"The people of the Western Cape have spoken"

Last week we participated in our Sixth Provincial Imbizo. This time it was the turn of the Western Cape, following the izimbizo held in the Limpopo, Eastern Cape, Free State, Gauteng and North West provinces. As with its predecessors, the Western Cape Imbizo was highly successful, attracting thousands of our people. This included the largest gathering of opinion-makers in all the Provincial Izimbizo so far.

During the Imbizo we were able to interact with a wide cross-section of our people in the Western Cape. As before, all these spoke very openly about their concerns, made proposals about what government should do, and gave reports about the problems they are experiencing and the progress they are making as they confront the challenges they and our country face.

In all the interactions we had with the population of the Western Cape, the resounding message from the people and the spirit they conveyed, was one of working together with government in a people's contract to push back the frontiers of poverty and build a better life for all.

Perhaps because they do not quite understand the nature of the interaction between the government and the masses of our people, sections of the press reported that we were "grilled" during these interactions. In this context, they picked on a few questions posed, and comments made by some participants in the Imbizo, ignoring hundreds of others they could not describe as "grilling".

At the Imbizo in Worcester, a former member of the ANC, who had run as an "independent" against an ANC candidate in the last local government elections, attacked the ANC for working with the NNP and pledged to fight against this.

Oblivious to the fact that no genuine member of the ANC would ever take such a public position, given the extensive discussions that had taken place in the structures of the ANC in the Western Cape on this matter, some in the media were happy to peddle the falsehood that the person who made this point was a member of the ANC. As happens ever so often, the truth had to suffer at the hands of people who are pursuing particular political agendas.

At this same Imbizo in Worcester, an AIDS activist, who is a member of the ANC, suggested that people who are determined to be HIV-positive should receive disability grants. He deliberately prefaced his proposal by saying that, contrary to what some people are saying, he is very pleased with the programme the government is implementing to combat AIDS. What he sought was a further improvement of this government programme.

All this was reported by sections of the media as "grilling", to implant the notion in the public mind that the people have a negative attitude towards the government. And yet the journalists who attended the various events of the Western Cape Imbizo saw with their own eyes the great warmth and enthusiasm with which the government representatives were received by the people, with no sign anywhere of a negative attitude among them.

Throughout the Western Cape Imbizo, not a single person asked a question or made a comment about the current controversy relating to the Deputy President. And yet when we participated in the standard radio "Imbizo-on-air" from the SABC studios in Cape Town, during which we responded to questions and comments from the public, the SABC said that because "many people" are interested in this matter, they would pose a question on the issue.

This was despite the fact that nobody anywhere had raised this question, as we visited various parts of the Province. The SABC knew this. Its reporters were present at all the interactions we had with the people of the Western Cape.

We make these observations because, necessarily, the overwhelming majority of our people depend on the media to inform them about what is happening at home and abroad. But the reality is that some in the media are preoccupied with advancing particular political agendas. For this reason they are quite happy to sacrifice or corrupt the truth, to create the space for themselves to pursue their partisan objectives.

Our first point of call in the Western Cape was a clothing factory in Cape Town. This major clothing manufacturer has joined hands with small manufacturers in the sector to respond to the challenge of skills development. Here we met with employed workers whose skills are being upgraded, training together with unemployed workers who are gaining skills that will make them both employable and capable of starting their own businesses.

The clothing, textiles and leather Sector Education and Training Authority (SETA) is financing this training programme. The programme demonstrated the correctness of the positions we have taken with regard to the task of skills development, which include cooperation between government, business and labour. It also showed what the larger companies could do, to assist in the development of small business, responding to the national challenge to build the SMME sector.The clothing, textiles and leather Sector Education and Training Authority (SETA) is financing this training programme. The programme demonstrated the correctness of the positions we have taken with regard to the task of skills development, which include cooperation between government, business and labour. It also showed what the larger companies could do, to assist in the development of small business, responding to the national challenge to build the SMME sector.

We also visited a highly successful engineering factory in Atlantis, which produces vehicle components for export. With the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) as one of its investors, this showed the benefits of public- private sector cooperation, which, among other things, ensures the provision of jobs to the population of Atlantis, which suffers from a high level of unemployment. A large employer in Atlantis also expressed concern about the rising foreign exchange value of the Rand.

Sensitive to the requirements of our labour legislation, and the need to build a new South Africa, the company producing vehicle components also employs significant numbers of women and people with disabilities, as a matter of policy.

Because of the levels of efficiency and productivity it has achieved, the company is able to compete with European component manufacturers to produce components required by European manufacturers of vehicles and engines, delivering these from Atlantis into factories in Europe at competitive prices.

We also visited black and white fruit farmers in Ceres. Here we saw some of the progress being made with regard to black economic empowerment, with the emergence of new black farmers. At the same time, we were exposed to some of the problems facing these black farmers, relating to such matters as the cost of water for irrigation, access to farming implements and operating capital.

The whole community of Ceres is also grappling with the problem of a privately built dam, whose cost of construction escalated from a budgeted R43 million to over R100 million. This has placed an intolerable debt burden on everybody in this important fruit-producing region of our country. This includes black and white farmers, the municipal authorities and the people resident in this area.

It is clear that all spheres of government, the farmers and the communities will have to join hands together to solve the water problems that have arisen. The white farmers offered that as part of any solution, there should be further land redistribution to benefit black farmers. They even suggested that perhaps up to 60 percent of their farms should pass into black ownership.

The matter of a speeded up process of land redistribution was raised by both black and white in other engagements we had in the Western Cape. Fortunately, Agri Wes-Kaap, the Western Cape Agricultural Union, is itself committed to this expedited process of meaningful land redistribution, as is the Government of the Western Cape. This government would like to see the empowerment of 7,000 new black farmers over the next five years. A company based in Atlantis, which produces very good implements for small-scale agriculture, joined the call for faster land redistribution.

Another important issue that was raised relating specifically to the farming areas of the Province, was the matter of continuing racism on the farms, which includes eviction of farm workers from their houses.

Clearly, we will have to follow up on these allegations, as well as the recent report of the Human Rights Commission on conditions in the commercial farms. We called on the people of Worcester, who also focused on this issue, to unite and oppose racism, avoiding just waiting for the government to act on this important matter.

In this context, we must mention the beautiful sight presented by the children at a primary school in Atlantis, which we will also mention later, which has children who cover the entire racial spectrum of our country, including the Khoisan, all learning together under one roof, with no tension or conflict among them. Here was a practical demonstration of the truth that nobody is born hating! It may very well be that the national struggle for a non-racial South Africa will finally be fought and won in the Western Cape!

Similarly, I am certain that the Pastor and the congregation of the 350-year-old Groote Kerk of the NGK in Cape Town, which we visited on Sunday as congregants, will play an important role in ensuring that the Western Cape discharges its responsibility to our country and the world in this regard.

As in other parts of the country, the people of the Western Cape are concerned about the need for our economy to create more jobs. Accordingly, the matter of jobs in general, and youth unemployment in particular, was raised at many of the meetings we attended. As demonstrated at the clothing factory we visited, the people also understand the importance of the acquisition of relevant skills to ensure that even this youth becomes employable.

In keeping with this, a young person at the Khayelitsha Imbizo made the useful suggestion that final year high school students should be taught to drive motor vehicles. Most appropriately, the Umsobomvu Fund had a bus at the venue of the Imbizo ready to expose the youth to the services the Fund offers.

We also visited a most impressive building site in Mitchell's Plain. Here a massive shopping centre is being constructed, which will also include other facilities such as restaurants, a cinema and recreational facilities.

Built as a result of an initiative taken by local Mitchell's Plain business people, the complex will be opened in October. The Cape Town Metro has also given land to the Mitchell's Plain community, opposite the shopping complex, to develop an industrial park.

The Mitchell's Plain committee responsible for this massive project thanked the Cape Town Metro Council, the Provincial Government and the ANC for the support they had given, which made it possible for the complex to be constructed. This spoke directly to the strengthening of the people's contract to push back the frontiers of poverty, and ensure the achievement of the goal of a better life for all.

We must also mention that other participants in the Imbizo reported on actions they had taken to start community development projects, responding to our call for self-reliance through the vuk'uzenzele campaign. However, what was also clear is that these initiatives require the determined and sustained support of all spheres of government.

Various matters relating to the social sector were also raised during the Imbizo. These related to such issues as housing, health, access to basic services and indigent support, crime and recreation. In this context we met and were inspired by volunteers who are working among the people to assist the government to improve service delivery in all these areas.

It was also truly inspiring to be with highly motivated health workers at the Mitchell's Plain grossly overburdened Community Health Centre; activists engaged with the People's Housing Process and cricket development in Khayelitsha; the volunteers who look after the homeless on the Strand in Cape Town; the people who run the non-governmental Shelter in Worcester; those who work at the Surveillance Centre in Cape Town that operates the cameras that help the city to deal with the challenge of crime and traffic management; and the Principal and teachers at the primary school in Atlantis who, together with the provincial government, have given the children at the school and their parents access to computers, are implementing the outcomes-based curriculum, and have developed an agricultural project to improve nutrition among the children and raise funds for the further development of the school.

Government in all its spheres will also have to respond to the challenges raised by these and other builders of the new South Africa, public servants and volunteers who are part of the mass army of patriots that is driving the implementation of the people's contract for a better tomorrow.

We cannot end this Letter without paying tribute to the Government of the Western Cape for its commitment to serve all the people of the Province, which we were able to see and assess directly. As part of the Imbizo, we had occasion to meet the full Western Cape Cabinet, which meeting was also attended by the provincial Director General.

Among other things, the Premier and his colleagues in the Provincial Cabinet did not hesitate to admit that much remained to be done to meet the needs of the people. But of great importance, was the fact that the Provincial Government was also applying its mind very seriously and creatively to meeting the challenges it faces.

One of the important failings it admitted was that the Province had not done enough to respond to the fact that Mitchell's Plain and Khayelitsha are identified nodes for our national Urban Renewal Programme. This is being corrected, thanks to the resolution of the political tensions that existed when the Province was governed by a different coalition government.

In this regard, we must also mention the fact that the people at the Worcester Imbizo drew our attention to the serious difficulties being experienced by people living in municipalities controlled by the DA, which, allegedly, are not responding to the national agenda for progressive and people-centred change. Interestingly, the media has not reported on the comments made at this Imbizo on this matter.

The people of the Western Cape informed us of the challenges they face and what they are doing to respond to these. What they demonstrated in practice is their commitment to be part of the people's contract that will take us forward to the construction of the people-centred society that stands at the centre of all our efforts.

Both our government and the ANC must respond speedily to the challenge placed at our feet by the people of the Western Cape, both black and white. The Western Cape Imbizo communicated the message, firmly, that we are on course towards the achievement of the goal of the creation of the new South Africa visualised in our Constitution. However, there is much work to be done by all of us. The people of the Western Cape have spoken. They told us that this work will be done, whatever the difficulties.