I am very excited to celebrate this special day with the beautiful children of Greater Letaba.
We are here to celebrate the future of our country, and that future is our children.
A celebration of this nature happens every year during the 1st Saturday of November.
However, as parents and as guardians, we should celebrate our children every single day – they are our cute bundles of joy.
Our children are the greatest gift to us as parents and they are our country’s future.
Taking care of our children is investing in the future of our nation.
This day is also about creating awareness and educating our people about the plight of children.
Personally, I am very grateful for this opportunity to spent time and interact with you the children of our province.
I am happier today because I am spending my time with the future leaders of this country.
As children you are the future of our country, and the future of our country is in you.
You carry the promise that tomorrow will be better than today and yesterday.
Your government believes in the words of our constitution that ‘every child has a right to be protected from maltreatment, neglect or abuse.
We believe further that a child’s best interest is of paramount importance in every matter concerning the child’.
We also believe in the words of the United Nations’ Declaration of the Rights of the Child which states that – The child is entitled to receive education, which shall be free and compulsory, at least in the elementary stages.
It is for this reason that as government we continue to build schools and offer bursaries so that as children you can receive the best possible education.
We are doing this because we know that access to good quality education will enable you to become responsible and productive citizens when you grow up.
We are also working hard to build hospitals and clinics so that you can access the best quality healthcare services.
Everything we do in government is aimed at ensuring that our children inherent a better South Africa than the one we live in today.
Every day we work hard to ensure that our children will grow up in a country that is safe, without diseases and with lot of working opportunities.
My Children
Some children around the world are not as lucky as you are to have caring parents and the government that is committed to advance your wellbeing.
You may be aware that currently there is a war taking place between Russia and Ukraine.
In all these places children are the worst affected victims.
Children are being punished for the things they do not even know about.
These children have been isolated from the love and care of their families and they are denied their right to be educated.
You are lucky that you have a government that does not cause war – your government makes peace.
We are committed to making peace because we want you to grow under conditions of peace and security so that your potential can blossom.
My central message today is to encourage you as young girls and boys to remember that your personal future and the future of this country is in your hands.
You must always remember that you are very lucky to have been born in this country.
As parents and as government, we can only assist you to unleash your full potential.
I also wish to take this opportunity to speak to those parents and or guardians who are neglecting their legal responsibilities towards their children.
There is nothing as shameful as a parent who is forced by the law to take care of his own children. The issue of child maintenance is a non-negotiable for parents.
I must also express our government’s disgust at those who continue to abuse our children. I am happy that our courts are beginning to take a harsh line approach against these heartless monsters.
All members of the society carry an obligation to report any act of child abuse or child neglect.
Programme Director
All of our children are born with a God-given potential to inspire, influence and to become the greatest they can be.
This potential, however, needs to be nourished for it to be fully realised. Potential is nothing without guidance and hard work.
Potential is the most powerful thing if guided and natured; but without proper guidance even the greatest potential can come to a complete nothing.
It is for this reason that as parents we must always be available to guide our children to ensure that their potential blossoms beyond imaginations.
Potential is like a seed. He says just one seed has potential to blossom in to a bush of thousand trees. For this to happen such a seed need to fall on a fertile soil.
If the seed does not fall on a fertile soil it will lose all potential to become a bush of thousand trees and simply die without even producing a single tree.
In the case of our children, a fertile soil is the supporting environment that we put in place as government and parents.
Today all that our children need to enter and study at the best University in the country is not a rich family background or genius abilities, just hard work.
Hard work alone is the fertile soil that is required to grow the seed of your potential and unlock all doors for you.
You may come from a very wealthy family, but without good marks you won’t be admitted at any University.
On the other hand, a child of a pensioner, who has accepted the worth of hard work, will have access to the best university in the country, at times the government will even provide such a child with an opportunity to study overseas.
My dear children, if a seed does not fall on a fertile soil, it is doomed to death, with all its potential, nothing will ever come of it.
If you do not make enough time for your books, you must know that you are throwing the rich seed of your potential on to the fire.
If you do not listen to the advices of your parents, you must know that you are destroying your God-given potential.
Always respect your parents, your teachers and the elderly.
To our parents, I want to say that let us protect our children against abuse and all forms of harm,
Let us wage a mother of all fights against the rape and killing of our children;
Let us go to war against those who sell drugs and alcohol to our children;
Let us not expose our children to harmful content on television and on the social media;
Let us do all that is necessary to protect our children;
Let’s give them education;
Let us give them shelter and the protection they need;
Let us give them food;
Most importantly, let us embrace our children and give them love and support.
In conclusion I want to wish all the children of our province a happy National Children’s Day.
