Source: KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Government

Title: Ndebele: Launch of Siyazenzela Waste Management

Speech by the Honourable Premier of KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) Mr Sibusiso Ndebele at the Siyazenzela Waste Management launch

Protocol Observed

It is a pleasure and a privilege for us to be here in this part of KwaZulu-Natal, days before schools in the province re-open following the Easter holidays. During this break this beautiful part of our province witnessed an influx of visitors from all corners of the country and from abroad. They were here as tourists to sample the natural and man-made sights which have made KwaZulu-Natal a wonder.

We are able to host thousands of first-time and returning visitors, because we have been able to ensure that life returns to normal. The cries of the Shobashobane community have turned into a rally for development, the calm has returned to the valleys and mountains in all of the South Coast. The peace that we have been able, as political parties and government, to fashion in this part of our KwaZulu-Natal can hold because it is not an isolated peace it is not a fractured peace.

The peace can hold because the entire province not just parts of it; the entire country and not just parts of it; have chosen the path of peace over violence, the path of development over destruction. As government we have taken the position that we are a developmental state. This means we have at the centre of our development programmes, our people. This means that we will do everything in our power to ensure that peace leads to economic development. Periods of long political stability in themselves do not automatically lead to the trickling of the peace dividend to those who need it most, the majority.

This is done by a government which has decided to work for all its citizens, without any consideration of political affiliation. Only a government led by the people, for the people, has been able to take this province from the edge of an abyss to a position where it is attracting billions of rand in investment. KwaZulu-Natal is truly living in an Age of Hope. Every step we make is a step in the laying of bricks and mortar that will place KwaZulu-Natal at the top again.

One of the challenges we have had to deal with since the advent of democracy is unemployment. In the main the structure of our economy, with its centralisation in Gauteng and a historical dependence on mining, has been responsible for the high unemployment rate. The process of diversification into other growth sectors such as tourism presents one of the greatest opportunities for KwaZulu-Natal in many years, given our rich history and culture.

Another reason for unemployment in South Africa is the lack of appropriate skill to push the wheels of economic growth forward. If peace is the oil that keeps the wheels grinding smoothly from point A to B, skills will be the driver that will negotiate the bends and ensure the economy stays on course. In this context at its 2002 policy conference, the African National Congress (ANC) resolved that there should be large-scale expansion of the use of labour intensive construction methods to alleviate unemployment and to meet infrastructure backlogs in previously disadvantaged areas. Thus was born the Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP).

President Thabo Mbeki formally announced the EPWP in his State of the Nation Address in February 2003, and this is what he said: "To address this investment in social infrastructure, the government has decided that we should launch an Expanded Public Works Programme. This will ensure that we draw significant numbers of the unemployed into productive work and that these workers gain skills while they work, and thus take an important step to get out of the pool of those who are marginalised."

The programme was also agreed to at the Growth and Development Summit (GDS) held in June 2003 to provide poverty and income relief through temporary work for the unemployed to carry out socially useful activities. The GDS also said the EPWP would be designed to equip participants with a modicum of training and work experience that should enhance their ability to live in the future. Cabinet finally adopted the programme in November 2003. In 2004, government committed to creating one million job opportunities through the EPWP, an initiative to bridge the gap between the growing economy and the large numbers of unskilled and unemployed people who have yet to fully enjoy the benefits of economic development.

As a response to unemployment two fundamental strategies underpin the government's approach to reducing unemployment. Firstly, it is to increase economic growth so that the number of net new jobs created starts to exceed the number of new entrants into the labour market. Secondly, it is to improve the education system such that the workforce is able to take up the largely skilled work opportunities which economic growth will generate.

Many short-to medium-term strategies have been put in place to contribute towards these strategies, of which the EPWP is one. The EPWP is one of many strategies that we have adopted to deal with unemployment because as we said before, the causes are many and varied. It therefore follows that there is no one solution, the EPWP for all its capacity, should be viewed in concert with other interventions. These include the old age and child grants, housing subsidies and a host of other interventions under the Accelerated and Shared Growth Initiative for South Africa (AsgiSA).

As part of AsgiSA we are seeking to grow at five to seven percent and close the divide between the first and second economies. The Dube TradePort is part of that strategic movement to provide a major economic stimulus to the province and country by developing a world class integrated logistics platform at La Mercy. There will be an international airport, trade zone, cyberport support zone and an Agric/Business Zone costing R2,5 billion. This will inject up to R20,5 billion to the national Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and create an estimated 150 000 to 244 000 jobs by 2010.

Already we are able to see the benefits of this post 1994 democracy. The economy has grown, albeit relatively slowly. The consistent growth in the GDP is significant in the context of several external economic shocks that impacted on other developing countries. A significant point to be made is that the economy has created more two million jobs since 2004, at a rate of 500 000 a year.

The ANC's annual statement on 8 January 2007 said that from 1994 to 2003 the economy grew by 2,8 % and since 2004 the rate of growth has leapt to 4,8%. According to the latest statistics, 29 percent of the economically active population in the province is unemployed. We said the budget speech delivered by the MEC for Finance and Economic Development Dr Zweli Mkhize last month that the Human Development Index in the province is 0,57. This represents an improvement from 0,52 in year 1996.

This means KZN is in the medium range of human development. According to the latest figures from Global Insight, the poverty rate for KZN stands at 51,9 percent. The vast majority of the poor are African. Infant and child mortality rates stand at 68 and 124 per 1 000 live births, respectively. This is so, despite the significant progress being made in the provision of water and electricity and delivery of basic services to our communities. This is why we continue to ask the question, which the private sector and government must answer which is: Where are Africans located in the economy?

The provincial and local government in KwaZulu-Natal resolved to commit to implementing the EPWP via a resolution of the Provincial Executive Council. I am indeed pleased that today we will be witnessing a KwaZulu-Natal provincial initiative on community based Waste Management Project. The framework for implementing the EPWP recognises the respective responsibility and roles that the provincial and local spheres of government must play.

The framework establishes a unique protocol, consistent with co-operative governance, within which the department and the relevant municipalities can achieve the stated government objectives of reducing poverty and uniting social services to the poor and combating under development. Both the Zibambele ("Doing it ourselves"), Vukuzakhe ("Arise and build yourself") and Expanded Public Works Programme continue to build the infrastructure backbone of our province using an empowerment approach. In education we have exceeded the building of classrooms and toilets over the past two years. 1 571 classrooms (105% of target) were built by the end of March 2006, with an additional 400 built in the financial year. In line with building the Second Economy, 43 women co-operatives have been trained and are currently providing food to selected schools.

If we continue along this path, I am certain that KwaZulu-Natal we will be able to meet its challenge of halving unemployment by 2014. There is no doubt that the Local Government sphere, which is at the coalface of delivery, will be a key role player in the alleviation of poverty and unemployment.

In handing over this project today, we are reconfirming our commitment to making the required impact in the lives of our people in all corners of the province of KwaZulu-Natal. We will together, broaden the contours of the economy so that peace and political stability can assume more meaning to an increasing number of our people, today and tomorrow. Accordingly the Hibiscus Municipality will undertake this project that we are handing over today with a view to enhancing the livelihoods of communities under its jurisdiction.

I thank you!

Issued by: Office of the Premier, KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Government
12 April 2007