His Majesty, Hlanga Lomhlabathi, Ndlulamithi Ephahlwe Ngamalanga Amabili;
Speaker of KwaZulu-Natal Legislature, Hon N.N. Boyce
Premier of Gauteng, Mr P. Lesufi
Members of the Provincial Executive Council
Former Premiers of KwaZulu-Natal Province and Spouses
• Hon Mr T.W. Mchunu,
• Hon Dr Z.L. Mkhize
• Hon S.J. Ndebele
Deputy Minister for Finance, Mr D. Masondo Deputy Minister for Health, Dr S.M. Dhlomo Deputy Minister in the Presidency, Mr K. Morolong
Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly, Hon S.L. Tsenoli Chief Whip of the Majority Party, Hon J Nxumalo
Deputy Speaker of KwaZulu-Natal Legislature, Hon R.T. Mthembu Deputy Speaker of Free State Legislature, Hon L. Mapena Members of Diplomatic Corps
Members of the National Council of Provinces Members of KwaZulu-Natal Legislature
Judge President of KwaZulu-Natal, Judge Poyo-Dlwati Mayor of eThekwini Metro, Cllr T.M. Kaunda
Mayor of uMgungundlovu District Municipality, Cllr M. Zuma Mayor of Msunduzi Local Municipality, Cllr M. Thebolla Mayors present and Councillors
Queen Mother MaNdlovu Abantwana baseNdlunkulu
Chairperson of Provincial House of Traditional & Koi-San Leaders, lnkosi R.S. Shinga and all Amakhosi Present
Director-General of KwaZulu-Natal Province, Dr Nonhlanhla 0. Mkhize Provincial Commissioner, Lt. General N. Mkhwanazi
Political Formations
Provincial Planning Commission
Heads of Department, CEOs of Entities and Senior Government Officials Families of Stalwarts
Labour Unions Civil Society
Faith-Based Organisations Business Fraternity Government Beneficiaries Media Houses present Distinguished Guests Ladies and Gentlemen
Honourable Speaker, 18 months ago, I stood before Judge President of the KwaZulu-Natal Division Justice Mjabuliseni Isaac Madondo to take an oath of office and to publicly accept the task bestowed on me by the African National Congress (ANC) and the people of our province to occupy the highest office in our province, the Office of the Premier as the first woman Premier. This I did knowing that I represent the aspirations of many women, young and old from the townships of KwaMashu to uMkhanyakude, wherein in 1996 the community that had access to electricity was 46% and today stands at over 97%; water provision now stands at 85% of households in KwaZulu-Natal have access to piped tap water.
It is an oath that I did not, and still do not take lightly, for it was an acceptance of the responsibility to transform into reality the hopes and aspirations of millions of our people who yearn for a free, united, peaceful, and prosperous KwaZulu-Natal. In me many of these community members saw the reality that said indeed the ANC government is serious about the country, a province that is non-racial, non-sexist. It was possible that even if you are a child who went to school in KwaMaphumulo, you can become a pilot, because with the ANC in government, the sky is not the limit for our young people in a country that is alive to possibilities. Examples are:
a) Sanele Mkhize, a young man who benefited through our programme, is now working as a pilot for Qatar Airways.
b) Lethabo Vacu and Tony Tsonope, a couple trained by Fuze Institute, are now pilots for FlySafair;
c) Sinethemba Ngwane is an instructor for Fly Fofa Airways which is a flying school and an aircraft charter service;
d) Kholeka Ndlangamandla and Talent Vilakazi who are flying drones for a commercial farmer in Nelspruit.
Honourable Speaker, since the democratic breakthrough of 1994, successive Premiers have stood before judges to take this oath of honour and dedication to service the people of KwaZulu Natal.
Between 1994 and 2004, the late Premiers Hon Dr Frank Mdlalose, Hon Dr Ben Ngubane and Hon Dr Lionel Mtshali took this oath.
From 2004 Premiers from the ANC, His Excellency Ambassador Sibusiso Ndebele; Hon Dr Zweli Mkhize; Hon Mr Senzo Mchunu; Hon Mr Willies Mchunu and my immediate predecessor Hon Mr Sihle Zikalala, also affirmed their loyalty to the principles enshrined in our Constitution and committed to serve our people to the best of their ability, diligence and dedication.
I am privileged and honoured to stand here, indebted to all these selfless patriots who in five foregoing terms, have charted a path for us to follow.
Today I stand before this august House to account how we have fared since 1994 and to present a picture of where we are today, and to share a vision of where we need to be in the next 30 years.
I stand here a humbled woman on behalf of millions of other women and men of our province, charged with an immense responsibility, marching in the footsteps of great leaders such as Nelson Mandela, oMama Dorothy Nyembe, Ruth First, Ela Gandhi, Sophia Williams-De Bruyn, Fatima Meer, Victoria Mxenge, Florence Mkhize, Winnie Madikizela -Mandela and many others.
Honourable Speaker, in this era of rampant historical revisionism, it has become fashionable for some amongst us to elect to ignore, or worse to forget the context of where we come from, and u mate y for the truth to become a casua ty.
With only a few months to our national and provincial elections, we should remember that KwaZulu-Natal was not always a unified province but was almost suffocated at birth by some of the deadliest political intolerance and instability that was unprecedented in our country.
Forging Peace and Stability
So deep ran the divisions that the very act of going to the polls in 1994 was itself a miracle. The political violence which consumed this province, resulted in a trail of shattered lives as evidenced by the Steadville, KwaMakhutha, oNgoye, Hammarsdale massacres, the Seven Day War, and many other incidents of political and state sponsored killings.
The scars caused by the Trust Feed Massacre ordered by apartheid police captain Brian Mitchell which saw 11 people mowed down at a funeral vigil in the run up to negotiations and our first national elections, are still fresh in our minds.
None amongst us can forget the two ANC activists who were killed for mounting ANC posters in Ulundi in April 1994. Nor can we forget the Shobashobane massacre which claimed the lives of 26 people on Christmas Day in 1995.
It is estimated that more than 20 000 people died in KwaZulu-Natal from political violence in the 1980s.
As such, the first notable victory of the ANC government was to bring lasting peace in KwaZulu-Natal and the past 20 years have been the most peaceful period in our history, working with the IFP, Faith Based Organisations, Civil Society, Traditional Leaders and many peace loving people of KwaZulu-Natal. Our leaders had to work with single mindedness to deepen the roots of political tolerance and peace.
It is a tribute to the people of this province that as we approach the upcoming elections, all political parties will campaign in an environment of political tolerance and stability.
As we embraced our freedom in 1994, and to ease into the new environment, for the first decade of our freedom we put in place an arrangement wherein the ANC initially occupied three portfolios in the Provincial Executive Council and later, four portfolios before 2004.
Later known as "Four-by-Four", leaders Ambassador Sibusiso Ndebele, Dr. Zweli Mkhize, Mr. Michael Mabuyakhulu and the late Mr. Dumisani Makhaye displayed the greatest example of dedication, every day gave the people of KwaZulu-Natal a foretaste of service delivery that did not discriminate according to political affiliation, race, gender, or the rural and urban divide. Read more [PDF]
