Thank you, hon Speaker. Hon President, Deputy President, colleagues and hon members ...tsha u thoma ndi tama u tanganedza mulaedza wa vhudivhudi we ra u newa maduvha mavhili o fhiraho nga Phuresidennde wa Afurika Tshipembe, Vho Jacob Zuma. Ndo imela dzangano lashu la ANC ndi khou tanganedza mulaedza wavho. Arali ndi vhe ndi khoroni, ndo vha ndi tshi do amba zwauri "livhuya a li fhindulwi", nda di dzulela fhasi, mushumo wa vha wo fhela.
Hone, zwo vha zwi tshi do tou vhilingana kana ra tou zwi nanisa arali rine vhamutivhili ro vha ri tshi do toda u swika zwifhoni zwa vhamusanda ngeno ri si vhakololo. Sa musi ri tshi zwi divha zwauri a hu na mupengo a si na thama, nga fhasi ha demokirasi, vhafuwi vhane vha vha Phuresidennde washu, vha a tenda uri vhapengo na vhone vha kone u diambela na u vha sema. [U vhanda zwanda.] Vhapengo vha a kona uri khavho: Muhulisei, naa vhone vha fa lini, rine ra sala ri tshi wana vhasadzi vhavho.
Hune nda vha hone, vhathu vha nga di vhudzisa uri fhungo lihulwane le la ambiwa musi Phuresidennde vha tshi vula Phalamennde ndi lifhio. Rine vha dzangano la ANC musi ri tshi fhindula, ri do ri: Zwe ra zwi pfa kha vhafuwi, ndi zwauri "muimawoga shaka ndi nnyi, muthu ha shumi e ethe". Zwine zwa amba uri munwe muthihi a u tusi mathuthu. [U vhanda zwanda.]
Haya ndi one maambele ane a elana na nyambo khulwane dza Phuresidennde. Rothe ro rambiwa uri ri dzhenele dzunde la vhukuma la u shumisana na muvhuso wavho. Tsha vhuvhili, vho ri kha rine, a hu na nwana ane a do pala luvhondo. Sa vhadzulisani, kha ri shumisane nahone ri nwatelane thoho ya nzie musi ndala yo dzhena mudini. Ri songo tenda ndala i tshi dzhena mutani wa zwishai ngauri nwana wa munwe ndi wau, nahone mubebi wa munwe na ene ndi mubebi wau. (Translation of Tshivenda paragraphs follows.)
[Firstly, I would like to accept the good message we were given by the President of South Africa, Mr Jacob Zuma, two days ago. On behalf of the ANC I accept his message. If I were in the tribal court I would say "the good is not questioned", and take my seat, and the work is done.
Actually, there would be confusion if us commoners wanted to get to the chief's sacred place whilst we are not of royal blood. As we all know, there are people who will support something uncalled for; in our democracy the chief, who is our President, also accepts that the madmen should speak for themselves and scorn him. [Applause.] The madmen would say: "Hon, when will you die, so that we can take your wives."
Where I am people may want to know the main issue spoken by the President in the state of the nation address. We, the ANC, will respond and say what we heard from the chief, which is: "No man is an island" which means that one finger cannot lift a pebble. [Applause.]
This is in line with what the President has said. We are all invited to participate in his government. Secondly, he said to us that no child will ever go hungry. As people living together we should work together and share what we have, however little it may be. We should not allow hunger to be get into the house of the poor, because someone's child is your child and someone's parent is your parent.]
In our language, culture, tradition and practice in our villages there is no such thing as a street kid. It is a phenomenon that is only associated with urbanisation. Therefore, to us it is un-African. Indeed, we agree with our hon President that no child should walk about, wander about, or go to sleep on an empty belly. In 1994, just before the democratic elections were held, the ANC and its alliance partners, together with other mass democratic organisations in wider civil society asked, not for the first time, the question: "What kind of a society do we envisage as we assume the reins of power in government?"
In responding to this question, this is what we said in the words of our icon, Ntate Madiba:
From 26 to 28 April, each one of us has a right to exercise a choice, without doubt one of the most important choices any of us will ever make. That choice will determine our socioeconomic future and that of our children. Join us in the patriotic endeavour to ensure that all of our people share in that future.
These were the words in the preface to our Reconstruction and Development Programme document, a document that laid the foundation and the programmes of the first democratic government. It is evident that right from the beginning the ANC always believed in an activist Parliament and an active society. It always believed in partnerships and patriotism. Fifteen years into democracy, the people of this country, once again, exercised that most important choice, and for the fourth time, elected their democratic Parliament.
Once more, their organisation and government of choice placed before them a coherent, viable and sustainable programme to meet their aspirations, and they said to us, "Together we can do more." The President has placed before the nation a programme that seeks to mobilise all our people and country's resources towards the final eradication of the apartheid legacy. Our President and his government say to the people and the nation as a whole: "Join us in partnership to create decent and sustainable livelihoods. Join us in restoring the dignity of working people."
The question we asked and answered during our election campaign was, and still is: What are the socioeconomic conditions of the people of South Africa today, especially the poor, the vulnerable and the working people in general? It is evidently clear that despite the many successes we have registered in the areas of provision of basic services, much more still needs to be done. We need a strong activist Parliament, we need a strong developmental state that can push the frontiers of poverty to the periphery, and we need a developmental economic agenda driven by the state that will place the five key commitments at the centre of our government programmes.
We are pleased that the economic ministries have already begun to interrogate what kind of policy mix we need to respond to the real challenges of the global economic downturn. We urge that such intervention should not only be based on short-term responses of cyclical swings in the economy. What we need is coherent and sustainable economic policies aligned to putting South Africa on a path that would see sustainable growth. Therefore, we call upon the speedy alignment of our macroeconomic policies, fiscal and monetary policies, to advance the developmental agenda of the state and the people.
In the meantime, the dialogue between business, labour, civil society and government should be encouraged in order to save jobs, and to create new ones under these difficult conditions. Together we can restore the dignity of workers by creating quality jobs and sustainable livelihoods.
The integration of rural economics into the mainstream economy, or first economy, is not a choice but an imperative for the upliftment of the people of South Africa. Through our priority social and economic infrastructure programmes and spending, co-operatives must be formed to strengthen local economic development and to ensure that training and retraining programmes do take place at a local level.
In conclusion, a developmental state must have the capacity to plan, monitor and evaluate the impact of all government programmes in all three spheres of government. It is, therefore, more than necessary that the planning and monitoring commission co-ordinate all government programmes, not just at the level of the executive.
The coming into operation of a single public sector will enhance our ability to have a common database of what skills we need, what skills we have and the kind of training programmes we need to put together. I thank you. [Applause.]