MEC Ina Cronje today addressed a contingent of Richards Bay businessmen during a post budget breakfast meeting, part of a roadshow programme she is undertaking to explain the budget allocations and to share ideas on how to effectively address priority areas and thereby improve the lives of the people.
Ms Cronje appealed to business people to partner with the government in teaching children, young people, older people and pensioners basic finance concepts such as savings as the government is calling upon all citizens of this province to start reducing their level of indebtedness and start saving in this savings month.
“Tomorrow we are celebrating a Madiba Day, which was announced by President Jacob Zuma in his State of the Nation Address. All South Africans are called to spend 67 minutes of their time performing duties or activities that are useful to the community on that day. Let us use Madiba Day as well as any other day to help someone. We call on business people from this area should tomorrow dedicate their allocated Madiba Day time towards helping us in promoting the call to the people of this province to manage their finances better and wisely.”
uThungulu remains one of our districts that is growing very fast, whilst attracting a lot of foreign and local investment, eThekwini better watch out. We visit this area in a time when global rating agencies have down graded many developed and developing countries with the financial crisis. South Africa is one of the three countries that were upgraded as Moody’s investors services have reported and I have no doubts in my mind that this district as one of our leading investment nodes had a lot of input towards this achievement.
The MEC went on to address a public meeting, where she encouraged the masses to participate in all the business opportunities that the government has for them.
For more information contact:
Musa Cebisa
Cell: 071 687 8777
Issued by: Department of Finance, KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Government
17 July 2009
