{"id":57096,"date":"2023-11-26T19:42:27","date_gmt":"2023-11-26T19:42:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/the-south-african-province-thats-showing-huge-potential"},"modified":"2023-11-26T20:25:21","modified_gmt":"2023-11-26T20:25:21","slug":"the-south-african-province-thats-showing-huge-potential","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/the-south-african-province-thats-showing-huge-potential","title":{"rendered":"The South African province that\u2019s showing huge potential"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – South-Africa. <\/strong><\/span>KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) has faced a challenging couple of years \u2013 but there is hope among business leaders that the situation will improve.<\/p>\n

Over the last few years, the region has had to deal with the Covid-19 lockdowns, the July 2021 unrest, the April 2022 floods, sewage spillages, and ongoing infrastructure issues affecting the key rail and harbour sectors that are crucial for South Africa\u2019s imports and exports.<\/p>\n

Although pessimism is a natural default for many over the province, business leaders at a panel discussion organised by Investec were far more positive, with resilience and confidence as two areas highlighted by the speakers.<\/p>\n

Resilience and confidence were the two areas highlighted by the speakers. Ward spoke of the impact of the events of the last few years on the people and businesses in the region.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf I join the events together (of the last few years), what they did was to make us more resilient and bring us together,\u201d said Nigel Ward, executive vice president of Manufacturing and Support at Toyota South Africa.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe crises have made us stronger because each one has given us a different perspective (for meeting the next challenge).\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve learned that there\u2019s no \u2018white knight\u2019 to rescue us. So we have to be resilient and have strong relationships (with our partners),\u201d Simon Downes, chair and owner of the Shave and Gibson, said.<\/p>\n

Although resilience is key, confidence ultimately drives investment and expansion into the region. For that to happen, businesses need to know what work is being done in the region.<\/p>\n

Ward noted that the joint initiatives between government and business organisations can tackle three of the nation\u2019s biggest problems \u2013 energy, logistics and security.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re doing great work in these three areas, but their work isn\u2019t well-known enough,\u201d Ward stated.<\/p>\n

\u201cFrom what I\u2019ve seen, there\u2019s a lot of reason for hope. I\u2019m positive about what\u2019s happening with the ports and with the tackling of the energy crisis \u2013 they will turn around \u2013 but not many people know about it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSo between the public and private sector, they need to start informing people here in KZN and create that positive energy.\u201d<\/p>\n

There has also been a positive development in terms of logistics, with a Filipino-based International Container Terminal Services Inc. (ICTSI_ being awarded the management of the Durban Container Terminal Pier 2.<\/p>\n

This should increase the capacity from 1.7 million 20-foot equivalent units (TEUs) to 2.9 million TEUs in two years.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis development is going to revolutionise Durban and our transport. This is private-public partnerships in play. And it\u2019s just the beginning,\u201d said Downes.<\/p>\n

Club Med also announced that it will build a new beach resort on the province\u2019s North Coast by 2026, boosting tourism in the region.<\/p>\n

In addition, the improvement in electricity stability was seen as a positive.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is attributable to technical expertise having been brought on board to assist Eskom,\u201d Neo Ralefeta from Investec Treasury Sales and Structuring said. Downes agreed, believing that load shedding would end by the end of next year.<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter the floods, we formed small partnerships with businesses to deal with issues like water, power and security, but the circle is now widening. The lesson was to start your own collaborations in your areas of influence. This helps to change the mindset and develops into something bigger,\u201d Ward added.<\/p>\n

What next?<\/b><\/p>\n

The province is an economic powerhouse \u2013 accounting for 16% of the nation\u2019s GDP (Gauteng is roughly 34%), and its 1.1% growth is better than the 0.6% nationally.<\/p>\n

However, unemployment remains a significant problem, especially youth unemployment and underemployment.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf I could change one thing, it would be to look at labour policy and regulation, to help businesses deal with the cycle and employ more people,\u201d Ralefeta said.<\/p>\n

Ward also cited red tape as a disincentive to setting up business. \u201cWe are not a business-friendly province,\u201d Ward added.<\/p>\n

Downes also said that policy continuity was essential for success and shouldn\u2019t be constantly revised.<\/p>\n

Crime and corruption were also major issues among the panellists, as they affected everyone \u2013 from individuals to micro, small and large businesses. Crime is also impacting the province\u2019s ability to attract the best workers.<\/p>\n

\u201cSkills are leaving the province, and they are all saying it\u2019s a safety and security issue. We must change the narrative and make it a positive one,\u201d Ward said.<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About South-Africa<\/a> Follow Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – South-Africa. KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) has faced a challenging couple of years \u2013 but there is hope among business leaders that the situation will improve. Over the last few years, the region has had to deal with the Covid-19 lockdowns, the July 2021 unrest, the April 2022 floods, sewage spillages, and ongoing infrastructure issues affecting […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":57095,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,5,7],"tags":[274,315,275],"class_list":["post-57096","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-economy","category-head-lines","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-south-africa","tag-south-africa-2"],"yoast_head":"\nThe South African province that\u2019s showing huge potential - South Africa<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) has faced a challenging couple of years \u2013 but there is hope among business leaders that the situatio ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/the-south-african-province-thats-showing-huge-potential\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The South African province that\u2019s showing huge potential\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) has faced a challenging couple of years \u2013 but there is hope among business leaders that the situatio ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/the-south-african-province-thats-showing-huge-potential\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"South Africa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-11-26T19:42:27+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-11-26T20:25:21+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/sites\/31\/2023\/11\/sm_1701017635.073.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/the-south-african-province-thats-showing-huge-potential#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/the-south-african-province-thats-showing-huge-potential\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"The South African province that\u2019s showing huge potential\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-11-26T19:42:27+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-11-26T20:25:21+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/the-south-african-province-thats-showing-huge-potential\"},\"wordCount\":742,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/the-south-african-province-thats-showing-huge-potential#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/sites\/31\/2023\/11\/sm_1701017635.073.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Africa Press\",\"Africa Press-South-Africa\",\"South-Africa\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"economy\",\"head lines\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/the-south-african-province-thats-showing-huge-potential#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/the-south-african-province-thats-showing-huge-potential\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/the-south-african-province-thats-showing-huge-potential\",\"name\":\"The South African province that\u2019s showing huge potential - 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