Protocol,
We want to express our sincere gratitude to the Honourable Premier, Dr ZL Mkhize for having delivered a State of the Province Address that succinctly captured and communicated the aspirations of our government in building a better life for all of our people.
Indeed, the province of KwaZulu-Natal is the envy of all the other regions of our country, for through our Premier’s address, we have been able to instill hope in our people and, practically, prove that we are on track towards the attainment of a society fit for our people.
Chairperson, on the day preceding the State of the Province Address, His Majesty the King had set the tone for all of us in his speech when he officially opened our Legislature. His Majesty’s message to all of us, ordinary citizens and political leaders alike, was one that inspired us to do even better but also highlighted the pitfalls that we have to negotiate on our march to a democratic, prosperous, non-racial and non-sexist society.
Indeed our province is blessed to be led by a visionary King whose preoccupation is the well-being, growth and development of our people. We also wish to salute His Majesty for having reached a rare milestone of leading us for forty years, during which he has been a guiding light of development and prosperity for all of us.
We also wish to assure His Majesty that we will always be true to his observation that real leaders are those who are alive to the needs and the aspirations of their people. From this side of the House, this has always been a way life. Bayede Hlanga Lomhlabathi! As I prepared for this debate and marveled at the inimitable level of foresight shown by the His Majesty and the Honourable Premier, I was reminded of the words of Steadman Graham who once said:
“People who let events and circumstances dictate their lives are living reactively. That means that they don't act on life, they only react to it.”
Clearly, the Honourable Premier is not the kind of a leader who lets circumstances dictate the lives of our people. As a revolutionary, he understands that we constantly need to strive to determine our destiny, irrespective of the pitfalls that we have to negotiate. The current epoch of our struggle needs such leaders.
Madam Speaker, the Honourable Premier has given all of us our marching orders and all that we have to do is to act on those orders. Since 2004, the province of KwaZulu-Natal has been briskly catching up and even out-pacing most provincial economies. Over the past six years we have set our province on a growth path, a trend that continued even as the world was grappling with the biggest financial meltdown ever seen in years. In the area of infrastructure development, we have become an undisputed leader.
KwaZulu-Natal will never be the same again, simply because our world class multi modal transportation system coupled with our unrivalled infrastructure now allows our province to compete on equal terms in the global marketplace. But more importantly, our province is fast gaining the deserved reputation of being the undisputed logistics hub of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region, owing to the fact that we are the only province in this country and indeed in the region which boasts two ports and air freight capabilities. Not only are we assuming the status of being the investment destination of choice, but we will soon become the gateway to the African continent because of our strategic location.
In this regard, the Dube Tradeport has become the central pillar to our province’s objective of re-positioning KwaZulu-Natal in the global supply chain as Southern Africa’s leading global trade and logistics gateway. Our ongoing investment in the project is driven by our economic strategy to win a greater share of the passenger market through eventing and tourism, as well as becoming the premier regional air cargo hub.
We also wish to take this opportunity to welcome the announcement by the Premier that the old airport site will now be converted into a dug out port;a petro-chemical hub and, in the long term, an automotive supply park. Precisely because we understood that this is a strategic asset which will have to be used for the benefit of all the people of the province, we had to take time and look at all the available options about how to optimally-utilise the old airport site.
In the end, the decision that has been taken is a well thought decision that makes the old airport site a welcome addition to the arsenal of economic tools which will help to unlock the province’s economic potential. We are also now best placed to prepare a comprehensive and competitive bid for Durban to be the host city for the 2020 or 2024 Summer Olympic Games. Provincial government is committed to supporting the submission of a winning bid and is already working hard to identify and address any missing infrastructure elements required for a successful bid. In particular, public transportation from the new international airport and tradeport has to be addressed as a matter of priority.
In this regard, a light rail link alignment has already been scoped from Ballito through the Dube Tradeport to Cornubia/Umhlanga and finally to the sports precinct in the centre of the city of Durban. Although this precinct will be at the centre of the bid submission, there are still many unanswered spatial issues such as the location of the Olympic village. These need to be resolved urgently before a final rail alignment is determined and a serious discussion in this respect will be initiated between all spheres of government to fast track the regulatory approvals, financing and construction of the new line.
Again because we have a Premier that is proactive rather than reactive, we are confident that we will address these challenges and ensure that we draw maximum benefits from our investments.
Madam Speaker, in his State of the Province Address our Premier zoomed in on the critical matter of job creation which was the theme of our President which he delivered his State of the Nation Address. In line with the President’s theme, the Premier announced that our province has set aside R11 billion rand which will be invested in infrastructure.
This shows that our government has not only identified infrastructure development as a springboard for economic growth, but we are putting our money where our mouths are. All esteemed members of this House will agree with us that no single party has invested so much money in infrastructure in the post apartheid era. As members of this House are also aware, our government has adopted the New Growth Path as our compass for economic recovery. This economic road map is aimed at galvanizing all of us from government, labour and business around one common vision to create an inclusive economy in which all of us can have a stake.
The economic future of this country is dependent on all of us working together, understanding that our fate is inextricably linked. From our side as government we have committed ourselves to work with all the stakeholders to turn the lessons of the economic recession into tangible economic benefits. As many of you Honourable members will recall in his State of the Nation Address, the President also announced that our government had set aside R9 billion for job creation.
As the province of the KwaZulu-Natal we are already in the process of identifying investment projects in order for us to benefit from this war-chest to fight poverty and unemployment. In line with our provincial spatial growth and development strategy, we have identified a number of sectors which have a potential for growth and employment creation. These are, among others, Agriculture, Agri-processing, information and communications technology (ICT) and Business Process Outsourcing (BPO), Manufacturing and Tourism.
Madam Speaker, the Premier has already pointed the way for all of us. In his own words, we now need to unite and holds hands in partnership and work together to build a prosperous KwaZulu-Natal characterised by shared growth.
I thank you.
