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At its July Expanded Lekgotla, our government decided to set up a joint national-provincial Task Team, chaired by Deputy President Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, to make recommendations focused on getting our economy onto a sustained higher level of growth.

The Lekgotla was convinced that we can achieve this sustained higher level of growth. Accordingly, the brief of the Task Team is to recommend the steps that should be taken to realise this goal, and not to waste its time answering the question whether we can.

A national consensus has developed around the view that one of the central tasks facing our nation is the eradication of poverty and underdevelopment. For its part, our movement conducted its 2004 election campaign under the general slogan and theme - A People's Contract to Create Work and Fight Poverty.

These objectives can only be achieved if we put our economy on the higher growth path being elaborated by the Mlambo-Ngcuka Task Team. That higher level of growth means that we are determined to ensure that our economy generates the larger volumes of wealth we need to defeat the scourge of poverty and underdevelopment.

The enormity of our task in this regard is visible to the naked eye. Everywhere in our country, in both urban and rural areas, we can see the persisting and endemic poverty and underdevelopment we inherited from our racist past.

The stark contrast between the historically white and the historically African areas of our country tells the incontestable story that to bridge the yawning chasm between the two will take time, considerable resources, patience, persistence and correct policies and programmes.

This has led some people to entertain serious doubts that we can in fact succeed to eradicate this legacy, and therefore that we can so restructure and build our economy that it is able to help us achieve this objective.

This pessimistic mood is of course also fed by the regular news reports of the work that needs to be done to eradicate the legacy of colonialism and apartheid. In many instances this news is presented in a manner that suggests that we could have achieved this objective in the mere 11 years of democratic rule, and therefore that the legacy of the past is a product of the democratic order. Even external observers of our country, however sympathetic they may be to our efforts fundamentally to transform our country for the better, do not seem to tire of telling us the obvious, that the legacy of the 350 years of racism remains a distinguishing feature of present-day South Africa, 11 years after its liberation.

Quite correctly, during her recent visit to our country, the First Deputy Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Ms Anne O. Krueger, once more reminded us of the structural faults that continue to define our country.

On 10 June 2005, she said: "I was delighted to have had the chance to visit South Africa, especially at such an auspicious time. The country's recent economic achievements are laudable...The (socio-economic) progress we have seen (in South Africa) is welcome. But important challenges remain. Unemployment is high by any standard, poverty is widespread, and large disparities in income and wealth remain."

In its latest, 1 August 2005, rating of our country, the international rating agency, Standard and Poor's (S&P), said: "The ratings on South Africa are further constrained by severe structural weaknesses, against a background of social inequality. Income disparities, poverty, very high unemployment, and the incidence rate of the unfolding HIV/AIDS pandemic, distinguish the sovereign unfavourably among peers."

Relative to these international observers, we are in the fortunate position that we are South Africans. We engaged in a protracted and costly struggle for liberation precisely to create the political conditions that would enable us to address the severe structural weaknesses to which Standard and Poor's referred.

Accordingly, our policies and programmes since we assumed power in 1994 have been focussed on the task to address these severe structural weaknesses. What is critically important in determining the future of our country is not the constant and correct refrain that the past continues to define the present. What is centrally important is what we have done and are doing to ensure that we build a new South Africa that is no longer defined by its past.

Ms Krueger reflected on the progress we have made in this regard. She said:

"South Africa is making impressive progress. Achievement of macroeconomic stability has resulted in higher growth rates and low inflation. As a result the living standards of many South Africans have risen. These achievements are remarkable; all the more so given that this economic progress has been made during a period of unprecedented political and social transformation.

"Recent economic performance has been strong and the short-term outlook remains favourable. For 2005, we expect real GDP [Gross Domestic Product] to grow by about 4 percent and for inflation to remain comfortably within the target range. We also expect a further rise in employment...

"The successful implementation of monetary policy has strengthened the credibility of the inflation targeting regime: inflation is now widely expected to remain within the target band - an important achievement. The build-up of international reserves has enhanced the ability of the authorities to respond to adverse external shocks. And the authorities' efforts to make it possible for disadvantaged groups to gain access to financial services are starting to bear fruit.

"On the social policy front, the HIV/AIDS program is an important step towards dealing with the epidemic that, one way or another, affects the lives of all South Africans. Progress is also being made with the government's programs for black economic empowerment and land reform. Success in this area should reduce social disparities, foster greater social cohesion, and pave the way for further - and sustainable - social and economic progress...Progress thus far has been remarkable."

Despite its comments about our country's severe structural weaknesses, S&P said it had "raised its long-term foreign and local currency sovereign credit ratings on the Republic of South Africa to BBB+ from BBB, and to A+ from A, respectively, on improved macroeconomic stability."

The rating agency said, "The upgrade reflects South Africa's strong track record of macroeconomic management and improved prospects of sustainable higher GDP growth rates...Consistently prudent macroeconomic policies have succeeded in reducing the fiscal deficit, stabilising debt levels, and lowering inflation and interest rates.

"By 2005, the sound track record of macroeconomic stability and economic management has created the favourable conditions to lift and sustain higher growth rates in the medium term...Earlier austerity and fiscal reforms have made room for a more expansionary but still prudent fiscal stance...

"South Africa stands out among its peers due to its democratic and transparent institutions and entrenched political stability, the strength of its capital markets and financial sector, its monetary policy framework, and the independence of the South African Reserve Bank."

Ms Krueger drew attention to the fact that what our government and country have done during the last 11 years of democracy have created the conditions "for further - and sustainable - social and economic progress". S&P said that the work we have done "has created the favourable conditions to lift and sustain higher growth rates in the medium term".

Independently, our movement and government had reached the same conclusion -that now, on the basis of what we achieved during our First Decade of Liberation, it is possible "to lift and sustain higher growth rates".

We reached this conclusion on the basis of objective reality, having earlier resisted the temptation to succumb to a populist urge to attempt what would have been an adventurist and disastrous "great leap forward". Objectively the economy is communicating the unequivocal message that the July Expanded Lekgotla was correct to take the decision that the moment had come for us to plan for a sustainable higher growth rate.

When we took power in 1994, our economy was in terminal decline. By this year, StatsSA could report that, "The seasonally adjusted real value added at basic prices for all industries...increased by an annualised rate of 3,5 percent in the first quarter of 2005 compared with the fourth quarter of 2004. The seasonally adjusted real value added at basic prices for all industries increased by annualised rates of 4,0 percent, 4,6 percent, 5,7 percent and 4,1 percent during the four quarters of 2004 compared with the fourth quarter of 2003 and the first three quarters of 2004 respectively."

For a long time, certainly since the 1980s, our economy has been characterised by rising levels of unemployment. But in March this year, StatsSA could report that, "The unemployment rate declined to 26,2% in September 2004 from 27,9% in March 2004...The number of employed persons rose from 11.4 million in March 2004 to 11.6 million in September 2004 and 11.9 million in March 2005." In other words, the economy created 500,000 net new jobs in the 12 months from March 2004 to March 2005!

Last year the automobile industry accounted for 7,2% of our GDP. It also contributed to the positive employment figures reported by StatsSA. In its second quarter 2005 report, the National Association of Automotive Manufacturers of South Africa reported that the number of people employed in vehicle assembly is now at its highest for the last seven years.

Earlier, the vehicle assembly sector had shed jobs as plants installed more modern equipment to improve their capacity radically to increase their output. In turn, that expanded production has resulted in a greater demand for labour than would have been the case if the earlier and lower levels of production had been maintained.

Reflecting the buoyancy in the economy, StatsSA also reported on a significant decline in company liquidations. It said: "The total number of liquidations recorded for the second quarter of 2005 decreased by 6,4% compared with the first quarter of 2005. Furthermore, the total number of liquidations recorded for June 2005 decreased by 12,0% compared with June 2004.

"The decrease of 6,4%...for the second quarter of 2005 compared with the first quarter of 2005 was due to a decrease of 23,0% in compulsory liquidations. The decrease of 12,0%...for June 2005 compared with June 2004 was due to a decrease of 60,3% in compulsory liquidations."

The business buoyancy is also reflected in the rapid growth in the sale of commercial vehicles - vans, trucks and buses. It seems clear that sales of vehicles of over 3,500 kg are going to set new records. The June 2005 sales figures were 15.86% up on the July 2004 numbers for Medium Commercial Vehicles. The respective figures for Heavy, Extra Heavy Commercial Vehicles and buses were 56.1%, 28.9%, and 152.7%.

During 2004, cement sales broke several records. The publication 'Engineering News' reported that last year, "Around R44-billion was invested on resident and non-residential buildings in South Africa, while R28-billion was spent on construction works, which included civil engineering, mining, harbours, airports and other infrastructural projects...While the sales of cement in 2004 were forecast to be up 5%, (they) actually increased by 17,4%...Sales to blenders were up 29%... Sales to ready mixed concrete producers were up 21% and those to concrete product manufacturers were up 18%...Cement manufacturers have already advised of plans to increase their manufacturing capacities."

For its part, the petroleum industry association, SAPIA, has reported that, "Notwithstanding prices being some 10% higher than in the previous year, the trend of improved growth in petroleum product sales that started in 2003 has continued in the first half of 2005, with sales in this period exceeding sales in the equivalent period of 2004 by 4,0%. (Sales in the first and second quarters of 2005 were each 4% up on the previous years equivalent quarter)... Sapia believes that this strong growth, in spite of increased prices, is a sign of the current strength of the South African economy.

"A comparison of the first half of 1997 and 2005 sales shows how diesel sales have very significantly out performed petrol sales over the past number of years, with petrol sales growing by 6% and diesel by 48%." (NB: diesel is essentially used for commercial vehicles, trains and power generation rather than private passenger transport.)

Between 2000 and 2004, bitumen production increased by 21%.

The steel and engineering employers' organisation, SEIFSA, reported that production of pig iron, ferro-alloys and silicon metals between 2000 and 2004 increased by about 20%. The figure for crude steel was 21%.

We have deliberately cited the various instances relating to commercial vehicles, cement, diesel, bitumen, iron and steel to substantiate the message conveyed by StatsSA that ours is a rapidly growing economy. The significant growth in the production and sale of these products serves as an indicator of the health of the economy as a whole.

This reality, which reflects the real economy, underlines the fact that the Expanded Cabinet Lekgotla was correct to reach the conclusion that we have indeed laid the basis for us to aim for and achieve sustained higher growth rates.

In her June 2005 statement issued as she left our country, IMF First Deputy MD, Ms Krueger, referred not only to the imperative for us to achieve higher rates of economic growth, but also the importance of such programmes as "black economic empowerment and land reform", to "reduce social disparities, (and) foster greater social cohesion".

Recently, on 4 August 2005, one of our largest companies, Old Mutual (and its subsidiaries), announced that it had "today completed their Black Economic Empowerment ownership plans...New ordinary shares (had therefore) been issued today...(to various new black shareholders)."

Two days earlier, on 2 August, yet another large company, Anglo American, had announced similar progress related to the fundamental transformation of our country, away from its colonial and apartheid past. It said that our Department of Minerals and Energy had granted "new order mining rights" to its subsidiary, AngloGold Ashanti, in terms of the new legislative regime that restores ownership of the wealth beneath the soil to the people, as stated in the Freedom Charter.

Commenting on this positive development, Lazarus Zim, Chief Executive of Anglo American South Africa said: "The granting of these mineral rights represents real progress in terms of the South African government's desire to achieve certainty for all stakeholders and demonstrates its commitment to broaden the participation by all of South Africa's people in the mainstream of our country's economic life."

Tony Trahar, Chief Executive of Anglo American plc said: "This represents a significant step forward for Anglo American in terms of our progress towards converting old order mineral rights to new order mining rights. We are greatly encouraged by this positive outcome which reflects the open and constructive dialogue between Anglo American's mining businesses and the South African government."

Our country is in the second year of its Second Decade of Liberation. We have taken the decision that during this Decade we will make decisive advances towards the realisation of the goal of a better life for all, including the realisation of the Millennium Development Goals.

This means that we must achieve the sustained higher rates of growth for which our movement and the Expanded Cabinet Lekgotla called. It also means that our endeavours must result in the reduction of social disparities in our country, and the fostering of greater social cohesion, paving the way for further - and sustainable - social and economic progress.

We have to rebuild our country so that it overcomes its severe structural weaknesses. What we have achieved in the last 11 years gives us the confidence and optimism that we will achieve the goals we have set ourselves in this regard. The persisting and severe structural weaknesses that characterise our country stand out not as a cause for pessimism, but as a challenge to us to live up to the commitment we have made, that we joined the African National Congress the better to serve the people of South Africa.

Victoria Mxenge

Remembering a life of service and dedication

This month marks the twentieth anniversary of the brutal murder of Victoria Mxenge, an outstanding and exemplary freedom fighter whose life was cut short by the apartheid security forces.

It is therefore appropriate that South Africa should mark this anniversary by paying tribute to a patriot whose life and work made such an important contribution to the struggle for democracy. We should honour Victoria Mxenge for her selfless contribution, in the face of certain danger, to the democratic movement in South Africa and particularly in what was then the province of Natal.

It is also fitting that, during National Women's Month, as South Africa celebrates the contribution of women in the transformation of society, it remembers and pays tribute to women like Victoria Mxenge, who were both leaders in the struggle for national liberation and fighters for women's emancipation.

Mxenge's brutal murder at the hand of assassins ­- just four years after her husband, Griffiths Mxenge, was murdered by a Vlakplaas hit-squad - stands out as one of the most chilling episodes in the dark history of apartheid repression. Her death shocked a nation already accustomed to the most brutal state violence, and contributed, as no doubt had been planned, to an escalation in political violence in the province.

Yet, as we mark the twentieth anniversary of her death, it is the life of Victoria Mxenge that we should celebrate, for it survives to this day as an example which cadres of the democratic movement should seek to emulate. Though the conditions may have changed, and the terrain of struggle may have shifted, the values by which Victoria Mxenge lived and struggled are as relevant to the challenges of the present as they have ever been.

Victoria Mxenge was born to Wilmot Gosa and Dorothy Nobatu Ntebe in Tamara Location of King William's Town on 1 January 1942. She was the second of four children to parents who were both teachers. She attended the local primary school in Tamara until Standard Six. She then went to Forbes Grant High School in King William's Town where she completed her Junior Certificate. In 1959 she matriculated from Healdtown High School in Fort Beaufort. In 1960 she registered as a student nurse at Lovedale Hospital in Alice, where she completed her nursing diploma in 1964.

On 23 November 1964 she married Griffiths Mlungisi Mxenge. He was at the time of their marriage studying law at Natal University, so Victoria Mxenge moved to Durban and undertook her midwifery training at King Edward VIII Hospital. After completing her training she worked in the Umlazi clinic and lived in Umlazi, near Durban. She studied for her Public Health Certificate as a full time student at Edendale Technical College in 1973. In total, Mxenge spent 15 years in the nursing profession.

While at Edendale in 1974 she registered for a BProc degree with the University of South Africa (UNISA). She graduated in 1981 and was articled to her husband's legal firm. She was admitted as an attorney in 1981.

Mxenge's parents were not politically active. Her first contact with political ideas was during her year at Healdtown. While doing her nursing diploma at Lovedale, Mxenge attended political meetings at the nearby Fort Hare University. Following her marriage to Griffiths Mxenge she played largely a supportive role in his political and trade union activities. However, their lives were repeatedly affected by her husband's bannings, detentions and imprisonment.

On 19 November 1981 Griffiths Mxenge was found murdered. Victoria Mxenge identified the mutilated body of her husband at the government mortuary after having spent a sleepless night waiting for him to return home. The brutal murder of her husband brought Mxenge into direct confrontation with the state. She opposed police general Johan Coetzee's contention that her husband was assassinated by an opposing group within the ANC. She not only refuted this claim, she pledged that she would leave no stone unturned until the perpetrators of the crime were brought to book.

Victoria Mxenge was left to continue the legal practice which had been handling the bulk of political cases in Natal, as well as many others in the rest of South Africa, including the trial of Paramount Chief Sabata Dalindyebo, the Mdluli and Mohapi cases and the Bethal PAC trial. After the death of her husband she played a more prominent role in the struggle. In the legal sphere she was rising into prominence - she became a beacon of light to the youth, especially those who were ill-treated by the police. She successfully defended students who were unfairly treated by the Department of Education and Training's examination section.

Mxenge worked with various community and women's organisations. She served as secretary of the Natal Organisation for Women (NOW), which fought for the upliftment of women and encouraged women to take up leadership positions in other organisations. She was on the Natal Region Executive of the United Democratic Front (UDF).

At the time of her death, she was a member of the defence team that was to represent the UDF and Natal Indian Congress activists in the treason trial in the Pietermaritzburg Supreme Court. But she died before the trial. In August 1985 Mxenge was attacked by four men in the driveway of her home in Umlazi. She was stabbed and shot at, shortly after disembarking from a family friend's vehicle. Victoria Mxenge was laid to rest next to her husband at Rayi Cemetery near King William's Town. Approximately 10,000 mourners attended the funeral. Condolences from Nelson Mandela and Oliver Tambo were read out. In 1987 a Durban magistrate refused a formal inquest into Victoria Mxenge's death ruling 'she had died of head injuries and has been murdered by person or persons unknown'.

Women in leadership

Challenge stereotypes and encourage skills development

In the past week, many commentators have acknowledged South Africa's commitment to the promotion and recognition of women. They have also reminded us that the challenge of pursuing equality is far from full achievement.

As a country, we have made major strides in putting gender firmly on the national agenda. Few mature democracies can equal the level of participation of women that our parliament enjoys. The presence of a critical mass of women members of parliament has been very important in the adoption of legislation that is not only gender sensitive but also promotes the rights and interest of the poor and marginalised in our society.

There are several facts that emphatically illustrate the remaining challenges. Of the 364 listed companies and state-owned enterprises in South Africa, only seven have women CEOs; and three out of every five have men-only boards. Although women account for 41% of South Africa's workforce, only 15% of executive managers and just 7% of all directors are women.

Gender equality has progressed much further in parliament, in government and in the public service. We compare quite favourably to other countries in this regard. The private sector has some catching up to do.

In the Department of Education, the number of women in leadership positions has increased in the recent past. There are three women Deputy Directors General out of five, and about a third of the chief directors and nearly a half of the directors in the Department of Education are women. This is a major step forward towards gender equality.

However, in the public education system nearly 70% of employees are women, and most of them are restricted to the lower levels of employment in our schools, colleges and universities. If there is a male member of staff in a primary school, he is almost always the principal.

The situation is worse in our secondary schools, where almost all principals and most heads of department are male. We have several women deputy vice-chancellors but only one woman vice-chancellor in our 22 universities. These are some of the challenges education must respond to.

The barriers to reaching management and leadership positions are constructed largely from the stereotypes of the female roles in schools and other education institutions, sexist institutional cultures, and inadequate organisational support. This view of the roles of men and women clearly creates a gendered division of labour, where men are regarded as leaders and women are relegated to the role of followers. The stereotype is fatally flawed and outdated.

In the area of accelerating the access and success of girls and women in education institutions, we have made great progress. Black students and, in particular, black female students are now a majority at our universities. The outstanding challenges relate to fields of studies and skewed ratios in several critical discipline areas.

There are too many students studying the arts and too few in the sciences; too many undergraduates and too few postgraduates; and too many men and not enough women undertaking research in the fields of science, engineering and technology.

Our challenges in the technical sciences begin in the schools. Even though we have more girls in the secondary phase than boys, performance in maths and science has shown little sign of improvement over the past ten years.

Recently, a Centre for Development and Enterprise research report into maths and science in our schools said: "The number of higher-grade Senior Certificate passes in maths and physical science in South Africa was lower in 2002 than it was in 1991. Given the massive growth in the number of Senior Certificate candidates since then, it is clear that a national crisis has developed in maths and science education, with serious implications for economic growth. The poor quality of schooling in these subjects is probably the single biggest obstacle to African advancement in this country."

The education sector has reacted with urgency to these and other findings. We have decided to increase the number of specialist schools in maths and science from the 102 to over 400. The curriculum has been redesigned to ensure increased proficiency in numeracy, and from 2006 all learners will study maths beyond the compulsory phase of schooling. These are necessary changes because South Africa will not advance and modernise if we do not improve our performance in maths and science.

We also must attend to the critical area of technical skills development. All the recent studies on skills gaps in South Africa show that there is a critical need to increase the numbers of artisans, industrial designers, draughtspersons, electrical engineers, quantity surveyors and others.

These are fields of economic activity that were closed off to young black people and to women under apartheid. Given this history, there is a scarcity of female role models in these fields; so we have to do much more in the area of careers advice and course development.

Curriculum reform is the foundation on which we will secure the participation of women and blacks in science, engineering and technology (SET) in the future. However, we are already beginning to see some progress in the profile of our graduates. In 2003, in the field of science, engineering and technology, black graduates accounted for two thirds of the growth in graduates since 2000.

This is heartening when compared to the fact that in higher education institutions, black graduates accounted for just over half (52%) of this growth in graduates overall.

However, much more needs to be done to improve the representation of women students in the pool of potential SET graduates. There is a shift in the choices young women are making; away from social work and community development to engineering and accounting. But we have not yet reached critical mass in these male dominated disciplines.

Recent studies reveal that the construction industry is set to spend close to a R100 billion on major projects over the next five years and that shortages of some skills could hamper their successful completion.

Since the end of apartheid there have been two significant trends in engineering employment. First, there has been a decline in employment in the military and mining sectors and a shift towards electrical and electronic sectors. Second, engineers are now employed within the financial sector.

This is a remarkable new development, because it appears that engineering analytical skills are in demand in financing itself and not simply for analysing the financing of large-scale construction projects. This trend opens up engineering skills; it may assist engineering in creating programmes that are more attractive to a broader range of students.

Graduation studies show that the universities and technikons are responding to the demands for a transformed engineering industry. The proportion of black and female engineering graduates has increased, the curriculum has been transformed, and the method of teaching modified.

However, the problem of training engineers does not appear to lie in our universities. It appears that much more progress would be achieved if we developed stronger links between training institutions and employers. Industry and formal education need to strengthen links and support the access of women students to work experience and field work.

Clearly women have begun to make strides in all areas of skills development. We must strengthen technical skills development to ensure that women impact decisively on social and economic development in South Africa.

** Naledi Pandor is an ANC National Executive Committee member and Minister of Education. This is an edited version of an address at the Top Woman in Business and Government's 'Women Creating Wealth' Conference, 11 August 2005.

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