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Electrification Switch on and sod turning ceremony held at Nkandla
25 March 2009

Rural development is one of the key priorities of our government. Electricity supply and connection is one of the main elements of rural development. Electricity, which is the most affordable source of energy, transforms lives and leads to a better life for all.

Today is, indeed, an important day for the people of Nkandla and the people of KwaZulu-Natal. Before 1994 in South Africa, and before 2004 in KwaZulu-Natal, rural development was a swear-word. Rural life was equated with backwardness and those who lived in rural areas were, deliberately, made to feel inferior and lived with an identity of inferiority, through being denied basic services such as water, electricity, roads and sanitation.

It is worth noting that, by design, these were, almost, always black people. White farms were always supplied with these essential services.
That was the severity of apartheid. That is the severity of the low road that we travelled before our liberation. With a delayed liberation in KwaZulu-Natal, the only time that the provincial government, as whole, really began to address this discriminatory situation was from
2004.

As a result of the decision, by the people of KwaZulu-Natal in 2004, to change government in the province, we are assembled here today to open a new electricity sub station at Nkandla. We are doing so because, as a result of this government working tirelessly towards a better life for all, through electrification of households, schools, businesses, hospitals and other facilities, there has been an over burdening of existing electricity sub stations at areas such as Nkandla as well as the neighbouring areas of Melmoth, Ulundi and Eshowe.

This sub station, therefore, is a symbol of the depth of determination of this government to deliver services to all our citizens and to develop our rural areas. We will continue to do so after the forthcoming April elections.

Government has worked, around the clock, to reduce backlogs in service delivery caused by past governments which were discriminatory, lethargic and unconcerned about improving the quality of life of the majority of our country's citizens.

However, we still have backlogs, today, because we are addressing centuries of targeted under development, at every place, where black people lived.

As at 31 March 2008, the household electricity backlog in KZN was 813,315 out of 2,5 million households. Our province accounts for 24% of the total national backlog of 3,3 million households.

Our government's mandate is to ensure that all South Africans have access to electricity by 2014. This is part of the broader programme we have been engaged in over the past 15 years.

Studies have shown that if more rural households are electrified, we can jump start employment, particularly for women. Electricity is a facilitator of job creation. With the installation of electricity, women are immediately liberated from fetching firewood and are, thus, able to re-direct their energies to opportunities such as crafts and other forms of cooperatives.

On 22 April 2009 we will go to the polls to cast our vote for the fourth democratic elections in our country. It was not for the first time, in 2004, that the people of KwaZulu-Natal voted, but it is for the first time that their vote has given them so much.

But, working together, we can do more!

We have made significant progress in the provision of housing, water and electricity to millions. Our economy has grown, jobs have been created and we have deepened democracy. We have extended social grants to millions in our province.

Our fight against crime remains a, key, priority to ensure safer and more secure communities.

Rural infrastructure development and agricultural reforms are at the heart of our plan to improve our Province's food security.

Investment has increased, as a share of Gross Domestic Product, from
15% in 2002 to 22% in 2008.

KwaZulu-Natal has seen the biggest investment in infrastructure in the history of this province. These include:

* “the R2,2 billion Moses Mabhida Stadium
* “the R6,8 billion Dube Tradeport and King Shaka International Airport to be
operationalised by the end of this year
* “R259 million was made available for stadia infrastructure development in four district municipalities and the metro (Amajuba, Ugu, Umgungundlovu, uThungulu and eThekwini)
*“the R350 million P700 corridor from Richards Bay to Ulundi, which is under construction, reduces the distance between Ulundi and Richards Bay
* “the R300 million P577 from Mtubatuba to Hlabisa and Nongoma
* “the construction of the R260 million Nsezi Bridge on the John Ross
Highway, near Empangeni, which is 1,2 kilometres long and the longest bridge in South Africa and is scheduled to be completed in 2010.

As a result of our efforts to improve service delivery, the following has been achieved in the province in 2009:

* “1,824,143 households (81,6%) have access to water
* “1,992,322 (89,2%) have access to sanitation services
* “1,597,399 (71,5%) households have access to electricity supply as per

Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP) standards

Some of the other major road construction programmes, in the Nkandla area alone, which the provincial government is currently engaged in, total in excess of R439m. These include:

* “P50/2 (22,6 km) at a cost of R168 million
* “P50/2 (13,5 km) at a cost of R51 million
* “P50/3 (17,5 km) at a cost of R39 million
* “P15 (25 km) at a cost of R140 million

The Department of Education has invested more than R103 million on school infrastructure in the Nkandla area. These include:

* “Amatshensikazi Primary School
* “Golozela Secondary School
* “Hlehlelezi Junior Primary School
* “Matholamnyama Secondary School, to mention but a few.

Given Nkandla's unique position of being a transit point to most of the province, we must take advantage of this resource.

The under development in the area is, nevertheless, paralleled against its richness in natural resources and it has great potential for economic growth through agriculture. Good climate and availability of land makes it a promising centre in terms of agricultural production. Livestock, timber (Qhudeni and Nkonisa), tea (Ntingwe), herbs (essential oils), peaches and vegetables are some of the products of the area.

We are working against impediments in this area such as the shortage of relevant farming skills, inability to attract and retain high quality skilled human resources, lack of suitable infrastructure and natural calamities such as drought, heavy storm, frost, hail and excessive cloudiness which we recently witnessed.

The people of KwaZulu-Natal want government to deliver even more. They want the most responsive, and most responsible, government, this province has seen, to continue along the, already started, path of better education, better health and better social development.

KwaZulu-Natal will never go back to the doldrums of under development and foisted poverty.

Together, we can do more.

Masisukume Sakhe!

Thank you.

Issued by: Office of the Premier, KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Government
25 March 2009
Source: Sapa