Remarks by Minister Lindiwe Zulu at the Launch of the R70 Million Rural Infrastructure Projects at Umsinga KwaZulu-Natal
We have consistently decried the fact that poverty in South Africa has black, female and rural face. Indeed, we are here today to deliver a practical message: We are determined to defeat unemployment, poverty and inequality in our rural areas in order to ensure that our people have a possibility of tasting a better life.
Indeed, our department sees itself as an integral part of government’s Comprehensive Rural Development Programme (CRDP). Working together with our sister departments and other partners, we will play our part to tackle societal ills that include underdevelopment, food security, unemployment, poverty, lack of basic services and other social ills which have become synonymous with rural areas.
The Department of Small Business Development wants to ensure that small businesses and co-operative in this area derive maximum benefits from the massive projects we are launching today.
I have consistently said that the only way my department will make an impact is when it is physically in places like uMsinga doing practical work on the ground. By sitting in our offices in Pretoria we will not be able to appreciate the complexity of challenges faced by our people in uMsinga.
We are aware that our rural areas face unique and complex challenges as compared to urban areas. This requires a unique set of interventions. We must work together to ensure that we take advantage of the benefits to be accrued from the projects that are being launched today. We must work harder to attract investors, identify markets and address compliance issues. As a department we will work hard to ensure that we create a conducive environment for small businesses and co-operatives to grow and thrive.
In this regard, I will ensure that the department extends its footprints across the across the country to ensure presence in areas that are most in need of our service. Our agencies such as SEDA have a responsibility to reach out to Umsinga to support our SMMEs and co-operatives.
We want to send a message that enterpreneurship is not the preserve of urban areas. Our people in rural areas have a right to access all the services provided by our department and other relevant agencies.
You will be pleased to know that I will be embarking on Provincial Summits soon. The purpose is to work with you to develop better ways of supporting and sustaining small businesses and co-operatives. Kwazulu/Natal is high on our priority list. I look forward to engaging with you when that moment comes.
I thank you.
