Last Updated: 12-Jun-2008

Address by Dr EG Pahad, Minister in the Presidency, on the occasion of the Presidency Budget Vote National Assembly, 11 June 2008

12 June 2008

Madam Speaker and Deputy Speaker,
Cde President,
Cde Deputy President, Honourable Ministers and Deputy Ministers,
Honourable Members,
Distinguished Guests,
Ladies and Gentlemen

Undeniably one of our most successful achievements as a country has been to replace a system reviled as a crime against humanity with one based on the ideals of non-racialism and non-sexism. Since 1994 we have endeavoured to build a socially-inclusive and socially-cohesive democratic South Africa, through a process of socio-economic and political transformation.

The triumph of this idea and ideal, the triumph of the reality of democracy and social justice over tyranny, authoritarianism, apartheid and colonialism, is a testimony to leadership. It was Thomas Jefferson who said “God grant that men of principle shall be our principal men." We in South Africa have been blessed. We have had men and women of principle stretching from the pre-colonial times to the present. And our movement, which today forms the governing party has had men and women of principle including Pixley ka Isaka Seme, Chief Albert Luthuli, JB Marks, Lilian Ngoyi, Gertrude Shope, Moses Kotane, Walter and Albertina Sisulu, Dr Dadoo, Govan Mbeki, Chris Hani, Joe Slovo and Ruth First, Oliver Tambo, Nelson Mandela, and Thabo Mbeki.

The idea and the ideal triumphed because South Africa embraced democratic citizenship and social inclusion as transformative tools, and as normative ideals in the continual struggle against racism, sexism, xenophobia and related intolerances. In this endeavour the role of the Office on the Rights of the Child, the Office on the Status of Women and the Office on the Status of Disabled People is critical. It falls on them, including the Youth Desk, to oversee mainstreaming of GDCY concerns into all our government’s policies and programmes.

One of the significant steps we took was to place the needs of vulnerable groups - women, children, youth and people with disabilities - at the very heart of our institutions and our policies by locating the OSDP, the ORC and the OSW in The Presidency. We did this to ensure that the issues of critical importance to vulnerable groups and communities are not left to a single line department but are dealt with in a holistic, integrated fashion. This is about democracy and accountability, and it is about ensuring cross-cutting responsibilities in good governance.

The Offices and the Youth desk all engage with civil society organisations in their respective sectors, and interact with their provincial and local counterparts to ensure that national policies are translated into action in the other spheres of government. Continuous interface with community-based organisations and with the other two spheres of government, ensures that national government stays alive to the issues and challenges facing vulnerable communities, so as to ensure that the quality of life of members of those communities improves.

June, Honourable Members, is Youth month and we remember with sadness and pride the enormous sacrifices our youth made in 1976 during the Soweto and related uprisings. Youth make up 41% of our population and they face challenges of poverty, marginalisation in the rural areas, unemployment, unacceptably-high school drop-out rates and health issues including HIV, AIDS and other communicable diseases and infections. All of these are exacerbated by conditions of poverty.

A well-resourced, streamlined NYC is an essential and indispensable adjunct to the work of government in its efforts to improve the well-being and conditions of life of youth in our country. The NYC is autonomous and its engagement with The Presidency is limited to the execution of its mandate - to facilitate, co-ordinate and monitor policies and programmes that promote youth development.

Last week the Presidential Youth Working Group met to exchange views on the important challenges faced by the youth of South Africa. A Draft National Youth Policy was presented. The Draft policy is being finalised and will be presented to Cabinet very soon. In March 2008, we established an Inter-Departmental Task Team to address one of the resolutions from Polokwane which called for the merger of the National youth Commission and Umsobomvu Youth Fund and the establishment of a National Youth Development Agency.

The Youth Desk, working in close co-operation with the National Youth Commission, will:

• complete work on the National Youth Development Policy Framework;
• develop an Integrated Youth Development Strategy based on the Policy Framework; and
• ensure the co-ordination of the National Youth Service (NYS) Programme.

The Youth Desk will integrate youth development issues in the Government’s Programme of Action.

The Office on the Status of Women, in order to continue to advance women’s empowerment and gender equality, will:

• complete the CEDAW Report covering 1998 to 2008, for submission to the United Nations;
• conduct a review of the National Gender Machinery;
• track the implementation of Cabinet’s decision that by 2009, 50% of all senior managers in the public service will be women; and
• engage in dialogue with the relevant stakeholders on gender-responsive budgeting and financing.

The Office on the Status of Disabled Persons (OSDP) will work assiduously to:

• strengthen the important work of the National Disability Machinery;
• finalise the Draft National Policy Framework and develop a draft implementation plan;
• work with the Joint Monitoring Committee to host a Disability Parliament;
• deliver on SA’s obligations in respect of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities; and
• establish a database of professionals for the labour market.

This year, the ORC will continue to consolidate cohesion in the sector on the national children’s rights facilitation, co-ordination and oversight programme. In addition to carrying out its core functions and mandate, the ORC will host the National Children’s Day, and the joint “Day of the African Child” and the JMC/ORC Children’s Parliament. A very successful Children’s Parliament was held this morning with children representing all provinces, as well as children from Rwanda, Mozambique and Kenya. I would like, along with all of you, to extend a very warm welcome to the children who participated in the Childrens’ Parliament and who are present with us in the gallery.

The ORC will also undertake a much-needed situation analysis on the Status of Children in South Africa. The ORC will also host the Regional Conference on international cooperation on cross border protection of children in Southern and Eastern Africa.

Honourable Members, I stand before you today knowing that this is the last budget vote speech I will present before this august body, so I would like to thank all members of the opposition, especially their leaders, for the robust debates we have engaged in, and to anyone whom I may have offended I want to extend my sincerest apologies. To the Honourable Member Chief Buthelezi, a special word of thanks for your kindness and unfailing courtesy. To the Presiding Officers, past and present, thank you for your cooperation and assistance.

To members of the Joint Monitoring Committee on Improvement of Quality of Life and Status of Women, and the Joint Monitoring Committee on Improvement of Quality of Life and Status of Children, Youth and Disabled Persons, I say thank you for exercising your responsibilities with diligence and vigilance, and thank you for the principled manner in which you have continually engaged with me. You are having a qualitative impact on improving the lives of vulnerable groups in our society. To my comrades in the African National Congress, it has been a pleasure and an honour to have served with all of you. To our Deputy President who is also the leader of Government business, I want to say thank you for all your hard work and your dedication to issues of gender, disability, children and youth.

Our government, with courage and conviction, is committed to improving the well-being of all South Africans and especially those who are vulnerable, disadvantaged and marginalised. This is the essence of leadership. Jean-Jacques Rousseau, in the Social Contract, drew the link between the social condition of human beings and the role of a leader. He argued that because of the prevalence of inequality, poverty and social injustice “Man is born free; and everywhere he is in chains.” Under these conditions, the role of a leader is to recognise the extent of the problem, articulate the need for a just society based on a “general will”, and create a sense of community and cohesion.

Socially-responsible leaders recognise that poverty, inequality and all forms of discrimination, and critically gender discrimination and oppression, are the key fault lines nationally and globally. Leaders have a responsibility to establish the “General Will” for the creation of a non-racial, non-sexist socially-just South Africa. The leader of the ANC is part of a collective leadership steeped in its political culture, its values and its openly-stated vision for progressive politics to dominate the global, continental and national agenda.

This past weekend, the President of the ANC and President Mbeki in a joint letter to the public said “The ANC has no camps. It does not function as a double-headed monster. It has one common membership. It has one leadership. It has one policy. It has one government. It leads one people, united in its diversity. It has no tricks up its sleeve. It will contest the 2009 election as one united movement” (City Press, 8 June, 2008).

Leadership in the public sphere derives from a commitment to serve the people of our country. Leaders must in the Weberian sense live for politics, not off politics. They must work to realise the vision of the movement, lead by example and by consensus, have integrity, and act as role model to ANC members and non-members alike.

Such leaders must eschew all forms of chauvinism and sexism and must promote a vision of unity in diversity and of gender equality, respect and tolerance, and must promote democracy and strengthen responsibility and accountability in all the institutions of democracy.

Comrade President, you have demonstrated in practice that you possess these attributes. We first met in 1960 and since then our friendship and comradeship has strengthened. It has been a rare privilege and honour to serve under you first as a Parliamentary Councillor, later as Deputy Minister in the Deputy President’s office, and since 1999 as Minister in The Presidency. Thank you for your support, kindness and generosity. You are a mentor, teacher and an exceptional leader with a lekker sense of humour. You are a wonderful listener, you hear what people say and you have the patience of Job.

You are a loyal, dedicated, committed and fearless cadre of our great movement [and have been] for over 50 years. This movement, this country, this Parliament is the better for your involvement and leadership.

President Alhaji Umaru Musa Yar'Adua of Nigeria, in his address to the Joint Sitting of Parliament on 3rd June 2008, said “My brother President Thabo Mbeki, has steadfastly and courageously carried on the torch of democratic consolidation alongside economic prosperity. He has constantly promoted and defended the African cause. He deserves our commendation for his efforts at peace-making and conflict-resolution, not only within the South African region, but beyond”.

President Mbeki, to all of us who have worked with you over the decades, you embody the qualities of sound democratic leadership – your reason and judgment about creating a just society and a good society are beyond reproach. You are courageous in the face of enormous pressure; you fight for and uphold the rule of law in the face of authoritarianism; you live by your principles; you speak truth to power and listen to truth from the dispossessed and the marginalised. Goethe in one of his poems about the relationship between leadership, freedom and human existence wrote:

'Yes, to this thought I hold with firm persistence; the last result of wisdom stamps it true;
He only earns his freedom and existence
Who daily conqers them anew.'

What we have learnt from you is that leadership is indivisible from the fight for freedom and human existence, and only has meaning when we are free from want and poverty. Leadership does not stand apart from freedom and human rights, from social justice and morality. You have shown that the basis of morality, including political morality, is to demonstrate courage of conviction in the face of obstacles, danger and in spite of personal consequences.

Your leadership has brought to our country peace and stability, including macro-economic stability.

You have an unwavering commitment to equality including gender equality and empowerment. Through your appointments, the overall representation of women in Cabinet, including the Deputy President, is 43.33%. There has been a three-fold increase in the number of women Ministers appointed from 1997 to 2008. Cabinet has also taken the decision that by 2009 50% of all senior managers in government should be women.

Your commitment to peace and security on our continent has you work tirelessly to resolve conflicts in the DRC, Burundi, Sudan, the Ivory Coast and Zimbabwe.

You are a democrat and an ardent proponent of good governance, and thus your commitment to the African Renaissance, NEPAD and the African Peer Review Process.

Your leadership style is based on the principles of respect and consensus. You have always valued the input of your peers, and always seek to build consensus.

Under your leadership and personal involvement, we were successful in our bid to host the 2010 FIFA World Cup of Soccer and I can assure you it will be one of the best ever held.

You have taken positions on the global stage that have gone beyond self and country, and have been based on principle. You have for example, been consistent on the need to find a just and lasting solution to the Israel-Palestinian conflict for the establishment of an independent and viable Palestinian state.

You fit into the tradition of the intellectual who revels in a good debate on issues of vital importance; you are a humanist who cares deeply about the condition of the marginalised and excluded in Africa and the world. You are an intellectual and a philosopher in the sense that Marx meant when he wrote; “Philosophers have only interpreted the world in various ways, the point is to change it”.

You are a formidable, and even the opposition would agree, an honourable adversary, who wants his ideas debated and scrutinised. You are a practical politician who delights in the pleasure of literature and poetry, you are a philosopher and your narrative encapsulates simultaneously the particular form of South African exile and displacement, our national liberation and our bold and audacious step into the fraternity of democratic nations.

The recent storm of hostility and vituperative commentary surrounding your leadership has unfortunately and unnecessarily sought to polarise our society. The commentary seek deliberately to obfuscate and obliterate but they cannot, for history will record the successes of our government and it will point to your real achievement which is to have undertaken the historic project of massive socio-economic, political and administrative transformation of an authoritarian system, into one that is democratic, representative and stable. You have situated the politics of dispossession and oppression at the heart of the most far-reaching project of transformation to have been undertaken in the post-colonial era. So to fully understand the significance of your leadership and its successes is to understand the recent history of South Africa.

As the government of the day and as members of Parliament we must claim our successes and acknowledge our failures. Under the leadership of President Thabo Mbeki, the African National Congress has won successive elections with ever-greater margins. Since 1998, the economic policies we have pursued have allowed our government to utilise the revenues generated to invest in improving the well-being of our people. Political stability coupled with macro-economic stability have created an environment in which we have witnessed increased public spending on housing, water, electrification, sanitation, education - including early childhood education, healthcare, physical infrastructure and strengthening the delivery capacity of the developmental state.

To the naysayers who say our economic policies have been a failure, let us point out that our economy is in its longest and most-sustained period of economic growth – nine straight years. This is unprecedented in the history of South Africa. In the last three years alone we have created approximately 500,000 new jobs per annum.

South Africa has made great progress in addressing the country’s twin challenges of poverty and inequality. Basic services have been extended to ever-increasing numbers of formerly disadvantaged people. The total number of grant beneficiaries is 12.4 million, and expenditure on social assistance will be R75.3 billion next year. The provision of social grants is just one of the important interventions we are undertaking to alleviate and eradicate poverty.

We point to these significant and unparalleled achievements not for partisan political purposes, but to state for the record that we can all take pride in these achievements. We can in the face of untruths point out that this government, this executive, this legislature, and this administration, whatever else their shortcoming, did in a period of fourteen years make a positive impact on the lives of the poor in our country. That we have the resources to pursue pro-poor socio-economic development strategies is testimony to the vision of our President who argued that poverty constitutes one of contemporary era’s gravest fault lines and needs to be eradicated.

Ours remains a dual strategy of short-term poverty alleviation and long-term poverty eradication. And if there is an achievement we can be proud of, it is that the poor in our country are not getting poorer, even if the wealth and gaps between rich and poor are increasing. We still see poverty and unemployment as major challenges and we have established a “poverty war-room” headed by the Deputy President, and we will not rest until our dual strategy is completely successful – that is, until we eradicate the last vestiges of poverty in our country.

Honourable Members, I want to concur in the strongest possible terms, with our President and Deputy President and other Ministers and Members of Parliament that as a government we extend our deepest sympathies and condolences to the families of those who have been injured and killed in dastardly acts of violence. Among those killed were many South Africans. In a liberated South Africa where we cherish the values of pluralism and diversity, we condemn chauvinism and xenophobia and acts of violence.

While these attacks mark a shameful moment in our young history, we also need to acknowledge that the overwhelming majority of our people condemn xenophobia and xenophobic violence. The outpouring of generosity both of spirit as well as of much-needed resources, including food, clothing and shelter reflects and represents the true virtues of our people. As a country we have now entered a new phase where reintegrating displaced persons into the communities from which they were displaced, has become a priority.

In conclusion, Madam Speaker, I would like to express my deep appreciation and gratitude to the staff in my office, including Mr Louis du Plooy who no longer works in the office, the Director-General, the Reverend Frank Chikane, the Head of the PCAS Mr Joel Netshitenzhe, the COO Mr. Trevor Fowler, the Advisors in The Presidency, the staff and Commissioners of the National Youth Commission, as well as the entire staff at all levels in The Presidency for their dedication, commitment and hard work over the past year.

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