27 April 2008
Distinguished guests
Ladies and gentlemen
Dumelang! Saniboni! Avuxeni!
I am highly honoured to address all of you on behalf of our Premier and the Gauteng Provincial Government. I would like to convey the warmest greetings to all of you on this important day in our country's calendar - marking 14 years since our democratic breakthrough in the journey of freedom.
Freedom day is a day where all of us must reflect on the journey we have travelled to bring about democracy, equality and development to our province. It is also a time to remember the heroes and heroines who sacrificed their own lives so that we may live in the land of our forefathers as free people with full human dignity. We remember freedom fighters who passed away recently, Andrew Masondo, Sibusiso Sihle Mbongwa and Zolile Malindi.
Indeed we also remember our fellow brothers and sisters in Mozambique, Lesotho and Angola whose blood was spilt by the marauding apartheid forces for supporting the struggle for liberation in South Africa.
The racist South African troops invaded the People's Republic of Mozambique in the 1980s, on a mission of murder and destruction which came to be known as the Matola massacre. Having killed innocent people, they invaded the People's Republic of Angola and illegally occupied part of that country until they were defeated at the battle of Cuito Canavale.
During the invasion of the Kingdom of Lesotho the racist army killed and maimed at became known as the notorious Maseru massacre. These were crimes against humanity perpetrated against people who committed no crime except to stand with us during our dark hour of need.
Today as we celebrate freedom in our country, we must salute all those people in the international community and in our continent who pledge solidarity and fought side by side with us. We must also pledge to work with our brothers and sisters to end all forms of repression in the continent and work together to entrench democracy, reduce poverty and underdevelopment.
We are marking the 14th anniversary of our freedom in a climate marked by rising food prices, high interest rates and electricity crisis. This is bringing anxiety and hardship on all the people. The reasons for this situation are many and they include rising oil prices, the strength of the dollar and other.
What is however clear is as government, business and the people of Gauteng we have to stand together and take united action to protect our children and families against the devastating effects of this situation.
As the government of Gauteng, we are prepared to revive food gardens in our communities and provide seeds and basic tools to you, our people, so that you may provide food for your families. We must at the same time be vigilant against those who may want to take advantage of the situation and collude to fix prices. We have seen this happen recently with the prices of bread, milk and pharmaceutical. Businesses that are found guilty of price fixing will have to be given harsh punishment.
If we work together to use less electricity we will also manage to reduce the frequency of blackouts that we must endure because of the electricity crisis. The government of Gauteng and the municipalities have committed themselves to working with communities to reduce the demand for electricity. Each and everyone of us in every household and in all business premises must do our part to save electricity.
As we celebrate 14 years of democracy we note that upheavals we are facing this year will come and go and that the reconstruction and development of our province and our country remains on course.
We will not abandon our programme to create jobs, reduce poverty, unemployment, underdevelopment and make Gauteng a better place to live.
This programme has helped us to bring hope and restore the dignity of many of our people. Although unemployment remains a challenge, jobs opportunities are created and many people are using these opportunities to earn a living. A total of 146 000 jobs were created in one year between March 2006 and March 2007 in this province.
As a direct result of our actions - to build houses, provide access to water, electricity, sanitation - the number of households living in informal settlements is decreasing while those who have access to water and electricity are increasing. About 98% of households in Gauteng now have access to clean piped water, and more than 80% have electricity.
Ladies and Gentlemen; There are still many challenges that we still must triumph over. One of those is HIV and AIDS. While awareness about this disease in high, too many people are still getting infected. As government, business and the non-governmental sector we have worked hard to educate our people about this disease.
Now is the time that individuals must take responsibility for their own sexual practices and avoid risky sexual practices such as multiple partners, unprotected sex with strangers, and sexual intercourse under the influence of alcohol and drugs. Ubugebengu nodlame ngezinye zezinto ezisimise kabi kulenkululeko yethu. Ngizothanda ukubonga kakhulu kulabo ababambe iqhaza ohlelweni iTake Charge kanye nolokuqhapha emigwaqweni (Patroller programme) ekungezinye zezindlela esizama ukwehlisa ngazo ubugebengu esifundazweni. Izithelo zokusebenza kwenu kanzima ziyabonakala ngoba izibalo zobugebengu ziyehla.
Ngizothanda nokugqugquzela nabanye emiphakathini ukuba basukume basizane namaphoyisa kulomkhankaso ngoba ngiyakholelwa ukuthi uma sibambisene sizoyinqoba lempi, sihlale ngokunethezeka.
Kumele siqhubeke nokulwa nobandlululo ngokobuhlanga, ubulili nobuzwe kanye nazo zonke ezinye izinhlobo zobandlululo ezisasixakile emiphakathini yethu.
Ukuhlukunyezwa kwabantu besifazane ngabashayeli bamatekisi kuyinto engalungile futhi engamukelekile la esifundazweni. Nodlame olubhekiswe kubafowethu nodadewethu abavela emazweni aseAfrika alufuneki noma ngabe isiphi isizathu abenza lokhu abasishoyo.
Njengabantu abaphumelele engcindezwelweni akumele sizithole nathi sesihlukumeza abanye abantu. Labo abahlasela laba bafowethu, babashise, babatshotshele kumele bazi ukuthi ingalo yomthetho ayizukubahlekela. Akekho phakathi kwethu onelungelo lokungcolisa igama elihle leNingizimu Afrika, phela thina sidume njengabantu ababumbene, abakhululekile, abangabandlululi ngokwebala nangobuzwe.
Ladies and Gentlemen; We should not allow the gains of liberation to be undermined by these incidents.
Every one of us has a duty to ensure the eradication of racism and any form of discrimination within our tertiary institutions, schools, work environment, social clubs and communities.
It is not often the nature of incidents that astonish us, but the solidarity displayed by our people from all background in condemning such inhuman acts. This bears testimony to the fact that there are still many of our people who reject the demon of discrimination and cherish the vision of unity, democracy and equality for all.
Joale kaha re keteka letsatsi lena la tokoloho ya maAfrika Borwa, ha re itlameng hore re tla itshwara hantle, rebe le maphelo a matlafetseng.
Freedom will have little meaning if we continue to die of avoidable causes such as obesity, alcohol abuse, reckless driving and substance abuse. We can beat sugar diabetes, high blood pressure and heart disease through regular exercise, avoiding junk food and by maintaining low weight.
We worked hard for this freedom. Let us preserve it and enjoy it responsibly.
I thank you.