Dear President, leader of our nation
A few years ago, the South African government – in partnership with businesses and other stakeholders in society produced a blueprint for our future – The National Development Plan (NDP).
This document aims to eliminate poverty and reduce inequality by 2030. According to the plan, South Africa can realise these goals by drawing on the energies of its people, growing an inclusive economy, building capabilities, enhancing the capacity of the state and promoting leadership and partnerships throughout society.
While the plan drew criticism from some sectors of society including organised labour, it is a good foundation from which to build a prosperous, inclusive and united nation. The NDP 2030 set a direction for our nation, our Sondela Dialogues Programme exposes our youth and educators to engage on this subject matter but through the years we have citizens who do not know about it. With perseverance and this letter, we believe we could make a drastic impact in the way we engage with citizens and the media.
I work with passionate and highly motivated South Africans (70% being former beneficiaries of our programmes), who belong to an organisation called Valued Citizens Initiative, which I lead. We facilitate life skills programmes with the end goal being to inspire and empower our youth to become valued citizens. We do this by infusing our constitutional values into behaviour and ensuring that citizens understand how government structures work, how our rights are protected through legislation and how, if we have a value-based society, we can achieve a great deal in a relatively short period.
We work in communities, schools, with social workers and teachers amongst others, with the sole purpose of empowering them to be an essential tool in shaping a future generation of leaders who are purpose driven and guided by a set of values in everything they do.
So it pains me a great deal Mr President when, day in and day out, I visit our public schools to find that so many across the country still lack the most basic of services. I do not need to tell you about the state of sanitation or lack thereof in many rural and township schools in our country. You have recently instructed the Minister of Basic Education to eradicate pit toilets at our schools, I would dearly like to see rapid progress on this front. The schools we work with lack water almost every day!
Our experience with teachers around the country is that many of them are very committed to their work, they want to be part of the development of our youth. However, they work under very difficult circumstances. Often classes are overcrowded, with more than 50 learners, because it was decided that principals would be paid according to the number of learners they have in their institutions and not to the quality they produce through academic results. Educational infrastructures have not been built to cater or sustain this need since the last decade.
At our level, through our Schools and Rights and Lights Campaign, we have assisted more than 3000 children above 16 years old to obtain their ID, to feel and live like valued citizens. If we each do our part, South Africa can thrive through its tourism industry, advertising and production agencies, mining, fashion, medical sectors to name a few. Mr President, we are on your side. After years of maladministration, rampant corruption and a general breakdown of the rule of law, South Africans desperately want to see you succeed. We are also aware that it is not only up to the government to change people’s lives. This is the reason why we have many civil society organisations such as ours making a difference in communities by empowering people to take charge of their own destiny.
We need the government to get the basics right. Give our children basic infrastructure in schools, give them their birth certificates and identity documents, and provide an empowering environment for our teachers to make the relevant impact at this foundation stage.
Many citizens have welcomed your call for “Thuma Mina”. To be perfectly honest, we were already doing our part, but we also want to send you Mr President. We are sending you to end the corruption and incompetence that has impoverished our learning environments. We are sending you to champion a society that aspires to a common vision and values so we can attain our 2030 NDP goals. According to our Sondela Dialogues Programme, our youth wish to have not only a budget speech but budget reports to the nation on a quarterly basis. There is also a need to see our President in the media more often, speaking about what we are achieving and what are the future steps.
It is not a pipe dream, but it requires a concerted effort from all, but the government has to set the tone and create the right environment for all, particularly our youth, to thrive.
Carole Podetti-Ngono
Managing Director and Founder: Valued Citizens Initiative
Proudly South African
