Kuruman
29 March 2006
TRADE AND INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT ISSUES AFFECTING NORTHERN CAPE BUSINESS
DEVELOPMENT
Programme Director,
Chairperson of the NCOP,
Deputy Chairperson and members of the NCOP,
Speaker and Deputy Speaker of the Northern Cape Legislature,
Deputy Minister,
MECs,
MPLs,
Mayors and councillors,
The leadership of SALGA,
Traditional leaders Marena, Dikgosi tsa rona,
Leaders of religious denominations,
Representatives of organised business, businessmen & business women,
Youth Commission,
Umsobomvu,
Representatives of community based organisations and NGOâs,
Distinguished guests,
Media representatives,
Ladies and gentlemen,
It is a pleasure to be amongst all of you to speak on the industrial
developmental issues affecting the Northern Cape business development hoping
that we will all use this opportunity to interact on matters of common interest
and walk together in our journey of growth and development.
Allow me, Programme Director, to acknowledge the presence of eminent friends
and partners of our provincial government those whose partnership is
indispensable to our functional efficacy. I would like to extend a special word
of appreciation and gratitude to our sponsors BHP Billiton and GWK for their
immeasurable contribution towards the success of this event.
I also wish to take this opportunity and thank all of you who continue to
support us as government in our initiatives to continue fulfilling the promises
we made to our people.
Ladies and gentlemen, our programme of action is informed by the inputs we
receive from you and also from listening to our communities through interactive
programmes such as the parliament meets the people programme currently
underway, Imbizos; Executive Council (EXCO) meets the people and other
community interactions.
These interactions, which are held in various parts of the province, solicit
views and opinions of our people on how government provides essential services
and their daily developmental challenges.
During the past three days we listened to our people raising concerns about
the way services are provided they sighted the slow delivery process, the lack
of municipal capacity in addressing their daily grievances, the high municipal
bills, the slow delivery of houses and the lack of job creation initiatives in
their communities.
This was and still is a concern to all of us, which is why this day is
important to us.
Our newly inaugurated mayors and councillors have amongst their major
priorities the critical task of strengthening the local sphere of government
which serves to address the very essence of the concerns which were raised by
our communities.
Our vision of an ideal type municipality is one which has a political and
administrative leadership with capacity for taking a strategic role in the
formulation and execution of development strategies.
A leadership with technical capacity and your support to analyse problems,
formulates feasible solutions and implements them in technically competent
ways.
Such an ideal type municipality given local government proximity to the
people must also have the possibility to mobilise for the participation of the
business community in matters of governance.
Through project consolidate we seek to harness the additional resources from
other spheres of government as well as from the private domain to the task of
improving the performance of our municipalities.
Ladies and gentlemen, we believe that with you as key socio economic
partners in the private sector we will find new creative, practical and impact
orientated modes of engaging, supporting and working with our local
government.
As government we also have a responsibility to support entrepreneurship to
create new jobs and ensure that our neighbouring communities are vibrant and
prosperous beyond the life of mining and the services provided in major
cities.
In fact all sectors of our society need to put their shoulders to the wheel
to improve their social development and ensure a sustainable future for us
all.
It is therefore very important to contribute through sharing knowledge,
contributing to the debate of promoting best practice and most of all embracing
our challenges whole heartedly.
The continuing challenge we face on poverty calls on of us to ensure that
our municipalities develop the necessary capacity to translate government
resources into instruments with which to confront problems of poverty and
underdevelopment.
Programme Director, our province touches the Atlantic Ocean and borders
Namibia and Botswana making it a province, which is ideally situated as a
gateway to Western African Markets.
It lies to the south of its most important asset, the mighty Orange River,
which provides the basis for a healthy agriculture industry. This is why as the
provincial government we are committed at encouraging the expansion of the
manufacturing and services sectors.
In fact the majority of our people in this district are seasonal farm
workers in areas lying on the Orange River basin.
Our tourism industry is already showing significant growth potential and is
also promoted actively. The silence of the veld, the extremes that range from
roaring sand dunes to stark and craggy lunar landscapes are features that are
attracting increased numbers of tourists.
We call on you as representatives of business to grab the unique, profitable
and lucrative opportunities that are offered by this province in the areas of
minerals processing, agro-processing, fishing, mari-culture and tourism.
The opportunities for companies that want to make locally sourced products
are numerous and these include fruit and carrot juice, vegetable canning, wheat
processing, cotton and wool based textiles.
Endless opportunities exist for the production and processing of dates,
olives, rooibos tea and citrus products. The establishments of fruit and
vegetable processing operations would add value to the provinceâs agriculture
products.
Ladies and gentlemen, growth in the agro-related industries would also
create a market for the establishment of related businesses such as fibre sack
and cardboard carton manufacturing.
I am sketching out these few examples as I invite you to join us as partners
as we embark upon a process to grow our economy to yield sustainable growth and
development outcomes for the province and its people.
We have already identified four investment corridors, namely the Namaqua
corridor, Karoo corridor, Diamond Field-Kalahari corridor and the Oranje River
basin.
The Northern Cape accounts for approximately seven percent of global diamond
export by carat, 13 percent of all zinc and lead exports and more than 25
percent of the worldâs manganese exports with the major mining giants operating
in this province.
The Kgalagadi region is the second largest producer of iron ore and has the
ninth largest iron ore reserves in the world which are largely un-mined within
the context of a growing market demand for these ores.
The minerals are largely exported to foreign markets without any direct
beneficiation while there are enormous beneficiation opportunities in the
province.
Through legislation and institutional partnerships government has created
the necessary conditions to beneficiate these minerals, metals and gemstones
and have them working for our province and the people of our country.
Programme director, our province supplies most of the countryâs iron ore
production. Other metals such as limestone, quartz and semi precious stones are
to a large extent processed outside our province. It is our belief, however,
that the opportunities exist for investors to establish processing plants to
add value to these minerals in the Northern Cape.
Last week we announced a new bold development partnership with an
organisation from Belgium called International Economic Strategy (IES), to
execute a wide ranging rapid economic and social development program in the
Northern Cape.
We are still facing the challenge of unemployment in the Kgalagadi district
but we are confidant that we will honour our promise to our people and that we
will unsure a blistering pace in attacking the posted goals of job creation,
poverty reduction and economic growth.
Through this International Economic Strategy (IES) we will deploy a number
of initiatives that will impact significantly on key economic drivers in our
province.
Crime reduction and social engineering will be important features of this
initiative monitored by a robust and rigorous reporting and assessment
methodology.
Whilst a key focus of the IES venture is diamonds and diamond related
beneficiation the strategy for the Northern Cape development extends far beyond
diamonds and minerals to broad based development, job creation, poverty
reduction, education and skills development, foreign direct investment and
tourism.
As the Northern Cape government we hold the view that along the drivers of
the economy, tourism can strongly boost job creation.
Ladies and gentlemen, the Northern Cape Province prides itself with
extensive and well maintained road network with a number of national roads
running through our province linking it to other major cities of economic
activity.
We pride ourselves with an airport at Upington which has the longest civil
aviation runaway in the southern hemisphere. It services the local export table
grape industry that make use of the airport with its ancillary cold storage
facilities using cargo flights to export fresh table grapes to Europe.
The opportunities are endless what is left is for you to seize them and
create much needed jobs for our people.
This, ladies and gentlemen, will and can only be achieved by those who
refuse to submit to constraints both in the public and private sector, women
and men who place their talent and expertise at the service of needy
municipalities.
We call on you as business representatives, farmers and other developmental
sectors to join us as partners who are developmental activists and champions of
people centred development strategies. Poverty and deprivation should be pinned
as the enemy of our people. Skills and humility should be our key weapons.
We are encouraged by the partnership we have developed between the
provincial government, Standard Bank and the Northern Cape Mine Management
Association (NCMMA) in advancing the Northern Cape procurement initiative. We
believe that apart from extracting mineral ore from the earth, local
communities must benefit in other mining related activities such as the
procurement of goods and services to the mines.
I wish to emphasise that the procurement of goods and services to the mines
must benefit local people and Small, Medium and Micro Enterprises (SMMEs) and
not be dominated by people far from the resources.
Ladies and gentlemen, I believe we are all servants of our people and the
public will continue to judge us in terms of how those who are fortunate to
determine the course of development are sharing that privilege with them.
I therefore cannot finish this address without acknowledging the dedication
and hard work of many of you who are making a meaningful contribution in the
growth of our economy.
I would like to express my profound appreciation to all farmers who carried
the cost of ferrying their workers to the National Council of Provinces (NCOP)
proceedings and ensuring that their voices are heard.
I also wish to use this opportunity to once more express my appreciation to
the members of the NCOP under the leadership of the honourable Chairperson Mr
Mahlangu and the rest of his team for your commitment and dedication in serving
our people especially the poorest of the poor.
Together with our traditional leaders, community based organisations (CBOs),
non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and the business community, the future of
our local government and indeed the future of our province and its people.
Governmentâs service delivery mandate requires well established partnerships
that can work together.
I hope that as partners in government you will carefully consider the need
to focus on sector specific interventions as well as project level
opportunities.
The ultimate goal is to ensure that through societyâs growth and development
expectations the Northern Cape is built into a prosperous province where its
citizens celebrate as a united nation its economic benefits and natural
beauty.
Together let us do what we have to do for the sake of our people and our
country.
I thank you.
Issued by: Office of the Premier, Northern Cape Provincial Government
29 March 2006
