Programme Director
Amakhosi
Stakeholders/ Partners
Members of the press
Ladies and gentlemen
All Protocol observed
Let me begin by conveying a word of gratitude to the Mabandla Traditional Authority under the leadership of iNkosi Baleni, for setting up a Community Trust that has overseen the success of the project we are here to launch today. The UMganu project is a brainchild of the Mabandla Traditional Authority through which it set to improve the living conditions of its subjects by creating business opportunities.
I am indeed very impressed by this initiative and how it has worked for local people. This project launch gives real and sound meaning to the notion of “Working Together We Can Do More”.
Traditional Authorities are instrumental in driving development in their areas more especially on rural development. As the department we cherish every opportunity to work with them in championing quality agricultural, environmental and conservation services as well as driving integrated comprehensive rural development for all the people of KwaZulu-Natal (KZN).
Now, this project encompasses all of the above aspects that I have just alluded to, hence the involvement of other partners like Ezemvelo KZN (EKZN) Wildlife, the Department of Land Affairs and Rural Development and us. Our partnership and collaboration with the community has contributed immensely towards the success of Umganu project. We all pride ourselves in what has been done for the community here which is a true reflection of the outcomes of working together.
Neither the community nor us could have done this alone hence we always emphasise the need for communities to own processes of their own development. This is crucial to ensuring the sustainability of projects like uMganu so that they can have an impact on rural development.
As mentioned earlier, the project takes into account different aspects of development which respond directly to the national priorities set out by the president in his state of the nation address in 2009.
Through its agricultural activities like livestock management, nature conservation activities like promotion of biodiversity practices, ecosystem service delivery and environmental management activities like the land care projects of alien plant clearing, donga rehabilitation, in-field infrastructure, the project is directly responding to the following national priorities:
- Agrarian Reform and rural development
- Sound Environmental Management.
Equally so, it is simultaneously addressing the following millennium development goals
Goal one: which is the Eradication of extreme hunger and poverty.
Goal three: which talks to Promotion of gender equality and empowerment of women
Goal seven: Which is Ensuring environmental sustainability
Our support to this project has therefore been through the funding of land care projects over a period of four years. The work that is being done here by our own Land Care specialists together with members of this community, such as the clearing of Alien vegetation and making land available for communal use, whether of agricultural purposes something that can contribute to Food Security or for recreational purposes, is really something of tremendous value and great benefit to the community and our provincial economy.
The Alien Plant Control is undertaken to control the extensive infestations of American bramble, wattle and other alien invasive tree species (such as gums and willow) inherited from poor land-use practices in the past in order to restore the land to its optimal condition for the implementation of the agricultural and conservation initiatives.
The two primary activities are the removal of existing stands of wattle trees and bramble, and utilisation of the wood where feasible, for charcoal manufacture to off-set clearing costs and the implementation of permanent follow-up operations to control regeneration. This has however yielded positive outcomes for the people of this area such as environmental rehabilitation, creation of business and employment opportunities through the establishment of a pecan orchard.
We have further undertaken a fencing project as means of better land use management through controlled grazing facilities for the livestock management programme. This will assist the Mabandla Livestock Owners in their establishment of a breeding herd of Nguni cattle, for the production of beef, as well as quality stock to upgrade community herds held outside the project area, while maintaining the grazing resources according the best-practice management measures.
The partnership support that has been given by EKZN Wildlife will also go a long way in ensuring sound environmental management through emphasizing the importance of biodiversity conservation in this area. Healthy biodiversity is critical for life on earth, for development and the well-being of people.
It is an essential service that delivers ecological goods and services such as food, water, medicines, building materials and healthy soils. The loss of, or damage to any component jeopardises people's well-being.
Keeping our biodiversity intact and functioning is vital for the on-going production of clean water through good catchment management practices, erosion prevention, carbon storage, clean air and a vibrant variety of biodiversity.
This involves not only the protection of biodiversity within proclaimed nature reserves (which only cover 8% of the province’s land area), but also the conservation of the estimated remaining 80% of biodiversity that occurs on private and community land, through stewardship programmes and good land management practices.
As partners we are equally elated by the job opportunities that have been presented by this project here. We were always mindful of the main objectives of the project which were also in line with the call for job creation with this year being declared as a year of jobs. I am told that to date, the project has created job opportunities for 53 community members, profiled – 24 youth and 21 women.
Again the Commercial afforestation undertaken to generate sustainable income for the Trust, the maintenance of the project area and generation of a revenue surplus through the establishment and maintenance of Forestry Stewardship Council-accredited commercial timber plantations for timber and pulp production, through best-practice management, also has an impact on unemployment here. I am happy to note that a local sawmill is planned to beneficiate saw logs for commercial markets, and to satisfy local building material needs.
This has derived sustainable income generation presently R9.5 million per annum. This sub-project currently employs four supervisors and administrative staff, 48 permanent and 38 temporary workers. It also provides forest products (poles and other building material and fuel) for the community.
In closing I wish to thank all our partners for their contribution to the success of this project, may you do the same for other communities elsewhere in the province. I would like to urge the community to continue to strive for the success of this project because it is a good vehicle for change for the local people here.
It has really been a great privilege for me to part of this occasion today and I hope that the investment put by our partners here will yield more than the expected outcomes for the community.
I thank you.
