His Majesty the King, Hlanga Lomhlabathi
Madam Speaker
Deputy Speaker
Honourable Members of the Provincial Executive
Honourable Members of the Legislature
Mayors and Councillors of Local Government
Amakhosi and members of Traditional Councils present
Members of the Royal Family
The Director-General
Heads of Departments and Public Entities
Business Leaders
Religious Leaders
Leaders representing the Youth, Women and the Disabled
Your Excellencies, Members of the Diplomatic Corps
Distinguished guests
Ladies and gentlemen
People of KwaZulu-Natal
As I rise to address this House, I wish to express my appreciation to His Majesty for his speech he delivered yesterday and for gracing this house today. The words of wisdom and the guidance contained in your speech are once more appreciated. We want to assure you that as public representatives we will work with you. Bayede! Hlanga Lomhlabathi.
Madam Speaker, the Olduvai Gorge sometimes referred to as “Cradle of Mankind”, is a rare archaeological site which is located at the Serengeti plains at the foot of Ngorongoro nature conservation reserve in Northern Tanzania.
This spectacular site combines fossils, bones, stone tools and ancient artifacts. It is home to different species of wild animals. It stretches 47km and a stands out height estimated at 295 feet (90metres).
If you stand at the top and look at the valley below, you feel the danger from all sides but at the same time you are spellbound by the breath-taking cliff and valley below you with the sounds of different wild animals conspiring to spin your head around. This precarious balance produces an exciting contradiction of fear of danger and the desire to explore the beauty and tranquillity offered by nature.
The combination of realities and possibilities in our country and our province compare accurately with the above scenario. The reality is that we have challenges which are mainly the legacy of our ugly past but over the past 20 years we have seen progress in many aspects of our lives as South Africans. Clean water, electricity, new roads, decent houses, increase access to education and healthcare facilities provide strong evidence that we are in the new South Africa.
The National Development Plan and the Provincial Growth and Development Plan are good indicators for possibilities ahead.
Armed with our 20 years of democracy, we are fully aware of the danger of failure and we dare not. We are empowered by the new tools we have in the new valley below us, our democratic South Africa, and these being our good polices on a wide range of issues including the economy.
The ruling party led by President Jacob Zuma who is also the President of the Republic has declared the next five years and beyond as an era of radical economic transformation. In this era we will tackle unemployment in particular which will logically impact on equality and poverty.
Madam Speaker, we want to thank the people of South Africa and the people of KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) in particular for demonstrating overwhelming confidence on us as the ruling party. We remain humble and loyal to the majority of our people. Together let us move with speed, ensuring a better quality of life for all in our province.
The term from 2009 to 2014 saw us making enormous progress on the basic needs of our people especially on what had been promised prior to the general elections of 2009. We highlighted our achievements in our first State of the Province Address and the inauguration speech as part of celebrating our 20 years of Freedom. I want to express my gratitude to the former Premier Dr Zweli Mkhize and all the colleagues both in the legislature and executive council.
We served our people until the last day of the term of office. We opened the Spring Groove Dam at Mpofana and MiddleDrift Dam in Nkandla to ensure access to quality water. We began constructing many roads including the road between Kranskop and Nquthu. The road linking Newlands, Clermont and Pinetown is also under construction.
Here in Pietermaritzburg we delivered the Vulindlela housing project to restore dignity to our people who were affected by political violence in the past. We renovated many hospitals such as the Edendale and Murchison as part of our efforts aimed at ensuring the provision of quality healthcare.
We have made a lot of progress in the area of peace and stability and indeed we have seen the blossoming of our diverse culture in our communities, celebrated and embraced by all.
Humanity knows no colour of your skin – thrives in religion and Ubuntu. All of these are a hallmark of being a South African. Compatriots, the provincial government in partnership with the national Department of Arts and Culture is embarking on an initiative to bring back the remains of the world renowned journalist Mr Nat Nakasa.
This will bring closure to a long outstanding matter that has remained a painful wound in the hearts of Nakasa family and of all of us as South Africans. Members of this house will be invited to this historic event. Importantly, Honourable Members, Ramadaan has dawned on our Muslim of our country once again.
The next thirty days of fasting are not only a spiritual period of abstention from food and drink but also a time of deep spiritual rejuvenation. To my Muslim brothers and sisters, I believe that the positive benefit that you derive from the holy month of Ramadaan will help us in our quest for nation building and reconciliation. As one nation, we need to celebrate our different cultures that make with pride. In September we will celebrate Heritage Month which will coincide with Umkhosi Womhlanga. There are many other cultural events including Umkhosi Woselwa which we will celebrate making KZN a nice place to live in.
Economy
Madam Speaker, our Provincial Plan of Action for the next Five years is in line with our 2030 vision which is to be “A prosperous Province, with healthy secure and skilled people, acting as a gateway to Africa and the World”.
We want to acknowledge the two critical players in our economy – the private sector both local and foreign based – and labour. Neither can succeed without the other.
We are committed to an on-going partnership with the private sector in the struggle for economic growth and wealth creation. We have in place the strategy and fora to carry this particular task and we appreciate the spirit of cooperation that we see in our province.
I wish to reiterate the commitment of this government to work with organised labour to ensure skills development and to maintain stability in both private and public sectors. This commitment is informed by the acknowledgement that the workers play a critical role as they are the ones who are in the engine rooms of our economy. Notwithstanding the fact that the KZN economy has grown in real terms as measured in terms of 2005 Rand value from R270 billion in 2010 to R347 billion in 2014, this growth has not been as bold.
The provincial economy is projected to grow at 3,0% in 2014 and around 3,5% to 4,0% in 2015. Although the tertiary sector continues to be the largest contributor to the regional economic growth, the province is better positioned to capitalise on agriculture, mineral beneficiation, manufacturing, tourism, freight and logistics, as well as the financial services sector to boost its growth level.
We are concerned about recent losses of jobs in the agricultural sector, about youth unemployment and the fact that real and meaningful black economic empowerment is slow. We understand that these conditions are posing a serious risk to our society and are further exposing our people to poverty, food insecurity, substance abuse and criminal activity.
Poverty and inequality in KZN is eradicated
Today we want to firmly declare poverty as public enemy number one. We are committing to throw our full weight behind poverty eradication. We will be intensifying support of vulnerable groups, in particular mothers and children; the disabled; communities on commercial farms and informal settlements.
We have adopted a Poverty Eradication Programme and Package. This programme will ensure that as government we work with all non-governmental partners to eradicate poverty through our Operation Sukuma Sakhe in part.
Some of the targets we have set for ourselves are to ensure that by 2020 we would have reduced the percentage of households that have gone hungry in a 12 month period from 35% to less than 25%.
We also aim to have the current School Nutrition Programme developed in the iLembe District, replicated and rolled out in all the districts in the province. This programme will feed 2,5 million children every day from local produce and will obviously also provide wonderful opportunities as a market for our agricultural sector as well as for additional job creation.
Within the first year of this term, we have to ensure that the Provincial Food Security Strategy in line with Poverty Eradication Package, which includes the Schools Nutrition Programme and Nutrition Development Centres, reaches at least 85 000 household in KZN.
Madam Speaker, it is our intention as government to half unemployment and to ensure that:
- Total value of output of all sectors within the provincial economy increases from 2010 value of R267 200 million to R450 000 million in 2020 and to R750 000 million in 2030, as measured in 2005 Rand value;
- Total employment within the provincial economy of KZN increases from 2,4 million in 2010, to 3,3 million in 2020 and 4,5 million in 2030. This translates to us having to create 2.1 million jobs by 2030, of which 900 000 have to be created by 2020; and;
- The GDP per Capita within the provincial economy of KZN should increase from R28 110 per capita in 2010, to R39 760 in 2020 and R56 230 in 2030. This implies doubling of GDP Per Capita as a target set in the National Development Plan.
We indicated earlier on that we have entered the era of radical economic transformation. As part of radical economic transformation, government is developing new ways of doing things from a more theory and experimenting to a pragmatic approach and implementation. Successes in other parts of the world serve as a guide as we pursue higher economic growth.
The new government recognises progress that has been made on the economic growth and on transforming the economy to benefit those who were previously oppressed and excluded from meaningful economic activity and benefiting. Equally there is full recognition that for economic growth to be meaningful in the future, the empowerment of indigenous Africans has to be at the top of the national and provincial agenda.
As the provincial government we are already working on a shift with regards to government focus on empowerment. The objective is to address real concerns that the balance of distribution of wealth in the province should tilt towards indigenous Africans in an equitable manner. The most important and critical area of our work on economic development is identifying the economic sectors that are better geared to respond to our efforts. These sectors include amongst others, Agriculture, Manufacturing, Maritime, Transport and Logistics, Renewable Energy as well as Tourism.
Small Business
Madam Speaker, as much as we want to see our big business get bigger, we also need to see more successful small and medium business as they are the largest contributors to new employment opportunities.
Our targets in respect of small medium and micro enterprise (SMME) development over the next five years are to increase the number of small businesses that having been in operation for more than two years from the current 15 000 to at least 22 000. We want to increase the number of jobs through the establishment of SMMEs and Coops by at least 300 000.
We are encouraging our compatriots in the townships and in rural areas to work hard and rekindle their interests in business. Our message as government is that go back to those general dealership and township businesses that characterised this country for many years.
The newly established KwaZulu-Natal Small Business Development Agency and the National Ministry of Small Business Development will serve as our vehicles as we refocus on small businesses.
We have made this decision because are aware of potential for increased employment in our province. We are also aware of widespread enthusiasm to start small businesses and acknowledge the financial and other difficulties associated with small businesses. As government we want to offer concrete, faster and reliable assistance. This will be part of our core agenda as we move forward.
Madam Speaker, about two years ago Cabinet took a resolution that government departments should pay for services and products procured within 30 days. This was followed by the launch of a campaign called Operation Khokha Ngesikhathi.
We note that not all government departments have complied with this resolution all the time and we are aggrieved. To this effect Treasury Department is directed to enforce compliance and accountability. Noncompliant departments will be brought before the Governance Cluster to account.
Agriculture
Honoured Guests, our targets for the Agricultural Sector over the next five years are to increase employment in this sector from the current 110 000 jobs to 200 000 jobs. We want to facilitate at least 1 000 new farmer entrants and to bring 1 million hectares of unproductive land back into commercial agricultural production.
In order to meet these targets during the first year of this term, we have already signed two Memoranda of Understanding with private sector agricultural investors on the rollout of a programme to establish joint venture commercial agricultural operational entities with emerging farmers. This will bring at least 100 000 hectares of land under agricultural production. We are piloting this concept in the Sahlumbe or Tugela Estates area of the Indaka Municipality under Inkosi Mthembu.
Over and the above this, we will strengthen our working relations with commercial farmers in the province. The working relationship will focus in the main, on ensuring improved access to land by the people of this province especially those in rural areas.
Madam Speaker, the second most important focus is to make available resources for skills development to emerging farmers. These emerging farmers and cooperatives will be treated as entrepreneurs and therefore receive our on-going attention.
Before the end of July this year, the entire cabinet will spend two days in Makhathini Flats in UMkhanyakude District Municipality. Our objectives will be to close the long chapter on the researches, workshops, experiments and discussions on the potential of Makhathini.
We want to open a new chapter based on the proposed Makhathini Integrated Development Plan with a firm view to strengthen implementation. During this visit we will interact with all role players.
We will focus on the implementation of the KZN Livestock Framework focusing on the delivery of 175 new and rehabilitated dip tanks. 100 new boreholes, 135 new and de-silted livestock dams, 200 000 animals branded, ear-tagged and tattooed, 20 000 animals’ micro chipped and training for 1 000 livestock farmers.
Honourable members, over and above this, the sugarcane and the sugar industries will receive our full attention. We see in both industries, the potential for growth and employment of thousands of our people especially those in rural areas. The people of KwaZulu-Natal from eSezela in the South Coast to KwaMnqobokazi in the North Coast have a very strong belief in this crop and we will work with them to unlock its potential.
There are two more issues requiring our urgent attention. The first one is the need for provincial government, district councils through their newly established Small Business Development Agencies and traditional leadership to work closely together to ensure food security, poverty eradication and development of small agricultural industries.
The Departments of Agriculture and Rural Development, Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs; and Economic Development, Environmental Affairs and Tourism will work together in this regard.
Silo SamaBandla I was inspired when you spoke about the meeting of traditional leadership on the 3 July 2014 and we look forward to be part of the meeting and discussions as government.
The second issue that requires our attention Madam Speaker is to strengthen the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development and make it a formidable player in economic development and food security in our province. We will act with speed to achieve this.
Manufacturing
Honoured guests, the manufacturing sector is a key traditional productive sector within the provincial economy, contributing significantly to economic growth, job creation and the generation of foreign capital.
However, the stark decline in the sector over the past decade, coupled with a move towards new technologies and value-adding within the global manufacturing sector highlights the urgent need for the province to stimulate growth within this labour-absorptive sector.
At the same time we must ensure a continued focus on the traditional industries such as automotive and components, metal and metal products, chemicals, furniture and wood products, and clothing and textiles, through initiatives that seek to improve the competitiveness of these industries, and ensure their retention and expansion into new markets.
In addition, numerous new opportunities exist in industries such as the manufacturing of renewable energy products, rolling stock for rail, and marine manufacturing.
The MEC for Economic Development, Tourism and Environmental Affairs and Tourism Mr Mike Mabuyakhulu will elaborate on how to unlock the new opportunities I have highlighted during budget votes presentations.
Maritime
Madam Speaker we are delighted as the province that the national government has realised South Africa’s potential with regards to the maritime industry. South Africa has the coastline that straddles across four provinces – Northern Cape, Western Cape, Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal.
We are delighted that the national government has chosen Durban to host the Ocean LABs. We anticipate the launch of this initiative to be attended by our President, His Excellency JG Zuma before the end of July. We are looking forward to this intense five week workshop attended by international and national marine specialists, as well as representatives of the coastal provinces who to develop an actionable plan to promote the Maritime Sector in South Africa.
Our oceans offer rich opportunities in the drilling of oil and gas, including fishing and aquaculture. We are encouraging ventures such as sea cruising in order to attract the docking of even more huge liners which cruise the world oceans. This has the potential of boosting our tourism industry as KZN is one of the best tourism destinations in the world.
A recent study commissioned by the National Department of Environmental Affairs indicated that South Africa’s marine resources could be optimised to realise an additional R129 to R177 billion and has the potential to create an additional 800 000 to 1 million new jobs by 2030.
This certainly underscores the need for our province, as one of four coastal provinces, to claim its rightful space in the maritime sector. We will therefore move with speed to implement the KZN Maritime Strategy which was adopted earlier this year.
Transport
Honourable members and honoured guests before I focus on transport as a sector, I wish to announce that the RTI Commission of Inquiry appointed to investigate and report on the recruitment process which resulted in the death of eight prospective candidates participating in a fitness test conducted on 27 December 2012 has finished its work.
This report will be handed over to us in a day or two for consideration and will be acted upon. We are glad that the commission has finally finished its work after delays caused by requests from commissioners who wanted to interrogate more evidence.
I must hasten to emphasise that as government we attached importance to thoroughness in the execution of the work of this nature. Some in other quarters used our attention to detail to create the impression that we were deliberately prolonging the anguish of the families of the victims. I want to assure members of this house that our hearts have always been with the affected families.
At this stage, honoured guests, I wish to turn my focus on our plans aimed at using the transport to create employment. The Transport and Logistics sector within KZN is a large contributor to GDP and will continue to play a significant role in the growth of the Provincial economy, particularly in light of the Provincial vision of enhancing industrial development through exports and investment, as well as our gateway Vision.
As government we intend to invest more in infrastructure development initiatives which will create more employment. During the first year of this term we want to ensure that both Dube Trade Port and the Richards Bay IDZ are declared as Special Economic Zones.
We want to ensure the completion of the Installation of Civil and Electrical Engineering Services to Richards Bay IDZ Phase 1A (R 95 million). This will include the opening up of an additional 82 hectares of serviced land available for investor attraction. Madam Speaker, the airports of this province offer greater potential to increase connectivity both at domestic and international levels.
The new King Shaka International Airport (KSIA) and Dube Tradeport, strategically positioned between the ports of Durban and Richards Bay, provides this Province with a wonderful opportunity to pursue its Vision as a Gateway Province.
With the Dube Tradeport further poised to be declared as one of the two SEZs in the Province presents real and significant development opportunities for both the handling of cargo and passengers alike.
It is for this reason that we have embarked on the development of a KZN Integrated Aerotropolis Strategy to establish the viability of developing an Aerotropolis anchored around the King Shaka International Airport and the Dube Trade Port.
This strategy, which will be presented to the Provincial Executive within the first 100 days, is aiming to provide a clear framework for growing air services and connectivity, integrated and coordinated spatial planning, as well as equitable and inclusive growth.
One of the immediate targets of this process is to expand air services with 10 new routes over the next three to five years. Obviously our key objective is to ensure that we can offer a truly multi modal service to potential investors with sea, air, road, rail and pipeline connectivity.
We want to increase the volume of passengers through KZN airports from the current 5.2 million rising to 8million in 2020; and to increase the international tonnage throughput from Dube Trade Port cargo terminal from 6 500 tonnes to 8 000.
The KZN Aerotropolis Strategy will be adopted and the Management Body to implement this Strategy will be fully functional soon. Importantly, we want to involve private sector representation in the Provincial Project Brokering Unit to facilitate resolution of administrative bottlenecks in the delivery of catalytic projects in the Province.
Public Transport
Honoured guests, there is a need for the general improvement on the public transport in the province. We will be engaging more on this issue with our national counterparts to ensure that we improve public transport in rural areas. As government we are committed to ensuring more stability in the taxi industry. The taxi industry is the only sector that is left to survive on violence and general instability.
The industry easily ignites into explosions that spill blood especially of the innocent commuters. Violence in the industry often spills over to affect education and business in general. We are saying this without necessary painting everybody in the industry with the same brush.
We are worried that the behaviour of some taxi operators often demonstrates masculinity that pretends to be beyond everybody’s control. We want to invite this industry to the world of peace and stability. We want them to make an effort to focus on growing this industry - not so much in numbers but more on business and matured leadership. We will engage them in this regard and offer our ideas as government.
On behalf of KZN government, I wish to congratulate the KZN Transport Alliance and the South African National Taxi Council for clinching a deal with Halfway Toyota. I have been informed that this deal sees the two taxi organisations taking 10% in Halfway Toyota Group.
Madam Speaker, in this province we have seen road accidents that are very ugly, causing our emotions to run very high. Road accidents are preventable and can be reduced. We are calling upon all road users - that is individual citizens and companies involved in logistics and transport - to realise that reckless driving is unacceptable. This includes the use of vehicles that are not roadworthy on public roads.
The Department of Transport will enforce all the existing rules with greater vigour in all parts of the province and on all road users. The enforcement of these rules will be part of our monitoring and evaluation processes as the Office of the Premier. Saving lives is not so much in the hands of a driver, not in their feet but more on their mind and respect for themselves and other people.
We know and understand the pain that different families went through in the last term and also note the inevitable destruction of families and permanent disability as a result of reckless driving.
Renewable Energy
Madam Speaker, our targets for the energy sector over the next five years are to increase the percentage of households with a source of electricity supply from the current 80% to 89% in 2020.
We want to increase the generation of new renewable energy from 0 to 2 400 MW by 2020. We will increase the units of energy saved through energy efficiency interventions from 250 GWh to 7 800 GWh. We will increase the number of solar water units installed in the Province from 61 000 to 400 000 by 2020.
KZN has insufficient electricity infrastructure to meet the rising demands of both industry and household consumers due to the limited capacity of transmission lines and aging networks.
This is further compounded by the backlogs in the supply of electricity from the existing power stations, as well as a lack of effective demand management programmes. The recent spate of cable thefts have added to the challenges we are facing.
As we are experiencing power cuts due to load shedding, we are reminded that we have in our Province vast biomass resources that could be used for energy generation.
We therefore have no option but to support these industries in their quest to be recognised as important independent power producers and to create the space for them to make a significant contribution, not only to energy security for the province, but to create many jobs as they do so.
The provincial government is engaging the relevant National Authorities on a possibility of establishing an Energy Trading and Facilitation Agency in this province.
It is anticipated that such an agency could play a significant role in supporting independent power producers in this Province to negotiate a very complex regulatory framework. We view the fact that we as KwaZulu-Natal are not making any noteworthy contribution to energy generation on the national grid, in a very serious light.
We also note that coal driven power is viewed by environmentalists as not having a brighter future. Our focus as the province of KwaZulu-Natal in the next five years will also be on gas. We have firm commitments from our sugar and timber industries to provide up to 2 000 megawatts new renewable energy. In addition to this the sugar industry in this Province is ready to undertake major alterations and expansions to their mills to also produce vast quantities of ethanol.
Tourism
Honourable members, the contribution of the tourism sector to the national economy surpassed that of the contribution from the mining industry in the last financial year. This has proved what an important sector this is for the national and provincial economy.
We therefore need to develop, diversify and market the tourism sector to increase domestic and foreign visitors in the Province. We have a vision of being Africa’s top beach destination with a unique blend of wildlife, scenic and heritage experiences for all visitors.
This will require improving infrastructure, accessibility to tourism products, and human resource development, as well as ensuring that sector is transformed by including local communities in new ventures throughout the Province. Madam Speaker, we will continue as the province with our efforts to host international sporting events as part of using sports as a catalyst for tourism.
Here in KZN we have more than top-ten international golfers, more than ten Olympics Gold-medallists, Para-Olympics Gold medallists; World Boxing Champions, Swimming Champions and sports enthusiasts who have climbed Mountain Everest on both sides and succeeded to the amazement of the world. Our children at school in particular should be encouraged to be involved in sports including in competitive ones as part of their development.
We note as government that we have not been fortunate to keep soccer teams in the Premier League. We undertake to ensure that apart from focusing on administration of soccer in general, we will pay more attention towards soccer development. We would like to see the presence of our KZN team in the PSL for many more years to come.
Having hosted the World Cup in 2010 and tasted the excitement that goes with it, we wish the people of Brazil as hosts all the best throughout the tournament. May the best country win the Soccer World Cup Final. But our solidarity is with the African countries.
At this stage I want to recognise the presence of Bongumusa Mthembu, the winner of Comrades Marathon 2014. I have often stated that Comrades Marathon is about endurance, determination and perseverance. I want to salute all the runners for being an inspiration to all of us. We also want to acknowledge the presence of Mbali Dlamini who won “I want to Sing Gospel competition” on SABC 2. Winning this competition during this monthly is timely as it coincides with our youth month celebrations. You are an inspiration to the youth of KwaZulu-Natal.
Youth Development
We acknowledge young people as the future of this country and the province as a whole. We believe in the potential of our young people and realise that we have a lot of work to do in this regard. We appreciate all the existing organisations with programs focusing on youth development however, whilst these efforts are appreciated, there is a need for integration.
The Office of the Premier has decided to take a number of initiatives on youth development in the next five years. These initiatives will be underlined by five pillars, mainly:-
- Increase intake of youth in the Public and Private Employment Programmes;
- Expanding learning and skills development opportunities;
- Assistance to youth to fight social ills;
- Supporting youth to participate in strategic sectors of the economy;
- Youth leadership development.
To this end, we will be creating a Chief Directorate on Youth Development in the Office of the Premier. The directorate will co-ordinate all youth development initiatives in the province to ensure synergies. It will focus on research on youth development and promote the interests of young people in general. All of these should be done by September 2014.
It is our view that we also need to ensure long-term planning on youth development. In this regard we will establish the KwaZulu-Natal Youth Development Council with people drawn from different experiences to work on a part-time basis. The council will be serviced by the secretariat attached to the Chief Directorate. There is also a need for a comprehensive Youth Development Strategy. It is for this reason that a youth summit will be convened to consider all the above and other matters on youth development.
Education
Madam Speaker, the desired outcomes we have set in respect of human resource development is a situation where we have a seamless transition of learners from early childhood development, to adult literacy. In order to realise this expectation we have to ensure that by 2020:
1. Enrolment rate for primary school level should be maintained at not less than 99% by 2020 and for secondary school level, reach 95% by 2020.
2. 70% of Grade 3, 6 and 9 learners are performing at the required levels in the Annual National Assessments;
3. We will achieve an 80% National Senior Certificate Pass rate;
4. The Gross Enrolment Rate in FET Colleges would have increased to 15%
5. We would have achieved a 70% NC(V) FET pass rate;
6. 23% of 20-24 year olds are in higher education; and
We recognise that we will not be able to achieve the social development, nor the economic development objectives of our Province if we do not develop our human resource capacity to its full potential. We also recognise that the most valuable asset we have is our people and we are fully committed to ensure the skilling of our people.
Education is fundamental to the aspirations of the province in relation to growth and development. The focus will be placed on language literacy, mathematics and science abilities as these are key to economic growth and development.
The goal of our education system must be to give every child an equal opportunity to develop the knowledge, skills and attitudes to make a positive contribution in society.
We will ensure that effective career guidance in schools enables learners to choose subjects and develop skills that will guide them into different occupations, informed by the economic potential of the province and their districts.
It must, however, also be recognised that educational performance is influenced by community and family dynamics, and not all measures of success are in the hands of the school or teacher. Participation is the responsibility of parents and the community, as is support and encouragement to learners.
Health
Madam Speaker, we will be paying special attention to improving the health status of the people of this province. We will continue to fight HIV and Aids and increase the number of people on Anti-Retroviral Treatment.
The focus in this term will be strongly on the reduction of maternal, neonatal and child mortalities by accelerating the prevention of Mother-to-Child Transmission (PMTCT) of HIV by reducing vertical transmission. We want to reduce maternal mortality in facilities to 133 per 100 000 live births by accelerated implementation of the Campaign on Accelerated Reduction of Maternal and Child Mortality in Africa (CARMMA).
Some of our targets, measuring the health of our communities over the next five years are to reduce facility maternal mortality ratio from 150 to 130. We want to increase life expectancy for males from 53 to 58 and for females from 58 to 62.
Housing
Madam Speaker, Our Bill of Rights enjoins us to ensure that the citizens of KwaZulu-Natal have access to decent housing and live in areas where there are amenities.
This is the only effective way of responding to the brutal apartheid system of urban segregation and the forced removals of people from prime land which was reserved for the minority.
During this term of office the focus will be on the creation of comprehensive human settlements and eradication of slums and informal dwellings in the long term.
We have made significant advances in the delivery of 3.3 million houses nationally of which 514 604 were built in our Province. In spite of this achievement, backlogs persist and the scale of need grows.
According to the 2011 census the backlog in KwaZulu-Natal is 742 019. We have no illusions about the scale of the challenge. Our task is to use all the instruments and resources available to satisfy those needs as best we are able.
You will be aware that I have also made a commitment to start the process of slums clearance within the first 100 days of this new administration in the Jika Joe Informal Settlement, Groutville Priority 2 and 5, Masinenge in Hibiscus Coast, as well as Sections D, H, Q and W in Umlazi.
To date, there are 114 slum clearance projects in the Province, located mostly in urban areas. Twenty-nine projects are currently under construction and 85 are undergoing various town planning and related planning activities.
Seventy seven of the 114 slum clearance projects are located in the eThekwini Metro, of which most are in the Northern Region, under town planning and related planning activities, for 25,865 beneficiaries.
Madam Speaker, we are committed to ensuring that all spheres of government work with tighter co-ordination and sharper timetables to fast-track the construction of quality housing on suitable land, particularly in urban areas.
We are committed to resolving challenges such as the protracted delays by the local, district and metropolitan municipalities, regarding:
- Provision of bulk infrastructure [water, sanitation and electricity], funded by district municipalities, to the areas whereon slum dwellers are living;
- Procurement of private land on which the slum dwellers are living illegally.
- Securing alternative well located land where the relocation of informal settlement inhabitants living in geo-technically adverse areas, is unavoidable.
The slum clearance projects in the following districts and local municipalities are most affected by the challenge of delayed provision of bulk infrastructure: uThungulu; uMzinyathi; Amajuba; Harry Gwala; uGu; and Msunduzi Municipality.
We need to work together to fight against fraud in housing allocations or where houses are occupied by people not registered as owners while the owners remain in shacks.
Good Governance
The findings of a recent pilot citizen satisfaction survey undertaken throughout the Province, testing the perceptions of citizens from all walks of life have indicated that 53% of the population is content with their lives in the past year. We would like to aspire to achieve at least a 75% satisfaction rating by 2020.
We therefore aim to be a caring competent and responsive, yet proactive government. These are the measures against which we will want to be measured at the end of this term.
We commit not just to pay lip service to the principles of Batho Pele, but to put People First in everything we do.
We undertake to convene a two-day Seminar of Senior Management of government departments from the 31st July to 1st August 2014. This will be attended by members of the Executive Council and it will focus on ensuring that there is a clear understanding of the imperatives of the new government and what is expected from each other in terms of good governance, financial management and service delivery.
Madam Speaker governance today is mainly about service delivery to the people of South African and KZN in particular. The expectations of our people are characterised mainly by focus on basic services like housing, electricity, water, sanitation and safety.
These expectations are often expressed in anger and this in turn has given rise to a thriving political market. We take these issues very seriously and in the next five years these will receive our maximum attention
Through the Premier’s Coordinating Forum we will be working with COGTA, mayors and councillors to ensure speed in service delivery. All MECs have been deployed to various districts act as Champions of service delivery working with local spheres of government all local leaders.
At this stage I want to use this opportunity and express my appreciation to all councillors that have worked very hard over the years to earn the respect of the constituencies that elected them.
These are the councillors who understand that they were elected not for purposes of self-enrichment and personal gain. They hold regular meetings to hear the views and needs of the community and report back on the tasks given by community.
Being a Public Representative means selfless dedication to service, always being approachable and treating all people fairly and equally.
The President of the Republic His Excellency J.G Zuma congratulated few municipalities for their good performance. These include Ilembe, Umzinyathi and Zululand Districts. They were singled out for their good performance in audits, expenditure on municipal infrastructure grants and service delivery.
Many other municipalities will require the Provincial Government’s continued assistance and support in the areas of clean governance and the delivery of basic services and infrastructure.
In my interaction with the Minister of Local Government and Traditional Affairs Mr Pravin Gordhan I indicated our intention to establish a multidimensional Good Governance Support Team on Local Government. This team will work with both national government and municipalities in the spirit of co-operative governance.
The team will be proactive in outlook and approach through effective monitoring. It will be firm on procedures and good practices through intervention; and decisive on wrongdoing through appropriate action. The team will be located in the Office of the Premier and all the details will be finalised in the next cabinet meeting next month.
Fighting Corruption
Elected public representatives, civil servants and individuals in the private sector doing business with government are all aware of the rules and regulations in as much as they are aware of consequences of corruption.
Yet we see corruption and fraud continuing in different forms including those that are substantially sophisticated. We do want to state clearly and audibly that fraud and corruption will not be tolerated.
This government is committed to upholding and promoting the culture of collective accountability, transparency and honour from those who control the levers of the state machinery as a whole.
We will strengthened our cooperation agreement with institutions of democracy and chapter nine institutions such as Auditor General, Human Rights Commission and Public Protector in order to protect the resource of the state.
This will be in addition to the work which we do continuously with law enforcement agencies such as the Special Investigative Unit, the Hawks, and SAPS Specialised Crimes Unit.
While the public tends to relate well with the arrest, prosecution and ultimate conviction of offenders charged with fraud and corruption, experience has shown that this stage always comes very late. It further shows that for any one act uncovered, many more pass undetected, or with insufficient evidence to sustain a conviction; since those who are responsible for perpetration often tend to be the main and only ones assigned not only to detect but also to prevent fraudulent activity.
This realisation has reinforced our belief in a proactive investment in strengthening the moral standing and integrity of those who take public service as a calling.
It is a calling for which those who enter must have service to the public as their objective, not to use their positions in office to provide an alternative source of income or manoeuvring procedures to direct benefits for the advantage of chosen friends, family or relatives and associates.
Let us stop the decay now. The role of individual consciousness is important in controlling greedy and ambitious accumulation of underserved wealth destined for the poor and downtrodden.
Fighting Crime
Madam Speaker, the biggest threat to our democracy and freedom is crime which is fuelled by many factors. We congratulate the South African Police Services for the arrest of suspects in connection with the discovery of drugs worth more than R3 billion in Kloof yesterday.
While we commend the SAPS for making these arrests, we call on various communities to take a stand against drug trafficking. Any person dealing with drugs stands condemned and they should know all the time that they will end up in jail.
We would like to put a challenge to our young people in particular to take youthful action against drugs in all our communities. I have noted with grave concerns reports of Whoonga addicts who are terrorising the community in Durban especially in Market, Victoria Embankment, Berea and surrounding areas.
I wish to remind all elected representatives and law enforcement agencies that the protection of the citizen of this province remains our responsibility. It is for this reason that last year we signed a cooperation agreement with the National Police Commissioner Riah Phiyega committing this government to ensure an effective implementation of the national crime prevention strategy which she presented during the sitting of the provincial cabinet.
Under the United Fight Against Crime Campaign, the MEC for Community Safety Willies Mchunu will lead a task team that will deal with the proliferation of Whoonga and other drugs in Durban’s Victoria Embankment, Berea and surrounding areas.
Commitment to accountability
Madam Speaker, as I start to wind down, I would like to commit myself, as well as the full Executive Council of this Province, to be held accountable for delivering on the actions and targets contained in this address.
We as a collective, commit not only to drive the implementation of our plans with all that we have to offer over the next five years, but also to submit ourselves to the regular oversight of this House.
We further commit to monitor progress closely and to report progress to the general public and people of our Province at least twice a year. In this manner we will all be able to gauge the progress we are making and be able to find our place in this process where we can make the best possible contribution to make our Province work better.
Commitment to partnership
I am sure ladies and gentlemen that you will all agree with me that the task we have ahead of us is mammoth. It is however at the same time a task we dare not fail on as the consequences of that will be to ghastly to contemplate. We as government acknowledge however that we cannot do this alone. We therefore reach out to all our non-governmental partners, to step forward and take up their place in the team that has to deliver this better KZN.
We recognise the role of business to grow our economy. We recognise the role of organised labour to protect and promote productivity of our labour force.
We recognise the role of civil society organisations, as people willing to do it for themselves and not just waiting for government to deliver.
We recognise the role of institutions or organisations representing specific interest groups, such as women, children, youth, and people with disabilities;
We recognise the role of our religious leaders, of our environmental concern groups, and whatever special interest groups there may be; and
We also recognise, specifically in our Province, the important role of our Traditional Leaders to assist us in bringing much needed services to our rural communities and to also bring economic liberation to them.
In order for this relationship to work effectively, we have to work hard at ensuring that it is properly institutionalised. We therefore commit to do our bit to ensure that the various Councils that we have established to harness our relationship, such as the HIV/AIDS Council, the HRD Council, the Climate Change Council, the B-BBEE Council, to name but a few, are functional.
In addition to these Councils, we also have established an institutional framework for the implementation of the Provincial Growth and Development Plan in our Province.
The 30 Strategic Objectives of the Plan are being driven by 18 Action Work Groups (AWGs). These AWGs are the real drivers of our Plan and they report monthly to structures of the Provincial Executive.
The AWGs are pulling together all the relevant departments to ensure coordination, alignment and integration, and are also open to non-governmental representation.
This arrangement therefore now makes it possible for any representative organisation to become a member of one of these Action Work Groups to help implement the plan, as well as to assist us to keep on refining the Plan as move forward. There is therefore no excuse for not participating actively in our governance processes. More information on this can be obtained from our Provincial Planning Commission.
26th June 1955 Freedom Charter Adoption
Honourable Members, Honoured Guests, it is today, fifty nine years ago that the Freedom Charter was adopted. The significance of 26 June lies not only in the past but principally in the present and the future. This day must again change the future of South Africa and KwaZulu-Natal in particular.
History has placed on the shoulders of all of us as public representatives triple challenges of poverty, unemployment and inequality. We therefore on this historic day should renew our pledge to build a better life for all the people of this province.
We will be preparing appropriate celebrations to commemorate this Freedom Charter in the lead up to this date in 2015.
As we work tirelessly in the coming year to deepen and broaden our democracy, we will be doing so guided by the same principles that were adopted in this Charter which has been our beacon of light throughout the struggle years.
Word of thanks
I wish to pay tribute to the leadership of the ANC, the Alliance and to my colleagues in the Provincial Executive and the Legislature.
In closing, I would like to pay tribute to God for the divine guidance and strength.
I wish to express my heartfelt gratitude to my wife who has been a pillar of strength and to my kids and the entire family for the unwavering support.
I thank the senior management in our Provincial Government for the commitment, dedication and hard work.
And lastly, l I want to express my appreciation to all our honoured guests. Thank you for lending me your ears. I thank you, siyabonga, baie dankie.
