PREMIER'S ADDRESS
Master of Ceremonies, Mr. Cobus Bodenstein
Mr. Clem Sunter
Mr. Steuart Pennington
Honoured Guests
Ladies and Gentlemen
Let me take this opportunity to thank the Good People Management team for inviting us to attend their launch and to say a few words.
Mr. chairman, we have been asked to say a few words about the urgent need for business in Mpumalanga to become recognised global players.
Please allow me to digress a bit.
We are all familiar with the history of people like Bartholomew Diaz, Vasco da Gama, Thomas Cook, and Christopher Columbus. These are men who braved the rough seas to trade with people on the other end of their continents.
For months they would be battered by the high waters, facing nature in its rawest form in order to bring spice and gold to the very rich. Yes, these journeys took years and the toll in human life was often high.
The world was a vast place spoken of in terms of miles and kilometres. Awesome distances. Today we stand on the threshold of a new beginning - a dying century and a passing millennium. We can be proud of our achievements. But lest we forget let us pause and take stock of what it is we did wrong.
The past century and millennium is one during which millions have been victim to the slave trade, colonialism, underdevelopment, Nazism, ethnic cleansing, the scourge of wars fought for ignoble purposes, in many instances driven by racial, religious or political bigotry.
It was a millennium of poverty, human pogroms, unchecked epidemic disease, the rape of women and the scourge of ignorance which have always affected the poor of the world and not the sergeants with their insignia. As we reach the dawn of another era, we must continue to surmount the obstacles that the history of oppression placed on our path to the emergence of that kind of society.
One of the matters in which we correctly pride ourselves as South Africans, both black and white, is that we have been the architects of our own destiny. We managed to turn our country away from the terrible prospect of its transformation into a wasteland, producing a settlement, which many have described as one of the political miracles of our time.
As we step on the threshold of another century, we will have to measure up to the call to change our society, to ensure its renewal, in line with the challenges of the new century.
As we do that, we are confirming our desire to participate in the limitless world theatre of universal human life, including the extension of assistance to those in our midst who are less fortunate than we are.
The whole world is now caught up in the growing excitement that we will be living in a rare historical moment that can only happen once in a thousand years. All over the world, nations and communities are preparing to observe the end of the century and the beginning of the new millennium in a variety of ways. Indeed, ladies and gentlemen, the world has shrunk to fit in the palm of one hand.
Today you can look at and talk to somebody hundreds of kilometres away. All these have been made possible by the telephone, the cellular phone, the Internet and the e-mail.
Advanced technology enabled us to witness the bloody conflict in Kosovo as if it was happening on our doorsteps. We held our collective breath when it rained bombs on both the Serbs and the Albanians.
In the same way that technology enabled us to watch the Balkan crisis and the wastage of human lives in other flashpoints like the Great Lakes, Angola and Sierra Leonne, it has thrown open our protected markets for international competition. With this new technology come new opportunities and massive challenges. No longer are consumers prepared to wait for months before taking delivery of essential goods they need.
Today they can sample the latest Whitney Houston rendition on their Pentium before deciding whether to order or not. Only the best is good enough for today's consumer.
There is no place for third rate, late delivered items. Because they are able to choose from a wider range and scope than they previously did, consumers are now more selective in how and where and on what they spend their money.
Likewise our exports in stainless steel, steel, chrome, coal manganese, sugar and subtropical fruit, wool etc now take on the full frontal challenge of international competitors.
Are we, as a province prepared to go in there and fight for our slice of the global cake? Are we competitive enough to withstand the onslaught from emerging and established economies? These are questions that need honest answers.
As a player or a team you will never know how successful you are unless you have played the opposition. The World Competitiveness Scoreboard will be our benchmark. It will be able to tell us whether we are failing or succeeding.
Let us focus on Government, Management and People. As government we have committed ourselves to fighting crime, improving the quality of the public's service and to stamp out corruption, which are our major weaknesses.
Our scoreboard reveals management strengths as good governance, social accountability, creating new firms and generating a fairly accepted value for the shareholders.
Weaknesses are relatively fragile Industrial Relations, employees who are not identifying with the company's objectives and internationally inexperienced managers.
The rating concerning the quality of management and productivity is estimated as being relatively poor. The overall estimations concerning the ranking of management has declined over the past four years prompting us to ask whether our management is getting worse or whether our competitors are getting better?
South Africans are the 15th nation working the highest number of hours per year compared to the rest of the world. Our other weakness is our education system that seems unable to meet the satisfactory requirements of a competitive economy. We are doing badly on the economic literacy front.
The values of the society do not sufficiently support competitiveness; companies do not invest sufficiently in the training of employees and the country, as a whole is not substantially flexible to adapt to new challenges.
Government has imposed a levy on the businesses to motivate them to invest with Skills development. The Employment Equity Act forces companies to think strategically in terms of the equity and development aspect. We as government promise to deliver from our side, but we need the support of business people.
Government does not create jobs instead it creates an enabling environment within which the captains of capital and free enterprise can do what they are supposed to do - create jobs.
This will increase the wealth of our people resulting in a higher domestic demand for goods and services, which will stimulate the small and medium enterprise sector. It is a proven fact that across the world the SMME sector is the major job creator.
Unemployment is a major concern the world over.
We will then be able to successfully utilise our province's natural resources; it's mineral wealth, high agricultural potential, our most beautiful but less appreciated eco-system or natural scenery and our people to its fullest potential.
The centrality of global competitiveness in ensuring that Mpumalanga as a province,South Africa as a country and Southern Africa as a region cannot be over emphasised. But for us to be competitive we need development.
Development on the other hand depends on infrastructure, both physical and social. Any development process must entail a commitment to investment in infrastructure.
Infrastructure forms the backbone, the base upon which most of our programs can flourish. Properly planned and managed infrastructure is capable of ensuring and guaranteeing that existing businesses expand their production levels, while encouraging small businesses to enter the market. It also promotes trade and supports economic concentration.
Our government is committed to promoting the development of the province, the country and the region as a whole. We take the view that development is about people. Government is committed to utilising public-private partnerships in the creation of social and physical infrastructure.
Mr. Chairman, from the government's side we pledge an open door policy. Of course we must bear in mind that we have a province to run and our people expect delivery.
When we have the time and the logistics are in place we will be too happy to welcome you to discuss common problems and map out joint strategies in creating a better life for all.
In conclusion, Mr. chairman, I would like to sincerely thank and congratulate GPM for the invitations and for their launch. We always have a place in our heart for people who show sustained confidence in this province.
We appreciate the invitation to enable us to share this great and exciting day with you.
Thank you.