Welcoming Address by the Hon. Phumulo Masualle – MPL, Premier of the Eastern Cape Province, Republic of South Africa On the Occasion of the Opening of the BRICS Friendship Cities, Local Governments Cooperation and Urbanisation Forum ICC Premier Hotel East London, Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality
Programme Director: Deputy Minister of CoGTA, Hon. Andries Nel – MP
The Minister for Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Hon. Zweli Mkhize – MP South Africa (Opening Address)
BRICS Ministers and Member States Representatives,
Ms Ms. Alessandra D'avila Vieira – Brazil
HE Minister of Regional Development – Russia
HE Mr Shri Narendra Singh Tomar: Minister of Panchayati Raj – India
Mrs. Lin Yi: Vice President of The Chinese People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries – China
Delegates to the BRICS Friendship Cities,
Local Governments Cooperation and Urbanisation Forum
All Traditional leaders and representatives of our traditional authorities, present here
Members of the executive branch of our National Government, with us here
Members of the Provincial Executive Council, present here
The esteemed leadership of the South African Local Government Association (SALGA)
Our host, the Executive Mayor of Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality, Cllr. Xola Pakati
Leaders in governance and administration of BRICS Member States, present
Esteemed guests
Colleagues, comrades & friends
Fellow citizens
It gives us great pleasure to be able to join you this morning for the start of this all-important BRICS Friendship Cities, Local Governments Cooperation and Urbanisation Forum, and to wish you all a warm welcome to the friendly city of East London – also known to many as eMonti.
We trust that your travels to the Eastern Cape Province have been pleasant and that, since your arrival in our ‘Home of Legends’, you have been accorded all courtesies to make your stay as comfortable as is possible.
Namkelekile. (Welcome.)
Cllr. Pakati, we are particularly proud of efforts by BCMM to strengthen multi-lateral relations with international partners and friends to both the Eastern Cape Province and South Africa, particularly within BRICS Member States.
The BRICS Friendship Cities, Local Governments Cooperation and Urbanisation Forum is a critical platform for BRICS Member-countries to, at a micro level, give practical expression to the objectives of the South African Chapter of the BRICS Business Council. [Est. 2013 Durban ICC, South Africa – Fifth BRICS Summit]
While the BRICS Business Council is geared towards fostering cooperation among member states at macroeconomic level, in particular, to promote trade and industry, it is our considered view that while trade and industry must respond to the need for growth and job creation to lessen poverty in the immediate - the improvement of the human-condition in the developing world will hinge on a number of factors including:
- Local Economic Development – (SMME Development) as it relates to FDI as a catalyst for the upskilling of the local skills base towards realising manufacturing, processing, production, new technology innovation capabilities and capacity, thus contributing to the diversification and exponential growth of our economies.
- Specialist Regions – the creation of regional manufacturing and production specialist hubs to ensure a sustainable growth trajectory for our peoples through instruments of the BRICS and leveraging those features unique to each of our regions including mitigating global challenges such as climate change by coordinating on food production for an example.
- Academic and Research Knowledge Sharing – to improve and encourage efficiency of systems in societies, to improve the performance of regional economies.
Setting the Scene (Opening Remarks):
‘Managing Urbanization through Sustained Collaborative Action’
Ladies and gentlemen, I have been asked this morning to set the scene for today’s programme and open the discussion by tackling the concept of ‘Managing Urbanisation through Sustained Collaborative Action’.
An exciting concept, in that it is not too far removed from the African proverb of ‘UBUNTU’ and axiom that ‘It takes a village’ to raise a child.
The idea of countries forming multi-organisational cross-sector social partnerships (CSSP), an increasingly common means of addressing complex social and ecological problems that are too extensive to be solved by any one organisation, as the correct approach to managing urbanisation through sharing experiences and synergising effectively.
There is little focus on collaborative strategic management, particularly, between the public and private sectors, where the implementation and outcomes of service delivery and infrastructure development have an impact on the public, increasingly we are seeing the need for this kind of thinking particularly in the local government space.
Unviable municipalities that have the potential for becoming local economic hubs are ideal for this kind of innovation as well as complex and expensive infrastructure projects such as the development of ports to stimulate the Eastern Cape Oceans Economy as well as the building of key strategic infrastructure projects such as dams like Mzimvubu.
Program Director, we had hoped that this gathering would affords the BRICS Ministers responsible for Disaster Management to meet and discuss coping mechanisms as weather patterns shift, natural disasters are on the rise.
From severe drought conditions in one region to rampaging storms and flooding in another – Disaster Management Authorities not only have to be adequately equipped and skilled to save property and human life, new technologies will have to be part of the response mix and help anticipate weather anomalies even before they happen.
We are also encouraged by the sentiment to open up our collective borders as BRICS member States to unleash further tourism growth between and among our countries.
The Eastern Cape Province and indeed the Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality stand ready to welcome visitors to our shores as our experience has demonstrated, cultural exchanges among nations encourages understanding, friendship and cooperation.
Welcome, once again, to South Africa’s Home of Legends, our beloved Eastern Cape Province.
We look forward to robust and fruitful deliberations over the next three (3) days and hope that we shall, all of us, emerge from this forum with concrete, pragmatic and sustainable solutions to “Building sustainable and inclusive cities through innovation and partnerships’’.
I thank you.
