Outlook

Opening remarks during the Spatial Planning Seminar

5 August 2010

Minister for Human Settlement,

Minister Sexwale, Directors-General and other senior government officials,

National Planning Commissioners,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

We make the road by walking

“We make the road by walking” is a line from a poem by a Spanish poet, Antonio Machado. This line was also used as the title for a book on education and social change by Paulo Freire and Myles Horton.

It paints a powerful image that embodies how change takes place. Meaningful change is a slow and step by step process. Those embarking on the journey of change do not have to have all the answers upfront. They need only have a conviction that a better world is possible and take each step with the understanding that it is leading them towards such a world.

Those making a path do not have to have a vision of a six lane highway some day. They only need to be convinced of the need to go forward, and as they do many follow in their footsteps, thus making a path which some day becomes a road, and later a highway.

In many ways this line “we make the road by walking” captures our experience. We have travelled a path not trodden before for there was no blueprint for how a country with a history such as ours goes about remaking itself. Indeed, we have made the road by walking.

It is instructive to note that walkers are very flexible. When an obstacle is placed on their way or fence is erected, they walk around it and continue walking. They neither sit down and moan nor go back for they know they have not yet reached the end of their journey.

Yes, there have been obstacles, but we have soldiered on. At times the challenges have sought to dampen our spirits and cause us to despair but the knowledge of the distance already covered has inspired us to continue. The knowledge that each step we take brings us closer to our goal has spurred us on.

I would probably be the first to admit that as a government collective –...