Chairperson, hon Members of Parliament, comrades and friends in our country, Africa and elsewhere, beloved members of Cosatu, SACP, Sanco and ANC, it gives me a great pleasure to address you on the theme Working Together out of Poverty. This is a deeply sad and emotional topic that continues to set many nations against one another, brothers against sisters and husband against wife. Poverty is the single greatest burden of South Africans and is the direct result of the apartheid system and the grossly skewed nature of business and industrial development that accompanies it.
Poverty affects millions of people, the majority of whom live in rural areas and are women. It is against this background that Cosatu, SACP, Sanco, ANC and other progressive liberation movements were formed to better the lives of others. Many of our comrades in our country and elsewhere had to die because of destitution and hunger. Many in our midst are still unemployed without bread to eat. Many of our sisters are on street corners to sell their bodies because of poverty. This poverty is man-made and can be undone in the same way through persuasion to release the land. This will lessen crime in our country. Peace and comfort will prevail and we shall all be happy.
In celebrating October, Month of Heritage and dealing with the apartheid past without pointing fingers, let those who immensely benefited from the skewed distribution of wealth in the past, transfer the land for free to the poor so that they can be acknowledged and recorded for their noble contribution to transformation and the eradication of poverty.
The Department of Arts and Culture plays an important role in alleviating poverty in our country. The department has the Investing in Culture Programme aimed at ensuring realisation of sustainable empowerment opportunities through training and job creation in the arts, culture and heritage sectors.
The department is striving for the development of capital by allocating resources to ensure a return on investment that will fulfil its key objectives and broader government imperatives. Between April 2005 and March 2006, 1 612 job opportunities were afforded to beneficiaries, of whom 68% are women, 43% are youths and 8,2% are disabled people.
In the North West province, the department, in conjunction with Barolong boo rraTshidi, the Department of Economic Development and Tourism, the North West Parks and Tourism Board and the two municipalities of Mafikeng, is busy building the cultural heritage recreation facility at Letlamoreng dam. There will be temporary jobs that will be created until the facility is completed and more than 20 people will get permanent employment. There is additional funding needed to build the chalets and the department has requested us to assist in this regard.
A resource for the promotion and production of arts and culture is being made available and accessible to all. The democratic arts councils are being established in each region. Arts and culture form part of school and all other educational curricula. We need to develop the skills and talents of our people. We need more libraries. We need more museums, galleries, monuments and historical sites, which will reflect our different cultures and be accessible to communities to generate funds for our poor. We also need to mobilise our people to take charge of their own destinies.
Motswana a re mokoduo go tsoswa o o itsosang. [There is a Setswana saying that God helps those who help themselves.]
The Freedom Charter and the RDP documents are focused on our people's most immediate needs and rely, in turn, on their energies to drive the process of meeting their needs; regardless of race or sex, rural or urban, rich or poor, the people of South Africa must together shape their own future.
Development is not about delivery of goods to a passive citizenry, but about involvement and growing empowerment. In taking this approach we will be building on many structures and negotiation to ensure that our people are involved throughout the land. This programme is people-driven and is critical to alleviating poverty in our midst. Thank you. [Applause.]