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EASTERN CAPE PROVINCIAL GOVERNMENT

PREMIERS ADDRESS TO OPINION AND DECISION MAKERS OF PORT ELIZABETH/UITENHAGE REGION

ON 30 NOVEMBER 1999



INTRODUCTION

Distinguished Guests, Colleagues from the public service, professionals from the private sector and civil society organisations, my 
honourable hosts,

We have inevitably reached the stage of our calendar that marks the close of the year. Significantly, this year also marks the end of the 
century. The tradition of taking stock of the past year to prepare and plan for the next has this time an added challenge of going beyond 
the limited twelve months but to cast our intellect further than that.

The last hundred years were very eventful. Historians have been hard of work recording social and political processes. Political economists 
have also been capturing the historical material conjectures that explained moments and formations in society. All of us present today have 
also lived our life and developed our conceptual backdrop from our own experiences. No doubt, we all differ to the extreme or only in 
insignificant degrees about what is vital and about what is not instructive given that history of humankind in Ebhayi, South Africa, Africa 
and universally.

Suffice to note that our interaction and coexistence today is guaranteed even next year, as we enter the new millennium. Our candidness 
must be informed by the common space that we share. It is said that around 999 A.D. the space we share today with 50 other human beings was 
shared then with one or two other people. The economic and political configuration has also changed quite dramatically. Our whole 
environment has changed.

We are the product of change. We are the product of our history. However, as leadership we also face the challenge of creating the context 
of our leadership. That challenge has been defined by our new democratic process. What leadership practices are we offering given our 
political, economic and social context?

President Thabo Mbeki aptly notes that &#133;&#133;.

THE ACT OF LEADERSHIP WE ARE ALL CALLED UPON TO EXERCISE IS THE MANAGEMENT OF CHANGE AND NOT THE CONSERVATION OF THE PAST. IT THEREFORE 
BECOMES NECESSARY THAT &#133;&#133;.. WE CONTEXTUALISE WHATEVER POSITION WE TAKE WITH REGARDS TO ANY SPECIAL ACT OR ACTION AND MEASURE ITS 
CORRECTNESS BY THE DEGREE TO WHICH IT CONTRIBUTES TO THE SOCIAL TRANSFORMATION THAT IS VISUALIZED IN THE CONSTITUTION".



THE ECONOMY

Shortly before the 1994 Elections during the latter stages of the multi-party negotiations South Africa also entered into negotiations with 
multilateral institutions regarding the rules of full entry into the global economy for the benefit of our economy. The stability we 
introduced through the 1994 democratic elections and the integrity of our leadership increasesd confidence in the South African economy.

However, in 1996 our monetary value plunged by 30 - 40% as against the US dollar and the pound sterling. Two years later, in 1998, another 
30% crash was experienced. These events put us in serious economic problems as they had a negative tendency on our prime overdraft rate 
which stifled real per capital growth.

The tenacity and commitment in the management of our monetary and fiscal policy paid off particularly in the beginning of 1999. Co-
operation between government and the Reserve Bank, without the former meddling into the affairs of the latter but taking note of its expert 
advise and processes, we experienced a very low consumer price index since thirty years ago. This period also saw government successfully 
tackling the huge budget deficits of provinces. Our internal debt burden has signifantly been reduced and is under control. We are 
grappling with the external debt problem and all of us must focus on its solution through economic restructuring, over and above 
international negotiations around that matter.

This year, it was quite refreshing to note that confidence in the South African economy has also shot up and is considered the most 
lucrative and therefore attractive for investors. The reception and commitment from American business during the Presidents last visit 
confirmed the positive change from the 1996 to 1998 down-swing in the financial markets. The President and government as a whole is 
committed in enabling economic recovery and development.

It is therefore incumbent on all of us to internalize and work tirelessly towards the goal of economic competitiveness and socio-political 
stability. These must be achieved through the following :

* A relevant and new conceptual understanding of democracy with rights, responsibilities and duties for everyone in their realm of 
activities. The castigation of government as the sole carrier of responsibilities and duties and incessant consumption by all outside 
government is a very vulgar and unproductive notion of democracy.

* Economic growth and development for the creation of productive jobs. Government has already defined effectiveness and efficiency in the 
public service through performance contracts and audits of all aspects of service delivery. This necessarily requires right-sizing of the 
public sector. Indeed, as a nation, we cannot afford to consume more than we produce. We are aware of infrastructural and other backlogs 
and these must be funded through creative measures that involve public private and civil society partnerships. No one is exempted from 
these partnerships if our transformation process is to be comprehensive and sustainable.

* Open war against crime and corruption is a future savings and avails invaluable investment resources into priority productive areas. We 
must be able to do business in the region and live up to our continental and international obligation without harassment by unproductive 
forces.



PROFESSIONAL HUMAN RESOURCES

This august dinner of business people and professionals from all sectors of our society as invited by the NETWORK, presents me with an 
opportunity to zoom into the human resources aspect which, to most of us, presents a priority challenge.

I have alluded to the economy, to financial markets, to job creation, to democracy, to public sector efficiency and effectiveness, to war 
on crime and international responsibilities and rights. I have also referred to the Presidents call for a special type of leadership. And 
it is through a treatise about the latter that I wish to conclude this address.

The basic and given resources that we have as a nation are the natural and human resources. The interface between the two is technology and 
know-how. The controlling aspect still remains human and therefore the quality of leadership becomes a sine qua non without which our 
challenges will become the fatal flaw of our democracy. President Mbeki succinctly impresses that NO CONJURERS TRICK &#133;&#133;. NO 
MANOEUVRING FOR PARTISAN POLITICAL ADVANTAGE WILL DENY THE CHALLENGE THAT FACES US AS POLITICAL LEADERS, TO EFFECT THE FUNDAMENTAL SOCIAL 
TRANSFORMATION WITHOUT WHICH THE MIRACLE OF OUR TRANSITION TO DEMOCRACY WILL NOT SURVIVE.

Our targetted policies on Human Resources Development, Employment and Procurement have invited vilification from those who manoeuvre for 
partisan advantage. The order of past political segregatory epochs has saddled us with a deranged sense of self-importance. The fact that 
past governments unduly enriched less than one percent of the population through tax-payers resources and gross subsidization is not 
consistent with a competitive business.

Entry into the global economy and competitiveness, and the pressure of deregulation and other macro-economic standards require of us the 
broadest development and mobilization of our human resources in order to survive and thrive economically and socially. We need your 
invaluable partnership in this regard. The kind of professional leadership that is able to manage change and transformation must be 
premised on world class business practice. This must be a deliberate process that is enabled through legislation and the allocation of 
resources as also decided upon during the job summit.

It is the new democratic interests, ideas and ideals that must determine the course of a new South Africa, the African Rennaisance and the 
African Century.

The King Committee 1994 Report on the Code of Corporate Practice and Conduct, including inputs from Black Professional Associations and 
their historical counterparts, confirm the need for world class business practice. It will never be clear or defensible why previously 
disadvantaged communities should not be enabled into the main stream of the economy (at all levels) through programmatic approaches.

Business must be internationally competitive and must be carred by a potent human resouces development strategy. It is important to 
correlate the external balance of payment deficit with a skills deficit in our corrective programmes. Exclusion or lethargy around the 
mobilization of our human resource base across the nation in the transformation process is definitely unconstifutional and economically 
fatal. Both the state and private sector, not excluding civil society organisations have this obligation and must all demonstrate 
indivisible commitment in that.

As professionals, as corporate citizens, we must subscribe to well-articulated values. We must all be aligned to national democratic goals 
and their morality without abusing legal lacunae. Our corporate responsibility should not be a facade but an investment that bespeaks a 
greater civilized labour policy. Gone are the days when the social costs of labour reproduction were a corporate saving and carried by the 
states labour reservours or homelands. Our values must be premised on competitiveness and quality products and services.



PROVINCIAL GOVERNMENT

My government is accelerating the capacity of departments to live up to the ethics of all policies that have been necessarily and 
successfully promulgated since 1994. We must all see to it that the Provincial Spatial Development Plan, the Growth and Development 
Strategy, the Intergrated Development Plans and Local Economic Development guidelines of Local Authorities are aligned.

As we enter the new African Millenium, our interactions must be premised on partnerships in concrete developmental proposals. Those matters 
herein raised will not be entertained on the basis of partisan manoeuvering. Our constitution articulates the relationship between 
national, provincial and local government and sets out requirements in terms of co-operative governance and procedural and participative 
rights. And these include accountability of decision-making, promotion of social and economic rights, and the protection of our ecological 
space. Our planning regime emphasizes on professional judgements and discretion of decision-makers than the mere application of dead rules 
and regulations. The normative approach to planning sets us closer to the private and civil society sector to effect working partnership 
according to substantive principles that serve as a guideline. These partnerships will be facilitated and monitored by my office. 
Departments as implementing agents will also be seen to be gearing into service delivery in an intergrated fashion and in partnerships with 
yourselves.

As noted, our interactions will be in development proposals, their funding, implementation and management. Any dialogue less than proposals 
will not be entertained. The NETWORK must live up to its rights and duties. We are revisiting the plans of various development programmes 
and projects so that we rebuild ownership of processes among all partners.

Let us close this year with a positive and genuine outlook on consensus about being together in these processes and that our problems are 
common and therefore we must come up with common solutions. Let me assure you that the change into the new millenium has nothing to do with 
the end of the world. It has all to do with the beginning of a new millenium. Let us appreciate what life bestowed upon us by our creator, 
let us renew our resolve in the spirit of rebirth to deliver the material and spiritual contentment of our nation through our collective 
energy. The African Renaissance demands an unflinching and undiluted loyalty and commitment to humankind, to Africa with all its problems, 
challenges and opportunities.

May you be merry into the millenium.

May we be responsible to our happiness and those of others as we expect of them.

May we be respectful of life

May we drive safely to our holiday destinations

May we eat and drink next to our beds

May we not mix drinking and driving

God Bless You All



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