Master of Ceremony, His Majesty King Goodwill Zwelithini kaBhekuzulu, Dr MG Buthelezi, Minister of Home Affairs and Chairperson of the KwaZulu-Natal House of Traditional Leaders, Dr LPHM Mtshali, Premier of KwaZulu-Natal, Ms Naledi Pandor, Chairperson of National Council of Provinces, Mr Rennie Schoeman, Deputy Minister of Health, Judge President Vuka Tshabalala, Ministers, Members of the National Assembly, Members of our Legislature, Members of the Consular Corps, Members of the Royal family, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen. I am deeply humbled by your presence here today to grace the occasion of the Official Opening of the Legislature in the year 2003.
I am particularly humbled and much thankful to His Majesty the King for his continued support to our Legislature. We are indeed honoured your Majesty by your Presence in this occasion. Our Legislature has faced trying challenges in the recent past and I must thank our Members that despite those challenges all of us know and are convinced that the welfare of the citizens of this province supercedes party political interests. It is that kind of spirit your Majesty that has kept this Legislature in existence thus far and may the significance of such a spirit persist in our minds.
Your Majesty our Province in its entirety is plagued by the HIV/AIDS scourge and worrying levels of poverty. As elected representatives we have an obligation of leading the fight against HIV and AIDS as well as poverty. We should encourage a culture of sympathy for those who are victims of this scourge and also encourage everybody especially our youth to be AIDS conscious and focus on improving their lives through education instead. We further have to encourage our communities to engage in self-help projects and not precisely wait for the government of the day to deliver everything to them.
I mention these challenges, your Majesty as I know they are of great concern to you as they affect a great number of your subjects and also that your efforts in the fight against these are more than visible to all of us. Today we wish to pledge our full support as the Legislature to your your Majesty in enhancing a stable environment for our generations to come.
Next year we shall be holding National elections and as Members of the Legislature we need to assess ourselves, each one of us as to whether our being here has made any difference in the upliftment of this province or not. We need to constantly ask ourselves as to whether or not as Members of Parliament our consciences are clear in respect of serving our communities. If we feel we have not performed to our level best in the past, let us try to do better with the time that is left before the expiry of the term of this Legislature.
For our province to continue to thrive it is imperative for all of us to nurture the peace process we have maintained in this province to date. Equally important is the spirit of reconciliation that we have to sustain all the time which will ultimately ensure that we do not lose focus of what is good for our province.
On that note we wish to assure His Majesty that as Members of the Legislature, our Province and its people come first and we will continue to strive tirelessly for the Socio-Economic upliftment of this Province.
Sisonke sithi ume njalo Hlanga loMhlabathi, Bayede! wena weNdlovu.
INKOSI BN MDLETSHE
SPEAKER: KWAZULU-NATAL LEGISLATURE