Address by Maccollen Ntsikelelo Jack: MEC for Finance, Economic Development and Tourism to the Northern Cape Legislature on the occasion of tabling the budget Vote 6: 27 June 2017
Honourable Speaker and Deputy Speaker
Honourable Premier - Mme Sylvia Lucas
Honourable Members of the Executive Council
Honourable Members of the Provincial Legislature
Executive Mayors, Mayors and Speakers of our municipalities present
Chairpersons of Boards and representatives of the Provincial Public
Entities
Senior management and officials of the Provincial Government
Distinguished Guests
People of the Northern Cape
Ladies and Gentlemen
Good Morning, Dumelang, Goeie Mộre, Molweni
Honourable Speaker! Thank you for this opportunity to table the Department of Economic Development and Tourism budget for the 2017/18 financial year.
We should admit that the economic circumstances we face at present are the most complex and the context within which we are to discharge our responsibilities to deliver goods and services will be badly affected.
Despite the recent down-grade by three rating agencies with a continuous negative outlook and the recent announcement of a technical recession, we should be comforted by the fact that this is not just an ordinary year in the history of our country.
We are not only celebrating twenty three (23) years of democracy, Oliver Reginald Tambo’s Centenary, forty (40) years of Steve Biko’s passing on, the year coincides with the sinking of the S.S. Mendi Troopship’s Centenary.
The story of the SS Mendi is that of supreme courage in the face of death and valour shown between brothers toward each other in dire circumstances. The courage displayed by these men should be the courage we display in this country during these difficult times.
Honourable Speaker! In memory of the June 16 Youth, the Department of Economic Development and Tourism, firmly believes that the fundamental changes in the structure of the economy can be achieved through youth enterprise development and support.
But this requires self-driven and brave young people who will take full ownership of radical economic transformation and drive it without fear.
The future belongs to the youth.
Economic Overview
The provincial annual growth for 2015 was 0.9% measured at constant
2010 prices compared to national growth of 1.3%. This was a significant decline in provincial growth against 2.8% in 2014.
The provincial GDP contribution to the South African economy in 2015 was recorded at 2.1% at current prices. The International Monetary Fund expects a modest recovery for South African national growth rate to 0.8% in 2017 as commodity prices recover, drought conditions improve, and electricity capacity expands. The World Bank on the other hand expects growth to come in at 0.6%. Full speech [PDF]
