Here is something from my star.
Saul.
February 4, 2000
The State of the Nation
By THABO MBEKI
At no other point of time have we ever been as
well placed as we
are today to take decisive forward steps, towards
the creation of
the humane and people-centred society for which
the
organisations that were unbanned ten years ago
struggled for
many decades.
It is now ten years since the people's
organisations were
unbanned, the last political prisoners released
and the exiles
began the journey back to the land of their birth.
In the course of a mere decade, we ended the
entrenched and
pernicious system of apartheid white minority
rule.
We have put in place a constitutionally governed
and stable
democratic system whose permanence has been
underwritten by
two successful general elections.
We have put behind us the practice inherent within
our social
order for three centuries and more, of the
resolution of competing
interests by resort to repression, violence and
war.
We have turned an economy that was headed towards
a
catastrophic meltdown into one that is poised to
advance in a way
that will address the needs of all our people.
Where suffering and degradation were the only
things that were
certain in the lives of millions of our people, we
have created the
situation in which these millions are now better
able to carry their
pain, because hope has taken the place of despair.
Having ended our dark days as a pariah country, we
can rightly
say that, today, the nations of our common
universe are confident
that out of South Africa will emerge a thing of
value that will
contribute to the building of a more humane world.
Surely, Madame Speaker, we are entitled to make
the claim that,
as a people, both black and white, we did, in a
mere decade,
carry out a multi-faceted task whose
accomplishment speaks
highly of the capacity of our people and all
humanity to achieve
results which can only be described as good and
noble.
I am therefore privileged to have this opportunity
to extend
heartfelt congratulations to all our people,
regardless of race,
colour and gender, for the extraordinary and
sustained effort over
the last ten years which has enabled the
overwhelming majority
among us to say - we are proud to be South
African!
The good that has been done puts into very sharp
relief everything
that has still to be done, to extricate millions
of our people from
the conditions of poverty, racism, sexism and
violations of their
human dignity, from which too many of our people
continue to
suffer.
However, I am certain that we are all inspired to
act with greater
vigour and will indeed act with greater vigour, to
achieve the
fundamental transformation of our country, because
at no point
during its entire history has our country been in
a better position
to confront the challenges we face than it is
today.
At no other point of time have we ever been as
well placed as we
are today to take decisive forward steps, towards
the creation of
the humane and people-centred society for which
the
organisations that were unbanned ten years ago
struggled for
many decades.
Last month, the Food and Allied Workers Union came
across
correspondence in the electronic mail of one of
our companies.
This correspondence originated from an engineer
within this
company, who has since been dismissed.
As the Honourable Members will recall, among other
things, this
engineer wrote:
"I would like to summarise what the Kaffirs have
done to stuff up
this country since they came into power . . . If a
white buys a
house, he pays transfer duties. If a kaffir buys a
house it is free of
duties because he was 'previously disadvantaged' .
. . More than
20% of the GDP is embezzled by the kaffir
politicians and corrupt
civil servants . . . The UIF and state pension
funds have been
embezzled . . . Our girlfriends/wives are in
constant threat of
being brutally raped by some AIDS infested Kaffir
(or gang of
Kaffirs) . . . Everyday someone you know is either
robbed,
assaulted, hijacked or murdered . . . Half these
black bastards
have bought their (drivers) licences from corrupt
traffic cops . . .
AND AND AND AND AND . . . All I am saying is that
AIDS isn't
working fast enough!!!"
Our successes in the struggle to move our country
from apartheid
to democracy have led many in our country to reach
the
premature conclusion that racism in South Africa
is dead.
This is despite the obvious and naked fact that to
this day and
unavoidably, the racial divisions, inequalities
and prejudices of the
past continue to characterise our society.
Some in our country are so determined to close
their eyes to this
reality that those who are forced to swallow the
bitter fruit of racial
inequality and arrogance are regularly rebuked for
speaking out
against the pain they continue to endure.
Such unadorned statements as those made by the
company
engineer serve a very important function in that
they bring us face
to face with the brutality of the racism that will
continue to exist in
our society unless all of us engage this monster
consciously and
systematically.
After discussions between the Government and the
Human Rights
Commission, agreement has been reached that the
Commission
will, later this year, convene a National Congress
against Racism.
We are convinced that this important initiative
will help to move
our country faster towards the realisation of the
goal contained in
our Constitution of the creation of a non-racial
society, as well as
impact positively on our continuing struggle for a
non-sexist
society.
During this year, the Government will therefore
give all necessary
support to the Human Rights Commission to ensure
that it
succeeds to engage all sectors of our society in
the common
effort further to intensify our offensive against
racism and sexism.
Next year, at the request of the United Nations
Human Rights
Commission and High Commissioner Mary Robinson,
our country
will also host the International Conference
against Racism.
We feel greatly honoured that the international
community, in
recognition of our commitment to the struggle for
a non-racial
world, should have chosen our country to host such
an important
international gathering, which will be the first
of its kind.
The Honourable Members will have taken note of the
deep
concern expressed by various European governments
at the
growth of the extreme right wing in their part of
the world.
In one of his plays, Arturo Ui, the outstanding
German playwright
and poet, Bertold Brecht, warns against the
resurgence of
fascism with the unforgettable words - the bitch
is in heat again!
We are committed to act in unity with the rest of
the world to
confront this challenge and will therefore begin
the work this year,
together with and under the guidance of the United
Nations
Commission for Human Rights, to ensure that the
international
conference next year discharges its
responsibilities to the
peoples of the world.
Because we have never been better placed than we
are today
further to push back the frontiers of racism, we
are convinced that
our own National Congress against Racism will also
succeed to
discharge its responsibilities to our people.
I would also like to take this opportunity to
congratulate the
Honourable Members for the work they did to
approve on time, the
Promotion of Equality and Prevention of Unfair
Discrimination Act
and the Preferential Procurement Policy Framework
Act. We have
assented to these and other pieces of legislation
approved last
month.
The Government will act to ensure the observance
of these laws
as part of our common national offensive against
all forms of
inequality and discrimination, including racial
and gender
inequality and discrimination as well as
discrimination on the
basis of disability.
The recently completed gender audit will help us
to carry out this
task as will the objectives set out in the
Integrated Strategy on
Disability.
Madame Speaker: The elimination of poverty remains
one of the
central objectives of the government and the
country. As we are
all aware, this poverty is intimately related to
the issues of racism
and sexism which we have been discussing. Its
elimination is
fundamental to the realisation of the goal of the
restoration of the
dignity of all our people.
Accordingly, this places high on our agenda the
task of ensuring
that all of us act together to achieve high and
sustained rates of
growth for our economy.
Once more, we would like to make the point that we
have never
been better positioned than we are today to
achieve the progress
we have to attain with regard to this important
challenge. Many
major indicators point to the excellent work that
has been done to
place our country on a strong growth path. All
indicators also
signal that during this year, our economy will
register much more
vigorous growth than it did last year.
Of great importance in this regard, indicating the
resilience, the
effective restructuring and therefore the improved
international
competitiveness of our economy, was the success we
achieved in
withstanding the effects of the East Asian
economic crisis of the
late 1990s.
Let us now turn to some of the major indicators to
which we have
referred. Whereas the Reuters December 1999 Survey
resulted in
the highest projected GDP growth rates of 3.5% and
3.7% for the
years 2000 and 2001 respectively, the January
Survey sharply
raised these figures to 6.5% for both years. We
should also
compare these figures to average GDP growth
achieved in the
period 1993-1998, which amounted to 2.7%.
In 1993 foreign direct investment amounted to R941
million as
compared to just under R6.5 billion in 1998, with
portfolio
investment growing from R2.4 billion to R20.4
billion in the same
period. Whereas the level of inflation was 12.5%
during the period
1990-1994, it had come down to 5.2.% for 1999 and
is projected
to come down further during this year to 5%.
At the height of the Asian crisis, the interest
rate rose to 25.5%,
but is now currently down to 14.5%. Whereas the
foreign reserves
stood at R32.6 billion in January 1999, as of the
day before
yesterday they had reached R46.4 billion.
During the period 1990-1994, the budget deficit as
a percentage of
the GDP averaged out at 6.6%, but had been managed
down to
2.9% during the period 1998-1999.
In the last few days, because of the sound
management of our
financial system, a major international rating
agency ranked
South Africa with regard to the potential level of
non-performing
loans in the same bracket with countries such as
Austria,
Finland, Hong Kong, Ireland, New Zealand, Norway,
Singapore
and Spain.
Similarly, the announcements again within the last
few days
concerning investments in the automobile and air
transport
sectors by major international corporations
reflect the confidence
of the international business community in our
economy and our
country.
These and other developments vindicate the
statement made by
Mr Julian Ogilvie Thompson, Chairperson of Anglo
American PLC,
when he spoke in Canada on the 1st of November
last year.
Speaking at the CIBC Wood Grundy Annual Dinner he
said: "We
believe that foreign investors who have been slow
in placing direct
investment as opposed to portfolio investment will
increasingly
share our assessment that South Africa is one of
the most
attractive emerging markets."
Our Government fully shares this confidence, which
was also
communicated to us by all the business leaders
with whom we
had the privilege to interact at the World
Economic Forum at
Davos.
When we spoke at the opening of our second
democratic
parliament in June, we reported on steps that
would be taken
further to enhance the partnership between the
public and private
sectors with a view further to reinforce the
growth and
development of our economy.
The four working groups we announced have now been
established. Three of these have already met.
The four working groups comprise:
Big business;
The trade union federations;
Black business; and,
The agricultural sector.
Of these only the latter group has not yet
convened, owing to time
constraints.
These working groups do not replace NEDLAC but
provide the
possibility for Government to interact with these
various sectors
on the steps we should take as a country to
achieve economic
growth and development and to remove all obstacles
that might
impede the realisation of this goal.
I am also pleased to announce that the
International Investment
Council has also been constituted, except for
three or four
confirmations we are still expecting, about which,
unfortunately, I
am not at liberty to give any further details.
The following constitute the membership of the
Council:
Mr William Rhodes, Vice President of the Citigroup
Inc. of the US;
Dr George Soros, Chairperson of Soros Fund
Management;
Mr Frank Savage, Chairperson of Alliance Capital
Management
International of the US;
Mr Percy Barnevik, Chairperson of Investor AB of
Sweden;
Mr Niall FitzGerald, Co-Chairperson of the
British-Dutch Unilever;
Mr Minoru Makihara, Chairperson of Mitsubishi
Corporation of
Japan;
Mr Sam Jonah, CEO of Ashanti Goldfields of Ghana;
Dr Tony O'Reilly of the Independent Newspapers of
Ireland;
Mr Ratan N. Tata, Group Chairperson of Tata of
India;
Mr Hassan Marikan, President of Petronas of
Malaysia;
Sir Robert Ross, Chairperson of the D-Group of
the UK;
Mr Martin Kohlhausen, Chairperson of Commerzbank
of Germany;
and,
Mr Jurgen Schrempp, CEO of Daimler-Chrysler.
We would like to take this opportunity sincerely
to thank these
eminent international business leaders for their
readiness to serve
on the International Investment Council and the
firm and
unwavering confidence in our economy and our
country.
We look forward to working with them as the
all-weather friends of
our country and people that they are.
Madame Speaker and Honourable Members:
The Government is committed to the enhancement of
the sound
macro-economic framework which is fundamental to
the
accomplishment of our economic goals.
In this regard, we have already announced that we
will be setting
inflation targets as one of the measures to ensure
this sound
framework. I hereby confirm that we will proceed
with this issue
as we have indicated. The Honourable Minister of
Finance will
address this matter when he presents the budget in
19 days time.
Driven as we all are by the determination to
ensure that our
economy continues to expand and transform, I am
confident that
all our social partners will work with us to
achieve the purposes
which informed the decision to set inflation
targets.
For some years now, we have maintained the
position that we will
work continuously towards the removal of the
foreign exchange
controls we inherited from the apartheid regime.
Accordingly, we have already removed all foreign
exchange
controls with regard to foreigners.
The remaining controls therefore relate only to
South Africans.
Again, the Minister of Finance will address this
issue when he
presents the budget on the 23rd of February.
Madame Speaker:
The Government is concerned about our low savings
ratio and the
negative impact this has on our rate of
investment.
We have therefore constituted an inter-ministerial
group to work
on this important issue.
After the necessary interaction with our social
partners, and later
in the year, the Government will announce to
parliament and the
country the steps it proposes should be taken to
address this
matter.
Last June, when we presented the State of the
Nation Address,
we said that an area that had "attracted
considerable comment is
the labour market and its actual or perceived
impact on
investment and job creation."
We went on to say that "The Government will
continue to give
priority to the issue of job creation. If
perceptions or realities
influence the process negatively, these must be
addressed."
Consistent with these observations, the Honourable
Minister of
Labour has led a review of the labour market
legislative framework.
This has included interaction with our social
partners at NEDLAC.
As a result of this review, the Government has
concluded that
certain aspects of the legislative instruments
aimed at giving
effect to our labour market policies have led to
unintended
consequences.
For this reason, to ensure that we address
simultaneously such
issues as fair labour standards and the fostering
of economic
growth and job creation, amendments to certain
provisions of the
Labour Relations Act, the Basic Conditions of
Employment Act
and the Insolvency Act will be introduced this
year.
The Minister of Labour will provide the details of
the areas
identified for legislative review.
The Government is also concerned to improve the
level and
effectiveness of investment by the Government
itself. This
includes capital expenditures directed at
encouraging the growth
of small, micro and medium enterprises.
We have therefore carried out a comprehensive
review of Khula
and Ntsika to ensure that they discharge their
responsibility to
give financial and other support to small and
medium business.
This, coupled with other measures, should enable
us to speed up
the growth of this sector of our economy, with a
positive impact
on employment creation, among other things.
Work is also going on to address the issue of
micro-lending
especially as this relates to micro-lending for
productive economic
purposes. This is especially relevant to the issue
of the alleviation
and elimination of poverty which continues to
afflict millions of our
people in both rural and urban areas.
As part of the process of encouraging economic
growth and
development, we have also established the Local
Economic
Development Fund to support municipalities as they
work to meet
their mandate of stimulating economic development
at the local
level.
The Fund has already started to make its
disbursements, thus
helping to give hope and incomes to people who are
unemployed
in both urban and rural areas.
Improvements are also being effected with regard
to our Public
Works Community Programmes. These programmes will
focus in
particular on such infrastructure as rural roads,
which are of
critical importance to the success of our rural
development
strategy to which we will refer later.
Our activities will also continue to focus on the
important issue of
the deracialisation of our economy, and therefore
the
encouragement of black economic empowerment.
The working group with black business will
facilitate this process,
including the consideration of the reports
prepared by the
Government and the Black Economic Empowerment
Commission
respectively.
At the same time, the Government will continue
with its work to
improve our infrastructure.
Of particular importance in this regard will be
the activities of such
state corporations as Transnet, Eskom, Telcom as
well as the
Roads Agency and the Municipal Infrastructure
Investment
Programme with regard to the expansion and the
improvement of
our transport, electricity and telecommunications
infrastructures.
The programme for the restructuring of state
assets is also being
speeded up to address these objectives, to
increase the levels of
investment and further to modernise the economy.
During this year we will pay particular attention
to the Transnet
Group to continue the process of change
represented by the
acquisition of a valuable strategic partner by
South African
Airways last year.
Of especial importance will be our capacity to
ensure that the
cost structure of our transport network is
consistent with the high
and sustained growth rates we have to achieve.
Consistent with the decisions taken at the Job
Summit, both the
public and the private sectors have committed the
necessary
funds for the promotion of the tourism sector,
commonly accepted
as potentially one of our most important sectors
with regard to job
creation.
The work has therefore begun vigorously to promote
the growth of
this sector. We are certain this will produce the
necessary
beneficial results.
While we were at Davos, I received a letter from
Professors
Nicholas Conard and John Parkington of the
Universities of
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