Master of Ceremonies, Honourable Premier of Gauteng, Ms Nomvula Mokonyana, Executive Mayor of the City of Johannesburg, Mr Amos Masondo, Honourable MEC of Social Development, Ms Qedani Mahlangu ,
Honourable Minister of Human Settlements, Mr Tokyo Sexwale, Director-Generals and senior government officials here present, Representatives and leaders from the private sector, Distinguished guests, Comrades and friends, Ladies and Gentlemen
Thank you for joining us this morning on this important occasion in which we seek to intensify our efforts to combat the poverty. As a department, we have looked forward to this launch because the ultimate goal of our work is to engender self reliance in our people and communities.
With us coming together as government, the development agencies, the private sector, NGOs and our international partners to launch this project, we show our willingness and commitment to confront poverty which continues to undermine people’s dignity and overshadow the achievements of the last fifteen years.
It is befitting and inspiring that we launch this project here at the Maponya Mall, the brainchild of the Soweto veteran businessman and the pioneer of black township business, Ntate Richard Maponya. What an inspiration it is to be launching the Hemp project in the presence of a man who defied his poor background and hostile apartheid policies to become one of the leading and respected black businessman who paved the way for a new generation of emerging black business leaders.
We are equally honoured to have with us, one of the leading academic minds and development activist, Dr Mamphela Ramphele who has written extensively on the subject of poverty. Many of us in the development sector draw on your knowledge to infuse thinking about the South African development trajectory. You have contributed to this effort in no small measure.
We are greatly honoured and pleased that you all took time from your busy schedules to join us in this national civil society dialogue. Our ultimate long term goal remains uprooting poverty (to borrow from the title of Dr Mamphela’s report on poverty) through building a more caring society…. together, for the mark of a noble society is found not in how it protects the most powerful, but how it defends the most vulnerable.
I do not know if it is fate or design that the launch of this project is taking place here in Soweto- a township that was the nucleus of our struggle for freedom and justice. Whatever the reason, the launch could not have happened at a more appropriate place than here.
It was in the streets of this vast township that our youth, armed only with stones and petrol bombs, fought relentlessly against the heavily armed security forces. Many of you will remember that in 1956 during the height of apartheid, the Congress of the People took place in Kliptown (not far from here) to draw up the Freedom Charter which became the foundation of our Constitution.
At that historic gathering, the forefathers of our struggle pledged: “the state shall help the peasants with implements, seed, tractors and dams to save the soil and assist the tillers”. As a nation we have walked a long road since that historic gathering, but the Freedom Charter remains a living document that guides our national democratic revolution.
Today, 54 years on and 15 years into a democratic South Africa, we are gathered here to make a similar pledge to work together to eliminate extreme hunger and poverty in our midst. On this historic occasion of the launch of the Hemp Project, let me start by saying that it gives me great pleasure to be present at a function of this kind as it gives us an opportunity to witness first hand, how much can be achieved when government joins hands with the private sector, research institutions, development agencies and communities to tackle the challenges confronting us. On behalf of my Department I would like to thank all the stakeholders in the Hemp project.
The fact that the Hemp project takes place today, on the same date as the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty, is a matter of historical significance. Every year, 17 October is observed by United Nations Member States as the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty- a global awareness campaign dedicated to fighting poverty and destitution around the globe.
The history of this campaign can be traced back to 1987 when over a hundred thousand people gathered in Paris, where the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was signed in 1948, to honour the victims of extreme poverty, violence and hunger.
They proclaimed that poverty is a violation of human rights and affirmed the need to come together to ensure that these rights are respected. Since then, people of all backgrounds, beliefs and social origins have gathered every year on this day to renew their commitment and show their solidarity with the poor. For us this day presents us with a watershed opportunity to launch this very exciting and ground breaking development initiative.
What makes this initiative so much interesting is that it is spearheaded by a community-public-private sector partnership that brings together the synergy, expertise and resources between various stakeholders. Without any doubt, today’s event signifies unity in diversity and action.
Furthermore, today's event is a very important and rewarding milestone for my Department as this project is a direct beneficiary of our Sustainable Livelihood Approach- an innovative development strategy which seeks to teach people that through cooperative self-help and a united approach to common problems, the vast potential for their own self-improvement can be translated into effective programmes which can do much to improve their standard of living.
Mahatma Gandhi once said “Poverty is the worst form of violence”. None of us in this room can deny that poverty is a reality in this country, and, if South Africa is to grow and prosper, it needs to eradicate poverty as a matter of extreme urgency. It is for this reason that the government embarked some years ago on the strong drive to eradicate poverty in South Africa, especially in the rural areas, hit the hardest by the global economic recession and the widespread retrenchments. As a government, every day we respond as best we can to the concerns of those hit hardest by this crisis. While we continue to reap the benefits of globalization, we clearly have not been immune to the shocks that come with it.
Over the last fifteen years government has been implementing a myriad of poverty alleviation measures, with social assistance programme being the biggest of them all, aimed at achieving the goal of a better life for all. To date this programme is one of the most comprehensive and sophisticated in the developing world. We have, progressively expanded social grants to vulnerable groups since the dawn of our democracy and more than a quarter of the population is receiving income transfers.
I have said it before, and at the risk of sounding like a broken record-player, I would like to repeat that while appropriate social security provisioning plays a critical role in addressing the basic needs of the poor households, it is only meant to be a temporary measure.
From its inception, the social assistance programme was not specifically designed with strategies to connect recipients and other able-bodied and unemployed household members to opportunities for sustainable livelihoods, employment and other economic opportunities.
Having succeeded in expanding the reach of our social security system to so many in our country, the challenge now is to focus on programmes that have the potential to graduate people out of poverty.
To respond to this challenge, my Department initiated the Sustainable Livelihoods to link the poor, vulnerable and marginalized, with particular focus on able-bodied beneficiaries of social grants, to opportunities for sustainable livelihoods and economic activities. The programme does not intend to exit social grant beneficiaries from the system in the short-term, but to create opportunities for sustained work opportunities and income in the long-term.
This programme operates within the framework of adaptive social protection- a process which facilitates the strengthening of coping strategies of the poor to tackle vulnerabilities and build their adaptive capacities to improve access to socio-economic opportunities. It might not solve all their problems, but it does build up their confidence to tackle such problems more effectively. We strongly believe that the pursuit of the goals and, in the end, of development and poverty requires the active participation of the beneficiaries.
One such project, which has proven successful as it gives communities the opportunity to determine their own patterns and priorities of development, is Silindithemba project (Dutyini, Eastern Cape) on “linking grants to sustainable livelihoods and co-operatives”.
The success of the Silindithemba project, which is driven mainly by rural women who were previously disenfranchised simply on the basis of their gender, is testimony that with initiative and the right support, women are creating markets where none existed, turning a profit, and prioritizing investing in the education and health of their families. It has been proven that investing in women and girls is not only a worthy goal in its own right - it is one of the fastest and best means of advancing human development for all.
Today’s launch of the Hemp Project is the culmination of long standing partnership between my Department, the Centre for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), Agricultural Research Council (ARC), the Eastern Cape Departments of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (national and provincial), Eastern Cape Department of Economic Affairs, Eastern Cape Development Agency, Department of Science and Technology, the Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA) and the Department of Trade and Industry.
The majority of people participating in this project are women. Given the historical importance of this day, and the fact that poverty disproportionally affects women than men, what a better way of showing our commitment to poverty reduction than to invest in the Hemp Project?
Analyzing data from two surveys conducted by Statistics South Africa, a recent study by the University of Stellenbosch found that 45 percent of female-headed households lived below the poverty line, as compared to only 25 percent of male-headed households. The findings of this study are comparable with international trends which show that of the world’s 1.3 billion poor people, women constitute 70 percent.
This state of affairs is variance with the Freedom Charter and the Constitution both of which are premised on the concept of social justice and gender equality. For this reason, we welcome and support development initiatives that strengthen the value chains for women cooperatives.
Comrades and friends, we believe that value chains will certainly address poverty and gender disparities. An enhanced value chain is a great incentive to production and income generation, however it cannot sustain unless market access is possible for them.
We have learnt that most cooperatives, some of which have huge potential to succeed and benefit many people, did not last for long due to limited or no market accessibility. Judging by the presence of so many entrepreneurs in this room, I am hopeful that we can rely on your business acumen to improve the Hemp project’s production chain and to increase its competitiveness and market penetration.
Support for more commercially orientated production, improved marketing, and private sector involvement is identified as a strategic object in most of the development initiatives. The beauty about the Hemp project is that it fully embraces the concept of sustainable livelihoods in that it highlights the need for communities to use natural resources in a sustainable fashion.
I therefore would like urge each and everyone in this room to share your expertise by participating in this national flagship programme in order to create production and marketing capacities as well as competitiveness in national and international markets.
Judging by the long list of government departments and agencies involved in this project, our government is up to the challenge of eradicating poverty. But it is clear that our success will come only if it is a true team effort. Government is doing its part, but the private sector must step up and seize the opportunity we have created. Working together, we can do much better to reduce poverty.
So now, I call upon the leaders of our private sector to take up the challenge at this important time: to join your government and continue to invest in our nation’s future. Work with us to ensure that our nation’s limited resources are able to meet the objective of improving the lives of the people of South Africa, particularly poor women in rural areas.
Before concluding, let me take this opportunity to congratulate the pioneers of the House of Hemp, in particular Dr Thandeka Kunene and the project’s investment partner, Dr Mamphela Ramphele, and members of my department for successfully organizing this launch.
I should also point out that the foundation for the partnership agreement between the Department of Social Development and the House of Hemp, was laid by the sterling support and contributions from the CSIR, ARC, Eastern Cape Department of Economic Affairs, Eastern Cape Development Agency, Department of Science and Technology, DBSA, Department of Trade and Industry and the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries. The stage is set and we call aboard all actors to participate.
We must all band together to shoulder the responsibility of bringing our nation through these challenging global times. As I said, to date we have been successful. But now is not the time to be complacent. It is the time to step up to the challenge and work hard to ensure our nation’s bright economic future. We owe this to gallant men and women who in 1955 gathered in Kliptown to adopt the Freedom Charter.
As Norman Peale once said:
Empty pockets never held anyone back. Only empty heads and empty hearts can do that.
As we launch this project on this historic day, we do so with the hope that it will bring us much closer to the attainment of our shared and common goal of making poverty a history.
I thank you.
