Opening remarks by Hon. Premier TSP Makwetla at the Heritage Symposium: Mpumalanga Lake District

30-31 August 2007

Programme Director

Members of the Executive Council,

Executive Mayor of Msukaligwa Municipality , Cllr. B.M Vilakazi

Mayors and Councillors,

Prof. Peter Delius, and

Distinguished scholars and presenters at this Symposium,

Managers in the public service,

Colleagues, fellow participants,

Ladies and Gentlemen

I would like to thank the organisers of this symposium for putting this excellent programme together, and ensuring that we enlist the participation of some of our distinguished academics and researchers in various fields in the robust debates on history, heritage, conservation and sustainable development.

To the presenters and participants, we thank you for being part of this symposium and we appreciate that your participation will enrich the quality of discussions and debates.

It is particularly inspiring that we meet on the eve of the commencement tomorrow, of our country's heritage month, September, at Ermelo in Msukaligwa Municipality , one of our country's modest backyard towns to strenuously trace our lost and disappearing identity. OUR LAND, OUR PEOPLE, OUR HERITAGE.

This symposium comes at an opportune moment in the Province's development struggle. As a Province, we have prioritised the ‘Big Five' flagship projects that are aimed at accelerating economic development and service delivery. One of these projects is Heritage, Greening Mpumalanga and Tourism. This is a project that combines the elements of reconstructing, recording and preserving in an inclusive way, Mpumalanga's history and heritage, enhancing biodiversity conservation, sustainable development and effective environmental management practices to create a "green Province".

It was interesting to see how embarrassingly limited our knowledge is of our country and who we are. The reconstruction of history and heritage is an important medium for national cohesion.

The benefit flowing from well-managed heritage and greening the Province is the ability of the Province to unlock the tourism growth potential by enhancing ecotourism and cultural tourism. In turn, this will contribute to economic growth and job creation. As this government, our abiding mission is to vanquish the scourge of poverty in our country.

One of the challenges facing any developing nation is maintaining a delicate balance between the pressures of economic development for job creation on the one hand, and sustainable environmental management on the other. The outline of presentations promises to provide insights into some of the obscure and complex issues defining the interface between heritage, conservation and development. The Mpumalanga Lakes District locality presents an exciting context in which to highlight and debate issues raised by the flagship project.

In terms of its heritage and biodiversity value, the Chrissiessmeer environs is one of the most unique landscapes in South Africa we are told. As narrated to us during the excursion yesterday, this plateau area has been eroded by wind over 1,500,000 years to form natural depressions or pans as we saw them.

These diverse water and nature resources have supported humankind and wildlife for thousands of years. The Chrissiesmeer or Mpumalanga Lakes District as it is locally known, like other lakes is no exception. The interesting San Rock paintings scattered amongst the small sandstone cliffs adjacent to the pans bear testimony to the presence of our intrepid predecessors who roamed these plains. Their paintings are also represented in a number of sites in the district including Jessievale and Buffelspoort and the many sites in the Nkomati River Valley near Elukwatini. Quite clearly, the legend and the majesty of these pans, of this Lake , have not been fully exposed. Their place in the sustenance of the evolution and development of early human societies in this region of the continent, begs for far more attention than we have cared to pay.

Programme Director, in terms of its economic value and potential to unlock economic activity, this region is endowed with rich reserves of coal. The critical management challenge is ensuring that we are able to maintain a delicate balance between meeting growing national energy requirements and preventing the degradation of sensitive ecosystems and sites of heritage significance.

Traditionally mining has played a major role in creating job opportunities in South Africa and especially in Mpumalanga . We have noted with interest the exponential increase in mine applications since the revision of the mining legislation. The challenge is how we deal with the risk of losing a significant area of natural and high potential agricultural land. If this is not managed properly, we will create a legacy of impoverished land that, in future, will impact negatively on the sustainable livelihoods of generations to come.

As we implement agricultural projects to improve sustainable livelihoods, it is important to consider the impact of open caste mining on water availability, pollution and soil fertility so that we are able to manage and restrict unintended consequences for some of the noble development activities we engage in.

The key question is how we are able to prevent the pollution of water catchments to spill over into other pristine environmentally sensitive catchments, in particular with regards to waste management challenges in the face of new growth. I hope that the presentations on the strategies for the future will give insight into some of the options available for the Province to implement sustainable development practices.

This symposium will also give pointers to some of the innovative ways to deal with the challenge of meeting pressing human development needs while, at the same time, enhancing environmental integrity and rehabilitation.

From what I have seen of the story of Lake Chrissie (Seokodibeng), I cannot but take back with me the overwhelming realisation of the immense potential for livelihoods Lake Chrissie presents us with, and the enormity of the work to be done to turn it into reality.

To that end, one of the evident challenges we must address to realise this dream is to listen to one another and work together for the common good of all.

Thank you.