Photograph by: Simon Mathebula
She will be remembered as a graceful pillar of justice, who maintained a strong commitment to her family and country throughout some of the most chaotic times in South African history.
Her legacy lives on through the Albertina Sisulu Foundation and Albertina Sisulu Multi-Purpose Resource Centre
The upcoming State of the Nation Address, which commemorates the opening of parliament, will this year be received with much anticipation.
Indeed, the South African public, civil society organisations, and opposition parties will be preparing themselves to see whether the president will speak to their respective issues, and whether many of the promises made in previous state of the nation addresses will be revisited by way of feedback on his government’s progress.
As such, many of these interest groups will come in great numbers to witness President Jacob Zuma’s State of the Nation Address in Parliament’s National Assembly Chamber on the 10 February 2011.
The aim of this address is to give a depiction of what the government has achieved since the last State of the Nation address, and to set the course for President Jacob Zuma’s administration for the upcoming year.
Indeed, President Zuma has already given a hint of what to expect in his upcoming address, especially when one considers the recent events that have led to his speech on the 10 of February. Key to these events have been the African National Congress’ (ANC) “January 8” address, which this year was held at the Peter Mokhaba Stadium in Polokwane and the recent Cabinet Lekgotla.
The focus at both events was charting the progress and strides the ANC-government had made, and the challenges it still faces, but also to chart the way forward in addressing these challenges, which is predominantly what occurred at this year’s Cabinet Lekgotla.
In his January 8 statement, President Zuma stressed the following themes as areas of focus: Job Creation, Health, Education, Rural Development & Land Reforms.
He said, job creation will be the priority in 2011 through meaningful economic transformation. “We have a crisis of high unemployment in our country. It is only by enabling our people to free themselves from poverty, by providing decent and sustainable jobs and opportunities to become entrepreneurs that we will really bring about a better life for all.”
The big question is, what measures is he going to undertake in order to fullfill his promise or where will these jobs comes from?
According to Business Day, government’s new economic strategy and new growth path estimates the 250 000 new jobs in agriculture, 140 000 in mining and beneficiation, 225 000 in tourism, 50 000 in business services and 30 0000 in the green economy by 2020, with many possible jobs in the sector increasing to 400 000 by 2030.
“Infrastructure development could create 250 000 jobs, while employment in the public service would rise 10%.”
It is said that, the ANC also wants to create 100 000 new jobs in the “knowledge” economy and 260 000 in the social economy.
However, this proposal still doesn’t give detailed information on how is his administration going create these jobs. At his address, is he going to give the steps or his plans of creating such jobs?
Bret Jackelow (right) spoke at the breakfast and was thanked by Dani Janks (left)
“The question is how you can make a positive difference in the situation that you are in and not why you are in it.” Inspiring words by speaker Bret Jackelow, who recently completed the New York City Marathon and won a gold medal, despite being disabled after a severe car crash.
Jackelow spoke at the Mamelani Projects Women’s Fundraising Breakfast in honor of World Aids Day. He hoped to inspire those attending to make a difference in the lives of others, as he would not be where he is today, if it had not been for the support of ordinary people, helping where they can.
Mamelani Projects is a non-profit organisation that facilitates community development projects with the aim to improve the lives of people living in marginalised communities. They manage to reach 1000 women in a year, informing them about HIV/AIDS and access to services.
In a video shown at the breakfast, community members expressed their belief that Mamelani is a starting step to reducing the spread of the disease.
Valuing World Aids Day, the organisation saw it as an opportunity to promote universal access and human rights.
The Mamelani Projects Fundraising Breakfast was held at Coffee Time in Cape Town
They believe that every human being has the right and responsibility to have a basic understanding of how their own body works and what steps can be taken to stay healthy.
Through their programmes they aim to empower women, so that they can better their lives. You need to take care of yourself before you can take care of others.
Developments Works attended the fundraising breakfast and recognises the need to support those who have taken initiative in helping build healthier communities.
For more information visit the Mamelani Projects website.
Themba Mzondi, a PR and Media Intern at DEVELOPMENT WORKS, attended the Conference on Ethical Leadership in and through Politics which was held recently at the University of Western Cape. He attended the session titled TOWARDS INTEGRATED SUSTAINABLE HUMAN SETTLEMENTS WITH DEVELOPMENTAL AND WELL-GOVERNED MUNICIPALITIES WITH EFFECTIVE SERVICE DELIVERY – CHALLENGES AND SUCCESSES. Themba shares his perspectives and experiences on MEC Richard Dyanti’s contribution to this debate….
It was on a Friday morning 07 September 2007, when the University of the Western Cape’s lecture theatre was filled to capacity for the event that would be shared by the Western Cape MEC for housing and local government, Mr. Richard Dyantyi.
The aim of the conference was for government to get in touch with its citizens and most of all to discuss about politics, leadership and ethics. Dyanti, who was dressed in a black fancy suite, opened with the statement that many visitors never expected to hear from government. The statement was brave and honest, which is a form of great leadership.
Challenges we are faced with, far exceeds the successes we have achieved’, this was the opening statement of Mr. Richard Dyantyi as he elaborated on service delivery in the Western Cape. According to Richard, poor service delivery is influenced by politics, simply because management of the city of Cape Town is changed all the time, as a result leads to plans and strategies being cancelled or changed and therefore affecting service delivery. He further acknowledged that there are house holds in the Western Cape below the poverty line as ordinary people are suffering because of politics and lack of leadership.
While there is a backlog of 400 000 houses in the Western Cape as a result of the rise in demand which is caused by the influx of people from other regions for a variety of reasons such as education and job opportunities amongst others. Another reason for this is that government produces 6000 houses on an annual basis whereas the demand is 30 000. He advised that as a result of migration to the province, ordinary citizens should not feel threatened or be xenophobic towards people from elsewhere as the province benefits most from the migrants because when they are in Cape Town, they spend money but when the return back home, then they start applying for grants which cost their governments a lot of money. Not only is there a housing backlog of 400 000 houses, there is also a demand to build better house as the house build from 1994 have to be repaired because most of them are falling. According to Dyanti, this was caused by government itself as it previously misjudged the situation by concentrating on quantity rather than quality, which is a learned lesson.
Dyanti also disclosed the government’s programme Isidima’ (Western Cape Human Settlement strategy) that would be implemented to make sure that those Batho Pele’ policies are adhered to and therefore accelerating service delivery which will also enforce good governance. The Isidima’ programme would also be launched to make sure that people are participating in governance and not just a one way democratic system and to make sure that people get houses that they can pride themselves with.
On his closing remarks Dyanti said, “Leadership is not a position, but a perspective”.
Pregs Govender’s memoir, Love and Courage : a story of Insubordination, is a remarkable and inspirational read. It has kept me captivated and enthralled from opening it 2 days ago. I find myself snatching a moment, wherever possible, to read more. And now I am blogging about it! It is evocative and beautifully written and Pregs shares her life’s experiences with readers in an engaging and honest way.
Loudastress writes a very good review of Love and Courage which is worth referring to.
I had heard often of and been inspired by Pregs Govender and her feminist strivings and activism over the years. What I remembered though most recently was hearing of her quitting Parliament. At the time I pondered on the reasons for her quitting and was saddened at the loss of such a fervent advocator for women’s issues and one of the shining beacons in our newly elected Parliament. During this time she advocated for improving the rights of women and chaired Parliament’s joint Standing Committee on the Quality of Life and Status of Women. She was one of the first ANC MP’s to call for antiretrovirals to be provided to HIV positive pregnant women. She was a stauch advocator for the rights of women and children, especially around issues of HIV/Aids. Prior to joining Parliament she served on the Women’s National Coalition and was very active in the labour movement and in education.
I was reminded of her departure from Parliament in reading in Love and Courage the detail of how over the years she has stood up to authority and the voice of patriachy within all spheres of life, from the party to the factory floors, in the classrooms she taught in to the trade unions she contributed to developing, and within her own Indian culture and community.
I needed to find out more about this courageous women. An internet search yielded some results but not as many as I had anticipated. Perhaps the role now of activist, writer and researcher places her less in the public eye. However I am sure that Love and Courage will do much to remind South Africans of the remarkable courage and conviction of this outstpoken feminist. Perhaps this memoir might also create more opportunities for her to play a more active role in shaping the future for South African women.
In her words….
“We live and speak no longer conscious of our wholeness,
Our connectedness
We have begun to believe we are fragments
That our stories are disconnected from each other’s
So often we have sat silently
With our grief, our pain, our horror, our anger,
Our hopelessness, our despair
At how successfully
We have been disembodied
We no longer hear our own voices
We no longer see our own faces
I know that in our hearts
We cannot have forgotten who we are
In our hearts
We cannot rubbish our collective dream and vision
And the love that inspired courage across our land Against the hate and fear of apartheid’s patriarch
Who aimed to destroy not just our communities
But our very sense of self
Today is another battle we face
Both men and women
With the patriarch within our minds
Who holds captive our hearts, our souls
His power of fear and hate
His hierarchies of exclusion and silence
His memory of forgetting
It is time to reclaim ourselves
So collectively we can reclaim our power of love and courage
It is time for all of us
Women and girls and the men and boys who love us
And whom we love
To subvert the patriarch in our minds
In our homes
In our churches, temples and mosques
In our workplaces
In all our institutions
In our country”
(Pregs Govender, Opening speech in Parliament, Women’s Day, 8 March 2002)
