It gives me great pleasure today to have the opportunity to welcome all esteemed guests to this prestigious launch of the South African Express (SAX) route between Durban and Harare.
Even as we gather this morning to inaugurate this route, the SADC leadership are meeting in Maputo, Mozambique, to discuss infrastructure development in Southern Africa.
Infrastructure is a key enabler of trade and economic integration as it enables commercial activity.
However, the scale of the challenge is immense particularly as Africa has a major shortage of economic and social infrastructure that can facilitate economic growth and development and significant amounts of finance are needed to get infrastructure in Africa on track.
This infrastructure gap in Africa is both negatively impacted by the low volumes of intra-African trade and it, at the same time, also serves to reinforce it.
This creates an urgent need for African countries to increase their economic collaborative efforts bilaterally and multilaterally, as well as at regional economic levels.
Above all else, we need to diversify our economic activity both at domestic and regional levels by pursuing industrialisation and the development of manufacturing sectors, taking advantage of the vast mineral resources we possess.
We must further provide more support to the growth and development of the services sectors that can also provide more jobs as well as growth and development opportunities.
The crisis in the US and European economies has a dramatic impact on the economies of developing, particularly those in Africa that already faced significant constraints even long before this global crisis.
In contrast to the outlook for much of the developed world, Sub-Sahara Africa is projected to grow at an average of 5% per annum over the next five years and its market size will grow by
30% to $1.7 trillion.
The SADC region already accounts for 22% of South African manufactured exports, just behind the European Union.
Regional economic integration therefore is an immediate necessity, a core element of not just managing the turbulence of the present, but of securing our growth for the future.
South Africa has a strong vested interest in seeing African economies grow – as a source of expansion for our companies, as a supplier for our market and as a market for our producers.
The ANC 1994, foreign policy perspective committed South Africa to a just regional development process.
To quote from the relevant policy document:
“South Africa should avoid using regional cooperation or integration as a vehicle for the one-sided promotion of its immediate interests. Instead, it needs to recognise that balanced and mutually-beneficial cooperation and integration can be of considerable significance to the efforts of a democratic South Africa to place its economy on a new growth path. We need to take into account the interests of the rest of the region. Increasing our trade with the region and wider continent should not be at the expense of industrial development in, or trade between, other countries of the region.
The long-term interests of the South African economy will best be served by an approach to regional cooperation and integration which seeks to promote balanced growth and development. Trade opportunities will be much greater in a region which is growing. A cooperative stance within the region will be most conducive to long-term acceptance as trade or project partners by our neighbours.”
Consequently, our contemporary foreign policy is based on the principle that the future of South Africa is intrinsically linked to that of the SADC region and the continent.
Our foreign policy prioritises the building of relationships in the African continent, the focus of which is to promote development, contribute to the resolution of conflicts and to build an environment in which socio-economic development can take place.
Accordingly, three things must pre-occupy our minds as we inaugurate this route,
- To promote African and SADC economic integration as we have enunciated it above,
- To facilitate person-to-person contact and tourism promotion, which has been the only source of human development since time immemorial, and
- The urgency to establish safe and efficient modes of travel between African countries, particularly to ensure that our national airlines – the national carrier, SAA; the regional carrier, SAX and the low-cost carrier, Mango – can take South Africans to every and any city in southern Africa and subsequently Africa with the objective of eventually carrying passengers and cargo safely across African regions.
The Government of the Republic of South Africa supports this SAX decision to deploy its aviation assets between the two economic centres of Southern Africa, that is, Durban and Harare.
This is an indication of South Africa’s continuous commitment to regional integration, especially within the SADC region, as well as to the facilitation of the movement of goods and people.
SAX had long identified Durban as a platform to grow its footprint into SADC as part of its regional expansion plans.
More than anything else, this route will consolidate and further advance to unprecedented scales the relations, not only between the Republics of South Africa and Zimbabwe, but most importantly, the old ties and bonds of comradeship, friendship and fraternity between South Africans and Zimbabweans.
Centuries ago, history had already determined that our countries and people shall be related one to the other, from the times of the great Kingdom of Mapungubwe right to the moment of Chief Mzilikazi.
When the ANC Youth League was established at Fort Hare in the forties, one of its earlier members eventually became the revered President of the Republic of Zimbabwe, His Excellency, President Robert Gabriel Mugabe.
The very first operation of Umkhonto WeSizwe outside South Africa, the Wankie and Sipolilo Operation, by the combined forces of the Luthuli Detachment and Zipra, took place on the land of the people of Zimbabwe.
Together, during the difficult struggle to rid our countries of the Vorster-Smith Alliance, as well as colonialism, imperialism and apartheid, the peoples of South Africa and Zimbabwe stood shoulder-to-shoulder and fought fiercely and bravely to free their countries and peoples and thus contribute together to the freedom movement in Africa.
It made perfect sense that the peoples of Zimbabwe should take South Africa as their second home, when faced with their own challenges, in the firm conviction and knowledge that South Africa and South Africans would never abandon them in their moment of need, just as they also never abandoned us during our moment of need.
Today, if you stand on the N1 North, observing the traffic to Musina, you cannot but notice scores and scores of Zimbabweans on buses full to capacity either coming to shop and from shopping in Johannesburg for goods they need in their own country, and thus contributing to growing the retail sector in and the economy of South Africa.
It makes sense that we should consolidate and advance these relations and give meaning and organisation to them.
SAX has shown over the years that it has the potential to stimulate demand for travel and trade purposes.
Its operation out of King Shaka International Airport (KSIA) highlights the important role played by regional feeder carriers such as SAX itself and also promotes the airport as the airline's second hub.
SAX intends further to introduce several additional regional routes from the KSIA in the near future and the government will support such expansion in the interest of economic growth for our country and the region.
In July 2012, SAX commenced operations between Durban and Lusaka which proved to be a success within months of operation.
Similarly, we expect the Durban – Harare route to be as successful and to provide the many business passengers, leisure travellers and students direct connectivity to a region where vast opportunities exist in their respective activities.
This will further strengthen political and economic relations with Zimbabwe.
Furthermore this new route supports and contributes to the envisioned regional expansion articulated in SAX long-term strategy.
Africa continues to be a highly competitive market contested by both African and non-African carriers.
Both SAA and SAX pride themselves in high safety compliance history and we expect them to continue providing reliable and safe air transport on the continent and beyond.
The increase in scale and scope is important for both airlines to offer an integrated air transport network for South Africa and the SADC region.
Air Transport is a critically important industry with a significant impact on the African economy and the economic well-being of its people.
Regional exports have increased from the Durban port to the SADC region and the partnership between SAX and the Dube Trade Port will assist the port in realising its full potential.
Durban is home to a number of multi-national companies, including retail and automotive sectors, which have their head offices in Durban and in the SADC region and use the port of Durban for the movement of their goods.
These companies use air services for both their business travel and cargo transport requirements. South Africa has proved itself as a great host for international events and conferences; and KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) has established itself as a conference, business and leisure travel destination
of choice.
SAX will complement the province’s desire to establish itself as an attractive destination for such events and activities through the introduction of its proposed 8 additional routes from KSIA.
We remain appreciative of the collaboration with the KZN Department of Economic Development and Tourism which supports air transport economics through the establishment of the Dube Trade Port.
This partnership is an example of Government’s continuous commitment to the success and advancement of the Commercial Aviation Industry in the country.
Ultimately, we all work towards the development of the South African and the SADC economy. This route will result in the creation of new jobs and skills development opportunities for young people, including in such specialised fields as the pilots.
On Tuesday, we announced the recruitment of 67 cadet pilots for SAA and SAX and we shall continue to expand this programme particularly as we increase our fleet over the next 20 years.
We call on young people to avail themselves of these opportunities and we call on all South Africans to seize the opportunities offered by such reliable and safe modes of travel to explore fellow SADC countries for business and leisure.
I thank you!
