1. The Director of Ceremonies;Our Guest of Honuor Hon. Naledi Pandor, Minister of Science and Technology;

Hon. Joseph R. Njobvuyalema, MP, Vice President of SADC Parliamentary Forum;

Hon. Speakers, Deputy Speakers and Leaders of Delegations;

Hon. MPs from the KwaZulu Natal Provincial Legislature;

His Worship, the Mayor of EThekwini, Cllr James Nxumalo and Councillors;

Hon. Thulisile Dladla, Vice Chairperson of the SADC Parliamentary Forum Regional Women’s Parliamentary Caucus;

Hon. Members of Parliament from the various SADC National Parliaments;

Dr Esau Chiviya, The Secretary General of SADC Parliamentary Forum;
Members of the Diplomatic Corps;
Invited Observers and Resource Persons;
Staff from the SADC National Parliaments;
SADC PF Secretariat Staff;
Ladies and Gentlemen.

2. I would like to welcome you all to our shores especially to this beautiful city of EThekwini (Durban) which is in the Province of KwaZulu-Natal. The Province is home to more than 10 million people. It is indeed my great pleasure to welcome you all. We are gathered here as the representatives of the people of the region, Members of the legislative arm of SADC, the SADC-PF.

3. We are gathered here this week to take forward the decisions of the SADC Heads of State and Government when they adopted the Revised Regional Indicative Strategic Development Plan (RISDP) 2015 – 2020 and the SADC Industrialisation Strategy and Roadmap2016 – 2063 in April 2015 in Harare. Our Plenary Assembly is organised under the theme “Industrialization and regional Integration: The Role of Parliaments.” Industrialisation is critical for regional integration.

4. This theme resonates well with the fact that industrialization remains a key vehicle for regional integration, development and accelerated and sustainable economic growth that would foster greater employment opportunities for the people of the region.

5. The SADC-PF has been an active voice of the people through their Parliamentary representatives’ involvements in various activities such as election observation missions and its plenary assemblies always aimed at strengthening democracy, stability and integration in our region.

6. SADC Industrialisation Strategy and Roadmap falls within the ambit of the Executive, Parliaments’ role in terms of overseeing its implementationis in the domain of Parliaments, hence our presence here.

7. The oversight role of Parliaments in regional policies is crucial to give life to these policies. Parliaments are committed to complimenting the SADC Strategy and Roadmap 2016 – 2063, in the successful implementation of the strategy and its impact thereof.

8. Furthermore,in our continuous efforts to involve and engage with our people, this afternoonwe will have a Round Table Discussion on Migration and Development which will be a side event hosted by the South African Parliament.The Round Table discussion will help us process challenges such as the recent tragic xenophobic events which have further emphasised the importance of collective of our challenges.

9. These are some of the discussions that we will be engaging in this week, cognisant of Africa’s Agenda 2063 and its vision of “creating a prosperous and peaceful Africa”.

Issued by SADC PF Plenary