Limpopo Premier Sello Moloto this week expressed some frank opinions about press freedom, economic development, ritual murders and the abuse of women and children.

Speaking at a special year-end meeting with media representatives in Polokwane, Moloto made it clear that his government would continue to respect the media’s right to report freely on all news events, as long as the well-being of the people of the province remained the focal point.

In reviewing the past year, he pointed out that the implementation of the province’s economic growth and development strategy had been a notable achievement. He emphasized that the main aims of the strategy had been the improvement of the quality of life of the province’s citizens and better overall governance.

However, he admitted that ritual murders and the abuse of women and children had created serious problems for his government. He pointed out that these two alarming trends were usually prevalent in poor and undeveloped communities.

He explained that it would be difficult to eradicate ritual murders and beliefs in witchcraft, because they were part of many traditional cultural lifestyles. He expressed the hope that these myths and outdated practices would eventually disappear. Nevertheless, a programme of education and development would be necessary to help to dispel large-scale ignorance and superstition.

The premier predicted that the current abuse of women and children would also diminish in the wake of sustained development and education initiatives.