Madam Speaker
Honourable Members
Invited guests
First and foremost, I want to congratulate those who took part in the Nelson Mandela Marathon last weekend, especially members of this house. As you all know, this race is not only about running but it is also aimed at mobilizing society to preserve the legacy of Tata Mandela. A towering giant that inspired the whole world by mounting a fight for equality and social justice, Madiba is known for his endurance, determination and perseverance.
It was these characteristics that propelled him to lead millions of our people across all racial lines to vote in the first ever democratic elections in 1994. We must remember that Madiba was the face and a symbol of the struggle he led together many compatriots and heroes of the liberation movement.
When we ushered in a free and democratic South Africa, we also celebrated the unyielding efforts of many compatriots who made the ultimate sacrifice in their quest to liberate this country from the yoke of oppression. Millions of people celebrated the opportunity to elect leaders of their choice into a democratic government that represents their aspirations.
The majority of people, who had been subjected to the jaws of poverty for decades, celebrated the prospects of seeing their suffering disappearing. It is for these reasons that throughout my years in the provincial government of KwaZulu-Natal as a public representative I have sought to do what was in the best interest of the people of this province. For our people any of us who are elected representatives are a continuation of that struggle for the creation of a better society and a better country.
Hence i must state that since i joined the struggle for freedom as a young man, all the decisions I have made, including over the past 19 years have been solely aimed at the upliftment and the realization of a better life for the people of KwaZulu-Natal. I joined this House in 1994 as part of the first batch of public representatives who were pioneers of what a post-apartheid parliament would be like.
Amongst the original corps of provincial parliamentarians are the following:
- Hon T W Mchunu,
- Z Mlaba,
- Ina Cronje,
- Happy Blose,
- Fatima Nahara,
- Michael Mabuyakhulu,
- M B Gwala,
- B S Mohlaka,
- H L Combrink.
It was a different province. Ravaged by violence and smitten with hostility and bitterness especially between ANC and IFP. Speaker GS Mdlalose had tough time containing the often unruly legislators who often disregarded his authority and exchange unpleasantries not fit to be repeated in such honourable house. I recall we times when a standoff spilled to the premise outside this House.
Once there members drew guns against one another as two groups clashed at the entrance gate. This shocked the police and media across the road published photos and everyone was aghast. When the statement had to be made to explain such conduct, the two members produced evidence on how they had acted responsibly as leaders to cool down fighting radicals on either side.
Another day a party leader decided to wait on the corridor to finish physically a debate that could not be concluded verbally as their language was found unsuitable for the house. Strong persuasion ultimately prevented the premises to be converted into a boxing ring. Sometimes the house would break up with songs that were typical of the tensions in the hinterland. It was not uncommon for political differences in this house to spill over into tension in the community instead of the house resolving them.
We must pay tribute to two leaders who led us in this House, Dr Frank Themba Mdlalose, the former Chairman of IFP and First Premier and President JG Zuma. They led bilateral meetings and calmed down a lot of conflict and brought sanity.
Through various peace initiatives and bilateral meetings between ANC and IFP the atmosphere of political intolerance was transformed to create a new spirit of open but peaceful competition and cooperation. At long last we had meetings where the ANC and IFP leaders realized the bloodletting and the violence was not only unnecessary, but the two parties belonged together and there may be better ways to resolve political differences.
These initiatives bore fruits and were strongly augmented by the call by the king Isilo SamaBandla who insisted on a non-partisan path, as well as the prayers and platforms created by the KwaZulu-Natal clergy, led amongst others by Rev Dr Mgojo.
On the part of the ANC, it should be noted that the presence of the His Excellency Jacob Zuma in the provincial legislature played a pivotal role in promoting peace and tolerance. He played a significant role in grooming and shaping many of the KwaZulu-Natal leadership and building a strong culture of mutual respect and ability to work together for a victory for the ANC in the province.
President Zuma taught us that leadership required courage and focus. He taught us that ours was a principled cause to change society for the better and therefore nothing could stand on our way to freedom and democracy. He taught us that unbanning of political parties did not mean peaceful acceptance of our struggle for freedom and that the violence after 1994 meant that democracy will continue to be challenged by forces opposed to our cause even when a democratically elected government is in office.
Today we stand here on a very different house which is decent and respectful and peaceful and thriving province. Having been part of this inspiring journey I wish to salute people of this province for contributing to my personal development.
I stand here with a deep sense of humility and appreciation to the former and current members of this house for the support. To the people who placed their trust and faith in me, I am proud to stand here today and proclaim that with your support I never let them down and never will.
The robust debate and a climate of co-existence of political parties ensured that despite holding different opinions, all members of this house worked together to champion the government’s agenda of fighting poverty, unemployment, crime and corruption. While robust debate is essential to the democratic process, we have always acknowledged in this house that it should seek to address the needs of the society.
The manner in which members of this house conducted themselves demonstrated the desire on their part to ensure that they become more relevant to the electorate and that they are able to address their needs. This is extremely important because failing to do so will result in the long-term decline in the authority of this house and the respect for the government institutions, and our people become the losers.
I want to express my gratitude to the former premiers, whom I served under from 1994 until 2009, for allowing me to use the power and authority bestowed on me as the member of this house to speed up service delivery.
- Former Premier Frank Mdlalose
- Former Premier Ben Ngubane
- Former Premier Lionel Mtshali
- Former Premier Sbu Ndebele
I learnt from them all, even though we had our serious moments of disagreements.These men did their best under difficult circumstances to uphold the dignity of office. They have charted a path that we need to follow to take our province to prosperity.
Time does not allow me to relate interesting times during that experience of building a government from the different backgrounds and tough and challenging environment that we were not only work under but to also have to transform for the better. The short lived tenure of Dr Ngubane was a reflection of political dynamics of those days.
We moved from IFP led government of provincial unity. In 1994, to coalition government in 1999 led by Hon LPHM Mtshali, and later ANC led inclusive government with invited parties led by Premier Ndebele. These were very important to help the province to heal and ensure acceptance of divergent views and elimination of no go zones. That these were often stormy and rough is the price we had to pay to progress to normality. That today we could host an executive that consists of one party is a reflection of the maturity of both members of this house and grass root membership and party rank and file.
Together, we committed ourselves to ensuring the defense of the sacred freedom that we won as a result of a long, difficult and costly struggle. On many occasions when we faced difficulties such as the resurgence of violence in various parts of the province we reminded ourselves that the protection of freedom required permanent vigilance.
We pledged to devote ourselves to continue to work with leaders of all political parties because we realized that peace and stability were key enabling factors for KwaZulu-Natal’s reconstruction and redevelopment. We took a firm stand that KZN would not become a destination for foreign direct investment if there was continuing political violence with leaders of political parties often attacking each other publicly just to advance narrow party interests.
We made a firm commitment to invest more in social infrastructure such as education and health and to build transport networks that will become catalysts for socio-economic development. Honourable members, nineteen years into our democratic South Africa, the Province of KwaZulu-Natal in particular has been transformed into the peace haven and destination of choice for global investors and holiday makers from all over South Africa and the globe.
We have rebranded KZN and presented it to the world as a province characterized by good governance and hard work. The excellent infrastructure developed since 1994 under the leadership of different MECs for Economic Development (Jacob Zuma, Roger Burrows, myself and Mike Mabuyakhulu) has ensured that we become a serious economic player competing on equal footing with economies of the world.
It is not surprising that over the years we have seen inward investments and the flow of goods, services, knowledge and variety of skills in health, ICT and engineering into this province. Our marketing efforts have generated interests resulting in the provincial government hosting numerous business delegations from many countries. We have in turn undertaken fact-finding missions to different parts of the world as part of our efforts aimed at ensuring that KZN economy serves as an engine for South Africa and Africa’s socio-economic development.
We have hosted successfully, international events of note, thereby putting KZN on the global map. When we attained democracy in 1994, KZN was the third contributor to the national GDP behind the Western Cape. In 2013 KZN is the second largest economy in SA, recording a GDP of R322 bn KZN has also been one of the fastest growing economies growing at 4% per annum between 2001 and 2005 and at 3.3% from 2006 to 2009 despite the recession.
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KZN economy outperformed the national economy during 2012, 2.95% vs 2.55%2.
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The KZN Growth Index increased by 16.7% over the past three years
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The KZN Barometer recorded an increase of 18% over the past three years
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The KZN Investment Monitor increased by 20% over the past three years
- The KZN Risk Index has turned favourable for the first time in three years
We attribute this success to the hard work of the members of this house. The partnership between government, private sector and organised labour has also ensured that over the years we worked together to create an economy that is both globally-competitive and inclusive.
Over the past four years, we saw more work going into the restructuring of the provincial government and emphasis had been on more effective service delivery processes and introduction of a more integrated approach in the provision of government services to our people through Operation Sukuma Sakhe.
All MECs, including myself were assigned as champions for rural development into all the districts to help the above campaign of fighting poverty. This campaign has ensured that services are brought together at the level of communities in the wards and it empowers communities to discuss service delivery issues with various government officials who do not necessarily work at ward levels in a venue designated as War room.
This strategy has been implemented to coordinate the efforts of various sectors and mobilizes society for a common purpose. bAlthough there were teething problems at the beginning, we have all managed to turn things around with the campaign becoming a tool for driving social cohesion. We were humbled when the Deputy President of the Republic Kgalema
Motlanthe commended KwaZulu-Natal Government for launching Operation Sukuma Sakhe during his speech in the National Assembly. Our strategy to look after orphans and widows piloted through Lungisisa Indlela Village led by Tich and Joana Smith will stand as a model that will change this province and country where government, business, and the churches cooperate to save the next generation through a sustainable livelihood. The Ndumo model school will provide a model to simultaneously the standard of education for the rural children and poor communities.
Honourable members, it is most gratifying to have been part of a leadership collective that worked towards fighting fraud and corruption. From the onset, we took a firm stand to uproot and fight corruption in the provincial government departments including municipalities because we want to conserve resources as fraud and corruption have a potential to cause massive drain of government resources thereby undermining service delivery.
Fraud and corruption is a cancer which, if not arrested has potential to irreparably harm the international standing of our province and its reputation amongst its citizens, making our people lose faith in the future of our democratic country. Fighting corruption is about the restoration of the fibre of our society.
Both the KZN legislature and the executive council have always sent out a consistent message that this government needs a leadership with integrity and a leadership that is able to champion the cause of the voting public unaffected by any conflict of interest and tendency towards self-enrichment.
A significant development in the fight against fraud, corruption and maladministration in the provincial government was the signing of the Protocol Agreement between the Public Protector South Africa and the KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Executive Council few weeks ago.
This is in addition to partnerships with other chapter nine institutions such as the AG which have assisted this government to strengthen service delivery. It is with pride that today, as the country and the world strides forward, the provincial I applaud all government departments for committing to our plans of ensuring that the resources of the provincial government are used to benefit our people.
When we started this term of office, we faced the prospect of a massive overexpenditure of over R4, 5 billion. The management of our expenditure patterns has ensured we are able to reduce this - resulting in positive cash records. These costcutting measures have since been recommended by National Treasury for implementation by all provinces.
In addition, this government has managed the capital budget very well, ensuring that there is zero under-spending. We have been able to spend the infrastructure budget without returning a cent to the national government. A zero percent under expenditure!
I must pause here and congratulate members of this house for their vigorous oversight role as well as MECs, their HODs, Chief Financial Officers and all categories of staff for the well job done. I leave this province with so much satisfaction because over the years we have seen an improvement in the education. We have adopted an approach that seeks to mobilize multi-stakeholder participation in order to improve the quality of our education.
Our major focus has been the creation of a support base of all community leaders and civil society to rally behind School Governing Bodies, teachers and learners for the improvement of quality of education and outcomes. Members of parliament and executive are known for making unannounced school visits to schools to monitor whether teachers are in school, in class, on time and teaching. This has created an awareness making communities realize that education is everybody’s concern.
This government must continue to mobilize society to ensure that teachers are in school, in class, on time and teaching and that parents are involved in their children’s education. At the beginning of this term of office of this current government, the president of the Republic His Excellency Mr J.G Zuma described crime as a top priority for government.
It is for this reason that in 2010 the provincial government launched the United Front Against Crime. Our feeling as government at that time was that it is important that we unite the people of this country and begin to move away from the usual attitude of often blaming the police but to refine a multi prong strategy to fight crime.
As government we have always stated that focusing on blaming the police tends to conceal the major role that each and every one of us should be playing in crime prevention. Over the years the people of KwaZulu-Natal have demonstrated that they want to leave in a free and democratic state where there is no housebreaking, no drug trafficking, and no hijackings.
We have been working with community leaders and ordinary members of communities in various areas such as Inanda, Chatsworth, Wentworth and recently Hillcrest to fight crime. The message has been loud and clear, “Police alone cannot deal with criminals unless if there are people in the community who can work with police to make it possible for criminals to commit crime.”
Today I want to appreciate the commitment of all communities who have come forward and joined hands with government over the years in building a better future together with the people of KwaZulu-Natal
During this term of office the diverse peoples of our beautiful province joined hands during national days such as Heritage Day to showcase the rich tapestry of our multiracial, multi-ethnic and multi-cultural composition. We have successfully promoted the culture of peaceful coexistence, political tolerance, fighting racism and xenophobia and promoting equality, non-sexism, nonracialism and justice. As the provincial government we have said this must be the daily task of all leaders in our society.
As I step down from my position as the Premier of this Province I want to state that I am humbled by the show of unity and maturity in this House. The conduct of members of all political parties gives me hope that values of humility, respect, subordination of personal interest to that of the majority of our people – will remain alive and embedded in those who are part of this government.
The support from the churches, and all Faith based organisation, especially all the top leaders Cardinal, Bishops, leaders in all faiths. This has been a good partnership. The presence today of Amakhosi in the Provincial House and regional leadership reflects the strong partnership between us.
Bo Ndabezitha nime njalo !
The support from the private sector and business chambers and Growth Coalition has been superb. We are partners in growth and development. A winning formula! I salute all members of the opposition for your contribution during my term of office. I want to express my appreciation to my party, the African National Congress for the support given to me all these years.
There has been good cooperation between the ANC and its Alliance in the formation of the provincial government and the legislature. Importantly, I want to that all the leaders of the ANC and Alliance for the support that they have given to the deployees in government.
Both the Executive and the Legislature is fully compliant with the policy of gender equality and regularly brief the leadership on pertinent issues of governance. I have no doubt that as I step down, such support will be extended to the new incumbent.
I wish to thank Isilo SamaBandla and the Royal House for all the support to this House, the executive and to myself personally for giving me strength. I want to thank my wife, May-Mashego, my son, Dedani, my daughters and their families for the support over the years. Ngibonga abaMbo bonke abakhona nabangekho kulendlu ngokungisekela.
Niyabona sekuyiso isikhathi sokuhamba. Ngafika ngiseyibhungu ubhuti, ngakhula ngaba ngu-baba. Manje sengingumkhulu ka Seneme no Zuza Malungu ahloniphekile ngiyohlala nginikhumbula nginihlonipha
I thank you
