SPEAKER’S ADDRESS AT THE LAUNCH OF THE SPEAKER’S FORUM, 06 JUNE 2025

KEYNOTE ADDRESS BY HON. NONTEMBEKO BOYCE SPEAKER OF THE KWAZULU-NATAL LEGISLATURE AT THE OFFICIAL LAUNCH OF THE KZN PROVINCIAL SPEAKERS FORUM
6 June 2025

Programme Director,
Deputy Speaker of the KwaZulu-Natal Legislature, Hon. Mmabatho Tembe,

Chairperson of SALGA in KwaZulu-Natal, Cllr Xolani Dube
Esteemed Speakers of our municipalities across KwaZulu-Natal,
Honourable Members,
Distinguished guests,
Ladies and gentlemen

Good morning.

It is truly a heartfelt honour to stand before you today on this very special occasion, the official re-launch of the KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Speakers Forum. This is a moment is a testimony of how much we can achieve when we work together to achieve our shared aspirations as leaders for the benefit of our communities.

As Speakers, coming from different municipalities with different contexts from urban and rural areas. But what binds us is far greater than what separates us. First, we bound by shared history of South Africa and her people who endured difficulties and divisions but resolved to work together to come out of the ugly past and forge forward in unity and brotherhood. Are we not the generations that owe their being to the heroic Ilembe, Isilo sakwaDukuza who’s leadership was deeply entrenched in bringing the African children together and thus giving birth to uZulu omnyama ondlela zimhlophe isizwe esakhelwe ebuhlakanini nasekukhalipheni kukaMkabayi. Yebo ubuhle bezintaba zoThukela nezimpophoma zazo ezigeleza amanzi abika impilo ngokugeleza imifula equka  uMfolozi, UThukela, Umzimkhulu,  uMthamvuna eningizimu, uMkhomazi omanzi asawoti ngoba eyikhaya lezinye  izinhlanzi ezisengcupheni yokushabalala  emhlabeni.

We are bound together by the plight of the people whose hopes and dreams were shattered with the closure of the home industries, factories, and retailers that they sold their labour to in areas in the Midlands Meanders, KwaSithebe, Marburg, Ladysmith, and other areas. Together we call home the beautiful province that is also home to the lime producing stones of Oribi, the Sibhudu and kwaXolo caves and the majestic Sani Pass. A province of three world heritage sites, Isimangaliso Wetlands, Drankensberg mountains and Sibhudu caves. So, we are here today because we further bound by our individual consciousness to serve the people of our province by enacting transformative laws causing the delivery of services by executives in a transparent and ethical manner for the benefit of the citizens.

We are striving for the fulfilment of the constitutional mandate bestowed upon us when we responded to the call of being Speakers and Deputy Speakers in the provincial and local spheres. We are therefore here because we have been called and answered to a call that is better walked in company of others and because we care about what happens beyond the chambers of this legislature and our council chambers.

The idea then behind this Forum is simple, we need each other. No Speaker should feel isolated, nor council should have to navigate complex challenges alone. Through this Forum, we are saying: let us support one another, let’s learn from one another, and let’s stand together as leaders for the greater good of our province.

We are also drawing inspiration from the National Parliament Speakers Forum, where we have seen the real value of bringing Speakers together, not just to talk, but to act. To share solutions, raise concerns, and build a network of trust and cooperation. That same spirit is what we are bringing here to KwaZulu-Natal.

This Forum gives us a chance as KwaZulu-Natal legislators and overseers to ensure that our oversight and law-making initiatives through Councils and the Legislature is moving in the same direction. Because our communities do not care where a service comes from, they expect service delivery. They do not care who fixes the road, who installs the tap, or who makes sure the clinic is working, they just want it done. And they want us, as their leaders, to pull in the same direction. With all those expectations the local government as a sphere in which service delivery is the first point of call for our communities.

That is why I want to encourage you, fellow Speakers, to take full ownership of this forum. This is not just a Legislature project, it belongs to all of us. Let us use it to strengthen our oversight and law-making work and to confront challenges that are troubling our communities. Let us use it to build relationships that go beyond titles and reach into real collaboration and understanding of the responsibilities of our positions. It calls me and the Deputy Speaker to not hide behind the fact that people will call the Hon. Premier and his executive when they do not receive expected services, nor should Municipal Speakers hide the Honourable Mayors in municipalities. It calls us to action at material times and be worried when our leadership is not seen as part of the ecosystem of service delivery, for we know that maybe because we don’t rise to the occasion in terms of our responsibilities of oversight.

We must not always escape by thinking we have lesser responsibilities than the executives for we do not, we have equal responsibilities and space enough for us to dance to the tune of accountability, ethics, and oversight through involving the public. In this Forum we must learn from each because our capabilities and strategies need constant finesse.

The establishment of Speakers Forum is not a new concept; it is the resuscitation of the work started during the time of former Speaker Peggy Nkonyeni and Deputy Speaker Mtholephi Mthimkhulu which continued to the time of Speaker Lydia Johnson in fourth and fifth legislature terms. This is a continuation of their work and relationships they formed that laid dormant towards the end of the fifth term and the sixth term.

I must declare that this day may not have been possible without the wisdom, strategy, and commitment from the Legislature Deputy Speaker Hon. Mmabatho Tembe and SALGA KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Executive Council led by the Mayor of Newcastle, His Worship, Cllr Dube. The engagements we had were carried over from the previous PECs that preceded them, and all our engagements had always been dignified based on mutual trust and respect. Of course, you all know that all of us as public representatives never studied to be where we are it is only through the capable, professional, and dedicated technical teams at SALGA and the KwaZulu-Natal Legislature.

The engagements we held assisted us to come with a list of objectives in order for us not to be tempted to act outside the mandates of Chapters 6 and 7 of constitution which regulates the scope for provincial legislatures and municipal councils, respectively. This is premised in Chapter 3 which defines the expected cooperative nature of the government and governance of the Republic of South Africa with particular emphasis paid to Section 41 (h) ( i-iv), that enjoins to the principles of our cooperation based on “mutual trust and good faith” .

The result has been agreement based on achieving the following objectives:

• To exchange knowledge, skills, and views on strategies to strengthen good governance and deepen democracy.

• Build a stronger link between councils and the provincial Legislature,
• Share what works, and help each other through,
• Speak with one voice on issues that affect our communities,
• And find ways to make our oversight and law-making work not only robust but meaningful.

And I also want to say this: we are not always going to agree. That is okay. But if we stay rooted in our shared values, accountability, service, and respect for our communities, we will always find our way forward. This I am certain of because we are born out of struggle, sacrifice, and triumph of our forefathers. We are a generation that have a history deeply intertwined by the success of our people at iSandlwana , we see no obstacle larger than our cause because through the sacrifices of Isilo uDinizulu, izimfundiso zeSilo uZwelithini kaBhekuZulu, imikhuleko nokuqhubeka kokufundiswa isilo uMisuzulu uNomthebe osesihlalweni. Yes, we are the generation that did not only learn from the struggles and sacrifices of Mahatma Gandhi, Inkosi Albert Luthuli but the one that is charged with continuation of foundation laid by our democratic forebears Dr Frene Ginwala our National Assembly founding Speaker and Dr Gideon HS Mdlalose, uNyanda. Their work and that of Speakers that followed must finished by this generation in order for the incoming leaders to focus on oversight of the future the one dealing with impact and efficacy of the oversight mechanisms in a fully capable and ethical environment.

To all the Speakers, let me once again thank you for joining us, not just physically, but with heart. Your presence here tells me that this Forum has the potential to become something truly transformative, remember that there’s no KwaZulu-Natal Speaker’s Forum without you.

To my colleagues at the Legislature, the Deputy Speaker, Chairperson of Committees, Chief Whip, Deputy Chairperson of Committees, Deputy Chief Whip, Secretary Ms Naidoo, and her team among them the three Executive Managers and the Manager in the Office of the Speaker who helped bring this initiative to life thank you. To the Chairperson of SALGA, His Worship Mayor Dube, the PEC of SALGA, the Administration of SALGA led by Mr Madlala, Sishi, Hlokohloko thank you for proving that together we can do more.

Let us walk this journey together. And let us never lose sight of who we are doing it for, the people of KwaZulu-Natal. Thank you.