The voice of the people cannot be ignored

At the end of the past week, we held a number of iImbizo in the Gauteng Province. This follows on similar processes last year when we visited the Limpopo and Eastern Cape Provinces, and the earlier visit this year to the Free State. As with the previous instances, the three days we spent in Gauteng gave us an opportunity to familiarise ourselves with many matters affecting the lives of the people.

During the days in Gauteng, we visited five municipal areas. These were the Tshwane, Ekurhuleni and Johannesburg Metropolitan municipalities as well as the Sedibeng and West Rand District municipalities. Premier Shilowa and members of his Provincial Cabinet accompanied us throughout our visit. In each of the municipalities we were joined by the metropolitan, district and local mayors.

We mention all these details to indicate the setting in which the interaction between the people and the government took place during the iImbizo. This interaction was therefore not only between the people and the President, the latter representing the national government. It was between the people and our entire system of government, from the local to the national.

At the biggest of these interactions, with the ordinary masses of our people, on average between 40 and 45 residents were able to make statements and/or ask questions. All the meetings were very well attended. These took place at Greenfields in Ekurhuleni, Evaton in Sedibeng, and Bekkersdal in the West Rand.

All these meetings were also very representative in terms of gender, age and the various African language groups that make up the population of Gauteng. The virtual absence of people from the national minorities was noticeable in all instances.

During the visit to the Tshwane municipal area, we had occasion to interact with children at a Junior Secondary School as well as workers and management drawn from the automobile and automobile component plants located in Rosslyn and elsewhere in this municipal area. We will refer later to some of the lessons we learnt during these visits.

At Greenfields township, in Ekurhuleni, joined by Minister Zola Skweyiya, we participated in a programme of action aimed at ensuring that those entitled to receive social grants, especially the poor, should do so. This entailed going house-to-house to explain what grants were available and to record the details of those who indicated that they needed such grants.

During the visit to the Johannesburg municipal area, we went to the Noordgesig Walter Sisulu Child and Youth Care Centre, which accommodates many young people who are in conflict with the law, some of whom are awaiting trial for terrible crimes. Central to the philosophy of this very impressive home with its entire staff, including community representatives, is the pursuit of the objective of the rehabilitation of the children, against the concept and practice of retributive "justice".

We also visited Orange Farm, which, for the first time, has now been declared a township. This enables the provincial and metropolitan governments to attend to the specific development needs of the township. We visited this "new" township to participate in the initiation of a process of handing over title deeds to 32 000 of the residents. This will be accompanied by a vigorous programme of the replacement of shacks with formal dwellings. This will be handled through the people's housing process.

While in Johannesburg, we also held a meeting with the so-called opinion-makers. These are leading people in the province drawn from various spheres of activity. The meeting was therefore attended by academic, business, trade union, NGO, community, professional and other leaders, many of whose comments and questions related more to national rather than provincial matters.

At Evaton, in the Sedibeng District municipal area, we visited the Levai Mbatha Community Health Centre. This is a relatively big clinic that handles large numbers of people and a considerable variety of health conditions. It also has a compliment of Cuban volunteer medical doctors.

These visits and the interactions we had with the people at the places we visited confirmed a number of things. One of these is that the government, encompassing all three spheres, has become more effective and focused in its response to the needs of the people. This was evident everywhere we went.

For example, Echibini Junior Secondary School in Soshanguve township, has 25 computers that are used for teaching, thanks to the public-private partnership between the Provincial Government's Gauteng Online and some private companies. The school also has a government-supported vegetable garden and is being further upgraded through a provincial public works programme which both draws on the unemployed and imparts skills to those involved in this programme, "Zivuseni".

During the Rosslyn visit to an automobile components plant, it was very inspiring to get a report from the manufacturers themselves about how the government's programme to encourage the growth of the automobile industry has in fact succeeded.

It was also very good to meet and listen to those on learnerships, who are being taught various skills under the public-private Motor Industry Sector Education and Training Authority. These were both young people who are already employed within the industry, and others who are unemployed, whose new skills will make it possible for them to get jobs within the expanding automobile industry. At our meeting with the industry representatives, these proud young South Africans firmly proclaimed that they would complete their training courses successfully.

At Ekurhuleni, we came to learn that the Provincial Department of Social Development has worked radically to increase its efficiency. For example, applications for social grants by those who are accessible by telephone are responded to within two days. Those who can only be reached through personal visits to their homes, are visited within seven days.

The Department has positioned itself in this way because it understood that it is precisely those in need of social grants, the poor, who cannot afford to wait for this assistance. It has therefore worked to ensure that there are no bureaucratic obstacles blocking a speedy response to the people, and that it inculcates the spirit of Batho Pele within the public service.

The extremely dedicated and noble-spirited staff and workers at the government Walter Sisulu Centre are exposed daily to some of the worst human consequences of the failures of our society. I refer here to children below 18 and even as young as 12 years, who have been arrested and charged with such crimes as murder, rape, drug dealing, high-jacking and robbery.

The overwhelming majority of these come from broken families that are mired in conditions of hopeless poverty and deprivation. It was truly moving to see the outstanding work done by people in the public service to pull these children out of the lower depths into which our society had thrust them.

It was equally inspiring to experience the energetic effort by doctors, nurses, workers and management at the Levai Mbatha Health Centre to translate into practice the perspective of health for all! This Health Centre must surely be a place of pride to all of us, given the excellent service it gives to the community of Evaton and beyond, its cleanliness and close patient care. The public health personnel at Levai Mbatha once more demonstrated what it should mean to respect the objective of Batho Pele.

We have cited these examples to substantiate the statement we made earlier with regard to the growing effectiveness of the government in terms of meeting the needs of the people. How much this means to the people was perhaps best illustrated by a statement made by a mature citizen, a woman pensioner who lives in Orange Farm.

During the visit to this township, we handed over title deeds to some of the oldest residents giving them ownership of the plots on which they had erected their dwellings. This was the very first time in their lives that the African grandparents we met owned anything of significant value or occupied a place in which they enjoyed security of tenure.

As we handed over the title deeds, we understood fully what had been meant when it was said the African had been turned into a pariah in his and her land of birth. The oldest of these new property owners was 84 years of age. The second old woman that we saw remarked - ngiswel' amaphiko, be ngiza kundiza! - had I wings, I would fly high in triumph and joy!

I cannot think of a better reward for those among us who understand the challenge of meeting the needs of the people by eradicating the legacy of colonialism and apartheid, than to hear the special words of thanks from the ordinary people of our country - ngiswel' amaphiko!

The message communicated in all the iimbizo was the same. It is that many of our people continue to be unemployed. Many live in conditions of dire poverty. There are many costs they cannot meet, including service charges for water, electricity and waste removal. Many continue to be housed in shacks with no services of any kind. The poor continue to be exposed to crime born of poverty and unemployment.

None of this is new. But to hear it said directly by the people themselves serves both to confirm the correctness of our focus on all these matters, and to instil a sense of urgency among all of us who can do something to help accelerate the process of providing a better life for all.

Another message communicated in all the iimbizo was that the people are confident that the government will always listen to their voice and respond to their wishes and aspirations. Consistent with what we have said already, one of the noticeable features of the iimbizo was the sharp reduction of complaints from the people about government being distant from them, including the local councillors. The message was consistent - we know that our government is with us! We ask of it, as our government, to attend more speedily to the matters we are raising!

Many of the matters raised by the people pose great challenges. One of these is the issue of unemployment. A critical area of intervention in this regard must surely be raising the skills of the unemployed. It is perfectly obvious that many of the latter are unemployable because they do not have any of the skills required by a modern society and economy. We must ask ourselves the question whether our human resource development programme is adequate for the real challenge we face. The evidence would suggest otherwise.

Bekkersdal is a deeply depressed area because of the closure of a number of mines. Mine-workers and their families drawn especially from the Eastern Cape, Lesotho and Mozambique live together in conditions of poverty, in an area that has no possibility to offer significant employment opportunities outside of mining. In short, unless a special and determined intervention is made, all that Bekkersdal will do is to produce ever more unemployment, poverty, crime, human degradation, ethnic tensions and xenophobia. Surely, we cannot allow this to happen.

The poverty borne by many of our people and the terrible social consequences it produces, suggest that the government in its entirety should intensify its outreach to the people, accessing them in their individual homes, the better to assess and respond to their needs. I believe that we must closely examine the issue of multi-disciplinary community workers, further to bring government closer to the people. The poor do not have ready access to the government. Accordingly, it seems obvious that the government must go to the people.

An important lesson from the iimbizo is that more and better government interventions of various kinds, to push back the frontiers of poverty and promote access to a better life for all, are both possible and necessary.

Another important lesson from the iimbizo is that our government enjoys the greatest confidence and trust among the masses of our people. It both inspires hope among these masses and has the ability to influence them to join in action for their own liberation from poverty and underdevelopment. The masses know it as a matter of fact that the government they freely elected will, everyday, give somebody from among the former pariahs in the country of their birth the possibility to say - ngiswel' amaphiko!

The message from the people whose interests our movement was formed to protect and advance is very clear. It is that those who sit in positions of authority wearing our movement's clothes and yet fail to serve the people of our country, should move aside so that true patriots should take their place. They say this because they have seen the good work done by true Congressites and other patriots. The voice of the people cannot be ignored.

Social Development

Business mobilised to help tackle poverty

As part of the effort to mobilise the private sector in the fight against poverty, the Department of Social Development this week convened a summit of business leaders to agree on practical measures to address the needs of impoverished communities.

The summit, which was still underway as ANC TODAY was published, aims to develop a common vision between government and business leaders on a partnership for social development.

Described by Social Development Minister Zola Skweyiya as a "summit of action", the meeting plans to identify poverty alleviation projects that could be jointly supported by government and the private sector, while aligning efforts, resources and expertise to ensure delivery in strategic areas.

In the long-term, the partnership aims to make community-level initiatives aimed at poverty eradication sustainable. Community empowerment is the ultimate goal.

"I believe that this summit holds enormous positive potential for the future prosperity of our country," Skweyiya said.

According to the Department of Social Development, poverty can be seriously addressed through an increased self-reliance in targeted pockets of poverty and the improved social cohesion of groups like women, youth, children, the infirm, disabled and aged, who are particularly vulnerable to poverty. "This would foster increased economic activity, eventually translating to human and economic growth led from the lowest part of society," the department said.

This week's summit was preceded by a roundtable discussion of 32 business leaders in April, which was facilitated by Skweyiya and business 'patrons' Raymond Ackerman and Cyril Ramaphosa. These discussions looked at factors hindering social development; linking social development to the core business of corporate South Africa; and incentives for social development in that sector.

The business leaders said strategic areas for the development of partnerships should include:

• children and food security;
• HIV/AIDS;
• poverty;
• rural development;
• social exclusion;
• vulnerable groups, like children, unemployed youth, unemployed women, older persons, and people with disabilities);
• violence and abuse of women and children;
• moral regeneration;
• volunteerism.

The summit aims to build on programmes and initiatives currently being undertaken by government and the private sector.

Over the past three years the department has invested in some 3,000 community-based organisations, 72 percent of which are in rural areas. However, the lack of access to markets and insufficient capacity, among other things, mean these project beneficiaries continue to rely on the state and move more slowly out of poverty. The corporate sector could provide support, advice and possible funding to these organisations so that they could become self-reliant.

Skweyiya said: "The Government allocates no less than R1,7 billion per annum for special poverty alleviation projects. If these resources could be put together with the business resources and expertise as well as community initiatives, surely an even greater impact can be made."

As arguably the biggest on the continent, the South African corporate sector plays a pivotal economic and social development role. Over the years some of South Africa's businesses have taken a leading role in ensuring that economic empowerment of poor communities is central in their implementation strategies. It has been reported that R2 billion was spent last year by South African business on Corporate Social Investment.

Programmes like the 'Business Initiative' and the 'Proudly South African Campaign' seek to coordinate corporate social investment while maximizing impact of corporate input to social development.

To maximise the impact of these efforts, businesses need to work together in partnership with each other, and with government and communities.

The department has identified 50 new projects, which would be tabled at the Summit for businesses to support, as a way of planting the seeds of the partnership. These projects aim to address the areas identified by the roundtable, and some will be adopted by participants as part of the summit outcomes.

More Information:

• Department of Social Development

Anton Lembede

Youth League's founding president reburied

The remains of the ANC Youth League's founding president, Anton Muziwakhe Lembede, were exhumed in Johannesburg this week, and was to be reburied at his hometown in Mbumbulu on 27 October.

Elected president at the founding of the Youth League in 1944, and widely-regard as a daring thinker and articulate leader, Lembede died suddenly in 1947 at the age of 33.

Writing at the time in the newspaper 'Inkundla ya Bantu', Govan Mbeki described Lembede's death as a grievous national loss "in which the African public has lost one of its most zealous and determined sons who dedicated his short span of life to the cause of his people".

"In his selfless struggle for the national cause he has built himself a monument in the hearts of his people," Mbeki wrote.

Speaking at the exhumation ceremony, ANC Secretary General Kgalema Motlanthe said Lembede belonged to a generation of the youth which infused a new militancy into the spirit of African nationalism. This was a generation that was always prepared to engage the leadership of the ANC to ensure the ANC could indeed fulfil its historic mission. Lembede understood and asserted the need for Africans to be their own liberators.

"This vision had a profound impact on the shaping of the thoughts of this generation of freedom fighters, which was to transform the ANC into a mass-based organisation ready to struggle for the liberation of our people," Motlanthe said.

Born in the rural district of Georgedale near Durban in 1914, Anton Muziwake Lembede was of peasant origin. He went to Adam's College on a bursary in 1933 to train as a teacher. He matriculated in 1937 with a distinction in Latin. He taught in Natal and the Orange Free State at the age of 29 and at the same time learned Sesotho and Afrikaans.

In 1943 he obtained a BA degree through correspondence with the University of South Africa and, again through self-education, he obtained an LLB degree. Pixley ka Isaka Seme agreed to article Lembede as a law clerk. In 1946 he became a full partner in 'Seme and Lembede'. He later achieved an MA degree in Philosophy.

Lembede was militantly nationalistic, with very strong views on the Africanness of the struggle. Many of his views are captured in 1944 Manifesto of the ANC Youth League. The Manifesto said "Africans must struggle for development, progress and national liberation". It called on African youth to be united, consolidated, trained and disciplined because from their ranks future leaders would be recruited.

The African National Congress was described by the ANC Youth League as 'the symbol and embodiment of the African's will to present a united national front against all forms of oppression' - but it was admitted that Congress had not been able to make progress and this had drawn to it criticism 'in the last 20 years'. The Youth League presented a positive strategy which took a form of a programme, a goal and clarifying ideological questions in the process.

Lembede was involved in efforts in 1947 to build a partnership with the Natal Indian Congress, Transvaal Indian Congress and the coloured African People's Organisation, which was an important element of the ANC's non-racial tradition.

Anton Lembede made an indelible mark on the history of the ANC, the role of the youth and the direction of the struggle.

More Information:

• Biography of Anton Lembede
• Speech by ANC Secretary General, 21 October 2002

Return to Index