Ladies and Gentlemen;

Good Evening!

Congratulating the Gateway team

It is always a privilege and an honour to be part of a ceremony that marks the attainment of a milestone.

Ladies and Gentlemen, by definition milestones are not only markers of the journey travelled, but they are there to remind us of the challenges, the trials and tribulations, the obstacles we have had to negotiate, but more importantly, the sweat smell of victory.

Twenty-one years is indeed a significant anniversary for the Gateway Theatre of Shopping. The journey continues, and yours has been a truly special one, in which you have played a leading part in the transformation of a green field property, into one of the most valuable assets in your business, and also in the lives of the people of KwaZulu-Natal.

Since you started operating 21 years ago, this centre has become part of memories for friends and families. Indeed, Gateway has been a part of the lives of millions from here and from far who have made it a point to visit this centre each time they are in our province.

Ladies and Gentlemen this is probably my first visit here in heels or formal shoes. On every other occasion it has been in takkies to walk the miles of retail stores, restaurants and cinemas. I alone can tell a good many stories for your Museum of Memories created to harness shoppers’ experiences.

Ladies and Gentlemen, even at my youthful age, I can recall this ground as being a sugarcane field more than two decades ago. It thus took vision, foresight, courage and investment to transform this part of the Umhlanga Precinct into some of the most valuable real estate in our country.

On behalf of the provincial government of KwaZulu-Natal and indeed the people of our province, we say “Cheers and Congratulations” to the team behind the Gateway Theatre of Shopping.

We also congratulate the executives from Old Mutual who not only had the idea, but were prepared to do the spadework, move mountains and sugarcane, to build this Shopping Centre.

Property Development Stimulating Growth

The Gateway is truly an architectural and commercial masterpiece – a veritable jewel in the crown of local economic development.

The Gateway has become a cog, stimulant and catalyst in the massive growth that is taking place in the North of Durban as part of the conurbation taking place up and down the coast of KwaZulu-Natal especially the North.

With the relocation of King Shaka Airport to La Mercy on a greenfields property, the province, working together with national government, took a very bold step whose effect has been to open up the entire North to new private sector-led investments.

The commercial and residential property within a twenty kilometre radius of the Gateway and further up the North Coast has seen an unprecedented boom with billions of rands lined up for investment in what is one of the most attractive and investment friendly belts in our country.

We salute the entrepreneurs and administrators, the futuristic architects of a dream both in the private sector and government who brought this project to fruition.

The Gateway has just grown and grown, expanding during a global financial crisis and staying afloat during the worst ravages of the COVID-19 pandemic.

In fact, analysts are telling us that shoppers are returning in a big way to malls. Footfall is on a meteoric rise. BusinessTech reports that on average South Africa’s major malls are at 97.3% retail occupancy.

COVID-19 was unforeseen as were the devastation of the floods. Both calamities have depleted the fiscus. We must think boldly and differently to enable economic recovery and a future-proofed economy at that.

These are truly astounding statistics when barely a year ago we thought that COVID-19 was going to knock the bottom out of the global economy and plunge the world into the kind of Great Depression last seen in 1930. As both government and business leadership, we must have the foresight of future-proofing our economies and constantly rebuilding for sustainable growth.

Boosting Economic Growth- Durban Aerotropolis

The blueprint for the Province’s economic trajectory is contained in the Provincial Growth and Development Plan which aligns with the aspirations in the National Development Plan Vision 2030. Those plans are a roadmap, but they are not cast in stone. We must shift and adapt as the context changes.

Ladies and Gentlemen, one of the key economic projects that will remain key to the Gateway Theatre of Shopping is the Durban Aerotropolis which is a new, urban environment developing around King Shaka International Airport. The Durban Aerotropolis is taking advantage of increasing global connectivity, the efficient Dube TradePort logistics hub, the Durban Harbour, a growing Special Economic Zone and ‘Greenfield’ space to develop a globally competitive 21st-century operating environment in KwaZulu-Natal.

The Aerotropolis is an airport city capable of enhancing urban, regional and national competitiveness through improved multi-modal transport access and planned, co-ordinated aviation-linked commercial development

This project alongside many others will have sone of the most positive impact on local communities in terms of increased earning capacity and making the province more economically efficient, attractive and sustainable. Over the next 50years, it will also be a key honeypot that attracts visitors to our province to work, play and live and shop.

A number of multibillion projects are being implemented in parts of our province marking a resurgence of economic growth that we hope will keep growing over the next 100years and beyond.

Ladies and Gentlemen, yesterday’s London Financial Times (13 September 2022) quoted the new UK Chancellor of the Exchequer, Kwasi Kwarteng as directing Treasury officials to adapt to a new approach of boosting economic growth that goes beyond orthodoxy and “abacus economics”.

We must think differently. Twenty-one years ago the architects of the Gateway cast aside conventional thinking and grabbed the bull by the horns. The Gateway Shopping centre can take its place among the iconic shopping centres of the world. Beijing boasts the iconic Bird’s Nest complex, Paris is Paris because of the Champs Elysees, London is Sloane Square and Burlington Arcade, Dubai is the Burj Khalifa.

Which visitor to Durban can say that their visit to KwaZulu-Natal is complete without the experience of the stunning Gateway Theatre of Shopping?

The world over but especially in emerging markets, we need to think boldly and bravely. This 21st anniversary is a celebration that hope and belief springs eternal.

That the seemingly impossible is indeed possible. That the South African spirit of triumph over adversity has exploded in all its glory.

We salute your strength and resilience. We acknowledge with pride the access created for emerging entrepreneurs even though much more needs to be done to advance radical socio-economic transformation. We recognize that the Gateway is home to some of the world’s most recognizable luxury brands.

Much more however needs to be produced locally. Malls are the major outlets for manufactured goods and South African manufacturing is not at the desired levels to enable us to make a dent in the triple challenges of poverty, inequality and unemployment.

We take note also that the Gateway has created thousands of direct and indirect jobs and sustained those jobs during a difficult economic climate. Job creation will remain a challenge well into the future especially for historically marginalized sectors of our people notably women, youth and the disabled.

As we look ahead beyond this anniversary, we must challenge the retail sector to demonstrate more convincingly its plans to boost job creation.

Concluding thoughts

This milestone must spur us to the next mountain top like in Madiba’s famous words: “I have walked that long road to freedom. I have tried not to falter; I have made missteps along the way. But I have discovered the secret that after climbing a great hill, one only finds that there are many more hills to climb. I have taken a moment here to rest, to steal a view of the glorious vista that surrounds me, to look back on the distance I have come. But I can only rest for a moment, for with freedom come responsibilities, and I dare not linger, for my long walk is not ended.”

As government we are committed to that long walk with the private sector. Projects like the Gateway must multiply many times over so that we can give our people the better life they deserve.

Cheers and congratulations. We wish you every onward success.

I thank you.