20 Years of Democracy
In the 20 years since this Province emerged from a patchwork of former administrations and erstwhile national states, we have grown into a unified, stable and vibrant region celebrated for its scenic natural beauty, plentiful mineral resources and limitless potential for future socio-economic growth and development.
Mpumalanga, our place of the rising sun, epitomises many of the elements of the positive transformation that our country has undergone since 1994, and our Twenty-Year Review presents some of the highlights in the good story that we have to tell.
The past two decades have seen the province systematically tackle the causes and effects of poverty and inequality. Access to improved health care, education, housing and basic services has improved significantly. Infrastructure has been developed and improved in order to support freedom of movement and access to economic opportunities. Land-reform programmes have restored access to the land stripped away from our farmers and communities by years of colonial and apartheid rule. Technical- and financial-support initiatives have been developed to ensure that the resituated land becomes productive and improves the livelihoods of those who own and work it.
Social-protection programmes continue to be central to empowering previously disadvantaged citizens – especially women, children, youth, people with disabilities and older persons, in order to ensure that their distinctive needs are addressed and their aspirations fulfilled.
We have worked hard to build a united multicultural province characterised by diverse racial and ethnic identities that enrich our collective experience and common destiny. Over the past 20 years, our political landscape and the quality of our lives have changed for the better.
Reflecting on these achievements allows us to assess how much more still needs to be done in our fight against poverty, unemployment and inequality. Taking its cue from the national development plan, the province has developed a strategic implementation framework (Vision 2030) that plots its journey towards what is envisioned for the country as a whole. This implementation framework clearly describes the socio-economic outcomes that the province has prioritised and details the mechanisms and conditions that we must put in place to ensure that all our citizens’ hopes and dreams for a better life are considered and addressed.
This Twenty-Year Review is neither diagnostic, nor exhaustive in its account of the past 20 years in Mpumalanga’s history. Instead, the review highlights the key achievements and challenges that the province has experienced across sectors since 1994. The delivery snapshot provided by our Twenty-Year Review gives us a backdrop against which to plan for our vision for 2030. It will inform our policies and initiatives going forward and it will shape our programmes and plans as we take the first critical steps towards the overall objectives of South Africa’s national development plan.
Mpumalanga’s brief 20-year history has all the elements of a good story to tell and we look forward to weaving our successes, challenges and lessons into the collective
stories of our future.
