The Chairperson of the National House of Traditional Leaders, Kgosi Maubane
The Deputy Chairperson of the National House of Traditional Leaders
Minister for Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Mr Pravin Gordhan and other Ministers
Honourable Premiers,
Deputy Ministers for Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, and other Deputy Ministers, MECs, Executive Mayors and all other government leadership present
Their Majesties, all our Kings present
Chairpersons of Provincial Houses of Traditional Leaders
Chairperson of SALGA and local government leadership
Chairperson of the Municipal Demarcation Board
Chairpersons of Chapter 9 Institutions
Chairperson of NKC and Council members
Honourable Members of the National House of Traditional Leaders
President of Contralesa, Kgoshi Setlamorago Thobejane and your Executive Committee
Special guests,
Fellow South Africans
 
Sanibonani, Dumelang, Thobela, Avusheni, Ndimatsheloni, Molweni, Gooie More, Good Morning, Lotjhani!!
 
I take this opportunity to salute you all on this important occasion of the official opening of the National House of Traditional Leaders for its 2015/16 business.

It is always a wonderful occasion to meet with this important House, given the important role played by our traditional leaders in the lives of millions of our people.
 
Allow me from the onset to extend our condolences to the bereaved families of the late traditional leaders who passed on recently.
 
We lost Kgoshi Makgeru (Hlabirwa’ Bauba) who was the Deputy Chairperson of the National House of Traditional Leaders and Inkosi Mpiyezintombi Mzimela, who was the former Chairperson of the National House of Traditional Leaders. 
 
We extend our heartfelt condolences to their families and to members of this House.
 
Honourable Chairperson,
 
We meet just few weeks after the State of the Nation Address (SONA), which was delivered on 12 February 2015. The SONA has outlined government priorities for 2015/16 and beyond.
 
We indicated that this was the year of the Freedom Charter and Unity in Action to Advance Economic Freedom.
 
It is for this reason that the State of the Nation Address (SONA) and the reply to the SONA focused mainly on economic outcomes.
 
It is because of the realization that unless we boost economic activity, we will struggle to achieve economic growth and make meaningful progress in the fight against poverty, inequality and unemployment.
 
Also important is the need to promote to our people the fact that such work that is designed to achieve inclusive economic growth will not be done by government or even this House alone. All our people must play a role.
 
In the SONA I outlined the nine-point economic intervention plan on the economy to generate growth.
 
These include the following: energy, boosting agriculture, advancing beneficiation or adding value to our mineral wealth, encouraging private sector investment and moderating workplace conflict.
 
It also includes unlocking the potential of small enterprises in townships and rural areas. We also mentioned measures that the state must undertake to reform the operations of the state such as enhancing the role of state-owned companies, building infrastructure for water, sanitation and transport, as well as an effective implementation of a higher impact Industrial Policy Action Plan.
 
In the reply to the SONA we further underlined the importance of economic transformation, which includes added efforts to support small and medium enterprises and cooperatives in townships and rural areas. It also includes an important project we have embarked upon, to promote the development of at least 100 black industrialists in the country over the next three years.
 
Our view is that black economic empowerment should not be limited to share ownership schemes only. We want to see industries owned by black people, for us to begin to deracialise the economy and broaden it to improve economic development and create jobs.
 
These are all projects in which government will be able to work with traditional leaders in the various communities.
 
As we work to implement these goals we know full well that the global economic climate is not in our favour. The Budget speech by the Minister of Finance has indicated the difficult times we live in, and we have to make do with the little we have, to advance a better life for all.
 
But government will continue to strive to improve the quality of life with available resources, working with all stakeholders and our people.

Honourable Chairperson

If we want to eradicate poverty one of the critical requirements is access to land.
In his opening address to the ANC conference on the 14th of December 1941, the former President of the ANC, Dr AB Xuma, reminds us of the importance of land.

He said: “The fundamental basis of all wealth and power is the ownership and acquisition of freehold title to land. From land, we derive our existence. We derive our wealth in minerals, food, and other essentials. On land we build our homes. Without land we cannot exist. To all men of whatever race or colour land, therefore, is essential for their wealth, prosperity, and health”.

In the SONA we announced some key policy interventions with regards to land that are coming up this year for discussion in Cabinet and later Parliament.

Government has also developed the Communal Land Tenure Policy which aims to address a number of critical challenges. The Policy was consulted with stakeholders at the Land Tenure Summit Process in September 2014.

It has now evolved into the Communal Land Bill which is expected in Cabinet during the year. The policy aims to clarify, strengthen and formalise the land rights of Communal Area residents - especially the vulnerable  - through the introduction of institutionalised land use rights to be held by households.

This intervention will enable household members to have clear rights on land allocated to them, enable their children to inherit the land, use land rights as collateral to access credit, enter into investment partnerships, and play an active role in how land is distributed, used and allocated to investors. 

In this way the lives of thousands of our people who live in communal lands will change for the better as they will be able to use the land allocated to them as an economic resource.

We look forward to hearing your inputs when the Bill gets to Parliament.

We are working so hard to resolve the land question Chairperson, because land is necessary for food security.

The Bill of Rights guarantees every citizen “the right to have access to sufficient food and water”.

Our vision therefore is for Government and all other role players to ensure access to and control the means to produce sufficient, safe and nutritious food at all times.

National and international surveys indicate that South Africa is the most food secured country on the continent of Africa after Ghana. However, affordable, sufficient, safe and nutritious food is not accessible to all citizens at all times.

It is our shared responsibility to ensure that adequate food is produced in our country for all.

As part of the Agricultural Policy Action Plan, government initiated a five year premier food production intensification programme known as Fetsa Tlala (Eradicate Hunger).

Under the Fetsa Tlala programme we have set a target for Government to put one million hectares of unused productive land in communal areas under production.

In this regard, black smallholder farmers are being supported by Government throughout the country with mechanization, marketing, technical and advisory services such that they can become the main producers of food.

The requirement is that for the volumes produced, one-third should be for own consumption, and another third for storage and the last third for the markets.

The Fetsa Tlala programme finds its expression in many projects such as the Diyatalawa Community Property Association in the Free State, comprising 51 beneficiaries, who have planted five hundred and fifty three hectares of maize and two hundred hectares of beans.

In fact, Chairperson we have a really good story to tell with regards to the success of our smallholder farmers.

In the 2013/14 government donated one hundred and eighty million rand to the World Food Programme towards humanitarian assistance to alleviate the impact of the drought in the Kingdom of Lesotho.

The produce such as sugar beans and maize came from smallholder producers especially in the Eastern Cape, North West and Gauteng Province.  This initiative confirms that commodities produced by smallholders met the standards of the World Food Programme.

An example is Mrs Maria Mlungu, a farmer in Tshwane, Gauteng Province who planted one hundred and sixteen hectares of maize which was sold through the World Food Programme Initiative. 

Siyamhalalisela umama nabo bonke abanye abalimi abahlomulayo kulamathuba avelayo.

In this regard, there is no reason to exclude smallholders from other local and international market opportunities.

This further confirms that with the right technical support and linkages to markets, our smallholder producers can become profitable business enterprises.

It is very encouraging news indeed.

Chairperson,

Let me make an appeal to our leaders in this House that we should drive our communities back to self-sufficiency where each household was able to use its backyard piece of land to produce food.

Sithi abantu ababuyele emasimini balime, noma basebenzise izingadi ezincane emakhaya kulabo abasemalokishini abangenawo umhlaba owanele.

Ukukhuthala silime kuzoyixosha indlala. Sithi abantu abangabheki usizo kuhulumeni kuphela, abazisize nabo. Uhulumeni ke yena useyoxhasa ngezimfanelo ezithile njengembewu noma ogandaganda.

Lokhu kubaluleke kakhulu ukuze sifunde ukuzimela.
 
Honourable Chairperson,

Honourable Members,

Traditional leaders have an important role to play in the implementation of the National Development Plan.

We have some exciting programmes already in place especially as we implement the National Development Plan.

For example, in 2014, I launched the first implementation of Operation Phakisa - an initiative aimed at fast-tracking the delivery of the priorities outlined in the National Development Plan (NDP).

The first Operation Phakisa is on the Oceans Economy and its goal is to unlock the economic potential of South Africa’s oceans. Our traditional leaders from the coastal areas are important stakeholders in this massive project.

I have also launched the second Operation Phakisa with a focus on developing the health sector’s Ideal Clinic Initiative to promote efficiency, effectiveness and professionalism in the country’s public sector clinics.

This year Operation Phakisa will be expanded to the mining industry with the view to partner with the mining sector to introduce down-stream beneficiation of the country’s mineral resources. I trust that traditional leaders will be able to participate in some of these programmes at the local level.

Chairperson

Building the economy is one aspect of our priorities. Another more important task that we face is to build the soul of the nation.

We decided this term to introduce social cohesion and nation building as an important programme within government in order to promote unity and to build our young nation.

Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa leads the Moral Regeneration Movement which is aimed at promoting positive values in our society.

We would like to work with you in that programme.

We also urge that you work with the Commission for the Promotion and Protection of the Rights of Cultural, Religious and Linguistic Communities to promote national unity, tolerance and understanding of one another’s cultures.

The Commission has an important role to play in promoting cohesion and we believe the National House of Traditional Leaders could contribute to the programme of the Commission and vice versa.

An important social cohesion programme run by government entails the promotion of our national heritage especially the new heritage.

Government is introducing new heritage such as the installation of the statues of iNkosi Bhambatha, King Makhado, Inkosi Langalibalele,  Chief Dawid Stuurman, King Hintsa and Kgosi Sekhukhune.

Government, through the Department of Arts and Culture, also continues to identify historic sites, individuals and organisations that have made an outstanding contribution to our liberation struggle and history and to the development of our cultural values.

The identified sites will be upgraded and declared National Heritage sites and be maintained by the State, which will result in a more representative and inclusive South African history and heritage.

More importantly, this will also contribute towards shared values and a common national identity in the country.

Furthermore, the building and maintenance of new monuments and historic sites will stimulate cultural tourism to create much needed jobs in communities where these sites are located.

This month we have undertaken a major step in the building of new heritage for the country.

Government has led the repatriation of the remains of two struggle icons, Mr JB Marks and Mr Moses Kotane, who dedicated their lives to the struggle for freedom and died in the former Soviet Union.

We celebrated the return of their remains to a free South Africa last Sunday and they will be buried in the North West province later this month.

We are truly proud of their contribution to the freedom and democracy we enjoy today. They fought a good fight.

Honourable Chairperson,
 
We will continue to promote the institution of traditional leadership in our country and this includes improving the legislative framework.
 
For example, we will introduce the Traditional and Khoi-San Leadership and Governance Bill this year.
 
Currently, there is no legislation recognising the Khoi and San and there are gaps in the existing legislation on Traditional Leadership.

Chairperson

We also recognize that more still need to be done to improve the lives of our traditional communities. We also need to improve the delivery of services in rural areas.
 
In our pursuit to advance the lives of our people, we have launched the local government Back to Basics approach in order to respond adequately to needs of our communities including communities residing in rural areas.
 
The Back to Basics approach requires of government and its stakeholders to be more focused on addressing basic services in communities.
 
These include efficient financial management and the provision of basic services such as water electricity, fixing potholes and the removal of refuse. These are simple but important functions which indicate a functioning municipality.
 
We have also realized that there are many instances where there is a need to intervene in provinces to correct certain problems and improve service delivery.
The Department of Cooperative Governance has thus developed the Intergovernmental Monitoring, Support and Interventions Bill in 2013 to provide a legislative framework for effective interventions by provinces and national government in provinces.
 
Currently there is no national legislation regulating interventions in provinces in terms of section 100. The purpose of this Bill is to therefore provide for the supervision of provinces and municipalities.
 
Supervision entails not only intervening in a province or municipality when executive obligations are not fulfilled, but also their monitoring to identify provinces and municipalities that are experiencing difficulties with the fulfillment of their executive obligations.
 
It could also be the provision of targeted national or provincial support in order to avert defaults in service delivery and hence interventions. Targeted support is additional to the “normal” support given to provinces and municipalities to enable them to manage their affairs and exercise their powers and functions.
 
Honourable Members,
 
Allow me to commend the role of traditional leaders in social development issues, in particular the fight against HIV and AIDS.
 
We are making progress in fighting this scourge as a country because we work together as various sectors.
 
Traditional leaders signed a pledge with the Ministry of Health and the South African National Aids Council on 31 March 2014, under the theme “intensifying the role of traditional leadership in the fight against HIV and AIDS”.
 
Traditional leaders have also been part of a number of road shows intended to raise awareness on HIV and AIDS prevention and treatment as well as on Voluntary Counselling and Testing.

I am delighted by the fact that you visited the worst affected areas, such as Gert Sibande District, in the Mpumalanga Province to engage stakeholders and disseminate information.
 
We also appreciate the role played by traditional leaders on matters of education.
 
Many of our traditional leaders or their representatives participate in school governing bodies and other community structures.
 
We would also like to commend the House of Traditional Leaders for the outreach programmes and campaigns to schools and the health sector.
 
These campaigns took place in the North West Province where traditional leaders engaged learners on various social issues.
 
The information gathered in these engagements is relayed to the relevant government departments.
 
These are some of the tangibles that really have impact on society and we are pleased that you undertake these outreach programmes.
 
Together we shall move our country forward.
 
Honourable Chairperson,
 
We trust that our honoured traditional leaders are aware of government’s interventions in rural areas to support youth development, through the National Rural Youth Service Corps.
 
In the past year, more than 7 000 youths participated in this programme. Participation included training in various life skills programmes in order to enable the youth to become self-sustaining.
 
We urge members of the House to support this venture which will develop our youth and given them much-needed skills.

Honourable Chairperson
Honourable Members,
 
During this year of the Freedom Charter and Unity in Action to Advance Economic Freedom, I urge that traditional leaders find a way to participate and influence government programmes in their areas, for the betterment of the lives of our people. The National Development Plan calls upon us to cooperate and work together to build our country.
 
And indeed we were taught this by the founding leaders of this great country.
 
Let us learn from the words of Pixley ka Isaka Seme. In his article entitled the Native Union in which he motivated for the establishment of the now African National Congress, in October 1911, Pixley ka Isaka Seme said the following:
 
“Co-operation is the key and the watchword which opens the door, the everlasting door which leads into progress and all national success. The greatest success shall come when man shall have learned to cooperate, not only with his own kith and kin but with all peoples and with all life’’.
 
We look forward to working with you this year in advancing the national priorities to improve the lives of our people.
 
Together we move South Africa forward.
 
I thank you.

Issued by: The Presidency
Pretoria