Dr Zweli Mkhize, the Premier of the province of KwaZulu-Natal (KZN), Republic of South Africa, has been invited to the NASDAQ MarketSite in New York City’s Times Square to officially ring The NASDAQ Market Closing Bell. Socio-economic programmes aimed at dealing with immediate challenges such as over-expenditure, recession and political instability has propelled KZN to become a potential destination for foreign direct investment and tourism - while on the other side projecting a leaderhip collective and government that has embraced good governance practices.
For more details the event is scheduled as follows:
Where: NADAQ MarketSite – 4 Times Square – 43rd @ Broadway – Broadcast Studio
When: Friday, January 27rd, 2012 – 15h45 to 16h00 ( New York time)
Background information
Dr Zweli Mkhize is currently in New York at the invitation of Rev Jesse Louis Jackson Sir, President and Founder of the Rainbow Push Coalition. The Premier has addressed African Americans in a bid to ensure that they choose KZN as their destination for foreign direct investment and tourism.
The premier has emphasized the point that African Americans must reconnect with South Africa because over the years they have been at the forefront of a struggle against apartheid - assisting South Africans to mount a formidable battle against the apartheid regime.
"You have helped us achieve political freedom, now you must work with us to achieve economic freedom. This is the struggle which we must fight collectively as brothers and sisters," Mkhize quipped.
Over the past thirty years Jesse Jackson has played a pivotal role in virtually every movement for empowerment, peace, civil rights, gender equality and economic and social justice.
Reverend Jackson has been called the “conscience of the nation” and the great “unifier,” challenging America to establish just humane priorities. He is known for bringing people together in common ground across lines of race, class, gender and belief.
The Reverend is known, in the US, as the friend of South Africa and Dr Zweli Mkhize is known in the US as the Premier (Governor in the US) and a shrewd politician who has ensured that the province of KwaZulu-Natal withstand recession by putting in place austerity measures to deal with over expenditure. KZN is also known as a province that has ensured the sprit of the Rainbow Nation as advocated by Nelson Mandela and Bishop Desmond Tutu. Because of political and socio-economic stability, KZN is now regarded as a shining role model and a classic example of a province which is a gateway to Africa .
Dr Zweli Mkhize remarked during a reception dubbed “movers and shakers’ evening” dinner attended by celebrities and businessmen and businesswomen at Sheraton Hotel last night:
“We are looking forward to hosting Africa-Americans during an Investment Conference to be held in Durban later this year under the auspices of Rainbow Push Coalition. We believe that this conference will assist in strengthening people-to-people contact and business-to-business relations between peoples of the two countries. More importantly, KZN has achieved its status as a stable province because of the manner in which members of the provincial Cabinet have conducted themselves and the effort they exerted in serving the people of KwaZulu-Natal with the best of their abilities.”
“Towards the end of last year, we announced certain changes that had to be effected in the Executive, an act done in the interest of speedy service delivery, which is our primary responsibility.
“I want to reiterate our gratitude to the former and current colleagues for their contribution to service delivery and the collegial spirit that has come to characterize this government leadership. It is this spirit that has strengthened us as a team, as we faced different situations that required us to take responsibility individually and collectively as one government.
For us, this positive spirit persisted despite the immensity of challenges that we were grappling with. One such challenge was the huge over-expenditure that required severe austerity measures to reverse; thus turning 45% the national over-expenditure projection into a surplus and positive cash balance.
Hence there was a recommendation by the national cabinet for all provinces to follow the model of austerity measures our province adopted to deal with the financial situation. This enabled government to focus on the priorities. The achievement of optimal cash positive situation required courage and unity of the leadership.
Oversight over municipalities has been improved to reduce the need for provincial intervention by early diagnosis of municipalities in distress.
The Premier’s Coordinating Forum will have regular meetings this year in order to ensure an effective alignment of service delivery plans, housing, water, energy and sanitation.
There will be a renewed focus on good governance, with closer scrutiny by provincial government on the skills profile of municipal managers and chief financial officers.
The Auditor-General (AG) Mr Terence Nombembe has toured municipalities and reported renewed commitment to clean audit outcomes from Mayors that he met. In this regard the provincial outcomes have indicated strong leadership commitment to good governance.
The AG has even identified the province for pilot studies on performance information budgeting and planning—a new area of focus. This is a significant vote of confidence in the province and we are looking forward to working with the AG and his team on this project. Members of the public must be assured of our commitment to create an image of clean government.
Webcast:
A Live webcast of the NaSDAQ Closing Bell will be available at http://www.nasdaq.com/about/marketsiteowervideo.asx or http://social.nasdaqomx.com
