Hon Speaker, the imperative for the moral regeneration of our society has never been more urgent, given the lingering effects of moral decay in our nation, leading to an alarming upsurge in gender-based
violence, femicide and deaths in our schools across the country.
When the Moral Regeneration Movement, MRM, was established, it was due in large part to the vision and foresight of former President Nelson Mandela who believed that parallel to the Reconstruction and Development project, RDP, which focused mainly on government's efforts towards improvement of the material conditions of our people, there should also be an effort to ensure that there is an RDP of the soul.
This meant that equal attention had to be paid to the project of rebuilding the foundation of a morally upright society anchored on core values of dignity, equality and respect for human rights and liberties.
This would focus on moral renewal, the promotion of positive values in society and the cultivation of a collective sense of consciousness and corresponding obligations in safeguarding one another's welfare, as well as building a united and cohesive society.
This was borne out of a growing realisation that our history of social fractures, violence, instability and moral decay were signs of a struggling society not at peace with itself. For social reconstruction to gain traction, moral renewal and transformation had to be embedded and interwoven into the fabric of society as a whole.
For all intents and purposes, the MRM as a civil society- led organisation, has made a tremendous contribution towards orchestrating a socially inclusive process that fosters multistakeholder participation in pursuit of moral renewal in our communities. Through government support, the MRM has managed to implement programmes and campaigns focusing on moral renewal and ethical conduct.
Our task is to build on what has been achieved to date and address existing constraints through targeted support in terms of additional resources required to upscale and expand the footprint of moral regeneration programmes. We have made a commitment to mobilise resources for the MRM, both within and outside government.
It is important to mobilise support for the MRM in terms of additional resources to complement government's contribution. Thus, we need to create more and more platforms of participation for key sectors in society such as business, the faith fraternity, as well as our traditional leaders just to name a few, to be able to participate.
In view of the above, we are planning a moral regeneration summit in the last quarter of this financial year, which will provide a platform of engagement for other key sectors so as to get them to commit to this moral regeneration programme. The summit will be preceded by a stakeholder consultative workshop scheduled to take place on 7-8 November 2019. The workshop will set out the agenda and framework for engagement at the national summit.
What ought to come out of the workshop and the summit is a real concrete plan on moral regeneration which would have been costed and which would be implemented as part of the 2019-24 Medium-Term Strategic Framework commitment.
As part of the current work being implemented by the MRM, there are various programmes such as the antifemicide campaign, the Charter of Positive Values and the ethical leadership programme.
We must indicate here that the work of the MRM can only gain traction to the extent that there is proper co- ordination between the MRM and provinces, together with municipalities. In this regard, we are committed to further extending our work of the MRM to districts, given the new district-based model approach to planning and service delivery.
Going into the future, it is clear that our moral regeneration programme across the country has to give priority attention to problems and social ills that are threatening to tear our society apart.
The antifemicide campaign will become even more important as a core component of the broader moral regeneration programme, given the unacceptably high incidents of gender-based violence, and more specifically, intimate partner abuse and murder. This will be in keeping with
the President's solemn pledge to deal with gender-based violence.
In addition, the Charter of Positive Values has been endorsed and most of the dialogues and community conversations of the MRM that are organised across the country are framed around the substance and spirit of the Charter of Positive Values.
The charter is a practical example of putting the values of our Constitution into practical effect through the lens of the African moral ethic of ubuntu. The charter seeks to interpret the values of the Constitution, taking into account African values, traditions and cultures, philosophy, our collective sense of being and our way of life.
We will continue with the campaign of popularising the Charter of Positive Values in our schools and all our public facilities so that we inculcate and deepen social consciousness on the intent and meaning of these positive values within our society.
Our working partnership with the Department of Correctional Services will continue to focus on rehabilitation programmes for inmates as part and parcel of preparing them for reintegration into communities.
In terms of the ethical leadership programme, the MRM has developed a mutually beneficial partnership with the SA Local Government Association, in which a number of councillors in some selected municipalities have benefitted from the induction on ethical leadership. This is aimed at raising their level of consciousness on the need to be ethical leaders in discharging their roles as public representatives at local government level.
We will be stepping up efforts in ensuring that this ethical leadership programme is expanded to reach more municipalities as well as more public representatives in general. Thank you very much. [Applause.]