Hon Chairperson of the NCOP, hon Minister, hon members, we wish to extend our revolutionary greetings to all of you. This debate is essentially about economic transformation and how infrastructure investment could be used as an economic transformation driver. In this instance, we must be able to do justice to the debate. Doing justice to this significant debate requires us to be historical a bit, to lay a foundation for our input.
It is a known historical fact that since the arrival of white settlers in South Africa we witnessed a brutal and violent programme by settlers aimed at removing the indigenous people from their land. Racism was to be used to justify the exclusion of Africans in general and black people in particular from their land. This therefore mean that ... [Applause.] racism was not an end itself but rather a means to an end and the end being the exclusion of black people from the South African economy. To illustrate the above opening lines, let us refer to the book by Hennie Van Vuuren entitled Apartheid Guns and Money: A tale of profit. Van Vuuren correctly argues that:
The country has, for much of its past, been beholden to the interests of corporations that sought to extract its abundance to the detriment of most of its people. The fight for political control of South African has therefore inevitably involved powerful private interests. The first European settler community in the Cape did not serve a king but the Dutch East India Company, the world's first multinational corporation and one of the wealthiest corporations in human history, which made its fortune off the spice trade.
The relevance of this book forms part of background information for our input, hence we would quote least we are accused of plagiarism, which is a serious academic offense:
After the discovery of the largest deposits of gold on earth, shareholders in South African and British mining companies aimed their sights on controlling these areas, too, under the British.
This was part of a broader plan by settlers to accumulate capital through dispossession, as Professor Harvey noted.
It is partially against the aforementioned background that we indicate that the economic vision of the ANC captured in the Freedom Charter categorically states that, "the people shall share in a country's wealth." To this end, the ANC has scored a number of victories since 1994 to date. However, the unfortunate reality is that the legacy of colonial apartheid remains deeply embedded both in the society and in the South African economic structures.
This manifests itself through the legacy of racialised patterns of poverty, unemployment and inequality. Emanating from the above background, we would like to argue that investment on the infrastructure also did take place pre- 1994 especially before
sanctions however the most intended beneficiaries were the minority groups with a specific reference to whites usually males.
As Oliver Tambo once said that sometimes we can use the relevant enemy points hence the above therefore means that the democratic government should also use investment on infrastructure to drive economic growth to address the historical injustices of the past that were inherited from colonial apartheid South Africa.
The centrality of infrastructure, both physical and social, in development cannot be overemphasized. Adequate infrastructure in the form of road and railway transport system, ports, power, airports and their efficient working is needed to integrate the South African economy with other economies of the world. Real infrastructure is, therefore, essential to modern living, whether that's transportation, water, sewage, housing, electricity and communication. At the same time soft infrastructure in the form of education and health systems, law enforcement, and emergency services promote a better quality of life.
IsiZulu:
Zikhona izinselelo KwaZulu-Natal. Sihlalo kubalulekile ukuthi sisho ukuthi siwubonile uHulumeni waKwaZulu-Natal wakha izikole
ezisezingeni lomhlaba ezindaweni zasemakhaya, isibonelo iMandla Mthethwa, ekwaMhlabuyalingana. [Ihlombe.] Siqhubeke sizibonile izibhedlela zikhandwa uHulumeni waKwaZulu-Natal, isibonelo i-Pixley kaIsaka Seme esiKwaMashu.
English:
In a world where there is cut-throat competition for investment attraction, cities or regions with good real and soft infrastructure stand a higher likelihood of landing the coveted investment. Conscious of the role of infrastructure investment as an enabler for improved economic wellbeing, the government programmes of action as encapsulated in the state of the nation address elevated infrastructure investment as a key tenet for economic transformation. Beyond the above, the provision of reliable, clean, and cost-competitive energy has taken centre stage following the challenges facing the national utility Eskom which contributed to the fall in 1,4% drop in GDP as reported in the last quarter. In KwaZulu-Natal, the government has prioritised a number of infrastructural projects as enablers to improve the overall health of the provincial economy. Our two Special Economic Zones, SEZs, in KwaZulu-Natal continue to be at the forefront of rolling out bulky infrastructure to help attract investors into the province. The
reduced costs of logistics deriving from the improved infrastructure saw a number of investors opting to set up operations from our SEZs.
In the previous year we saw the launch of the Mara Group, the first cellphone manufacturing company, which invested more than R1 billion and created a number of permanent jobs.
IsiZulu:
KwaZulu-Natal sizimisele ukukhulisa izingqalasizinda ngokwakha inxanxathela yamahhovisi kaHulumeni lapho iminyango izotholakala endaweni eyodwa lokhu kuyowukhulisa umnotho kwehlisa izinga lemali yokuqasha ekhokhwa kongxiwa.
English:
As part of the Durban Aerotropolis, an initiative entailing the development of a 21st century smart city utilising the King Shaka International airport as the anchor of development, a number of infrastructural projects have been prioritised.
IsiZulu:
Undunankulu waKwaZulu Natal, ubaba uSihle Zikalala, ethula inkulumo yakhe i- State of the Province wabalula izinhlelo eziningi eziqhubekayo, ezinye zalezo zinhlelo wakhuluma nge-King Shaka
Airport lapho izohlanganiswa khona izokwazi ukuthi ikwazi ukuxhumana namanye amadolobha njengeTheku, noMgungundlovu nakoMhlathuze. Ukwakhiwa kwemigwaqo lapho kuxhumana khona i-Mozambique neKwaZulu- Natal kungenye yezizingqalasizinda ezizoyisiza kakhulu iKwaZulu- Natal ukuthi yenyuse umnotho. [Ihlombe.]
English:
Before I conclude, it's clear that any development process must entail a commitment to investment in infrastructure. Infrastructure forms the backbone, the base upon which most programmatic interventions can succeed. Infrastructure, in all its forms, is a catalyst for development. Well- planned and managed infrastructure can reduce the costs of logistics, improving competitiveness of the local business environment.
In conclusion, we must say that as a revolutionary organisation we have learnt a lot from our yesterday revolutionaries such as Harry Gwala, the Lion of the Midlands who amongst other things taught us that when you are convinced about an idea and you have proved its worth in action, you must defend it with your life.
Hence, we conclude by saying that we indeed believe in the idea that the ANC must continue to advance the National Democratic Revolution
because it has a proven record of accomplishment to can usher the people of South Africa into a national democratic society, which is the ANC's ultimate destination. Thank you. [Applause.]