Programme Director
Mayor of Ilembe District Municipality, Cllr Mdabe
eThekwini Mayor, Cllr Nxumalo
TKZN CEO, Mr Khoza
Patron of the World Golfers Championships, Mr Arnold Palmer
Members of the media present
Ladies and gentlemen
Thank you very much for allowing me to address you this evening. On behalf of the provincial government of KwaZulu-Natal let me take this opportunity to welcome you all to our beautiful province.
It is a fascinating coincidence that the World Golfers Championship was launched at the same time with our democratic rule – enabling the game of golf to open up to both professional and amateur enthusiasts. Like this golfing contest our democracy is just seventeen years old and so is the age of the world initiative directed at reversing the impact of global warming, the Seventh Communities of Parties Summit (COP17) which will be held in this province at the end of next month. There must be something special about number 17 and I am sure the punters should be seeing this as a special figure since all the issues identified with it have a global significance.
However, on behalf of the Provincial Government of KwaZulu-Natal, I would like to express our condolences to the family and friends of the founder of the World Golfers Championship, Mr Sven Tumba who passed away early last month having spent most of his life working on the development and expansion of amateur golfing across the world. It’s therefore our duty that we sustain his vision that has seen sporting people from all walks of life from all corners of the world uniting around this remarkable game. Having hosted the last year’s event in Hua-Hin in Thailand we all expected that Mr Tumba would be part of this year’s proceedings as we believe that his passion for sport that covered two other sporting codes, football and hockey, would have inspired many of our people who have embraced the fact that sport is very important in uniting communities nationally and internationally.
Programme director, this tournament could not have come at a better time. As many of you are aware our country last year hosted the 2010 FIFA Soccer World Cup, which was described as the most successful in the history of this footballing spectacle. The fact that our province is hosting this tournament a year after all the eyes of the world were trained on us confirms that KwaZulu-Natal is fast becoming the sporting Mecca of the world. From time immemorial, sports have served as a tool to unite people. The World Golfers Championship Tournament equally provides an opportunity to unite people from diverse backgrounds, bound by their shared love of golf.
Programme director, ours is a province on the move. We are not only the second biggest economy in the country but our province has consistently recorded an above national average growth rate.
In recent years we have invested billions of rands to improve our infrastructure and to ensure our province is globally competitive. The construction of the new airport, King Shaka International Airport just a short distance from here and as well as efforts to continuously modernise our road, rail and sea transportation networks, all bear testimony to KwaZulu-Natal’s determination to become an active player in the global trade.
In short, we want to underscore the point that KwaZulu-Natal is ready to do business with you. As government, we have worked hard to ensure that the economic environment is conducive for business to thrive. But, more importantly, we have positioned ourselves as the gateway to the African continent.
Our province is also renowned for its inimitable natural beauty and in the collection of our natural treasures we boast two world heritage sites. But, more importantly, we are a province that is the net attractor of domestic tourism owing to our warm climatic conditions. As many of you would attest, our province has one season which is summer throughout the year. We therefore hope that during your stay you will find time to experience the hospitality of our people and visit some of the tourist treasures that make our province one of the most beautiful places on earth.
In the spirit of Ubuntu we also see each and every one of the golfers partaking in this event as our prospective ambassador to the world – who after experiencing the magic of the Zulu Kingdom, would spread good news about what we offer in terms of tourism, business opportunities and indeed cultural exchange.
Ladies and gentlemen, I wish to conclude by thanking all of you for gracing this event which as I have said earlier on, should be treated more than just a sporting event. No matter which nation emerges victoriously we should not lose sight that this sporting extravaganza is more about uniting the peoples of the world. It symbolises the human endeavour to forge solidarity towards achieving equitable and better life for all. Have a brilliant tournament.
I thank you.
Province
