Chairperson of the session; Deputy President of the Republic of South Africa and of the ANC, hon K P Motlanthe; Chairperson of the National Council of Provinces; Deputy House Chairperson; Speaker and Deputy Speaker; Ministers and Deputy Ministers present here; MECs; members of the NCOP; members of the provincial legislature; traditional leaders; our veterans who are amongst us here; and community members from Greater Tubatse and Sekhukhune municipalities and the entire Limpopo province, it is an honour and a privilege for me to stand before you today to respond to the address by the Deputy President and the experiences that we have had since the NCOP arrived here on Tuesday.
Ntate Mahlangu, re rata go leboga sebaka se le re filego sona gore badudi ba Tubatse le ba Ga-Sekhukhune ba be le nako ya go kopana le maloko a NCOP, Ditona, Maloko a Komitiphethi?i, boratoropo le makhanselara bekeng ye. Maikemi?et? o a magolo ke go fa batho ba gaborena sebaka sa go bolela mathata ao ba nago le wona gomme ba a bot?e baemedi ba bona ba kua Palamenteng gore a tle a elwe hloko gomme a rao rollwe.
Re le ba profense ya Limpopo re kwele t?e set?haba se di bolet?ego. Re kwele le ka mokgwa wo Modulasetulo wa NCOP a bolet?ego ka gona gore ba tla boa fa Tubatse - Greater Sekhukhune - go t?wet?a pele lenaneoeno la go leka go thu?ana le badudi ba lefelo le go rarolla mathata a bona. Re le ba profense re rata go le bot?a gore pele ga ge ba NCOP ba ka fihla, re tla be re ?et?e re le fa go rarolla mathata ao batho ba gabolena ba a filego NCOP bekeng ye. [Legofsi.]
Re tloga re kwe?i?a maikemi?et?o a ketelo ye. Ketelo ye e sepelelana le lenaneo la mokgatlo wa rena wo o bu?ago la gore "batho ba tla bu?a". Ge batho ba re kgethile gore re ye mmu?ong, ga re tlo emela mengwaga ye mehlano gore re ye go bona gomme re kwe mathata a bona. Re ile go ya kgafet?akgafet?a. Ke kwe?i?o ye re nago le yona ka ketelo ye, gape ke kwe?i?o ye re e amogelago ka diatla t?e pedi. Re tla ?oma go menagane go rarolla mathata ao batho ba gaborena ba tlago ba ba re bodit?e wona.
Ga re tlo emela bomagogorwane gore ba tlo re ruta gore re lwe bjang. Ge e le ntwa ya go lwela tokologo e thomile ke borakgolokhukhu ba rena, gomme ba re bont?hit?e gore re e lwe bjang. Ke ka tsela ye re ilego ra kgona go e fenya ka gona ntwa ye. Lehono re ka se tlo rutwa ke bomabinagosolwa gore re dire eng, neng le gore bjang. Go bont?ha gabotse gore ga ba kwe?i?e fao re t?wago gona. Ba palelwa ke go bona phapano magareng ga Kapa le Ga- Sekhukhune - gore goreng Kapa e tlhlabologile go phala Ga-Sekhukhune, Tubatse. Ba lebet?e gore mmu?o wa kgethologanyo ke wona o dirileng gore Ga- Sekhukhune go se be le tlhabologo le gore go se se be le tlhabologo Kapa Bohlabela. Go be go na le Bantustan ya Ciskei le Transkei kua Kapa Bohlabela. (Translation of Sepedi paragraphs follows.)
[Hon Mahlangu, thanks for affording the community of Tubatse and Ga- Sekhukhune a chance to meet with members of the NCOP, Ministers, members of the Executive Council, mayors and councillors this week. The main aim is to give our people a chance to raise their concerns with the Members of Parliament so that they address those concerns.
We heard as Limpopo province what the community has said. We also heard from the Chairperson of the National Council of Provinces that they will come back to Tubatse - Greater Sekhukhune - to continue with the programme of co-operating with the community to address their problems. As a province we are going to address the challenges you raised with the members of the NCOP even before they can come back here. [Applause.]
We understand very well the purpose of this visit which is in line with the programme of the leading party, which is "the people shall govern". We don't wait for five years before going back to the people who elected us to listen to their concerns. We visit them continuously. That is how we understand this visit and we welcome it. We are going to work hard in ensuring that the challenges that were raised by our communities are solved.
We are not going to wait for somebody to come and teach us how we should fight. The fight for freedom was started by our forefathers; they have taught us how to fight and that is how we won this fight. We cannot allow somebody who just showed up now to tell us what to do, when to do it and how to do it. It is clear that they don't understand where we are coming from. They cannot see the difference between Cape Town and Ga-Sekhukhune - to see why Cape Town is more developed than Ga-Sekhukhune, Tubatse. They have forgotten that the apartheid government is the reason why Ga- Sekhukhune and the Eastern Cape are not developed. The Ciskei and Transkei bantustans constituted the Eastern Cape.]
They were underdeveloped in order to supply labour to Cape Town and Johannesburg at their own expense.
Batho ba Kapa Bodikela ba ka se tle ba ema mo lehono ba re ba thabile ka gore bjale ba na le naga yeo e ikemet?ego ka boyona ka lebaka la gore batho ba Kapa Bohlabela ba ile kua go bona ba yo nyaka me?omo. [People from the Western Cape cannot stand here today and announce excitedly that they have an independent province because the people from the Northern Cape went to the Western Cape to look for jobs.] You can't be proud of such a situation. You must be ashamed of what apartheid did to our country. We must work together to defeat the legacies of apartheid. It is every South African's responsibility, including that of the DA and Cope, to join hands in building a better South Africa to reverse the legacies of apartheid, because we are all ashamed of what apartheid did to the country.
The President was right when he said: "Limpopo must respond to the challenges that have been raised." We will deal with the issues that have been raised. We don't need anybody to come and remind us, because we know our responsibilities. To show that there is a lack of understanding and appreciation of what is happening, the hon member stands here and asks: "Where is the Premier of Limpopo?" I was here. I have always been here, and we will not run away. [Applause.]
Re a tseba gore go na le meepo fa Limpopo. [We know very well that there are mines in Limpopo.]
We shall address issues not only here in Sekhukhune, Tubatse, Lephalale, Waterberg and Mogalakwena municipalities, but also in other parts of the province. We have mineral resources in this province, which will be the basis of the future economic development of this country.
We know what the mining houses have been doing. We have been interacting with them, and we are finding each other. We are agreeing with them that they must not just mine and go. They must get services from the local communities. That is why on Tuesday I said to you that we were going to build an industrial park to supply the mines in the province. We are doing so to deal with this imbalance, where people mine and go, and our people are just spectators in the process.
Ke ka lebaka leo le bonago batho gaborena ba befet?wkwatile. Ga ba nyake go no ema fela gomme ba bone mahumo a bona a t?ewa ba se na seabe. [That is the reason why the members of our communities are angry. They want to be involved in the wealth of their country.]
We understand why they are angry, and we are with them on this. We told them, when we met with them in Mogalakwena, that Anglo must play ball. We shall always be on the side of our people to ensure that they get a fair deal. Deputy President, I must say that Anglo is playing ball in Mohlohlo.
At the right time, we shall announce a deal with the Minister and the President on what we have been able to achieve.
Ga re tlo emi?a kua Mohlohlo fela. [That will not end at Mohlohlo only.]
We shall go everywhere where there are mining communities in the province to make sure that they get a better deal.
Former President Thabo Mbeki declared Sekhukhune a nodal point. He declared that the rural provinces of KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Cape must be developed, and that the national government must intervene strategically to make sure that infrastructure is developed. Without that intervention, our people will continue to complain, and Sekhukhune will continue to be underdeveloped, because ...
Mmasepala wa rena wa Tubatse ga o na t?helete ye e lekanego ... [Tubatse Municipality does not have enough an adequate budget ...]
... to make the necessary interventions without the involvement of national government. This we know, and the national government understands.
We spoke to Comrade Sicelo Shiceka, the Minister for Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs, and we have agreed with him that we will work together to co-ordinate government efforts at national level, to complement what we are doing as a province in assisting our municipalities to deliver on the demands of our people.
Batho ba gaborena ba nyaka meetse, mohlagase, dintlo le me?omo. [Our people need water, electricity, houses and jobs.] We must work together to create these opportunities for our people. We have confidence in our leaders. We have confidence in you, Mr Deputy President. We have confidence in the President, that under your leadership we will be able to respond to the challenges facing our people. Together, we can do more. Thank you, Chairperson. [Applause.]