Prof Mandla Makhanya (Principal and Vice-Chancellor), Hon. Malusi Gigaba (Minister of Public Enterprises), Dr Sebiletso Mokone-Matabane (Deputy Chairperson: Unisa Council,) and Prof Narend Baijnath (Pro Vice-Chancellor)
Public Enterprises Minister Malusi Gigaba has called on African countries to turn over a new leaf to ensure that their infrastructure programmes lead to the development of the continent and the betterment of the lives of the African people.
Minister Gigaba was delivering the keynote address at the recent Unisa 2013 Inaugural Africa’s Futures Lecture.
The theme of the lecture, which took place against the backdrop of the Budget Speech by Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan, was South Africa and Africa’s infrastructural futures. The lecture series, whose main aim is to create a platform for the exchange of ideas on the development of South Africa and the continent at large, is the brainchild of the Principal and Vice-Chancellor, Prof Mandla Makhanya.
The Vice-Chancellor himself delivered the contextualisation and welcoming address prior to the Minister’s keynote address.
At the outset of their respective addresses, both the Vice-Chancellor and the Minister rightly pointed out that Africa’s infrastructural and other challenges were mainly the result of a discriminatory past. Prof Makhanya magnified the known fact that infrastructural access in the past was limited to a privileged few prior to a democratic dispensation, while the Minister advanced a similar argument, quoting the late Pan-Africanist W E B Du Bois, who, in the previous century, had boldly stated that the “problem of the 20th century is the problem of the colour line”.
They both strongly affirmed the important role that institutions of higher learning can and should play in finding lasting solutions to Africa’s challenges, with the Minister stating that “history confirms that there is a causal link between human capital investment, infrastructure investment and building a knowledge economy”. The Vice-Chancellor had earlier indicated that this was the specific purpose of the lecture, whose interest was to cultivate and promote a knowledge community and, beyond that, use it to transform society for the better. “This is particularly important today, in the 21st century – a time when knowledge is regarded as the fundamental backbone of any constructive development and socio-economic advancement.”
The Minister went further to advise that for Africa to turn over a new leaf, it needed first and foremost to break up and destroy all colonial ideas and practices. He said that Africa must proceed from the premise that it is one continent and that its unity was paramount to the pursuit of her development.
He urged Africa to take the global economic crisis as an opportunity not to be missed, as this crisis has tilted the geo-economic balance of power in favour of emerging markets, with Africa and Asia leading the way.
“We must make the bold assertion that the global economic downturn has presented a golden opportunity to enhance South-South relations and co-operation, and thus develop new economic partnerships that, five years ago, were not as strong as they have become since the advent of this crisis”, he said.
The Minister highlighted that the democratic Government of South Africa had deliberately adopted programmes to invest in infrastructure, education and technology to ensure that the freedom puzzle was completed by ensuring the attainment of economic freedom. He said the Government had continued to expand both social and economic investment through education, health and social grant expenditure as well as massive infrastructure spend since 2008.
“An ambitious infrastructure investment programme is a powerful instrument at government’s disposal to stimulate growth and job creation, and support entrepreneurship and development of a new cadre of black industrialists,” he added.
He cited, as one example, the 2013 Budget presentation, in which the Minister of Finance announced that the fiscus and state-owned companies (SOCs) intend spending R827 billion over the next three years to build infrastructure.
This, he said, was in line with the new vision unveiled by President Jacob Zuma in 2012 which propagated job creation and poverty alleviation, anchored on state-led infrastructure development in five major geographically-focused programmes, including programmes focusing on health and basic education infrastructure, information and communication technologies and regional integration.
He emphasised that youth development and empowerment was going to be at the centre of the President’s infrastructure expansion vision.
“As we continue the roll-out, more youth are going to be absorbed into employment and skills development programmes across the country in order to address their very urgent plight”, he said.
The Minister used the infrastructure expansion programme of the South African government to illustrate that it was possible and imperative for African governments to make deliberate interventions to address infrastructural challenges and impact positively on economic development.
He acknowledged the challenges faced by all African countries and countries from the developing world in accessing capital; and urged them to work together in finding alternatives to the global financial institutions.
Africans, he said, must find a collective solution to the infrastructure funding challenge in Africa and to seek real partnerships, particularly amongst BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) countries.
He also highlighted the challenges that African countries still face in addressing the shortage of critical knowledge and skills, decrying what he termed as evidence that academic institutions have been slow in customising their programmes in such a way that de-industrialisation is reversed and the right skills are created.
“As an academic community among whose tasks and responsibility is the need to pre-empt and provide solutions to complex social problems, what are you doing to contribute in building an egalitarian society through access to affordable and relevant education?” he asked.
Minister Gigaba concluded by advising that for Africa to achieve real socioeconomic development, it needed to stop viewing itself through the eyes of Western-influenced media, and to ensure that future generations gained better knowledge, understanding and appreciation of the continent’s colonial struggles and history through systematic teaching.
He urged Africa to heed the advice of the African philosopher and revolutionary, Frantz Fanon and to “turn over a new leaf, work out new concepts and try to set afoot a new man”.
*Written by Martin Ramotshela
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