LETTER FROM THE PRESIDENT: REAPING THE DIVIDENDS OF PEACE
The Freedom Charter proclaims that there shall be peace and friendship!
It states; "South Africa shall be a fully independent state which respects the rights and sovereignty of all nations. South Africa shall strive to maintain world peace and the settlement of all international disputes by negotiation - not war''.
We live by this dictum in our engagement in international relations as the ANC.
I am reminded of this during our State Visit to Burundi which began yesterday and ends today, on the 12th of August 2011. We have visited Burundi many times before. This time, however, was special.
It feels good to visit Burundi not as a facilitator visiting a conflict-ridden country to bring all sides together, but to come to discuss how to work together to achieve growth and prosperity. We are here on a goodwill visit to deepen friendship and cooperation and to see how we can participate in post-conflict reconstruction and development.
South Africa has invested a lot of time and resources in Burundi over the years in pursuit of peace and stability. President Pierre Nkurunziza and the Barundi people appreciate our country's role in the achievement of peace in their country. Our visit now is a celebration of peace.
Indeed, we have seen the fruits of peace. President Nkurunziza took us on a scenic drive around Bujumbura. We saw new residential settlements. We saw tarring of roads, construction of hotels and other developments. The mood is certainly one of development and progress.
The Barundi speak of a need to develop their energy sector, tourism, transport and aviation. President Nkurunziza speaks of boosting education and of the need to attract South African investments to grow the Burundian economy. We both agree that the trade volumes between the two countries could and should increase.
A few years ago, our discussions would have centred on ceasefire agreements and compromises that must be made and the like. Burundi has indeed come of age.
Yesterday Ministers from both South Africa and Burundi signed cooperation agreements in the fields of sports and recreation, agriculture, trade and industry, defence and higher education. We want to see an exchange of sports teams and training of coaches. We envisage exchanges of lecturers and students at universities. We plan to assist with the training and capacity building of the military and also to invest in the agriculture sector which is the backbone of the Burundian economy.
We took along a business delegation to explore opportunities. Burundi is not France, China or the United Kingdom. As a result our delegation numbered less than 20 businesspeople from South Africa. We were accompanied by close to 400 businesspersons to China and about 200 in London last year. This means we still need to change attitudes and make business realise that the one billion people in Africa are a priority for South Africa. They are as important to us as those of other regions, if not more.
We are an integral part of the African continent and need to engage with the continent more than any other region. We will meet with South African and Burundian business today to encourage them to explore opportunities in each other's countries and promote economic cooperation and job creation. We are happy as South Africa to have contributed to this African success story. We congratulate Burundi for choosing peace and proving that African-led peace solutions do indeed work.
NATIONAL WOMEN'S DAY
Earlier this week we celebrated National Women's Day in Limpopo at the Peter Mokaba Stadium.
In this year's January 8 Statement we declared the year 2011 as the year of economic transformation and job creation. As a result, Women's Month has taken up the economic theme to boost women's participation in the economy both as owners of the means of production and as workers.
The ANC encourages all women, especially those in rural villages, informal settlements and townships to use opportunities that have become available, thanks to the dawn of freedom and democracy. Women need access to finance, business development services, training opportunities and networking opportunities.
Women in rural areas need assistance with farming and to start other income generating projects and cooperatives to create a better life. ANC branches and constituency offices should be more proactive and guide women towards government departments that offer these services.
On Women's Month we also recommit ourselves to accelerate the further provision of basic services and infrastructure that makes the lives of women easier. These include transport, roads, electricity, water supply, good education, good quality healthcare and a host of others. The ANC government continues to work at achieving these goals.
Some say things are moving slower than they should, but the important fact is that there is movement forward and the statistics indicate substantial progress since 1994. Over two million houses have been built for the poor giving shelter to over ten million people. Six million households have gained access to clean water since 1994 and electricity has been connected to nearly five million homes.
In 1994, only 62% of households had access to clean drinking water, today 93% do. In 1994, only 50% of households had access to decent sanitation, today 77% do. In 1994, only 36% of South Africans had access to electricity - today 84% do.
Today the majority of our people are provided free basic services in water and electricity. In 2010, close to 15 million people are receiving social grants. Of these, 9.5 million are children aged under 14 years, compared with just 2.4 million in 1996.
We want to see ANC branches working more closely with government on campaigns to promote community participation in the delivery of all these services. .
MEDIA ENGAGEMENT AND THE FIGHT AGAINST CORRUPTION
Last Friday we hosted a crucial meeting with media owners and managers. It was a useful session characterised by a frank exchange of ideas. The media owners and managers made suggestions in particular about the implementation of our New Growth Path and generally on governance.
We agreed to meet again soon as there was a lot we could not discuss due to time constraints and also because this was an introductory meeting. We did not fully tackle crucial topics such as media diversity and development, the relations between government and the media and also the role of the media in the promotion of a prosperous democracy.
The owners want to discuss some concerns about policies that the ANC government is proposing such as the ban on alcohol advertising and also the regulatory environment in general. We agreed to meet again before the end of the year as clearly there is a lot to discuss. Our democracy can only deepen from the sharing of ideas with all sectors of our society.
I used the opportunity of our engagement to brief media owners and managers on what the ANC government is doing to fight corruption, as an impression is usually created in the media that nothing is being done to fight corruption. One key example of the seriousness with which we view the fight against corruption is the fact that we have signed 18 proclamations in one financial year.
We directed the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) to probe alleged corruption, maladministration and misappropriation of government funds in government departments, and in municipalities such as Tshwane, Ekurhuleni, Midvaal and others in the Western Cape including at the SABC, to name a few.
Contrary to the views that we may not be keen to investigate alleged corruption in some departments such as Public Works and Police, it is interesting to note that we signed a proclamation authorising the SIU to probe alleged irregularities in the building of 33 police stations, worth approximately R330 million, at the request of the SAPS itself. We are also probing procurement irregularities in the Department of Public Works at the request of the department.
Most of the SIU investigations are initiated by the affected Ministers in the interests of fighting corruption in their departments. Other law enforcement agencies also have a number of corruption cases under investigation. We are happy that the Chapter 9 institutions are also contributing to this campaign against corruption, the Office of the Public Protector being one example.
Last Friday we submitted a preliminary report to the Speaker of the National Assembly, Honourable Max Sisulu, responding to the Public Protector's most welcome reports into the Public Works and SAPS alleged procurement irregularities relating to SAPS office accommodation lease agreements.
We sent our preliminary report to the Speaker, Max Sisulu as we need to inform Parliament as to what we have done so far with a report that came from a Chapter 9 institution which is accountable to Parliament. The President of the Republic is also accountable to the National Assembly. This action on our part appears to have caused confusion in some sections of the media and some of the opposition parties.
Some opportunistically thought we were asking the Speaker to investigate and were "passing the buck'', which is false. Our preliminary report does not ask anything of the Speaker or the National Assembly. We are duty bound to brief the Speaker and the National Assembly on such an important matter. We will present our final report to the Speaker as well once it has been concluded.
A lot of intensive work is to take place to implement some of the recommendations of the Public Protector, especially relating to the possible flouting of the Public Finance Management Act. Action would be taken against officials found to have violated the prescripts of the law, after following due process. People have a right to be heard and to respond to allegations made against them.
The ANC government remains committed to rooting out corruption and we are satisfied that we are on the right track with this campaign.
As we wind up the State Visit in Bujumbura, we are filled with pride as South Africans and Africans that Africa is capable of extricating herself from difficulties and begin a path of prosperity and progress.
We take inspiration from Burundi, which has moved from being a beneficiary of peacekeeping missions to a contributor of troops to peacekeeping missions, for example in Somalia and Chad. It is impressive that in a short space of time Burundi has emerged from conflict with a determination to help other African countries achieve peace and security as they are doing currently.
We wind up the visit today fully satisfied that Burundi is reaping the dividends of peace and that the many hours and resources we invested in the Burundi peace process were definitely not in vain.
Jacob G. Zuma
Issued by the African National Congress, August 12 2011
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