ANC Today --------------------------------------------------------------------- Volume 8, No. 38, 26 September-2 October 2008 --------------------------------------------------------------------- THIS WEEK: * Tasks of government: We should forge ahead with our historic mission * Heritage Day: Celebrate the values of our diverse nation --------------------------------------------------------------------- TASKS OF GOVERNMENT We should forge ahead with our historic mission The African National Congress is a movement with a rich political tradition. While conditions have changed, and tactics have had to be adapted, the policy orientation of the ANC has remained consistent for over 50 years. The vision espoused in the Freedom Charter remains at the core of the work of this movement. It is reflected in the mandate of government since the attainment of democracy in 1994. As the leading party in government, the ANC has kept a steady hand on the tiller. Even when faced with difficulty, and confronted by unanticipated challenges, the ANC has remained unwavering in its commitment to advance the interests of all the people of South Africa. This commitment has been reflected in the policies of three successive ANC governments. It will continue to be reflected in the final months of the country's third democratic national government. In 2004, the people of this country gave a clear and unequivocal mandate to the government to forge a people's contract to create work and fight poverty. The people placed on the government the responsibility to use all means at its disposal to ensure that by 2014 we would be able to reduce poverty and unemployment by half. When the government's term ends next year, it will be able to report to the people that indeed it has done as it was mandated. It will be able to report on an economy that has sustained a pace of growth unprecedented in recent South African history, that has created jobs at an accelerated pace, and that has enabled government to dedicate greater resources to meeting the basic needs of our people. The government will be able to report on significant progress in pushing back the frontiers of poverty. It will be able to report on tangible advances in the provision of housing, electricity, water, sanitation and other basic services to millions of our people. And it will be able to report on major improvements in the access of poor South Africans to health care, education and social security. South Africans across the length and breadth of the country will attest to these and many other achievements. But they know too that much work still lies ahead. They know the challenges our country faces, and the hardships that many of our people continue to endure. To South Africans and to the world at large, we say that we shall not falter in leading the national effort to build a society in which all South Africans, regardless of their background, race or gender, have equal access to an expanding array of opportunity. We say that the government will continue, as it has done under the leadership of President Thabo Mbeki, to dedicate every day that it remains in office towards the achievement of this goal. The resolve of the government will not slacken. The pace of implementation will only quicken, and the fulfilment of its mandate will only ever draw closer. We are able to make such pronouncements with neither hesitation nor doubt, precisely because the policies we are charged to implement are the policies of the African National Congress. These policies, which government will continue to implement unchanged, are the product of an extensive consultation and decision- making process. These policies are the property of a collective. They do not belong to any one individual. And it is not for any one individual to change them. The policies of this government are clear. They are based on the 2004 Manifesto of the African National Congress, enhanced by the decisions of both the ANC's Policy Conference as well as its 52nd National Conference held in Polokwane in December 2007. We will not allow that the work of government be interrupted. We will not allow the stability of our democratic order to be compromised. And we will not allow the confidence that our people have in the ability of the state to respond to their needs to be undermined. At this moment in our history, as we stand poised to make further advances towards the achievement of a better life, it is as important as ever that we stand united as a nation. It is as important as ever that we retain our faith in the resilience of our constitutional order and the vibrancy of our democracy. Though we may at times experience difficulty, though we may suffer moments of doubt and uncertainty, we have both the will and the means to rise above the challenges of the present, and to forge ahead with our historic mission to liberate all our people from discrimination, oppression and want. Therefore, we send out a message that government remains on course to deliver on its commitments to the poor, who rely on us daily for the fulfilment of their basic needs and for the provision of important services like health, education, and social security. We remain on course to halve unemployment and poverty by 2014. We remain determined to stamp out crime, violence and abuse, whoever it affects and wherever it manifests itself. We remain committed to building safer communities and protecting the vulnerable in our society from abuse. But in doing so, we need all our people to work with, and within, the criminal justice system so that together we stamp out crime. We assure all those on our continent and in the world that we will continue to meet our international obligations. We will continue to play a positive role within international institutions and forums. We will continue to provide whatever assistance we can in the pursuit of peace, security, democracy and development in Africa. We remain on course to host in 2010 the best FIFA World Cup ever - An African World Cup. We fully expect to meet every commitment our nation has made to the football world. In a turbulent global economy, we will remain true to the policies that have kept South Africa steady, and that have ensured sustained growth. We will intensify the all-round effort to accelerate the rate of growth and job creation, and ensure that all our people equally share the benefits of growth. In the spirit of building a united democratic, non-racial, non-sexist and prosperous South Africa, we will continue the regular engagements between government and the various working groups representing vital sectors within our society. These, together with initiatives like the nation wide Izimbizo programme, provide a crucial opportunity for enhancing popular engagement with the highest levels of government. We live in challenging times. We see before us many mountains that are yet to be climbed, and numerous rivers that still need to be crossed. Yet, for all the challenges that lie ahead, the incontrovertible truth is that never before has South Africa been closer than it is today towards the achievement of a better life for all its people. We therefore have a shared responsibility to build on these results and to strive together - sparing neither courage nor strength - towards the achievement of a better South Africa, a better Africa and a better world. ** Kgalema Motlanthe is ANC Deputy President. This is an edited extract from his acceptance speech on the occasion of his election as President of South Africa, 25 September 2008. MORE INFORMATION: Full acceptance speech by President Motlanthe, 25 September 2008 http://www.anc.org.za/show.php?doc=./ancdocs/history/motlanthe/2008/km0925.html --------------------------------------------------------------------- HERITAGE DAY Celebrate the values of our diverse nation South Africa's rich and unique cultural heritage has a profound power to promote national unity and strengthen nation building, reconciliation and patriotism. Being a South African today is quite a unique opportunity. The majority of people enjoy a rare experience of both apartheid and democracy, and therefore have a contextual understanding of their situation. Our identity is born out of diversity, yet bound together by values of democracy, equality and the values of our constitution. We are at the beginning of the long journey to a truly united, democratic and prosperous South Africa in which the value of all citizens is measured by their humanity without regard to race, gender, sexual orientation or social status Today we are able to reflect on the transition from an inhumane society characterised by racism, division, inequality, injustice and subjugation to a society that is caring, open and democratic, committed to the ethos of non- racialism, non-sexism and freedom. How we celebrate our Heritage Day is important because it has as much to do with what we perceive as being of value and worth preserving as it has to do with how others perceive us. That which we inherit: the sum total of wildlife and scenic parks, sites of scientific or historic importance, national monuments, historic buildings, works of art, literature, dance and music, oral traditions, our industrial innovation, spectacular tourism offerings, our creative expression, our historical inheritance, language, the food we eat as well as the land in which we live - all these tell the remarkable story that is South Africa. Our heritage is based on victory over oppression, the achievement of universal human rights, the defeat of the scourge of poverty, the de-racialising of our diversity and the building of a new Africa and the culture of ubuntu. South Africa's history and pre-history goes back more than three million years. South Africa is one of the first countries in the world to formally protect places associated with "living heritage", that is based on stories passed down from generation to generation by, for example, grandparents telling children stories about the places in which they live. One of the first projects in South Africa that looked at how we can protect such sites took place in Dukuza in KwaZulu Natal. The town was the site of King Shaka's royal residence and interviews with old people in the community revealed an amazing store of information passed down over nearly 180 years concerning things like from which spring the royal water was drawn, where the King swam, and under which trees particular events and councils occurred. All the worlds' people are "twice South African" because it was here that humanity's descendants and modern humans both evolved. In eastern South Africa, scientists have found traces of blue-green algae dating back 3,500 million years. This is some of the earliest evidence of life on earth. The oldest remains of modern humans were found in Klasies River Cave in the Eastern Cape. They are well over 100,000 years old. Our Heritage Day is the celebration of our diversity and our unity. The last census report indicated that the vast majority of South Africans speak their own languages. South Africa today is different from many African countries because its citizens can speak, read and write their own languages. Sociologist and linguists both agree that language is the carrier of culture. Cultural heritage is important to the identity of a society. That is why as the ANC we believe that the government should integrate Ubuntu principles into public policy so as to comprehensively correct the distortions and imbalances not only in our heritage landscape but also in our social, economic and industrial relations. We need to move away from conservation language to development. We need to rename geographic places such as streets, towns and public facilities to change offensive names representing colonial conquest and apartheid statehood. The need to restore the proud heritage of the indigenous people, the need to accommodate diversity in our national heritage and the need to have an inclusive and democratic process, the need to honour, in a non sectarian manner South Africans who have made a sterling contribution to the dawn of democracy and freedom, the need to recognise distinguished men and women in the international community and in Africa, who have contributed immensely to the struggle for freedom cannot be over stated. Political education is critical in educating our people about the naming and renaming discourse. The tourism levy should also benefit our heritage. Indigenous languages need to be promoted at all schools with an intention that learners be taught in their mother tongue. South Africans could also learn one or more of our 11 official languages and explore the culture attached to it but most important is to learn to live ubuntu and show hospitality and warmth to fellow countrymen and visitors alike. It is very essential for South Africans to exchange their cultures and understand their values to prevent prejudice and hate. --------------------------------------------------------------------- This issue of ANC Today is available from the ANC web site at: http://www.anc.org.za/ancdocs/anctoday/2008/at38.htm To receive ANC Today free of charge by e-mail each week go to: http://www.anc.org.za/ancdocs/anctoday/subscribe.html To unsubscribe yourself from the ANC Today mailing list go to: http://lists.anc.org.za/mailman/listinfo/anctoday