7th March 2013
Cape Town, Parliament
LAND
We are looking up to the modern day traditional leadership
to work with us as we navigate through the new challenges facing our people
today, especially the triple challenges of poverty, inequality and
unemployment.
We are looking upon you, the descendants of the warriors and
heroes of the wars against colonialism, to participate actively in building a
new caring, united, non-racial, non-sexist and prosperous South Africa.
Esteemed leaders of our people,
Today I would like to discuss mainly three aspects in
relation to the role of traditional leaders in promoting a united and
prosperous nation. These are nation building, food security and the promotion
of indigenous heritage.
I trust that as part of the work that the National House
will be undertaking this year, you will not lose sight of the National
Development Plan and its implications and opportunities for traditional
affairs.
As you know we have adopted the Plan as the development
blueprint for the next 20 years.
The Plan informs us that 30 years from today, South Africa
will be mostly urban, and that our rural areas will be abandoned as the youth
migrate to the cities in search of greener pastures.
Migration to the cities will leave the arable and fertile
land lying fallow.
Such a prospect will definitely and most certainly threaten
South Africa’s food security.
We are already witnesses to this phenomenon. Many fields lie
untilled across the country. The NDP identifies agriculture as an economic
activity that is still capable of pushing back the frontiers of poverty.
This requires traditional leaders to work with government to
promote farming to our youth and the rural population.
At the same time, we are conscious of the fact that years of
land deprivation reinforced by land dispossession laws such as the Land Act of
1913 and later apartheid laws, have deprived generations of our people of the
skills necessary to survive out of agriculture.
People who had been proud farmers were now forced to work
after being dispossessed of their land, livestock and equipment. Working on the
farms was thus turned into a form of slavery.
The outcome of this state of affairs over generations is
that our youth developed a grim view of agriculture. Those living in rural
areas aspire to move out of the villages as soon as they can. We need to
change the situation.
We need to make them appreciate the economic importance and
centrality of agriculture. We must encourage them to study agricultural and
food production sciences at school and universities.
Our educational institutions at both secondary and tertiary
level must respond to this challenge and channel resources adequately and
appropriately.
I therefore humbly request this august house to support
government in making agriculture and farming look “cool” and attractive as a
career choice to our youth.
Also key to this promotion of agriculture is access to land.
I trust that the departments of Traditional Affairs and that of Rural
Development and Land Reform will be discussing with the National House soon on
land reform.
We have to work on the implementation of measures on land
reform to allow communities who missed the 1998 land claims application
deadlines to still apply for land that was taken away from them as part of the
cruel colonial land dispossession.
We are also exploring means of allowing those who were
dispossessed before 1913 to also obtain justice, as mentioned in the State of
the Nation Address.
You will assist us in encouraging those who get their land
back to use it and not resell it. Selling the land, at times back to the
previous “owner”, defeats the purpose of changing land ownership patterns.
The programme of reversing land dispossession must be
undertaken in a manner that corrects the injustice while also promoting agricultural
stability and food security.
With the support of traditional leaders, the land reform
programme will be successful in all respects.
NATION BUILDING
We meet during a period when our country has experienced
heightened incidents of violence against women and children, and other forms of
violence.
These incidents remind us that we come from an immensely
violent culture. We survived a cruel system of governance which was described
as a crime against humanity by the United Nations.
The apartheid system could only be sustained through
violence, and violence became entrenched. When we correctly demanded freedom,
equality, justice and human dignity, the response was violence, murder and
mayhem.
For that reason, our struggle became deliberately a struggle
to eliminate all forms of violence. It was a struggle to achieve a peaceful,
caring, stable society.
We cannot turn our backs on that legacy of dignified,
principled struggle for peace, freedom, human rights and justice. That is why
South Africans are outraged at the incidents of violence.
However, in expressing our disgust, we should not lose sight
of the fact that the overwhelming majority of the 52 million South Africans are
peaceful, caring, law abiding citizens.
They love their country. They do their best each day to make
South Africa a better place. Therefore, when expressing outrage, we
should be careful not to then paint all South Africans as violent and brutal.
We should be careful not to rubbish our country.
We should not and cannot lose faith in our own humanity and
our collective ability to correct the wrongs that we see in our country.
We also dare not portray our beautiful country as an
inherently violent place to live in. South Africa is a stable, peaceful
country. Like all countries, there are elements that conduct themselves in a
shocking and unacceptable manner.
And like all countries, we will search for solutions.
We have all been correctly angered by the rogue elements and
criminals who molest women and children and commit other extreme forms of
violence.
Others burn and loot properties during what should be
peaceful protests.
The outrage expressed by our people at such recent violent
incidents in particular is most welcome as it indicates that South Africans
have not lost their sense of right and wrong. Using this positive trait, we
must now work closely together to find solutions.
Traditional leaders are well placed to work with government
and other sectors to rebuild the moral fibre of our society.
We believe it is important to look at the root causes while
also addressing the symptoms of the sickness. The police are dealing with the
symptoms in relation to criminal activities.
As far as general crime is concerned, the levels have
decreased over the years.
However, the crimes against women and children remain high
and of concern.
But the police continue to make inroads. During the last
financial year, the Units secured over 363 life sentences, with a conviction
rate of 73% for crimes against women above 18 years old and 70% for crimes
against children under 18 years old.
With the support of the community, most suspects in the high
profile rape and domestic violence cases have been arrested.
I have also directed the justice, crime prevention and
security cluster to implement measures to nip violent protests in the bud. We
are doing this to build a culture of responsibility, accountability, respect
for authority and respect for one another.
People have a right to protest, but there is no need to use
violence to get the message across.
We have at the same time instructed government to improve
interaction with communities.
Some people take to the streets because they feel nobody is
listening to their grievances.
While the police will continue to arrest those who
perpetrate such evil crimes, we also know that success in the fight against
this scourge and against violence generally, depends on all of us and not only
with the police.
We have identified the regeneration of the moral fibre and
the strengthening of families and communities as a priority.
Realising this challenge, plus the general weaknesses in the
family structure in our society, the government has decided to fast-track the
finalisation of the family policy.
We have produced a White Paper on Families through the
Department of Social Development, building on the Green Paper that was released
for discussion last year.
We believe that the family is the foundation of
society. Our goal is to promote cohesive families, households and
communities in South Africa, where violence, deviance and social decay would be
non-existent.
This is the foundation of a more caring, united and more
prosperous South Africa.
We are aware of the diverse nature of families and
households in our country. We have single parent households, granny-headed
households, female-headed households, child-headed households and others.
The period of apartheid colonialism brought immense pressure
to bear on the African family in particular.
We have gone through a period of the migrant labour system
and rapid urbanisation leading to the split in families with breadwinners
moving to the cities.
This put pressure on families leading to children growing up
with one or neither of the parents. Sadly this continues to this day in some
families, where parents can be called economic migrants.
The HIV and AIDS pandemic and the internecine violence of
the 80s and 90s also contributed to the breakdown in family life.
The triple challenges of poverty, inequality and
unemployment on their own wreak havoc on families and households.
Inequality in income distribution is also large and
persistent.
Inequality according to race also remains rampant. Figures
from Census 2011 confirm this stark inequality, and revealed that white
households earn six times more than African households.
The average annual African household income is at
R60 613 and the one of the white households is at R365 164. Close to
1.9 million African households reported no income at all.
These are the socio-economic conditions we have to contend
with, as we build united, cohesive, caring and stable families and communities.
The situation does not make our task easy.
What is important in building new and caring communities, is
that everyone should play their part.
We have seen shocking cases of parents who do not know where
their children are at any given time, even at night. That is unacceptable.
Parents must take responsibility for their children and children under their
care. They cannot delegate this responsibility to the police or to government.
Beyond households and families, working together we must
promote a culture of accountability as all sectors and leaders of society,
including traditional leaders.
We all have a responsibility to socialise the youth to be
caring, responsible and upright citizens.
They must know the values and ethos in our Constitution
which pronounces against all forms of discrimination and violence.
Promoting this accountability means that communities must be
involved in the affairs of the schools in their jurisdictions. They must
motivate the youth to go to school and support the teachers. No child
must roam the streets during school hours and parents just look away.
The existence of taverns near the schools and the fact that
owners allow school children to patronise these areas indicates the level of
decay in our society. The abuse of alcohol, drugs and other substances is a
contributory factor in some of the crimes that are committed.
These matters may look small and insignificant but on a
larger scale, they take us to the problems we face currently, of wanton
lawlessness.
More importantly, I wish to highlight the role of men in
building stronger families.
South Africa has a serious challenge of absent living
fathers in many households, especially African households.
The White Paper on Families states that absent living fathers
is a common and increasing phenomenon affecting families in our country.
The proportion of fathers who are absent but living
increased from 41.6%to 47.4% between 1996 and 2010.
African children have the lowest proportion of present fathers
at 31.1%, while Indian children have the highest at 83.0%, with White children
following closely behind at 80.8%. For Coloured children the proportion is 53%.
It is noted that poverty, high rates of unemployment and
financial constraints may contribute to large numbers of fathers failing to
take responsibility for their children.
However this should not be an excuse. Nothing stops a father
from loving and caring for his children, even if he is poor.
It is well known that the presence of a father has a
positive effect in a child’s life chances; academic performance; and social,
emotional wellbeing.
We salute all the mothers who raise children alone, under
difficult circumstances.
Chairperson and compatriots,
We also have a responsibility to strengthen
inter-generational solidarity and to improve relations between children,
parents and grandparents.
The older generation in particular needs support. The horror
of the sexual molestation of senior citizens, some who are over 80 years of age
has exposed the worst forms of moral decay in our society.
Our White Paper promotes inter-generational solidarity. This
can include better caring for the aged, and sharing of wealth, skills and
knowledge between generations.
The nation building project requires all parties and
stakeholders to play a role.
We urge this House to help us promote a culture of
respecting one another and of respect for authority and adherence to values
that are enshrined in the Constitution.
Members of this House are aware that simple respect for one
another, and the respect traditionally accorded to adults in society by those
younger than them is becoming a scarce commodity.
We cringe when we hear how some young people address older
persons these days in discussions or debates. It is a symptom of the erosion of ubuntu and
fundamental values.
The recent shocking incidents should shock us into positive
action, by making us focus on what can bind us as the South African nation.
We must identify how we can support families and households
in distress, strengthen our communities and take forward the mission of
building a caring, united and prosperous society.
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