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8 May 2007

Honourable Speaker and Deputy Speaker
Honourable Premier Mr Sello Moloto
Honourable members of the Executive Council
Honourable members of the Provincial Legislature
Leaders of the opposition parties
Executive mayors, mayors and leaders in our system of local government
Leadership of the African National Congress (ANC) and other political organisations
Stalwarts and veterans of our struggle
Our dignified traditional leaders
Religious leaders
Leadership and heads of our chapter nine institutions
Leaders from the labour, women and youth fraternity
The business community
Leaders and heads of our provincial parastatals
Director-General (DG) and other leaders of the public service
Media representatives
Distinguished guests
Ladies and gentlemen
Comrades and friends

Honourable Speaker, it gives me a great honour to announce that today we are joined in this house by brothers and sister from sister countries in the region and other parts of the world.

On 9 February 2007, the President of South Africa has delivered his annual State of the Nation address (SONA) in the National Assembly wherein he outlined a comprehensive government action plan which provided a roadmap towards a journey to better the lives of our people. In the same address the President posed a question, "What progress have we made in the quest to achieve the objectives to which we honestly told the nation we were committed, as a result of which our people gave us the overwhelming authority to govern our country from 2004 until the next election in 2009?"

In an attempt to respond to this honest and yet noble question, our Premier in his address on this same platform occasioned by the 2007 annual State of the Province address (SOPA) made reference to a survey conducted by Afro-Barometer which concluded that "72% of the respondents interviewed agreed that our provincial government was indeed doing a good job". A good job indeed to improve their lives for the better.

As if what the Premier said was not enough some few weeks ago, to be specific 26 March 2007, one of the journalists in a daily national newspaper wrote about his experience in Limpopo not knowing he was responding to the President's question when he said in his article, "Many of us wonder why the ANC is so strong in the rural heartland. Well it is always instructive to travel. When I arrived at my grandmother's village, Mawa village in Greater Letaba Municipality, I slept in my aunt's Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP) house and drank water in the village from a government-installed tap. There is a new tarred road through the village. In 2009, when elections come those communities will vote for the ANC. For them this party has delivered beyond expectations. That is the truth they can see in front of them." The great deeds of our movement have been told, not that they are a secret. What more can we say?

People driven development

Allow me to indulge and remind this august House about the naked truth that we all know or supposed to that development is about people. People are the real wealth of nations. At the heart of our development efforts lie the multitudes of our people to whom we owe our loyalty, dedication and sacrifices. Ultimately human development is about the realisation of potential.

It is about what people can do and what they can become, their capabilities and about the freedom they have to exercise real choices in their lives. Just like the Great Mahatma Gandhi once commented that, "The difference between what we do and what we are capable of doing would suffice to solve most of the world's problems." Our development work in this province is underpinned by our determination to enhance the potential of our people to expand their frontiers for human fulfilment.

Development is about people and people are the real wealth of nations. Any development that is worthy of success, must be people cantered and people driven. Mesmerised by the rise and fall of national incomes, as measured by gross domestic product (GDP), we tend to equate human development with material wealth. The importance of GDP growth and economic stability should not be understated both are fundamental to sustained human progress as is clear in the many countries that suffer from their absence. However, the ultimate yardstick for measuring progress in people's lives is the quality of life they lead.

In the world of the 21st century national security looms large on the international agenda, violent conflicts, concerns over terrorist threats, the proliferation of nuclear weapons and the growth of illicit trade in arms and drugs all pose acute security challenges. Against this backdrop it is easy to lose sight of some basic human security imperatives such as poverty, unemployment, deprivation and disease which directly and immediately affects the quality of our lives. We all know that ours is a country of contradictions, a country of multiple realities, a country of stark contrasts between the first world technological advancement and high living standards on the one hand and large areas of extreme poverty and deprivation on the other.

In the same speech we referred to earlier by the President, he went further to point out that, "None of the great social problems we have to solve is capable of a resolution outside the context of the creation of jobs and the alleviation and eradication of poverty and therefore the struggle to eradicate poverty has been and will continue to be a central part of the national effort to build the new South Africa." It is primarily for this reason among others that the economic cluster that we are privileged to be a member has adopted a comprehensive plan of action geared to address these twin evils of poverty and unemployment.

Having completed the first decade of democracy and now into the second with 13 years of experience at the heart of this new phase is the challenge of promoting and accelerating sustained development and shared growth, spearheaded by a democratic developmental State, guided and buttressed by an ANC led popular movement and working in partnership with the people. Development is about people and people are the real wealth of nations.

Economic overview

Our province, Limpopo, is South Africa's prolific province in terms of economic growth outweighing the national average growth rate of 3,75 with 6,3%. Between 1995 and 2001, the province has achieved a 3,8% growth rate the highest nationwide. However, during the period between 1996 and 2005, the provincial contribution to national GDP calculated at constant 2000 prices fell steadily from 4,8% in 1996 to 4,4% in 2005.

This decline could be attributed to the fact that the structure of the economy is heavily dependent on commodities which tend to be hugely affected by developments within the global market forces. The other sector which has affected the structural configuration of our economy has been the recent decline of the agricultural sector, the food basket for our people. Obviously we should be worried about this sunset trend bedevilling one of the most critical sectors of our economy. This is further compounded by the shift in the use of farms from mainstream agricultural activities to game farms.

However, the sunrise trend has emerged from the general government services and the mining industry which has contributed 27,7% and 23,2% respectively which accounted for 50,8% of the total provincial GDP. Nevertheless, we draw strength from our ever growing export trade which has expanded to R3,6 billion in 2005 compared to R1,8 billion in 2004. When we cast our eyes into the horizon, we are inspired by a future which guarantees us growth and prosperity.

Honourable members, allow me to give you a synopsis of what our economy is capable of. We grapple with the complex issue of the economy driven by the zeal and determination to undermine and ultimately defeat the twin evils of poverty and unemployment we referred to earlier. Strong growth performance has as well been influenced by such sectors such as construction, wholesale and retail trade, financial and business services including property developments and real estates, transport and communication.

Agriculture

Despite the challenges we alluded to earlier, our climatic conditions in this province allows for double harvesting seasons which ultimately translate into Limpopo becoming the national food basket. Limpopo currently provides over 45% of Johannesburg fresh produce market's R2 billion annual turnover according to Limpopo Business Magazine. It is therefore not surprising that we produce about 60% of the country's tomatoes, 75% mangoes, 65% papaya, 33% oranges, 36% tea, 25% citrus, bananas and litchis and 60% of its avocados. We have already initiated a process to open market access for export of some of our fresh produce to one of the biggest world market, the People's Republic of China. The recent trade mission to Beijing has laid a solid foundation in paving a way for our exporters to expand their export trade between Limpopo and China. In the process of pursuing export market we equally need to take care of domestic consumption and sustain the capacity of this sector.

Mining

During 2003, total sales of primary minerals amounted to R13,3 billion making us the country's third largest contributor. Interest is developing in Limpopo's mineral riches and has reached unprecedented levels with 396 prospecting and mining licenses having been issued in 2002. Limpopo has no less than 136 operating mines producing 9% of South Africa's income from minerals.

Our national public electricity utility Eskom announced plans to build a R26 billion coal fired electricity generation plant in Lephalale, in the vast and relatively untapped Waterberg coalfield. The coal bed covers an 88 km by 40 km area in north western Limpopo and extends to Botswana. The new 2 250 mega watts base load power station will drive the expansion of coal mining in the region and is expected to lead to coal to liquid fuel, gas to liquid fuel and other related chemical plants in the province. This development has prompted Exxaro Resources to expand operations in its Grootgeluk Coal Mine, which is the largest coal mine in South Africa to the tune of R7 billion. The two developments have stimulated other major investments, the Department of Water Affairs and Forestry has launched a massive R1,3 billion De Hoop Dam on the Steelpoort River to supply water to the mining sector and surrounding communities. This is a major national Accelerated and Shared Growth Initiatives for South Africa (AsgiSA) flagship project. A further R3,6 billion will go towards bulk distribution works including a pipeline to carry water from the Flag Boshielo Dam to Mokopane for rural community use and platinum mining development. Another R3 billion will be provided by local municipalities for water services treatment and distribution.

Furthermore, Transnet has recently announced that it will spent R10 billion by 2025 on upgrading its Waterberg link line in order to increase the transport of coal to serve the growing demand. There are plans in the pipeline to build a new R8 billion line between Waterberg and Groenbult north of Polokwane. In Vhembe, Vanetia has already initiated plans to expand its operations to the value of approximately R1 billion, Potgietersrus Platinum Mine (PPL) is investing R4,2 billion in expansions and FOSKOR is investing R600 million as well. The announcement of a R3 billion injection into ASA Metal early this year is another sign of the confidence foreign investors have in Limpopo.

The mining sector has opened a floodgate of the capital investment flow into our economy contributing to its growth. Over and above the billions we have just mention it is worth mentioning key developments in the area of Dilokong Corridor. In this region, Anglo Platinum has invested R1,5 billion in Mandagshoek together with a complimentary R1,5 billion smelter outside Polokwane. Impala Platinum has invested about R1,7 billion in their Winnaarshoek in Burgersfort. The Canadian Southern Era Group has set aside about R550 million for the redevelopment of platinum mine at Lebowakgomo. Obviously all these developments will inevitably in one way or another create job opportunities, increase household income and subsequently contribute in alleviating the scourge of poverty.

Our major concern is that information on procurement and involvement of our people remains insufficient for them to take advantage of these opportunities taking place right in their backyards. We will relentlessly pursue monitoring procurement by the mining companies. The baseline of most of the big mines has been determined to see what percentage of the total procurement remains in the province. This has been a challenge as most companies were reluctant to disclose the information but gave us their total national spent making it difficult to determine the total provincial figure. Through negotiations with management of the mining houses we are however reaching agreements and mining houses now see the importance of supplying such information to government.

Manufacturing

The two sectors that we have just spoken about provide a springboard for the development and flourishing of the manufacturing sector. Manufacturing lays a basis for the beneficiation and value adding of our products and raw material. It creates an opportunity for industrialisation, economic growth and development. To this effect we have witnessed within the agricultural sector the processing of timber into furniture, interior fitting and crate pallet manufacturing for example. This sector has also attracted other engineering operations to the province including footwear, brewing, bottling, packaging, brick making, ceramics and jewellery.

The Provincial Growth and Development Strategy (PGDS) has identified seven economic clusters which spread across the province's five districts. The clusters are based on taking advantage of the provinces' competitive advantage occasioned by the wealth of our resources in mining, agriculture and tourism to turn the economy around. The burgeoning manufacturing sector holds several investment opportunities that call upon us to provide an environment conducive enough to enable it to thrive. It is for this reason that as a province we strive to provide incentive packages to support this sector.

A number of niche manufacturing and service sectors have also contributed strongly to regional growth. These include agro processing which increased from 0,6% in 2004 to 3,0 % in 2005 and community, social and other personal services which increased by 5,4 % in 2005 compared with 1,8 % in 2004. In sum, only in few sectors did output growth coincide with employment growth. Supporting these growing sectors is the engineering sector, which, if left unsupported can bring our manufacturing side to a grinding halt hence our call for the sector to diversify and transform for more entrants.

Considerable attention will be focused on interventions that can boost job creation and lower unemployment, a fundamental tenet of the accelerated shared growth agenda. Amongst the intervention is the economic research commissioned by the Department to identify gaps and constraints that can be exploited in order to stimulate job creation. This will be achieved by identifying opportunities for new production, expansion of existing production and efficiency improvements along the value chain. The Department is also aiming to identify labour intensive sectors with the potential to absorb the unemployed, both old and new entrants into the labour market.

In our effort to revolutionise the manufacturing industry in the province and promote innovation, we continue to support the industry and individual companies to make the required contribution to our economy. Last year we informed the honourable House how our Department assisted a precision engineering company with its invention. We are happy to announce that our intervention has secured an international patent against Australia, Europe and the United States of America (USA).

Tourism

Since 1994, the tourism floodgates have opened and we have seen unprecedented growth in an industry which is currently ranked as one of the most important in the country. When we opened our doors to the world an estimated 3,6 million international tourists entered our country. By 2006, following years of steady growth almost 8,4 million people visited our shores in a single year.

Limpopo represents a paragon of a premier international tourism destination. Broad, boundless and beautiful ancient land of myth and legend that is Limpopo beckons with a mystical allure that travellers all over the world find impossible to resist. The land of the Golden Rhino, Mapungubwe, Royal Kraal of the Rain Queen Modjadji, Kruger National Park and the proud and majestic Baobab tree Limpopo is distinctive in its ample variety of attractions.

Cabinet has adopted the Provincial Tourism Growth and Development Strategy to provide a guiding framework within which we can grow this sector of our economy. The development of the tourism sector is steadily growing to reach the desired goals despite its challenging nature. The development of the Waterberg node which remains a strong linkage with Limpopo's primary tourism market, Gauteng is gradually becoming a force to be reckoned with. Two major investments have unfolded during the previous financial year worth more than R1 billion such as Entabeni Resort development and the Outdoor World Project near Bela-Bela.

These two projects once completed will not only create the much needed jobs but will create a unique tourism corridor that links Gauteng with major destinations like Bela-Bela, Nylsvley, Doorndraai Dam and Makapans' Caves with Polokwane enhancing our competitive advantage in terms of positioning Limpopo as a leading tourism destination.

A golfing cluster has emerged within the Waterberg area comprising of six championship golf courses, all within a 10 km radius. The distinguished Ernie Els and Jack Nicklaus legends of South African golf and international sporting ambassadors have consciously chosen Limpopo as the prestigious host for their first joint venture and are the designers of a colossal and impressive championship golf course to the value of R1,5 billion.

Tremendous progress has been made in the development of the Trans-Limpopo tourism routes enhancing our strategic location within the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region. The first product which will focus on cross selling and packaging will be finalised and launched during the international tourism fair to be hosted by South Africa, the Indaba Show that will take place this month. The opening of Giriyondo Gate in August last year within the Greater Limpopo Transfrontier Park provided a huge opportunity to operators based in Phalaborwa to develop a well branded route called "Bush to Beach", which already attracts many tourist both from Xai–Xai and Phalaborwa. All these are exciting developments in the light of South Africa's preparations to host the 2010 Soccer World Cup. As Limpopo we will develop a range of suitable and attractive tourism products aimed at this influx from abroad and the continent through the established collaborations and linkages with known destinations within our close proximity.

In the past year, we continued to make major interventions towards the transformation of the tourism industry by assisting 65 new entrants into the industry with market access and industry specific skills development. Seventy-five tourist guides were trained in the translation of Spanish, German and French in our quest to ready ourselves to benefit and also penetrate some of these lucrative markets during 2010. This year we would like to focus on Portuguese to further add on to the other three foreign languages.

Our province has a lot of adventure related experiences and the survey conducted reflected a shortage of Limpopo based tour operators and adventure guides. We will use the opportunity of the R22 million granted by the Department of Labour through the National Skills Fund Programme to develop over 700 black people in the safari and hunting sector. This will further advance our course to transform the sector.

The Annual Limpopo Marula Festival, which we co-host with the Department of Sport, Arts and Culture, now forms part of the PGDS prioritised projects. A strong partnership with the Tourism Business and Ba-Phalaborwa Municipality as the identified host municipality of the festival has been formalised. This is a purposeful intervention to utilise the festival as a draw card to attract domestic, regional and international tourists to Limpopo during the Marula season as well as to develop the festival as a marketable brand for the province. A fact-finding mission was carried out in Germany, at the Munich Oktoberfest, in an endeavour to enhance our knowledge and skills on how related festivals are conducted on a sustainable basis and valuable lessons have been learnt from this sojourn abroad.

The idea is to explore possible linkages with our neighbours around the celebrations of Mukumbi (Morula/Vukanyi), Vucema and Xikanchu home brewed traditional beverages and build a strong brand that enhances tourism flow and economic development within our rural communities. Furthermore, it is to build on what has been started already and lifting the festival to the levels of other food and beverage festivals celebrated both in the country and other parts of the world like the well known German Beer Festival held in Munich referred to as the Oktoberfest, the Oyster Festival in Knysna, the Cherry Festival in Ficksburg (Free State province) and within our own province the Grape Festival in Modimola and the Mokopane Biltong Festival.

Medicinal plants

The programme for conservation and sustainable utilisation of indigenous medicinal plants has taken off the ground. Until recently the mushrooming of indigenous medicinal plants markets has become the main visible threat to conservation of these resources. Current developments leading to the institutionalisation of African traditional medicine by the national Department of Health are expected to increase the pressure on provincial stocks.

It is anticipated that with the current formal recognition and promotion of traditional medicine, interest in the use of indigenous medicine will grow, leading to increased harvesting of the plants. In preparation the Department is engaged in collaborative efforts with the national Department of Health, traditional health practitioners associations and research institutions to preserve indigenous stocks.

During 2006/07, we were engaged in the facilitation of the development of partnerships between Vhembe Traditional Health Practitioners and the Indigenous Knowledge Systems of South Africa (IKSSA), the indigenous knowledge system wing of The Freedom Park Trust, a national legacy project. The partnership is also involving several research institutions to participate in the conservation and research on medicinal plants. One of the outcomes of the partnership is the indigenous medicinal plants nurseries project that was launched on 27 October 2006, at Ha-Maila village. We are grateful to Chief Nthabalala who offered a substantial stretch of suitable land for the project. A proposal for Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP) funding has been lodged with the Department of Environment and Tourism with the estimated budget of R32 million. It is our plan to generate sufficient trees from this and other similar projects. The trees produced at these nurseries will support the "Greening Limpopo Programme".

A setback was experienced with the cross border exchange wherein of the centres of excellence, the Hans Hoheisen Wildlife Research Station had to be given over to the Mpumalanga province. Plans for the upgrading of this centre were already at an advanced stage. However, the Department is currently consulting with stakeholders on the establishment of a state of the art natural science museum near the eastern Trans-frontier Park between Limpopo, Zimbabwe and Mozambique.

Commercialisation of parks

As indicated during our budget speech in 2006 we have gone a long way into making the commercialisation of provincial parks a reality. We are happy to announce that tourism products within four provincial parks (Lekgalameetse, Makuya, Nwanedi and Masebe) will be out in the market place during the first quarter of the financial year. We look forward to roll out this process to a maximum degree during the course of this financial year. We believe that this programme could become a vehicle to empower the previously disadvantaged individuals whilst at the same time creating the much needed job opportunities for the rural communities.

We managed to go on a wider consultative drive with communities surrounding the reserves, resulting in communities affirming their commitment to the programme through community resolutions. We are currently working on the development of master plans for each reserve where we secured resolutions. The challenge has been land claims and delays in community resolutions. However, we are working closely with the Regional Land Claims Commission, the provincial Department of Agriculture, the Department of Water Affairs and Forestry, the Department of Land Affairs and our implementing agency, Limpopo Tourism and Parks leading the whole commercialisation facilitation drive to overcome this challenge.

In our endeavour to fast track transformation within the wildlife industry, we will be assisting 20 previously disadvantaged communities that claimed their land back to be introduced to the mainstream wildlife industry this current financial year. The Department will also dedicate 19 game reserves out of the 49 that are communal reserves for the same initiative since we view this as a vehicle to empower communities to participate meaningfully in the tourism and wildlife industry.

Parks and Integration Expansion Programme

We are fast tracking the Parks Expansion and Integration Programme. For the past few months Limpopo Tourism and Parks has been hard at work to finalise agreements with Entabeni Game Reserve in respect of Doorndraai and Kuduland Safaris and Tshipise Honnet Reserve in respect of Nwanedi Nature Reserve. Through consultative processes with role players we have carried out and we envisage launching the partnership during the second quarter of the 2007/08 financial year. Good progress has also been made with Eiland Spa in respect of Hans Merensky Nature Reserve. We would like to optimise the opportunity that exists in this beautiful reserve en-route to Kruger National Park to develop a unique eco-culture destination for the entire family market and nature lovers alike.

During the 2006/07 financial year, an amount of R50 million was allocated to Limpopo Tourism and Parks to initiate the infrastructure upgrading programme within provincial parks. The programme started during the first quarter of last year and all the projects are expected to be wrapped up during this financial year.

State of the environment

Last year, we undertook to distribute 7 000 trees to encourage a green culture among our people. In 2006/07, the Department distributed and planted 11000 trees in the province. It is our plan to continue with this noble initiative as we make our province green. We will also continue to encourage municipalities to put proper waste management systems in place and further utilise our cleanest town competition, which was won by Greater Tzaneen Municipality in 2006/07, as a platform.

One of our major challenges is environmental offences committed by people in the province. We have therefore extended our Environmental Education Programmes to the learners and educators in schools. The Department will continue expanding the State of Environment Reporting Competitions (SOER) with the ultimate goal that the majority of schools actively participate in environment related projects. It is in this spirit that we will work together with the Department of Education to maximise the utilisation of the Schoemansdal and Melkrivier Environmental Centres.

These centres will further play an important role in the co-ordination of activities within the Waterberg and Soutpansberg Biosphere Reserve initiatives. Not only will it serve as centres to facilitate skills development programmes in the environmental field but will further focus on actively involving our young people in environment and tourism related programmes. It will further serve as nodal points to assist with our research agenda as mandated under United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation's (Unesco) Man and Biosphere Programme.

The Wetlands Management Programme has continued to transform the status of wetlands in the province. Significant gains are visible in terms of community commitment to participate in the conservation process. These positive developments are easily attributed to a changed approach to the management of wetlands issues, particularly in relation to communities that live around them. The new approach guarantees that the constitutional rights of communities to joint ownership of wetland resources be recognised, it decriminalises indigenous life and provides support for conservation and benefit sharing initiatives.

A total of 64 wetlands have been registered around the province. Twenty six of those in the Greater Sekhukhune District Municipality have Global Positioning System (GPS) information and are ready for mapping. Most of them are under rehabilitation and several jobs were created through EPWP projects. Other wetlands are being considered for rehabilitation and development, with plans for Sambandou at reasonably advanced stages. As a Department we are proud to be involved in the developments that are leading to the declaration of the Makuleke wetland as the second provincial Ramsar site, in addition to Nylsvlei. The Ramsar status is expected to be conferred soon. Not only will this status confirm our standing as a conservation sensitive province, but it will promote our profile as the leading eco-tourism destination for the country and the region. Advantages of the new approach to conservation of wetlands includes the integration with other major provincial programmes including "Greening Limpopo", identification and description of sites of ecological, cultural and heritage significance and the Limpopo Mukumbi Industries projects.

The environment is everyone's business and we would like nothing more than to see each of us playing their part in making Limpopo one of the best places on earth. To enhance the environmental literacy of our provincial population the Department has embarked on the Community Environment Development (CED) Programme to support formal capacity building programmes to local government structures. This will also include environmental awareness and education to communities, schools and conservation groups.

The recent United Nations (UN) Report (March 2007) by a team of experts on climate change has concluded that, "far more also needs to be done in the face of the threats to human development posed by climate change".

"This is not a future threat, global warming is already happening and it has a potential in many countries to roll back human development gains achieved over generations."

Consumer support

We live in a consumerist economy loaded with the will to expend and acquire material possessions. While this is not to be lamented, it poses new challenges for many with no redress for their problems. In the previous tabling of this vote, we made reference to our processes towards the establishment of the Consumer Court in the province which we successfully launched later in 2006.

The Consumer Court is a mechanism to give you and I as consumers an alternative and inexpensive route towards resolving consumer complaints and problems. Our expectation is that our people in the province and retailers will vest their confidence in the court as an impartial body with capable minds and an able administration. Through our campaigns we are positively changing the attitudes and understanding of consumers towards key consumer responsibilities. During the previous year we have reached 2,6 million consumers through radio talk shows, workshops, road shows, print media and circulating information brochures. We have introduced the school drama competition on consumerism which intended to capacitate youth who in turn will impart the knowledge to their parents and the community at large.

Although we are educating consumers, we also ensure that there is compliance in the trading environment as well. The Department has eight trade inspectors who conduct active and proactive inspection in all businesses. The Department of Trade and Industry has repealed existing laws and promulgated the National Credit Act. Through this Act we hope to promote a fair and non-discriminatory marketplace for access to consumer credit, to provide for the general regulation of consumer credit, improved standards for consumer information and to promote Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) and ownership within the consumer credit industry.

Business regulation

We reported in the previous year that a task team has been established by both the Department of Local Government and Housing and ourselves to fast track the implementation of the Limpopo Business Registration Act No 5 of 2003. This team encountered a number of challenges and could not finalise the appropriate assignment of functions to municipalities. Subsequently, the Department developed an alternative functional interim model to implement the Business Registration Act. We are in the process of finalising the regulations and the repeal of the National Business Act No 71 of 1991 to give effect to the Limpopo Business Registration Act. This Act will subsequently enable business owners to register their businesses.

I have indicated previously that we intend to assist established and new businesses to be wholly compliant with the necessary applicable legislations and tax matters. I would also like to take this opportunity to remind small businesses such as liquor license holders and other general business owners to take advantage of the tax amnesty, register your businesses and apply for tax amnesty as the Minister of Finance has pronounced during his budget speech on 15 February 2006. The deadline for the amnesty is the 31 May 2007 and we would like to encourage business to use this opportunity.

Liquor trade regulation

The liquor board has now moved to a position of strength wherein we have administrative and compliance enforcement capabilities. It might be of interest for members and the public to know that the liquor board has conducted 18 liquor board public hearings wherein non-compliance cases are heard by the board.

Of the 18 cases heard, six liquor licenses were withdrawn and 12 are awaiting judgment from the liquor board. There are 5 841 existing licensed liquor outlets in the province that created 23 364 direct jobs.

It has been difficult for the Department to account for non-compliance issues related to liquor matters because we mainly relied on South African Police Services (SAPS) to deal with compliance issues. I am happy to announce that, the Department has appointed nine liquor inspectors and we intend to increase the number to 26. We have created a very sound relationship with SAPS where we do hold operations and training jointly. We have conducted same training to the designated police officers and liquor inspectors and in total we have trained 95 compliance officers.

In line with the resolution of the Executive Council, where a concern was raised of liquor outlets which are in close proximity of churches and schools, the Department has embarked on a programme of consulting relevant stakeholders, public and interested parties in order to find an amicable solution to this problem. We will table before this House, the Limpopo Liquor Bill during the course of this year to review the current National Liquor Act that regulates retail sales and micro manufacturing of liquor.

Gambling industry

The gambling industry continues to contribute to the economic growth of the province through job creation. Last year we spoke of the third gambling license we intend awarding through the Limpopo Gambling Board which is destined for the Sekhukhune District. Today we can report to the honourable House that all the processes including public hearings are proceeding smoothly and the third casino license will be awarded in the second quarter of this financial year. We are currently busy rolling out the licensing of limited casino pay out machines in the province. The aim of this process is to empower and create access for small, medium and micro enterprises (SMMEs) into the gambling industry. The co-operation we are getting from the law enforcement agencies as we deal with the challenges of illegal gambling is commendable and highly appreciated.

We are encouraged that since the rationalisation of gambling activities in the country, only a small percentage of the South African population are problem gamblers according to the research conducted recently by the National Gambling Board. In an attempt to go deeper in understanding the magnitude of this problem we will conduct a focused research study on the socio-economic impact of gambling in the province during this financial year.

However, we would like to warn our people against illegal and excessive gambling that may result in various social problems which might even undermine the integrity of the gambling industry. As a way of mitigating the challenge faced by the victims of irresponsible gambling, we have introduced a programme to support them through counselling. We will be tabling before this House the Limpopo Gambling Bill during the course of this year.

International economic co-operation

Honourable members, you will remember that as a Department we are seized with a responsibility to establish Limpopo as the most suitable and preferred investment location in Southern Africa through the marketing of the province's competitive advantages and its easy accessibility to the region's key economies. We have as well been instructed by the PGDS to harness Limpopo's strategic location as a gateway to Africa towards achieving the objectives of NEPAD. We are humbled by the presence of our friends and partners from various countries in this house today.

To this effect we have entered into Memoranda of Understanding (MoU) with seven foreign regional States/provinces such as Gaza (Mozambique), Matabeleland (Zimbabwe), Rhone Apes (France), Punjab (India), Anhui (PR China) and Henan (PR China). We have also hosted four Japanese companies which were interested in products of arts and craft. These companies subsequently bought 4 000 traditional African brooms and Venda traditional apparels, which was a huge boost to our SMMEs.

Through the Limpopo Unemployed University Graduates Attachment Programme (LUUGAP), three unemployed university graduates from our province were sent to IJM Corporation in Malaysia for training. We also participated in the Namibian Ogwendiva Trade Fair and our delegation included 12 business people who interacted with their counterparts to seek and generate more business opportunities to showcase what Limpopo could offer. It was a remarkable experience when our province scooped two top awards of being the Best International Exhibitor and the overall winners of the Best Stand. In March 2007 we also participated in the Japanese Annual Food Exhibition which was a great success.

The inward delegation by Gem Granites (GM) of India opened opportunities for Katlego Mineral Holding and other local stakeholders in the form of a joint venture with GM. Furthermore, our mission to Botswana last year resulted in a Limpopo company, Edge-to-Edge clinching a deal on livestock trading technological device with a Botswana based company to the tune of R220 million. The project which will also be extended to the rest of South Africa and beyond will make a significant impact on government's endeavours to address unemployment.

We are currently hard at work to create access for Limpopo's subtropical fruits products into the Chinese market. Our recent March 2007 outward mission to the People's Republic of China (PRC) has laid a solid base to unlock the doors for our exporters. We look forward to the completion of the establishment of a colour steel factory in Makhado by Chinese investors from the province of Dandong. We commit ourselves to assist and support them in every step of the way to grow our provincial economy.

Skills development

One of the major challenges that have hamstrung the capacity of our economy is the issue of skills shortage. I must hasten to mention that this is a worldwide trend as most economies are in an uprising. The provincial Human Resource Development (HRD) Strategy was since developed in response to the challenges partly presented by the current accelerated growth of the economy and the slow pace at which the education and skills development institutions are responding.

We are inspired by the private sector initiative called Tshipi Tooling Limpopo Initiative which seeks to rehabilitate the South Africa Tool, Dye and Mould Making (TDM) industry as a key growth stimulator for manufacturing and technical skills development. This is a multi stakeholder provincial programme providing a platform for achieving AsgiSA growth objectives for the manufacturing industry. The economic importance of TDM cannot be overemphasised especially in view of the provinces plans for value added manufacturing of strategic resources and its potential for job creation. The national government has undertaken to deal with the challenge of skills shortage through a Joint Initiative for Priority Skills Acquisition (Jipsa) in partnership with business and labour.

The Department is contributing towards the scarce skills development in the province in line with the Limpopo Human Capital Investment Strategy. During 2006/07 we have managed to award 81 bursaries on various categories including tourism, mining engineering, economics, environmental science, financial management, small business development and information management. In partnership with the Danish Development Agency and national Department of Environment and Tourism we have enrolled 22 interns on Environmental Management and Conservation Programme. In this financial year, we will also be embarking on a learnership programme on info-preneurs that focuses on training youth in the use of a software system called In-touch Africa, to capture SMMEs and economic data in partnership with Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR).

2010 Soccer World Cup

Honourable members, the window of opportunity heralded by the confluence of the spiral economic growth and the advent of the FIFA 2010 Soccer World Cup tournament has ushered in a new era in Limpopo and Polokwane in particular. According to the 2007 edition of Limpopo Business magazine the following are some of the major opportunities to benefit the province, R1 billion Peter Mokaba Stadium, development of the two major hotels, development of the multi million International Convention Centre (ICC), multi million regional shopping mall and upgrading of local stadia for practice games. Our Department together with Polokwane Municipality has moved a mileage with the process of the development of the ICC. We anticipate kicking start with construction work by July 2007 and completing before the end of 2009. In the last financial year we spent R31 million on the planning phase of the project and we have been allocated R102 million for the current financial year.

Limpopo has been allocated four matches in the spectacle and with practice sessions in the townships, the second economy will experience rapid growth with SMMEs as primary beneficiaries. Limpopo Business magazine goes further to indicate that some of the developments which will benefit the province in the long run are patrol fleet and traffic management equipments that will be procured at a cost of R45 million, the 720 additional officers to be hired as well as the French and Spanish language lessons in the offing as part of the preparations. With the expectation of more than 100 000 visitors during 2010, it is expected that the tourism industry will benefit maximally.

The tourists from various countries will go back as tourism ambassadors marketing Limpopo across the globe which will bring more benefits beyond 2010.

SMMEs development

Our interventions to close the gap between the two economies through the development of a thriving small and micro enterprise (SME) sector is beginning to produce results. Our implementing agencies are hard at work against all odds to uplift the downtrodden to occupy their rightful places in society. The introduction of an incubation programme by Limpopo Business Advisory Agency (LIBSA) has gone a long way towards rearing small enterprises to develop capacity and achieve sustainability.

In the previous financial year, 180 enterprises have participated in the incubation programme throughout our LIBSA branches in the province. In the current year already 52 enterprises were registered to participate in the programme in our newly established branches in Fetakgomo, Thabazimbi, Tubatse and Aganang.

It is our great pleasure to announce that during the 2006/07 financial year, LIBSA facilitated the sustenance of 1 030 jobs and created 111 new ones. The co-operatives programme alone has created 480 jobs through the newly established 15 co-operatives. However, the total number of co-operatives created so far is 46. We do not only strive to help establish SMMEs, we also provide training and capacity building to enable enterprises to run their businesses along sound business principles and practices. During the period under review, we have trained 514 enterprises.

In our endeavours to create access for the SMMEs to procurement opportunities particularly in the mining sector, we have secured a commitment from Anglo Platinum to assist our SMMEs. In the 2006/07 financial year, Limpopo Development (LimDev) has approved 456 loans to the value of R106 million. This intervention has helped create 2 100 jobs and maintained the existing 3 500 jobs. Our plans for 2007/08 is to create 3 500 jobs and furthermore maintain 4 500.

Our Department recognises a need for people in the deep rural areas to enjoy the benefit of having a decent roof over their heads and therefore introduced a rural housing finance vehicle to ensure that the people of the province can have access to rural housing financial services.

Over the past financial year Risima Housing Finance Corporation, a subsidiary of LimDev, delivered houses to 420 house owners at a value of R68 million. In the process 1 362 jobs were created and 3 406 jobs were maintained. In the current financial year we expect to see these numbers grow by approximately 10%.

LimDev has facilitated a total of R95 million private investments through public private partnerships (PPPs) in the past financial year. These investments are in projects such as Bopedi Shopping Centre, a PPP project which established a shopping centre in Ga-Nkoana at a total cost of R55 million. This project has created over of 350 jobs. The enterprise has facilitated an investment into a company which created a shopping centre in Mokopane at total cost of R57 million. This project has created 400 jobs. During this year the enterprise will revamp the Thohoyandou Shopping Centre and Giyani Shopping Centres to ensure that they remain competitive and create the much-needed number of jobs.

The enterprise has a total of 600 000 m2 of lettable space in properties spread all over the province. This is aimed at supporting SMME development by providing space for trading and manufacturing activities. These facilities has created 700 new jobs in the past financial year and has maintained another 8 000. Our parastatal LimDev has got holdings in a number of mining activities estimated at around R1 billion in value in the province through its subsidiary Corridor Mining Resources (CMR).

These holdings are in projects that are aimed at exploiting the rich mineral resources in the province for the benefit of the local people. The intention is also to ultimately have this in private hands in line with the mandate and vision of the enterprise. However, these are some of the projects which will be subjected to the unbundling process which I will talk about later.

Restructuring of parastatals

Honourable members, the Premier has pronounced during his SOPA that, "We undertook to initiate the process of redefining and refocusing parastatals to equal the task at hand. Work has been done in this regard and we are now at a point where a viable option has been agreed upon and has to be implemented. This option entails the amalgamation of LimDev, TIL and LIBSA in order to reinforce their productive capacity and contribution to the provincial economic development."

To this end we have put systems in place to fast track the process and bring to finality the restructuring of our provincial parastatals. We hope to complete this process by the end of the year and begin the next financial year under a new regime governing the newly established amalgamated entity. We commit ourselves to roll out this process in the most professional, caring and humane manner to avoid any undesirable consequences.

Unbundling of LimDev assets

It is critical to mention before this house that Great North Transport, a subsidiary of our parastatal LimDev, has transported a total of 36 million passengers in the province in the past year most of whom are workers in the provincial economy and students. It has also provided about 1 200 jobs. This service has provided a critical backbone for economic development in Limpopo.

However, in line with the Executive Council resolution our Department has been spearheading the processes towards the commercialisation of Great North Transport in the recent past that has proven to be more complex than we had expected. This has resulted in a challenge to meet targeted time frames to complete the process. However, we are proud to announce that we have firmed up our efforts in partnership with the national and provincial departments of transport, labour and professional transaction advisors and therefore ready to invite potential bidders by the second quarter of the financial year.

Over and above GNT, LimDev owns a variety of assets which some we made reference to earlier that must be unbundled in line with the Premier's announcement. These assets include among others mining shares and commercial properties which must be commercialised to create an opportunity for Broad Based Black Economic Empowerment (BBBEE). We are also proud to announce that before the end of the first and during the second quarter, we will go public to invite bidders to seize these opportunities to benefit historically disadvantaged citizens of Limpopo. We have drawn great lessons from the process of commercialising GNT and it is our considered view that we are more ready and sufficiently competent to be equal to the tasks ahead.

Budget allocation

During the tabling of the 2007/08 budget speech, the MEC for Treasury has allocated the economic sector R4,296 billion or 18% of the equitable share. Of this amount, economic development, environment and tourism accounts for R759,6 million.

Based on our annual performance plan for 2007/08, this is how these funds will be allocated and utilised to achieve our plans:

Administration: R210,667
Integrated economic development services: R131,784
Trade and industry: R154,329
Business regulation: R35,790
Environment and tourism: R227,010

Parastatals:

LIMDEV: R80 million
LIBSA: R24 million
LGB: R26 million
LTP: R42 million
TIL: R30 million

As we said in the beginning, development is about people and people are the real wealth of nations. Any development that is worthy of success must be people centred and people driven. It is our considered view that these allocations are poised to give effect to people centred development.

Service delivery

In making us a true service arm of the government, we constantly reaffirm our obligation to the Batho Pele principles and all other related service delivery instruments at our disposal. We have and continue to encourage our staff to regard service excellence as a major driver for service delivery in the public service. This is not a position that can be compromised or whose battle lines can be realigned in compromising the services that our people are entitled to. We have taken the battle beyond the confines of our offices into the coalface of service delivery in numerous ways, assisting community groups and entities to better manage and contribute to the provincial economy.

In an effort to revitalise the Batho Pele programme and inculcate service delivery culture in the Department, we managed to train 70% of our staff on change engagement programme. This was not a once off programme but will remain a way of doing things for the Department as we are striving for service delivery improvement. We are continuing to strengthen our capacity and capabilities, through employment of people with relevant skills. Although the Department is still facing challenges on meeting the equity targets, we have strengthened the recruitment mechanism through the developed human resources plan and revised our equity targets which will ensure that we have representivity in the workforce. We are also continuing to create awareness and to have an informed workforce on HIV and AIDS as part of our Employee Wellness Programme.

The Batho Pele programmes and Service Delivery Improvement Programme were fully implemented and the Department was awarded a prize for best service delivery team during the recent Premiers Excellence Awards. These awards are an inspiration to us and we will continue to participate in creating models of best practice in the province.

Conclusion

If indeed it is true as indicated in the UN Human Development Report 2006 that "just over a hundred years ago London, New York City and Paris were centres of infectious diseases with diarrhoea, dysentery and typhoid fever undermining public health" then we have no reason to doubt our capacity to exceed their current state of development. We are more fortunate and better placed, because for our development to become a success, we do not have to rely on imported and exploited slaves from other parts of the world. Our development is about people and people are the real wealth of our nation. Any development that is worthy of success, must be about and be driven by the people.

Our resolve to empower our people in any possible form remains unshakable, our commitment to the broad objectives of the PGDS unrepentant as we seek new and innovative ways to bring to our people, a better life that they certainly deserve. Victory is certain.

I thank you!

Issued by: Department of Economic Development, Environment and Tourism, Limpopo Provincial Government
8 May 2007