during the launch of the South African Social Security Agency (SASSA) in
Greytown
21 June 2007
Programme Director
Minister of Social Development Dr Zola Skweyiya
MEC for Social Welfare and Population Development Dr Meshack Radebe,
Mayor of UMzinyathi, District Cllr, M S Yengwa
Mayor of Umvoti Cllr PMS Ngubane
Inkosi M Zondi
CEO of SASSA, Mr F Makiwane
Ladies and gentlemen
In February this year, we delivered the State of the Province Address. Our
theme was "building the economy through partnerships." The thrust of our theme
for the whole of this year is that as a province we will rise and fall on the
basis of our partnership, the extent to which we are prepared to work together.
We must partner in all areas of our lives. We are here today, different
departments of one government, as part of that partnership in order to rid our
country and province of poverty. In this case we will deal with poverty by
bringing services closer to where our people live and by ensuring that all
services of government are accessible to the majority of our people.
Extent of Challenges
Our province is home to 21% of the population of South Africa. We have an
urban/ rural distribution of 46/54. While it is accepted that there has been an
increase in the quality of life for our people, the incidence of poverty in
KwaZulu remains one of the highest in the country. Between 1996 and 2002 we had
established that unemployment had increased by 9,3% according to the strict
definition, and by 9,6% according to the expanded definition. Poverty and
unemployment manifest themselves in the villages, townships and cities of our
province. It affects human beings.
In particular unemployment amongst women had increased by 3,6%, faster than
among men. At any given time we have a female unemployment rate of 54,8%
compared with male unemployment rate of 40,2%. We announce every year a higher
allocation to education, the highest in the country. We are also dealing with
one of the highest prevalence rate of HIV/AIDS in the country. Our numbers of
orphans, child headed homes are increasing in proportion to the rate of our
HIV/AIDS epidemic. In 2006, as part of the African Peer Review Mechanism we
identified the following indicators of the spatial differentiation of poverty
across the districts of our province. In the APRM report we said the
following:
* The general trend is that people are living in poverty in KwaZulu-Natal
and that poverty has increased over the last five years.
* Poverty is widespread and deep-rooted in the non-urban and rural areas.
* Poverty is more prevalent in Black households than in other race groups. This
therefore means that poverty is essentially a Black problem.
Measures to address poverty
* For us to deal with these challenges we have done the following: Local
government is now stable and it incorporates traditional leadership. All eleven
District Houses of Traditional Leaders were inaugurated in 2006.
* We have also stabilised provincial government and found peace in order to
create an environment that is conducive to economic growth. Economic growth is
the only sure way of growing the whole pie, so that the standard of living for
our people can rise consistently until poverty and unemployment are completely
eliminated.
* We are also running a caring and a developmental state which among other
things uses its resources wisely to provide social safety nets to the poor and
vulnerable. Our government ensures that these safety nets are sustainable over
time and do not trap people on that level.
It is for this reason that the eradication of poverty has been at the centre
of our policies and programmes since the first democratic elections. In 2004 we
identified the goal of halving poverty in South Africa by 2014. We have always
said we need to understand where the desperately poor people are concentrated.
Then we will develop social safety net interventions and employment creating
programmes aimed at limiting dependence on welfare assistance. It is this
objective which has driven the integrated basket of government social
development and upliftment programmes in extremely poor localities such as
Nkandla and Msinga within the framework of Operation Mbo. It is also in the
same spirit that we are here today.
Economic Growth through tourism
According to statistics provided by the Tourism Authority of KwaZulu-Natal
for the year 2005, KwaZulu-Natal received a total of 11,6 million domestic
visitors and 1,6 million international visitors. This translated into a value
of R20,7 billion for the provincial economy. It is incumbent upon the people of
this municipality and others to ensure that the tourists visit every part of
our province. With our heritage and history, tourism is potentially one of the
quickest growth sectors going forward. We are told that seven tourists who
visit our country create at least one job.
Progress so far
We are pleased that our efforts are beginning to bear fruit. Our people all
over the province are able to experience the qualitative improvement in their
lives. This is because we have in the face of challenges been able to achieve
the following:
The Gross Domestic Product per region (GDP-R) of the province of
KwaZulu-Natal is now the second largest in the country after Gauteng and the
GDP-R growth rate rose over fivefold from 1,0% in 1999 to 5,3% in 2005. Our
provincial economy has the potential to reach a 10% growth rate by the year
2014. We have been able to reduce unemployment from 36,3% in 2003 to 29,9% in
2006. According to Global Insight, the percentage of people in poverty in this
province (poverty rate) decreased from 54,0% in 2004 to 51,9% in 2005. These
are real steps towards the eventual elimination of poverty and
unemployment.
It will however take more than government to reach this goal. It will take a
partnership between and among all sectors and all our people. Let us start from
the village. Let us talk about what the challenges are, which face us and
militate against this march away from poverty. The State of the Village,
communities in dialogue programme will help us know why children do not
complete Matric. Is it because boys are arrested or killed? Is it because the
girls fall pregnant? Poverty is perpetuated by lack of education. Let us deal
with this issue in our communities. Next we will do audits of professionals in
the Village. How many teachers do we have, taxi drivers, plumbers, bricklayers?
Then we can identify opportunities and impediments. We are aware that to deal
with this challenge of poverty and unemployment we must tap into our growth
areas. These are agriculture, tourism, manufacturing and industry, as well as
transportation and logistics where it is relevant.
Masisukume Sakhe iKwaZulu-Natal!
Issued by: Office of the Premier, KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Government
21 June 2007
