His Majesty King Goodwill Zwelithini kaBhekuzulu, Hlanga Lomhlabathi!

Premier of KwaZulu-Natal Province, Dr Zweli Mkhize,

Premier of the Free State province, Mr Ace Magashule,

MECs from KZN and Free State,

The Mayor of Newcastle and other Mayors from both KZN and Free State,

Mr Vivian Reddy and the business community,

Distinguished guests,

 

I am happy to join the community of Newcastle today, for this important launch of the Newcastle Regional Mall.

We truly appreciate the confidence shown by the South African private sector in their country’s economy, by investing domestically in this manner.

We appreciate it even more, if they decentralise investments away from the main economic centres such as Johannesburg, Durban or Cape Town, to towns such as Newcastle. 

 

We are celebrating development in a town that has great potential given its natural resources.

Development is not new to Newcastle, a town in which the first train arrived as early as 1890. Later, the discovery of coal brought a new era of prosperity and several ambitious building projects. To date, Newcastle is the largest producer of chrome chemicals in Africa.

It is this availability of natural resources that made Newcastle to play a central role in the history of the liberation movement in South Africa, especially the passive resistance campaign against colonial oppression.

 

We are reminded of this town’s contribution to the struggle against colonial oppression and apartheid, because the opening of the Newcastle Regional Mall comes at an especially important time in our historical transition.

This is a year in which we are celebrating the 100th anniversary of the oldest liberation movement in the continent, the African National Congress.  

In this regard, we celebrate the contribution of South Africans from all walks of life, who worked tirelessly so that the country and its people could be free.

 

We recall that here in Newcastle, in 1913, a group of eleven Indian women, led by 16 year old Valliamma Munswami Mudliar,  defied the anti-Asiatic law, by crossing the provincial border of Transvaal into Natal, and provoked the miners of Newcastle to lay down their picks and strike. 

It is remarkable that Newcastle women and girls were already engaging in active protest, as early as 1913.

Incidentally, in the same year, 1913, women undertook a march against pass laws in Bloemfontein in the Free State, led by Charlotte Maxeke. It was truly a year of women’s action against tyranny.

 

Ms Mudliar re-crossed the border and was arrested, found guilty and sentenced to three months in prison with hard labour on 22 December 1913. 

She was gravely ill when she was released from prison the following year, and died on 22 February 1914. Life in prison had been too harsh for a 16 year old girl.

Announcing her death, Mahatma Gandhi said; "So great was her enthusiasm for her people that she gave her life for them".

 

This is the year to remember all these heroes and heroines of the South African struggle.

In the same year, 1913, a new campaign was initiated in Newcastle in protest to the tax imposed on indentured Indians. 

The aim of the campaign was to gain support for the railway workers and miners. 

 

The passive resistance struggle of the Gandhi era of which Ms Mudliar was a leading woman, constituted an important historical foundation of non-violent resistance that set the platform for the liberation struggle against apartheid. 

It was this resilience and tenacity of passive resistors such as Ms Mudliar, that built the principled and fearless foundation for the contribution of Indian people in the effort to remove repressive and exploitative conditions in South Africa.

Today we also have an opportunity to acknowledge that this town has produced other outstanding freedom fighters who have made selfless and lifetime contribution to the country.

 

We can count Dr Yusuf Dadoo, Mac Maharaj and Siphiwe Nyanda to name a few.

It is with that illustrious background, that today we stand here, happy to be celebrating economic development in this historic town.

Newcastle has long been an important hub of agricultural and industrial development as well as trade for this region and the province.

 

This town will continue to play an important role in the development of surrounding towns and villages in both KZN and the Free State. 

Newcastle is also an important transport route for goods and services between Durban and Gauteng and other inland provinces. It will certainly strengthen the role and position of Newcastle as an economic hub.

We are saying this ladies and gentlemen because we do not view the launch of this mall as an isolated development. We regard it as a contribution to the national goal of building a more prosperous South Africa.

 

We attained our political freedom in 1994 and began building a non-sexist, non-racial, democratic and prosperous society.

We have succeeded in laying a strong foundation for non-sexism and non-racialism. 

We have also spent 17 years consolidating democracy. We are now in the second phase of our transition, that of accelerating the drive towards a more prosperous South Africa.

Since the creation of jobs is at the centre of our economic policies, the creation of one thousand two hundred jobs during the construction phase here would have made a difference to many households. Once completed, the projected jobs to be created stand at 3 600. 

 

There are other promising activities in this area, with regards to socio-economic development.

Government entities such as the Department of Trade and Industry, the National Empowerment Fund, the KwaZulu-Natal Departments of Economic Development and Agriculture, and relevant District Municipalities have been working with communities in the uMzinyathi, Amajuba and Zululand Districts to supply a variety of produce such as fruit, vegetable, and livestock. 

 

Over 70 cooperatives are now active across the surrounding districts with a variety of produce. 

We urge wholesalers and retailers who will operate in this Mall and elsewhere, to promote local economic development by sourcing supplies from these emerging producers and small and medium enterprises in general.

 

We also call on the various Districts to work together, especially in the area of local economic development. 

In many cases, the potential for economic development is enhanced and speeded up when we look beyond municipal or administrative boundaries and focus instead on the development of functional regions. 

 

This cooperation of municipalities does not require us to change municipal boundaries. It just requires us to simply work in a smart way around the limitations of administrative boundaries.

These opportunities, therefore, apply to communities in both KZN and the Free State. 

It is therefore important for local authorities affected by this development in both provinces to collaborate in the development of economic development plans. 

 

Ladies and gentlemen,

 

Today is a truly wonderful day as we are celebrating progress.

Let me congratulate Mr Reddy, the developers of this Mall, and all the stakeholders that made this development possible. 

Your actions highlight what is possible when we all work together. In these turbulent times in the global economy, our unity will be our strength. 

This development is, by any standard, a significant milestone in the development of this region. 

 

Every development changes the lives of people for the better. Some people will now travel less kilometres to buy goods and services and will have easy access to goods and services that they could not easily access before. 

Some people will travel less to work, and some producers will have their transportation costs reduced; all because of the Mall.

Let us continue working together, to build a more prosperous and successful South Africa for all of us and future generations.

 

Ladies and gentlemen, 

 

It is my honour and pleasure, to declare the Newcastle Regional Mall officially open.

I thank you.