Program Director, Ms Phindile Makwakwa

Premier of KwaZulu Natal, Mr Sihle Zikalala

MEC for KZN Department of Economic Development, Tourism and Environmental Affairs , Mr Ravi Pillay,

Different Traditional Leadership represented by 13 Amakhosi,

The Chairperson of iSimangaliso Board Prof Thandi Nzama,

The Chairperson’s of TKZN, Msinsi Holdings Board

The Chief Executive Officer of iSimangaliso, Mr Sibusiso Bukhosini,

Members of iSimangaliso Board, Board members of public entities and All Chief Executive Officers of our Public entities present today,

Executive team of iSimangaliso, Public entities and Departments present today

Investors & and partners,

Community representatives,

Members of the media,

Distinguished Guests

Ladies and Gentlemen,

At the outset allow me to thank iSimangaliso for organising such a prestigious event and I am honoured to be here today as part of this milestone and game changing initiative in KwaZulu Natal.

Yesterday during his opening remarks at the 4th South Africa Investment Conference, President Ramaphosa highlighted that : the South African Government is committed to supporting investments with a renewed focus on expanding the country’s economic and social infrastructure. We have established the Infrastructure Fund, with a R100 billion allocation from the fiscus over 10 years, to leverage blended financing from private investors and multilateral development banks for infrastructure.

In this light, I am deeply encouraged by the support of the private sector and other stakeholders’ commitment to walk this journey with us. A journey of a people united by the resolve to benefit from our country’s rich cultural diversity, our wildlife, our Park, our heritage, our beaches, the breath-taking scenic views of iSimangaliso World Heritage Site, with its people willing to welcome their own and the world to share in all that is grand.

This year marks the twenty third year of existence as the iSimangaliso Wetland Park. Our Park was officially inscribed by UNESCO as South Africa’s first World Heritage Site in December 1999, recognised by almost 200 global nations for its beauty and biological wealth. Only one ‘Outstanding Universal Value’ is required for such recognition. iSimangaliso has three: Biodiversity; ecological processes and superlative natural beauty.

The consolidation of 16 parcels of land and a patchwork of earlier proclamations – the earliest stretching back to 1895 – created an integrated park that at the time was over 220 000 hectares stretching over 220 kilometres along the Indian Ocean coast to the Mozambique border. 

In May 2019, that figure was dramatically increased to over 1 328 000 hectares with the expansion of the Marine Protected Area. iSimangaliso is now the country’s second largest Park after the Kruger National Park, and unique in offering such a complex suite of ecosystems, flora, and fauna.

During the past twenty two years, several million alien trees in plantations have been removed to make way for the restoration of coastal grasslands; old and disused infrastructure has been demolished; the Park has been fenced, road networks modified and resurfaced; several new gate entrance complexes and numerous visitor attractions built, and a massive reintroduction of wildlife has brought back almost all of the original naturally occurring terrestrial species. 

ISimangaliso has unique features that will give those who invest in the World Heritage an added competitive edge: iSimangaliso is home to more species of animals than any other Park in Africa. It is home to South Africa’s largest population of hippos and crocodiles. It also harbours five of the world’s seven turtle species, including the world’s largest, the Leatherback turtle, it is home to black rhino, leopard, lion, coelacanth, elephant, and a vast array of bird and marine life. 

As former President Nelson Mandela himself put it during a speech marking the historic 2002 reintroduction of elephants to the iSimangaliso’ s Eastern Shores of the Lake St Lucia: “The Wetland Park must be the only place on the globe where the world’s oldest land mammal (the rhinoceros) and the world’s biggest terrestrial mammal (the elephant) share an ecosystem with the world’s oldest fish (the coelacanth) and the world’s biggest marine mammal (the whale).”

Now ladies and gentlemen, iSimangaliso Wetland Park is not only about the preservation and conservation of our world heritage values, but it is also an important catalyst for economic development. South Africa has a proud history of sustainable development in the conservation space and has successfully managed to involve rural communities in the biodiversity value chain.

Investing in biodiversity and conservation benefits economies and the environment. It is not a new concept that nature is important for the economy and so especially for a country like ours, where long-term socio-economic development is a key objective, we must put in place investments that safeguard nature and the critical ecosystem services that support our economies and our wellbeing. 

According to the National Biodiversity Assessment of the country by our scientific entity SANBI, South Africa has 418 888 jobs directly related to biodiversity and conservation and according SANBI, there is  an opportunity to increase this figure to 650 000  jobs given the opportunities in biodiversity economy and marine protected areas.

We believe  the projects we will introduce to you today could go a long way to making these jobs a reality in this part of our country where currently few other opportunities for sustainable livlihoods exist. 

Accordingly, as government, we are looking  for partners in the establishment of responsible new products for sustainable development and tourism growth while at the same time, ensuring that our fauna and flora in our national parks are conserved.

And so your will see that the projects we present today are in line with iSimangaliso’s mission  to preserve  its World Heritage values for current and future generations, whilst benefiting communities living in and adjacent to the Park. 

There is growing evidence that investment in the biodiversity and conservation sector offers many positive returns, often higher than that of other areas of the economy, such as agriculture or the manufacturing sector. 

Through this investment conference we hope to crowd in multiple investments into the St Lucia landscape so  the aggregation of activities. provide an enhanced enabling environment, making each of the individual opportunities more financially sustainable. 

As we gather here today government is mindful of the impact that the Covid 19 Pandemic has had on our tourism sector and our economy as a whole. Accordingly it is important to understand today’s investment conference in the light of the country’s overall Economic Reconstruction and Recovery Plan. Support for tourism recovery and growth features in the top five priorities of this plan together with infrastructure investment and green economy interventions. This recovery plan includes increasing the number of tourists entering South Africa through promoting our unique biodiversity assets as well as attracting more local tourism to visit our wide diversity of national parks. Isimangaliso’s commercialisation strategy aims to support sustainable development in this unique park while at the same time supporting government’s overall approach to reconstruction and recovery from the Covid 19 pandemic. 

In closing, allow me to reflect once more to the remarks by President Ramaphosa Yesterday in which he affirmed that :as we continue along the path of reconstruction and recovery, we call on all investors, entrepreneurs and business people to be part of this journey. 

As investors, you need to know that your investments are secure, that the operating environment is stable, and that you are supported by policy certainty and regulatory safeguards.

I wish you successful deliberations and we hope that public and private initiatives will find a space for sustainable collaborations.

I thank you