Item 1406 - Speech by Nelson Mandela at the launch of the MTN Foundation December 2001

TRANSCRIPT

• Thank you very much for the invitation to join you at the launch of your Foundation. We have had close associations with MTN, the company, over the years and they have assisted us on a number of occasions. It is therefore a privilege to be present on the occasion of the launch of their corporate social responsibility vehicle.

• It is crucially important that corporate South Africa becomes ever more involved in issues of social development.

The oft-proclaimed miracle of our political transition can only be fully realised and sustained if we succeed in having the political changes accompanied by meaningful changes in the lives of ordinary citizens.

Although much progress had been made in the seven years since democratic change, much still needs to be done before we can claim that we have brought the promised better life to the majority of people. And as long as the majority of people still suffer poverty, deprivation and preventable hardship, none of us can sleep at ease.

• To overcome the legacy of deprivation will need a concerted effort amongst all sectors of society.

Government takes the lead in setting the enabling environment for poverty alleviation and eradication. It establishes the necessary policy and legislative framework and it provides a budget for service delivery.

Government alone can, however, not achieve the task of wiping out centuries of discrimination and deliberate under-development.

NGO's and other organs of civil society have a key role to play in partnership with government. And the private sector with its material resources and human skills is an indispensable part of this societal partnership for development.

• Our experience over the years since our release from prison has been that the private sector had, by and large, been enthusiastically forthcoming to assist in developmental projects.

Ever since we came from prison, and even before we assumed the presidency of the country, we have been going to companies, inviting them to build or upgrade schools and clinics in the more under-privileged areas of our country.

And almost without exception, the companies approached responded positively. Throughout the country there are today schools, clinics and other structures bearing testimony to the social responsibility of corporate South Africa.

• We can of course never rest on our laurels and jointly, as government, private sector and civil society we need to redouble our efforts to alleviate poverty and enhance development towards a better life.

Conditions in the world economy have impacted on our economy in such ways that we did not experience the growth we envisaged. And the growth was not accompanied by sufficient job creation, so that the eradication of poverty has not progressed as we all would have wanted.

The challenge to developmental organisations, like the Foundation you are launching today, is to use resources in such a manner that it makes a sustainable difference to the lives of people and communities.

It is not sufficient for the private sector to hand out assistance merely, or in the first place, for the purposes of corporate branding. We need to have efforts so targeted that they make the maximum difference on a sustained basis. We are confident that this will be the route followed by your Foundation.

• We do not know exactly which areas you intend concentrating on, and we are well aware that unnecessary duplication should be avoided.

We can, however, not neglect referring to the overwhelming threat of HIV/AIDS, even if that is not an area that you will be working in. All aspects of social development are impacted upon by the threat of AIDS.

So, even if it were only by way of drawing attention to it and adding to awareness, your Foundation can make a contribution in that area as well.

• Again, thank you very much for the invitation to be present at your launch. I interpret the invitation also as an indication that co-operation between MTN and ourselves will continue and be intensified.

I understand that this could be at various levels, as for example between the MTN Foundation and our own Foundation. But I must also give a timely warning to the Chief Executives of MTN, the company, that I do not understand the launching of the MTN Foundation as a barrier to approaching the company for direct assistance in worthy projects.

(In fact, I must find a few minutes after this event to speak to relevant executives about a school building project that we need to take forward!)

• I wish you well with the work of the Foundation, confident that it will make a significant contribution to our national effort towards reconstruction and development, and the building of a better life for all.

• I thank you.