Programme Director
Deputy Minister of State Security, Ms Ellen Molekane
District and local Mayors present
School Management
Governing Body
Ladies and gentlemen
Today marks a very historic day in the lives of our young people from this area. We are especially delighted to bring together Government, business and political leaders to deepen our engagement with the youth in order to unlock beneficial opportunities for them.
Education is seen as the foundation of every prosperous and progressive community, society and nation. It is on this premise that the Northern Cape Provincial Government is committed to ensure that we wholeheartedly and with the resources at our disposal, invest in the education and development of our young people both in school and out of school.
Ons kom bymekaar vandag om nog goeie nuus te ontvang ten bate van hierdie skool. Die Adjunk Minister sal later hieroor uitwy. Hierdie is ook die Premier se hartspunt en ek staan in vandag vir die Premier om aan die leerders en onderwysers oor te dra dat Premier gestand doen aan haar belofte om te verseker dat hierdie skool die nodige ondersteuning sal ontvang om die leerders te bemagtig en te bevorder.
Dames en here ons is almal bewus daarvan dat ons gebukkend gaan onder striem finansiele toestande en dat dit grootendeels die rede is waarom belowende studente ontneem word van die geleentheid om hulself te verbeter en te bemagtig. Hierdie is ongelukkig ‘n probleem wat wêreldwyd ervaar word en daarom as die Anc beleerde regering werk ons konstant daaraan om opvoeding, in die skool, en na skool ‘n werklikheid vir almal te maak.
Die Regering kan net soveel doen. Hierdie is a venootskap tussen die Regering en die leerders en dit is ‘n venootskap waar al twee partye hul deel moet doen om te verseker dat ons leerders hul volle potensiaal ontgin. Ek doen daarom ‘n beroep op al die leerders om saam met ons te werk en om jul bydrae te lewer om te verseker dat ons slaagsyfer vanjaar beter daaruit sal sien as verlede jaar.
Deputy Minister, the matric class of 2016 has done us immensely proud by allowing us to be the Province with the most improved matric results. We are delighted by the progress made and once more congratulate our learners and moreover, our educators who sacrificed their time and comforts to ensure that our children receive the best possible aid to realize their dreams of furthering their education. On behalf of Government I wish to acknowledge and relay our gratitude to all teachers who individually and collectively contributed to our improved performance.
We however also acknowledge that we can do better. Especially in the field of mathematics and the sciences and judging from the class of 2016 I am confident that the class of 2017 will indeed do better. We also acknowledge that many deserving and promising students miss their opportunity to further their studies due to various reasons, the biggest being financial constraints.
The Provincial Government sees as very critical the need to assist students who sometimes cannot further or complete their studies due to a lack of finances. This is also in line with ensuring that we build a suitably qualified and skilled youth and in turn a prosperous Province.
Ladies and gentlemen, the general Household Survey of 2014 indicates that the Province had a total population of one million one hundred and seventy two thousand (1.172 million) inhabitants, of which youth, comprised 35.1 percent. This amounts to four hundred and eleven thousand (411 000) youth in the Northern Cape as at 2014.
These figures become worth considering if we take into account that youth continue to bear high levels of unemployment when compared to adults. All is however not doom and gloom because regardless of the challenges facing our youth, notable progress has been made in the areas of access to education and skills development. These successes can largely be attributed to the policies around the introduction of free basic education and with the establishment of Technical and Vocational Education and Training Colleges, which has seen an overwhelming increase of young people in tertiary education.
We have no doubt that the Northern Cape is a Province alive with possibilities and opportunities that all young people in the Province need to seize in order to live productive lives. We will continue to aspire to a Province hard at work to push back the frontiers of unemployment and underdevelopment where we join hands with our young people to move this Province forward.
Earlier this month, at our school reopening programme, I mentioned that the schooling career of four learners is dependent on the role that learners, parents and educators play. It is therefore encouraging to see more parents and guardians and supporting relatives becoming involved in the education of their children, siblings and family. Today is your reward for being an integral part of your child’s success and you should be elated that another step in your child’s journey is beginning.
To the class of 2017 I advise that you take serious your education and work very hard to ensure that you create that future you want. It takes hard work and dedication from the very start. You have a lifetime ahead of you to party and play. Now is the time for hard work and commitment.
Without further adieu, it is now my distinct honour to introduce to you the Deputy Minister Responsible for State Security, Ms Ellen Molekane who today has brought some great news for the people of Groblershoop.
The Honorable Deputy Ministers credentials are exemplary and many to mention. I will, with permission highlight a few of the Deputy Ministers many accomplishments in brief.
Ms Molekane was born in Soweto where she started her academic life. Thereafter she joined the Army and completed a variety of courses. As I have mentioned the list of accomplishments are long and Ms Molekane successfully completed various courses during her Stay in the Army. Amongst these are:
• Officer Commander's Course, German Democratic Republic (GDR)
• Sweepslag Exercise 2/94, SA Army Battle School
• Financial Administration Officers Course, Personnel Service School
• Advanced Military Law, SA Army HQ Unit
• Junior Officers Staff Course, SA Army, Heidelberg
• Senior Officers Introduction Course, Army Gymnasium
• Diploma in Diplomacy and Foreign Relations, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
• Diploma in Diplomacy, Oslo, Norway
• Public Finance Management Course, University of Pretoria
• Civil-Military Strategy for Internal Development, Florida, USA
• Project Clipper: Development of a Management Training Programme for Civilians in the Department of Defence, UK Defence Management Training
• Executive Programme in Civil-Military Relations, Wits University
• Public Sector Business Plans, University of Stellenbosch
The Deputy Minister started from humble beginnings being employed as an administrative Clerk at Baragwaneth Hospital in 1974.
In 1976 she enrolled to be trained as a professional Nurse but had to abandon her studies to fight for the Liberation of our people. Ms Molekane went into Exile in Swaziland and Mozambique up to the time we attained our hard fought and hard earned democracy and returned to South Africa in 1991 whereupon she joined the Public service.
1991 - 93: Administrative Secretary, Transport Department, ANC Headquarters, Johannesburg
1993 - 94: Finance Programme Officer for SWEDISH International Development Agency (SIDA), ANC Headquarters, Johannesburg; Transport Secretary and Finance Officer, ANC Headquarters
1994: Participated in negotiations under the auspices of the Transitional Executive Council (TEC), Sub-Council on Defence at the Joint Military Coordinating Council (JMCC)
1994 - 96: Integrated into the SANDF, appointed as a Lieutenant Colonel at the Chief of Finance, Army Headquarters, Department of Defence (DOD)
1996 - 97: Seconded to the Defence Secretariat as Assistance Director Human Resource Plan, Programme and Budget
1997 - 2001: Appointed Deputy Director Budget Control, Finance Division, Department of Defence
2001 - 2002: Chief Financial Officer (CFO), Universal Service Agency
2002 - 2004: Deputy Head, Ministerial Services, Ministry of Intelligence
2004 - 2009: Head, Ministerial Services, Ministry of Housing
2009 - 2014: Head, Ministerial Services, Ministry of Defence
May 2014: Deputy Minister of State Security
CAREER HIGHLIGHTS
• As a member of the Political Committee of the ANC, was involved in providing political-strategic direction to the Mass Democratic Movement (MDM), as well as security assessment of the ANC underground political structures in terms of vulnerability to infiltration by apartheid government agents.
• Was the only woman specializing in military engineering in the Officer Commanders' Course in the then German Democratic Republic (GDR)
• Project Manager of the Conference on the Advancement of Women in DOD, March 1997
• Published article: The Role of Women in the SANDF, published in the African Security Review, Vol. 5. No. 5, 1996
• Project Manager of Budget Management Seminar on Budget Control in the DOD, March 2001
• Member of the ANC National Investigative Task Team, chaired by Dr Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, on Alleged Irregularities and Manipulation of the List Processes during the build-up to the Local Government elections of May 2011.
The Hon ENN Molekane was appointed as Deputy Minister of State Security on 25 May 2014.
Dames en here, Soos U hoor het die Adjunk Minister n loopbaan waarop sy inderdaad kan trots wees en beslis ‘n inspirasie en voorbeeld aan ons jong mense. Sy is soos julle kan sien ‘n gesofistikeerde en elegante jong dame wat altyd sal strewe vir die opheffing van die gemeenskappe en mense van die hierdie land.
Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you the Deputy Minister of State Security, Ms Ellen Molekane.
Thank you.
