Welcome to the Mpumalanga Provincial Government

MEC Phosa during the official opening of the Audi Centre Mbombela, Riverside Park

16 November 2012

Dealer Principal, Mr Lemmy Dolezal
Management and staff
Esteemed guests
Ladies and gentlemen

It is a great pleasure for me to join you and the entire Audi family in celebrating this momentous occasion of the official opening of Audi Centre dealership. 

This dealership is part of a bigger project which is underway to help reconstruct the Province into a better destination for business. It is part of the automobile industry which, to us, is a good bedfellow of a growing local economy. 

The motor industry account for 10 per cent of the country’s manufacturing exports. According to the Department of Trade and Industry, the industry contributed 6.2 per cent to the country’s gross domestic product in 2010. It is an industry that has many multipliers, contributing even more to the collective efforts of creating the much needed jobs in our country and Mpumalanga Province. 

The rand value (in current prices) of the sales and repairs of motor vehicles in our province was estimated at R 3,5 billion in 2011 and a contribution of almost 2 per cent to the provincial economy.

Motor vehicle licences, as one of the direct contributors to the provincial fiscus, continue to make it possible for a promise of a better life to blossom in Mpumalanga. The Province has collected R238, 937 million which is 42.6% of the total provincial collection in 2011/12. It is estimated that the motor vehicle licences will contribute more than R300 million to the Provincial fiscus this financial year.

This is not the only reason that the government supports and remains committed to development of this industry.

We recognise that the sector supports the luxurious needs of those who can afford speed (within the set legal limits of course) and comfort but most important the survival of the middle class and poor majority in our Province.  In simpler terms, the sector assist in quickening the delivery time of daily staple food to the local shops and homes, our hospitals and schools where the nutrition programme is being implemented with measurable success.

As one of the major vehicle makers in the country, Audi is making a contribution in changing the face of Mpumalanga. The continuing growth of the brand and its resonance with everyone who is associated with it signifies brighter that there is a future for the dealership.

Ladies and gentlemen

In the midst of all glory and hype around this occasion, we must also acknowledge the pioneers that laid a foundation for this big brand in motor indistry.

We are informed that the first Audi left the Zwickau factory in the early summer of 1910. The rich history indeed follows big brands. More than 100 years later, Audi gets a new home in Riverside Park. That is the mark of true endurance and consistency which are the critical elements for the success of any business, today.

We must also express our gratitude to the men and women who dirtied their hands to give us this impressive building that houses one of the most sought after brand in the luxury cars – Audi.

We must equally commend the wisdom and patriotic stance of the management to improve their service offering to a growing list of happy drivers of Audi in the Province.

This impressive and pulsating view of this centre, perched on the horizon of the fastest growing industrial park in the Province, can only mean that good things are yet to come in this beautiful city.

While I wish the management and staff successful business journey, there is no better expression than that of Thomas Watson who advices, 

“To be successful, you have to have your heart in your business, and your business in your heart”

To the current and future generations of Audi users, may you have more comfortable driving miles ahead. Remember driving safely is cool, so is adhering to the rules of the road!

I now have a distinct honour to declare Audi Centre Mbombela officially opened.

I thank you.

 


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