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Opening of Water Skills Project
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Speeches and Media Releases
 Education

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EASTERN CAPE PROVINCIAL GOVERNMENT
 SPEECH BY THE MEC FOR EDUCATION
 AT THE OPENING OF THE "WATER SKILLS" PROJECT AT EAST LONDON COLLEGE,
ON  15 OCTOBER 1999

[DELIVERED]

Firstly, I must thank my hosts – the East London College and the Mvula Trust - for affording me the opportunity to speak here. In thanking 
them I am not just being polite. I am thanking them because there are many aspects of this project which connect with issues of fundamental 
importance to all of us who are concerned about education and development in the Eastern Cape. Before talking about any specific issues, 
however, it is essential that we view this project in historical perspective. It is only then that we can appreciate its true importance.

The Eastern Cape has always been largely rural - this was so before we were colonised, and it was so during the wars of dispossession and 
it is so today. At the heart of the conflict was the issue of land, grazing and water rights. The mass of the people were forced onto 
smaller and smaller pieces of land, often without proper access to water. We all know the outcome of this process. Generation after 
generation of migrant workers had to leave their loved ones to work on farms, mines, houses, factories owned by others. The whole evil 
machinery of apartheid was primarily designed to produce a constant supply of cheap labour and labourers who would be powerless to change 
their situation or improve their lives. The statistics from the latest census, and from our own surveys of our schools, reveals that the 
majority of the people are still without proper access to clean water or sanitation, either in their homes or in while attending school. 
While creating super-profits for the farmers and other owners, workers have had to watch their children die from diseases transmitted by 
dirty water and lack of sanitation.

The lack of basic infrastructure is one side of the story, of our history. The other side of the story has to do with people being made 
powerless so they could not change this situation. When we talk of the disempowered we usually think about those who could not vote, who 
could not own land. Just as fundamental was the deliberate under-educating and under-skilling of our people, millions of whom are today 
functionally illiterate and have no formal qualifications. There was job reservation; there was the Whites-only apprenticeship system and 
excellent technical education reserved for Whites; there was access to capital and higher education for the privileged few. Even so, our 
people acquired many skills by actually doing the work; but these were not recognised; or their jobs were divided into many different jobs, 
each with a white baas and his spanner boy. To sum up: on one hand our history has left us with a situation where there is a huge and 
urgent need for clean, available water and sanitation; but on the other hand we have been systematically disempowered so that we do not 
have a sufficient number of skilled people to make water and sanitation available. I think you are beginning to see why I am excited about 
this project. Not only is it targeted at those rural schools which service the poorest of the poor; but it empowers people and communities 
by giving their youth access to skills and experience. More specifically, skills related to the provision of water and sanititation – two 
services which are critical for rural development.

We must always be aware of our history, but we must also look around us and look forward as well. When we look around us, we see efforts to 
transform communities, large and small, by government in partnership with a host of non-governmental and community based organisations. One 
of the most dynamic developments has been the drive to provide water for communities. When you consider the importance of access to water 
you can see why communities are responding so dynamically and enthusiastically to the any opportunity to improve their access to water. 
Many of you sitting in front of me cannot even imagine carrying water on your heads several kilometers every day; having to ration every 
drop for cleaning and for cooking. With access to running water women and children have time to spend on productive activities; better 
sanitation means less disease; production possibilities open up, both for farming and for other sectors. A school without water or proper 
sanitation is only half a school. Good hygiene is almost impossible; and whole areas of the curriculum are out of reach – how can you wash 
test tubes or mix paints without water; or have an experimental garden without water? Clinics and other essential services are just as 
dependent on having access to clean, running water.

I have just explained why communities respond so well to any opportunity to improve their access to water. Unfortunately, it is not 
possible for either the government or business or the NGOs to provide every community with ready-made opportunities. The problems are 
always much bigger than the budget of any given year, and NGOs and other organisations also have limited funds and depend on finding 
donors. In the face of this reality there is no choice for most communities but to make their own opportunities. What the government and 
its partners must do, is to work to develop the kind of environment where such efforts by communities can be supported and sustained. That 
is why this project is so important – even though it is still a pilot project which involves relatively small numbers. If the market 
conditions are right, then giving people skills, together with other necessary support, can lead to the creation of small businesses and 
jobs. This in turn helps generate rural economic growth and development. And there will always be a market for people who are skilled in 
developing and maintaining water delivery systems. Already, the response of the schools and the learners to the project has been 
tremendous, with the eyes of young people in particular opened to exciting new careers and prospects. However, please note that none of 
these developments happen automatically. Just as a seed will never germinate in dry, barren soil; so any development in our fragile rural 
areas will only grow if conditions are right. For the rest of my speech I will focus on those policy and programmes which can create the 
conditions for successful rural development, including the provision of water and sanitation.

There are three key policies and programmes which will impact most directly on the lives of the youth in this project. One is the National 
Qualifications Framework, or NQF; another is the Act relating to skills development, which includes provision for learnerships; and the 
third is the legislation around Further Education and Training, or FET. Together, these initiatives constitute an integrated policy 
framework which has tremendous potential for development. Policy, however, only ever has potential – it is useless unless it is 
implemented. Besides policy three other words beginning with "P" are critical to our understanding of what is required to implement. These 
are Participation; Partnerships and Planning.

I will begin by saying something about partnerships. In the further education and training sector in particular, and especially in the 
Eastern Cape, partnerships are essential. As a nation, we are continuing to spend far less time and effort on training than any of our 
major competitiors or trading partners. Every firm; every institution; every government department, police station, clinic or school; must 
budget significantly more for training, both in time and money. Just as important are building the links between institutions –schools and 
colleges must be able to send their learners out to all these centres for meaningful work experience. This means building up partnerships 
with NGOs, business and others, whether in the form of consortia, networks, sector organisations or whatever. Our Higher Education 
Institutions can play a valuable part in this work.

Next, let us look at participation. Without full participation in programmes, stakeholders will never mobilise their resources behind those 
programmes, whether it is a community or a large company or NGO.

Lastly, in order to achieve any of this, we need to learn how to plan effectively on every level: national, provincial and local. Being 
poor in resources means we must plan 10 times better than those wealthier provinces. At a local level, part of our efforts to strengthen 
democracy is to make local government an important role player when it comes to coordinating and integrating planning across departments. 
Money spent on proper research and planning is never wasted. Effective planning means planning that is both integrated and flexible, and 
working to clear objectives and priorities.

Mr. Mabandla: please work on the following section: editing if necessary and if necessary adding a sub section to give more detail about 
what we have done and planned around FET.

If we are to succeed with our plans, we need to accelerate the transformation and rationalisation of our institutions of further and higher 
learning. We cannot afford, for example, to leave things as they are with regard to our Universities having duplicate courses or irrelevant 
courses. The process of rationalisation of colleges of education is under way, with some clusters of colleges bidding to become Higher 
Education institutions in collaboration with various universities. The remaining colleges are planning to find other roles, and there are 
ongoing discussions and negotiations in this regard. With regard to schools, technical schools and technical colleges, they will all be 
profoundly affected by our plans to end compulsory schooling with an exit qualification at the end of Grade 9. Curriculum 2005 is on track, 
with Grades 4 and 7 are being piloted this year – with all teachers being trained - for implementation next year. This means, with respect 
of Grades 10, 11 and 12, we must increase the pace at which we plan and prepare for the restructuring of the curriculum and our 
institutions. For instance, matric cannot simply be abolished overnight in favour of unit standards. In the transitional phase we must, 
where possible, use OBE principles to develop matric programmes of learning. This will make these programmes more teachable and relevant 
and help to prepare our educators and learners for OBE and life long learning.

All this seems to be very abstract, but just consider the following story about the benefits of integrated planning. A young woman or man 
has acquired useful skills in water provisioning at a local college. A community is launching a project which requires those skills. The 
project, which is supported by an NGO and a University outreach programme, includes market gardening. Certain government initiatives, such 
as the building of a new road, has opened up new markets for fresh vegetables. The income generated sustains the project and hence 
employment for the young person who maintains the water delivery system. In collaboration with a college and an NGO, the local schools join 
in the market gardening project and so extend and enrich their curriculum, as well as their funds. These projects connect with efforts 
around gender equity and provision for those with disabilities. And so on. There are many examples of such integrated development both here 
and abroad, which we must all learn from.

I will wind up this speech by looking briefly to the future. One hopes the Eastern Cape will get its share of high tech industries and 
sophisticated information technology and communication systems. Also, tourism will no doubt become a very important sector. But agriculture 
will should surely be the largest sector by far. With the world population growing and the land area remaining the same, we can only win if 
we bring together skilled people, land, water and seeds and so produce crops to sell on the world market. The critical limiting factor is 
water, and I salute all those - especially in the rural areas - who are going to make a career in water and sanitation. With those words I 
will conclude and thank you.



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