Honourable Speaker,
Honourable Premier,
Members of the Executive Council,
Honourable Members of the Provincial Legislature,
Heads of Departments,
Chief Executive Officers of our Public Entities,
Distinguished guests,
Ladies and gentlemen.
Honourable Speaker, we welcome the opportunity to present our policy statement at the beginning of our Freedom Month. As Members would remember, on the first anniversary of South Africa’s democratic elections on 27 April 1995, the late former President Nelson Mandela said, “As dawn ushered in this day, few of us could suppress the welling of emotion, as we were reminded of the terrible past from which we come as a nation; the great possibilities that we now have; and the bright future that beckons us.”
We are therefore resolute in our pursuit of accelerated economic transformation as it holds the key to the bright future that Madiba spoke about; a future without poverty, unemployment and inequality. The National Development Plan (NDP) and our own Provincial Development Plan (PDP) are the correct vehicles through which we can ultimately achieve a society that is free of poverty, unemployment and inequality.
Having said that Honourable Speaker, our pace of implementing both the NDP and PDP commitments is to a certain degree impacted by the domestic and global economic developments. Notwithstanding the current economic challenges, most of which are temporary, as the Department of Economic Development, Environmental Affairs and Tourism (DEDEAT) Group we view 2016 as the year of accelerating economic transformation in our Province.
Thus our priorities remain:
- Economic transformation for job creation;
- Managing and protecting the natural environment; and
- Strengthening the developmental state and good governance
Full Speech [PDF]
