daunting responsibility. 

Across the table were some of our former enemies, representing political parties still firmly stuck in the past – a past where a racial minority enjoyed rights and freedoms to the exclusion, and at the expense, of the majority. 

There we were – revolutionaries, communists, white supremacists, nationalists, religious parties and the like – each bringing a particular world view, and a particular set of interests, to the negotiating table. 

We heard from delegations representing business, labour, traditional leaders, gender activists and many other interest groups who wanted to have their say on a range of issues, from labour rights, to land and property rights, to reproductive health, to minority language protection. 

Foremost among our concerns was that the voices of the South African people should be heard. 

The Constitution was anchored in 34 constitutional principles agreed to in the multi-party negotiations that adopted the interim Constitution. 

They were the foundations of the Constitution’s architecture, and form the bedrock of the constitutional order we wanted to realise.

Principle Two was a practical expression of the values that underpin the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. 

It said that everyone in South Africa would enjoy all universally accepted fundamental rights, freedoms and civil liberties, which would be provided for and protected by the Constitution. 

The centrality of human rights in our law, and the importance of having a Bill of Rights included in our Constitution, is in no small part thanks to the enduring impact of a declaration that has proven to be as relevant as it is timeless.

Seventy years since it was adopted, South Africa reaffirms its commitment to upholding this pact between the peoples of the world. 

The same collaboration and consensus that defined the period during which we drafted our first Constitution, is what we seek to harness now. 

While we have one of the most progressive constitutions in the world, particularly as it relates to socio-economic rights, there is a great deal of unfinished business. 

There is a disjuncture between what the Constitution promises and reality.

For example, the right to gender equality promised by our Constitution is rendered meaningless unless the state and all social actors fulfil their obligation to put instruments in place to support the advancement of this right. 

Whether it is with the setting up of specialised Sexual Offences Courts, or repealing laws that uphold discrimination against women, there must be a practical manifestation of this right.

Similarly, outlawing discrimination on the basis of race, gender, religion or sexual orientation is only effective if action is taken against those who continue to use discrimination as a means of exclusion, be it in schools, in the workplace or in places of worship.

The burning issue of land – of access to land and ownership of land – has brought into sharp focus the reality that we still have to extend the property rights enshrined in the Constitution to all South Africans. 

It has also raised the issue that in order to fulfil the obligations contained in the Constitution, it may be necessary in certain circumstances to amend certain provisions of the same Constitution. 

We will all be aware of the robust and welcome debates that have been taking place around land and land ownership in South Africa. 

It is a sign of the health of our democracy that an extensive and wide-ranging process of public participation preceded the decision of our Parliament to adopt the recommendations of a committee with regards to land expropriation.

At the same time, this process has been a barometer of public sentiment and an affirmation of the resilience of our constitutional order. 

Our citizens have participated with enthusiasm, showing that across the length and breadth of the land, they still retain the utmost faith in our Constitution as the primary means by which their rights can be promoted, advanced and enforced.

South Africa is a relatively young democracy. 

The gains we have registered are all the more extraordinary when considering the legacy we have been tasked with correcting.

But we know that for those who are still afflicted by poverty, by the legacy of dispossession and by underdevelopment, our progress has not been fast enough. 

We know that transforming our economy, that transforming patterns of ownership in South Africa, is an imperative. 

We recognise that whether it is access to land or the provision of basic services, we have to give expression to the rights of our people as entrenched in our Bill of Rights. 

For a Constitution to be relevant, it has to live and breathe. 

It is neither static nor sacrosanct. 

It can, and indeed it must be, responsive to the circumstances and conditions of the day – while remaining true to the principles and values that underpin it.

We are proud of the human rights culture that prevails in South Africa today, and which guides all our endeavours. 

Our constitutional order was won through the sheer determination of our people, and many paid a harsh price to see it realised. 

We owe it to the memories of Nelson Mandela, of Albertina Sisulu and of the many other freedom fighters of our country, to keep the faith in constitutionalism alive. 

Far too many of our people still live in squalour and misery, denied opportunity and a chance to better their lives because of poverty, lack of education and other forms of disadvantage.

In delivering the landmark Grootboom judgment 18 years ago, which concerned a group of people who occupied private land earmarked for low-cost housing, Justice Yacoob wrote: 

“The issues here remind us of the intolerable conditions under which many of our people are still living….it is also a reminder that unless the plight of these communities is alleviated, people may be tempted to take the law into their own hands to escape these conditions.”

This is a reminder that our Constitution is the most potent instrument we have to change the lives of our people.
 
It is the means through which we protect the vulnerable against the abuse of power.

The Constitution must never be seen as a constraint to progress or a barrier to transformation.

The Constitution is a means by which we maintain our commitment to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

The need to protect the inalienable right of every human being to live a life of freedom and of dignity is what brought the nations of the world together 70 years ago. 

It was also the fibre that connected the drafters of our Constitution. 

It is what energises and motivates us today as we seek to advance these rights not just for our own people, but for all of humankind.

We should take great pride that a culture of human rights continues to take root across the globe, even in parts of the world once associated with repression. 

Human rights are universal, they are not relative. 

For as long as only some enjoy them, and others don’t, our task is not over.

For as long as some still face discrimination, oppression and exploitation, none of us can be truly free.
 
Let us join hands in promoting human rights across the globe, so that all people can enjoy the freedoms that we so dearly cherish, and so that we can bequeath a better, fairer world to the generations that will follow.

Today, we celebrate a great moment in the history of humankind that took place 70 years ago.

At its essence, however, this occasion is not so much about the past. 

It is about the future.

I thank you.