Minister Essop Pahad
Address: Presidency
budget vote, National Assembly
23
June 2004
Madame Speaker
Since the presentation of this Vote last year, a great deal has happened in South Africa.
We have been celebrating, and continue to celebrate, the first decade of democracy and freedom in this land. Those celebrations went ahead with very wide support, barring the odd inappropriate note played in certain political quarters. It was highly pleasing to note the degree to which the citizens of a once-divided country banded together in the splendid way they did to mark a historic milestone in nationhood. This was a demonstration if ever we needed one, in a newly turbulent world, of how nations can settle their differences and concentrate on the things that unite them.
Another major event since we last considered this Vote was the general election. There have been winners and losers, but the real winner was South African democracy, on show again in an impressive exercise in a free and secret ballot - the third of its type since the dawn of democracy here in 1994. That is another thing to celebrate.
Then, also, there was the triumph in Zurich where we were chosen as the host country for the Soccer World Cup in 2010. All South African hearts were beating as one over this - another unifying event, another indication of our attractiveness as a nation of growing international choice. It underscored the realization that our land is a haven of peace in the world, and that we are tackling our problems in ways, which make medium-range planning like this, for complex massed world events, a realistic proposition. The contrast with South Africa's past generations of ostracism and racial tyranny is so great that it does not bear thinking about.
There will not be many reasonable people who would contest the view that our national fortunes are on the rise, and that the goals, which we have set ourselves, are steadily being reached. These thoughts have to be tempered by our acute awareness of the strides that still remain to be taken before we can be really comfortable with our national success. That state will come only when the poor are no longer poor, when the hungry are no longer hungry, when the homeless are housed, when the fearful and sick people of our land are secure and well. But no one should, for a moment, underestimate the urgency with which we face our challenges - in line with the commitments made by our President and government in recent months and years.
We are, and must remain, a nation with a sense of urgency. It must never be "business as usual". It must be "urgent business as usual", all the way. We owe this not only to the living, but to those who have passed on and who worked so hard for a non-racial, non-sexist, economically strong and caring South Africa.
We must continue the fight for the rights of the previously marginalized - not only the masses of blacks who, as a majority group, were held back by a repressive apartheid government, but specifically the women, the children and the disabled. It is these on whom the most cruel blows of apartheid fell, particularly in rural areas officially designated as dumping grounds for human beings.
The manner in which women were treated in law and in practice, under apartheid, to this day manifests itself in a variety of ways, including higher levels of poverty (asset and income), lower educational levels, and overall lower quality of life than the rest of the population. It should be noted that the Government's response to the plight of women, disabled people and children in the past ten years has been structured around specific principles, the key ones being:
- Empowerment, development and the meeting of basic needs;
- Mainstreaming gender, disability and children's issues;
- Partnership between government and civil society;
- Equality and non-discrimination;
- Self-representation;
- Recognition of the right to equality in customary, cultural and religious practices;
- Recognition of differences and inequalities among women;
- Entitlement to the right of integrity and security of the person
Nonetheless, the current situation is that the majority of women and persons with disabilities still live within the second economy. They are adversely affected by poverty, unemployment, lack of financial and capital resources and lack of technical and professional skills. Their household incomes are still low on average and their participation in the broader economy contributes a smaller percentage to the GDP of the country. The major challenge is to ensure that the labour market is able satisfactorily to absorb women and people with disabilities into meaningful and gainful employment and that they are thereby better positioned to take advantage of business opportunities as entrepreneurs.
In the past decade, South Africa has been able to respond appropriately to international instruments that deal with gender, disability and children's (GDC) issues, ratifying the treaties and fashioning internal policies, legislation and norms and standards on services in accordance with international frameworks. South Africa has ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women, and is currently part of the preparatory process of providing input to the Disability Rights Convention through the UN Ad-hoc Committee. South Africa has been able to undertake exchange visits to create benchmarks to enable it to measure progress and assist in resource allocation. South Africa has also been able to sign a number of bilateral agreements with donor countries for specific projects on GDC issues.
The establishment of the three offices in the Presidency covering GDC, coupled with the projects they pursue, has put them at the cutting edge and placed them on the world map. A significant response with regard to policy includes the National Gender Policy and the National Integrated Disability Strategy.
South Africa has also played a visible role in the international arena by hosting several conferences, seminars, and workshops, which addressed issues affecting targeted groups throughout the world. In fact, other countries have been able to copy the South African model regarding targeted groups on specific projects, policies and regulatory frameworks. South Africa also chairs a number of international protocols relating to UN work in respect of GDC considerations.
There is no denying, however, that we need significantly to improve our participation in bi-national commissions and bi-lateral agreements; and to accelerate the work around the international commitments we have made. Moreover, there needs to be better co-ordination across government departments to achieve better comprehensive and coherent coverage by programmes aimed at improving the conditions of the target groups. We must measure, and measure effectively, our service delivery process. Better data is needed not only at the national but also provincial and local levels.
Improving the performance of the state on GDC issues will be further enhanced through increasing government's expertise in these areas. Disabled persons, youth, children and women constitute a significant proportion of the population who are directly impacted upon by the attitude, behaviour and performance of public servants.
The same sense of urgency and preciseness that we adopt over GDC issues must apply to youth development, a major focus of government effort. We have a range of programmes aimed at young people but the challenge remains to ensure that young people are aware of this and also to build cohesion among the programmes.
The National Youth Service is ready for roll-out, and, in the spirit of the President's most recent State of the Nation speech, we have clear time frames for action. We envisage five thousand young people in accredited youth service programmes by the end of 2004. The National Youth Service Unit - to co-ordinate and be the administrative nerve centre - will be launched during the first half of July 2004. This will include a campaign to bring in prospective young people to participate in the youth service.
On 16 June, Youth Day, there was a week-long Youth Camp/workshop to assist in registering young graduates, to discuss seizing BEE opportunities, to focus on small enterprises, to set up support services for youth through the DTI.
I have already touched on the year-long celebrations to mark 10 years of freedom, and wish to elaborate briefly. A great deal of public participation has been built into the celebrations - business, civil society, trade unions, the Proudly South African campaign, International Marketing Council, and so on. The logo is now widely used both domestically and internationally, though I would like to appeal to media to use it more visibly and regularly. On 27 April we witnessed the hugely successful celebrations at Union Buildings and the State Theatre with specially composed songs for the 10th anniversary and for President Mbeki. The re-elected President of South Africa was inaugurated on that day and it was deeply moving to see the spectacle on the ground and in the air on this occasion. The anniversary was celebrated not only at Union Buildings but in all major capitals of the world.
On Youth Day, it will be recalled, there was a third National Orders ceremony where new orders where awarded to honour, among others, epochal fighters against colonialism and apartheid on the continent and further afield. This was a recognition of the importance of the international solidarity, which secured our victory against apartheid. It points to the new responsibility we have as a nation in furthering international solidarity and internationalism to secure victory for the emancipation of Africa.
What lies ahead of us on the national calendar? Women's month begins on 9 August. There will be a major women-only festival on that day in Mpumalanga. Women's trains will run throughout the month and stop at various stations around the country with an exhibition and support services to communicate how best to access social security, health services, access to small business support services etc. The month will culminate on 31 August with a thanksgiving service at the Union Buildings where the 1956 women's pass protest march took place
On 24 September - Heritage Day - there will be major celebrations in Kimberley, with our national symbols (flag, coat of arms, anthem, national orders etc) as the key focus.
On 2 October we shall mark National Children's Day, and on 3 December the International Day of the Disabled and on 16 December we commemorate the Day of Reconciliation. The decade of freedom celebrations will culminate in the Western Cape around the opening of Parliament in early February 2005.
And let us by no means forget the different but inter-related commemorative dates that fall within the 16 days campaign against violence directed at women, which are:
- International day for no violence against women, on 25 November,
- International day for those living with HIV and AIDS, 1 December,
- International day for people living with disability, 3 December, and
- International human rights day, 10 December.
As we focus on critical matters of human rights, let us look at how we have boosted the numbers of the previously marginalised in our National Parliament (National Assembly and NCOP). I assume with confidence that we have proportionally more people with disabilities in our Parliament than any other country. In fact, we have 16 members with disabilities. The party breakdown is not without interest:
- African National Congress: 14
- Inkatha Freedom Party: 1
- Independent Democrats: 1
Now, a closing comment on the status of those who form the majority in most societies, and I think Hon. members will be particularly interested in the breakdowns I give.
There were 131 (i.e. 32.75%) women in the National Assembly as at May 2004. In 2003 there were 31.3 % women and in 1994 the figure was 25.4%. This shows an increase of 7.35%.
When one looks at the party-political breakdown in 2004, it emerges that the ANC has 106 women out of 279 seats (38.4%); the DA 10 out of 50 seats (or 20%), IFP 8 out of 28 (or 28.6%), the ID 2 out of 7 (or 28.5%), NNP 1 out of 7 (or 14.2%), ACDP 1 out of 6 (or 16.6%), Freedom Front Plus 0 out of 4, and the UCDP has 0 out of 3.
There were 19 (i.e. 35.18%) women in the NCOP as at May 2004 Of the 19 women, 12 were from the ANC (63% of the total of women), one from the IFP (5.2%), 5 from the DA (26.3%) and one from the UDM (5.2%). The total percentage for women in the NCOP in 2003, though, was 37.9%.
We have 16 men and 12 women in the Cabinet - that is, 42.85% women membership. We have 11 men deputy ministers and 10 women deputy ministers - that is, 47.6% women.
And let us now bring into focus the coming local government elections and the need to see gender equity reflected at that level. At present, the figures show that of 8 828 councillors, 6 263 are men and 2 565 women, a ratio of about 71% to 29%. Of 284 mayors, 49 (about 17%) are women. About 29% of our council speakers are women.
In both the spheres of disability and women representation, the ANC is in the forefront, and I should like to make an appeal to all political parties to follow this example, which we have set.
Most of the areas I have mentioned in this address show progress, yes, but they also highlight the challenges that remain. Let us move on, not only in word but also in deed, to meet them.
Issued by
The Presidency
23 June 2004
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