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Date : 21/08/2006
Source: KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Government
Title: Ndebele: Launch of Tata Steel Ferro Chrome Smelter Project


  Speech by the Premier of KwaZulu-Natal, S Ndebele, at the launch of Tata Steel’s Ferro Chrome Smelter Project

Deputy President of South Africa, Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka
Mayor of Umhlathuzi, Mr DD Moffat
Mr Ramon Dhawan, Managing Director of Tata Africa
Mr B Muthuraman, Managing Director of Tata Steel
Staff of Tata
Ladies and gentlemen

Thank you for allowing me the opportunity to address this ground-breaking ceremony for Tata’s Ferro Chrome Smelter Project in South Africa, and in particular, right here, in KwaZulu-Natal.

My tasks are for one to introduce the Honourable Deputy President of South Africa, Ms Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka and also to say a few words on the sod turning we are about to witness and the impact of this project on our region.

The Honourable Deputy President is a strong campaigner of enhancing South Africa’s energy and mineral wealth. After the Honourable Deputy President’s appointment as Minister of Minerals and Energy in 1999, she has steered the industry successfully with reform initiatives, creating a stable and conducive environment for investors, local and foreign, like you in the Tata Group to invest on our shores.

Before I call upon the Honourable Deputy President to carry out the official opening of the Ferro Chrome project, let me briefly congratulate Tata for taking the bold step and venturing into this part of our province.

KwaZulu-Natal investors’ paradise

As you know just mid term in office, this Provincial Government can boast securing an investment of R5 billion in KwaZulu-Natal. Including and not limited to the building of the R1,6 billion King Senzangakhona Stadium, and the R2,5 billion for the new La Mercy Airport. Together with the building of the Dube Tradeport (DTP) which for you as exporters and importers will have added value.

The DTP as it is known, will have a cargo terminal, warehousing space, light manufacturing, and an agri zone which will include an area of growing, packing and fresh produce for the export market.

We will also be an Information Technology (IT) platform that will connect the entire infrastructure and will serve as an electronic trading platform.

All this is expected to be in place in the next 30 months, and in seven weeks’ time, we will get the bids from the two bidders and decide who will be the preferred bidder. By March 2007, we are expected to hit the ground at La Mercy.

Port advantage

As investors you would have learnt about our two ports, in Durban and Richards Bay that are vital to our plans for economic development because of the great potential that the import and export markets present. The port here is virtually on your doorstep and is one of the largest ports in South Africa and would minimise transport costs.

We hope that while power costs is cheap here, that the port’s mere logistic advantage, and being the most efficient port in the African continent, will lure other foreign investors here.

You have received land and environmental clearances, and construction of the plant is set to bring about confidence in our province and economic prosperity in several ways including but not limited to job creation.

Originally, when the project was conceptualised over a year ago, Tata Steel had also kept Australia in view. Its final choice of South Africa is welcomed.

For South Africa, which is keen on investments by Indian companies, it is a matter of satisfaction that India's largest industrial house is coming forward to set up a major project.

On a recent visit to India we swept across the motherland from Tamil Nadu to Chandigarh in Punjab and we were impressed with the co-operative advantages our two countries have. We are already fast tracking many projects between our province, KwaZulu-Natal and other provinces in India.

Let me now hasten to call our esteemed and honourable Deputy President, Ms Phumzile Ngcuka to officially launch the Ferro Chrome Smelter Project.

Familiar to many in the mineral and energy sector, the honourable deputy president has been a Member of Parliament since 1994, was the Deputy Minister in the Department of Trade and Industry (dti) of the Republic of South Africa from 1996 to 1999, and has been a member of the National Executive Committee of the African National Congress since 1997.

I present to you the honourable deputy president

Thank you

Issued by: KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Government
21 August 2006

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