Her Worship the Honourable Mayor of Ulundi, Councillor NJ Manana; Executives and
representatives of Robor Pty Ltd: Mr Gordon Gilmer – the CEO and Leader of the
delegation; Mr Razzak Hassim - MD - General Engineering; Mr Gordon    Reddy –
Regional Sales Manager; Mr Rob Frans – Human Resources Executive; Mr Nashalan
Moodley – Gonal Construction (Contractor); Mpume Dlamini – PPC Ltd CSI; Mr
France Shonhiwa – Manager Groep CSI PPC; Mr Alex Guduvan -  the representative
of Jojo Tank Company;  Councillor MW Ntshangase, Councillor for ward 10;
officials from the Ulundi Municipality; Amakhosi and officials from the
Buthelezi Traditional Council; esteemed guests from the community of eGoqo and
all our friends.

The most remarkable achievements happen when people join hands, with a shared
vision and the will to make a difference. That is what happened here in eGoqo,
between Ulundi Municipality, Councillor Ntshangase and a group of
socially-minded business people at Robor.

It is my privilege as the Head of the Buthelezi Clan, on behalf of the Buthelezi
Traditional Council, to express our profound appreciation to everyone involved
in seeing this community hall built in eGoqo. For decades, this has been open
land. But today a brand new building opens its doors and welcomes in members of
this community.

I want to thank the community of eGoqo for your patience in seeing the vision of
a community hall become viable and real. There has been a clear need here, for a
very long time. As far back as ten years ago, councillors requested that a
community hall be built in eGoqo as part of the Ulundi Municipality’s Integrated
Development Plan.

But municipalities across South Africa receive very little funding from the
national budget. With severely limited resources, Ulundi Municipality has had to
prioritise immediate needs, including the delivery of water, electrification and
sanitation. This municipality is one of the few that are run efficiently, with
sound financial management. There is no lack of the will to meet needs and
provide services; but there is a lack of resources.

It was therefore heartening to have individuals at Robor come on board and
listen to the needs of eGoqo. Councillor Ntshangase highlighted to them how
difficult it has been for members of this community to access services, as there
was no central point from which services could be delivered. This meant that the
thousands of people living here were compelled to travel long distances whenever
they needed to interact with local government.

Robor already had an impressive record of corporate social investment, raising
money for charities, assisting underprivileged children to access better
education and empowering rural communities through upliftment projects. But what
I particularly admire among Robor’s CSI initiatives is the goal of assisting
rural women to become self-sufficient.

That has been my own goal for more than half a century. I believe in equipping
people to help themselves. I also believe in bringing people together and
creating partnerships, so that there is collective buy-in and collective
commitment.

When I was installed as Inkosi of the Buthelezi Clan, in Mahlabathini in 1953,
one of the first things I did was to appeal to members of our Clan to raise
money amongst us to build a Court House. There was, at the time, not a single
building for this purpose in any of the various Clans comprising the Zulu
Nation. When I tried cases and recorded evidence, I had to hope for a sunny day,
because if it rained, the rain would obliterate whatever I wrote.

It is interesting that shortly after I raised this need, the Department of
Native Affairs began building court houses for those traditional leaders and
clans who “accepted” the Bantu Authorities Act. My own clan decided to levy R1
on each taxpayer within the Clan so that we could build our own offices and
court house. We it was finally built, we were very proud of the fact that not a
cent had come from any government source.

When I founded Inkatha yeNkululeko yeSizwe in 1975, we established it on the
twin pillars of self-help and self-reliance. Inkatha was created to fill the
political vacuum left by the banning of the ANC and other liberation
organisations, so that the oppressed masses would again have a centre of
political mobilisation. But while Inkatha looked ahead to political liberation,
we worked day to day towards freeing people from the bonds of poverty, ignorance
and despair.

As Chief Minister of the erstwhile KwaZulu Government, I created a partnership
with communities where we matched funds raised, Rand for Rand, in order to build
schools, clinics and community centres. The apartheid government allocated a
miniscule amount to KwaZulu, and on that shoestring budget we managed to raise
the quality of life for millions of people.

Through Inkatha’s principles of self-help and self-reliance, we started
vegetable gardens and cooperatives, and we equipped people with skills to help
them put food on the table. We even sent women to be trained at St Francis
Xavier University in Canada, on community savings and development projects.
Through my administration, we made seed capital available to entrepreneurs, who
had no access to loans through commercial banks.

We did all of this based on the belief that people are able to become
self-sufficient and that the best way to achieve this is to empower them, equip
them and give them access to information and opportunities. The IFP still
operates on this principle. It is the same principle that has seen Robor invest
in community development.

It is wonderful to see a business with a social conscience. But it is better to
see a business that equips, rather than simply giving. I want to encourage the
members of this community to use this new community hall as an access point to
information. Use it as a place where people come together to find solutions, to
create value and build community.

Use it to gather like-minded people who are willing to enter partnerships for
upliftment. That might mean bringing unemployed youth together for conversations
with mentors. It might mean having meetings of parents to find ways to keep our
children safe. It might mean holding worship services, or having sewing clubs or
getting a councillor in to report on municipal meetings.

There are many uses for a community hall. The fact that it is a point from which
you can access services is but one among many functions it can fulfil. Through
your own initiative, this can become the centre of community life. There is
great potential in having a structure like this. I therefore also urge you to
respect the hall, take care of it and keep it in a condition in which this
community can take pride.

Today we have been given the example of what can be achieved when people of
goodwill work together. I want to thank Robor as a company, and the individuals
within Robor who are driving its corporate social investments.

We often hear calls from within Government for business and the private sector
to do more in terms of meeting the needs in our country. Whenever I hear that
call, I can’t help but think of how difficult these economic times are for most
businesses. It is not to be taken lightly when profits are diverted to social
causes.

Perhaps I could encourage you with a principle that Robor no doubt already
knows. Most religions encourage their adherents to give to the poor and assist
the less fortunate. In my own faith, great emphasis is placed on benevolence and
generosity. We also believe in the tithe, where 10% of one’s income is given
over into the storehouse for the benefit of others.

The promise attached to this is: “Give, and it will be given to you: good
measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over… For with the same
measure that you use, it will be measured back to you.” (Luke, Chapter 6, Verse
38)

I believe this promise is a universal principle that operates whether or not we
believe in its origin. The most successful business people and thriving
corporations throughout the world have realised that when they give a certain
portion away, they prosper.

I therefore encourage Robor to look for the prosperity that is coming your way.
May your business grow from strength to strength, and may your focus remain on
equipping communities towards self-sufficiency.

That is a noble goal for our country and one that has perhaps not yet been
recognised by Government. But it is recognised at Ulundi Municipality and it is
pursued by the IFP. I am gratified to know that we share this goal with people
of goodwill at Robor.

I thank you for what you have done for this community.