KZN Premier Dr Zweli Mkhize today officially opened the two-day Rural Development Summit in Durban by clearly defining mandarins of the summit, of bringing all stakeholders together to develop a plan for developing rural areas, while eliminating duplication and confusion of each party's role.
Dr Mkhize thanked Zulu king Goodwill Zwelithini KaBhekuzulu, who has championed issues of rural development in the province, and his continued fight against poverty through various initiatives.
He said any talk of rural development cannot afford to exclude peri-urban settlemts, which developed mainly due to labour migration, which continues to see large numbers of people moving to urban areas in search of employment.
He said the current spatial development plans across the province seem to be taking place in isolation of one another, with each municipality for an example developing its own IDP without being informed by what other plans exist in the region, district or province.
"The policy of separate development as it was written into law, has been one of the most vicious weapons of the Apartheid State which limited the African people in South Africa to use of only 13% of the land, which was previously theirs. The Native Administration Act then excluded Africans from 87% of the land and reserved this for other racial groups. It is here that migratory labour had its origins and as we look currently at our demographics and population movement to Gauteng, for example, we see the reality of the impact of migratory labour still staring us in the face in the 21st century," said Dr Mkhize.
Dr Mkhize said whilst our province is rich in resources, and has unlimited potential for prosperity, a defining characteristic of our rural landscape is the limited economic and social activity, formal and informal, which contrasts with the urban and commercial farming areas we have.
He said Provincial Government's vision for rural development in KwaZulu-Natal is: “By 2030 rural communities in KwaZulu-Natal will have sustainable prosperity through viable development, growing economies, healthy and skilled people, full employment and universal access to all basic social services.”
He said government's intention is not to “urbanise” rural areas. "There are some expressions of concern being raised that in our attempts to promote the growth and development of rural areas, we are trying to generate more urban environments. This is not the case at all. This is simply about giving back dignity to the poor and to those who are in rural areas. It is about creating decent living standards, where people can make choices about their lives, that of their children and where women and youth are not left out of the mainstream of the economy," said Dr Mkhize.
He said rural areas have got to become active social and economic centres where investors can see the potential of rural areas and the opportunities that exist for business development so that we can create jobs, stimulate small enterprise development, link small businesses to markets, encourage small holder farmers to plough and sustain their farms and make them productive so that the future generations can see the improvement in their lives.
Dr Mkhize said rural development can be an outcome of cohesion in dealing with issues affecting rural areas.
Enquiries:
Ndabezinhle Sibiya, Spokesperson for the Premier
Cell: 082 375 4742
Regi Khumalo, Media Liaison Desk for the Premier
Cell: 079 751 6108
