DURBAN - KwaZulu-Natal premier Sihle Zikalala has vowed to revive the economy, fight crime and create jobs mainly for youth in the province.
The premier delivered his State of the Province Address at Pietermaritzburg Royal Showgrounds on Wednesday. He said when his government was elected in 2019 it listed eight priorities which included job creation, growing the economy, and building a peaceful province.
He said there was an urgency to decisively address the unemployment rate, particularly among the youth, women and vulnerable groups adding the government must turn the corner to narrow the gap of race and gender-based inequality and poverty.
The province was unambiguous about radical economic transformation and the need to level the playing field by bringing black people in general and Africans in particular into the mainstream economy.
He said his administration wanted to be more performance-driven, measurable and effective in changing the lives of the people of the province.
“It is against this background that our focal areas for 2022 will be working better and faster by prioritising economic recovery and creating jobs, fighting crime and building safer communities,” the premier said.
He added that unemployment rate had now risen to 28.7 percent, from about 23 percent before the Covid-19 pandemic, saying the increase in discouraged work seekers continued to add to this figure regularly.
“Our country’s economic structure is the primary cause behind our persistently low levels of economic productivity and low growth that is driven by high input costs.
“Driving economic growth, redistribution and job creation we are pleased to announce that through Trade Investment KwaZulu-Natal (TIKZN) our province attracted investment to the value of R5.3bn with over 8554 jobs created.”
Prominent among these are:
• Tetra Pak investment of R500m adding 120 to the already existing 300jobs;
• Webhelp Call Centre investment of R500m which will initially create 500 jobs which will grow to over 2000 jobs in the next two years;
• Capita BPO investment of R120m creating 500 jobs;
• Blythesdale Coastal Resort’s R800m investment creating over 2000 jobs;
• The launch by His Excellency President Ramaphosa of Toyota South Africa’s R2.6bn investment for the production of Toyota Corolla Cross;
The premier also announced that, as recent as this week, the province received the good news that Investec Property would be investing more than R6bn to redevelop the old Corobrik site north of Durban into a logistics and distribution hub to tap the growing demand for warehousing facilities in the province, saying the new logistics hub had the potential to create 16,000 jobs.
The premier also said that building houses for the poor was another area in which the province was doing well and vowed to end all transit (squatter) camps by 2025.
On the issue of crime, the premier said this year there would be a crime summit to solidify plans to reduce crime and to mobilise all stakeholders in the fight against crime. He said the crime wave was fuelled by illegal weapons and drugs.
He also touched on the murders of Amakhosi, Izinduna and councillors, saying excellent work was being done to crack these cases and bring perpetrators to book.
“According to the SAPS at least forty-two cases of murder concerning the killing of traditional leaders have been registered by the South African Police Service since 2012.
“Twenty-five people have been arrested in relation to 14 of these cases. We also regard the murder of Councillors as an attack on our democracy and attempt to subvert the will of the people. We have faith that the culprits will be found and prosecuted,” Zikalala said.
Daily News