KwaZulu-Natal Premier Senzo Mchunu has called on architects and stakeholders in the architectural fraternity to work with the provincial government to realise the objectives of the KZN Growth and Development Plan which is aligned to the National Development Plan.

Mchunu was speaking at the opening of the 25th World Congress of the International Union of Architects (IUA) which is currently underway at the ICC in Durban.

“IUA is a platform on which synergies between the economies of our different countries should be built and strengthened, through the promotion of partnerships, and identification of opportunities for investments. I view this congress as a strategic platform through which we must promote trade amongst our countries,” said Mchunu.

“As KwaZulu-Natal we are always on the lookout for trading partners because we know that we cannot prosper in isolation. Therefore I want to state unequivocally that we believe that our long-term success lies in economic integration with economies of the world.”

 

Investments in strategic infrastructure

Mchunu noted that the congress comes at a time when the province is steaming ahead with the implementation of the KZN Growth and Development Plan which, among other things, seeks to position the province as a gateway to South Africa and the entire Southern African region.

“The plan puts more emphasis on investments in strategic infrastructure in order to drive socio-economic development. As government we are fully aware that the successful implementation of this Plan is dependent on our collaboration with the private sector and other stakeholders such as architects.”

According to Mchunu, one of the fundamental approaches of the Provincial Growth and Development Plan is to ensure that development takes place in a way that empowers people and communities and enables them to take control of their own development. “We believe that this must be taken forward through a concrete set of partnerships around local projects, in which local authorities, the private sector, the community and organised labour have a role to play.”

 

Role of the private sector

For instance, the private sector has significant capacity in the field of project management and infrastructure maintenance — there are new ways of delivering and managing infrastructure more effectively based on international best practice.  KZN is working with local authorities and government parastatals to find new ways of organising projects, enabling the private sector to play a role in the different stages of planning, implementation, financing and management.

“As architects you must realise that you have an important role to play in terms of guiding the infrastructure development to accommodate the ever increasing population growth and urbanisation. Importantly, we are calling upon this industry to assist with innovative ideas on how to ensure that government moves with speed in implementing the programme of the eradication of slums and informal settlements in our province.”