Mr Narend Singh: Address at Launch of the Working for the Coast Programme in the Ethekwini Metro

29 August 2025, Durban

Programme Director; The Mayor of eThekwini; Councillors, officials, colleagues, project supervisors and participants; Members of the media; Ladies and gentlemen; Good morning,

It gives me great joy to be here with you on Durban’s beautiful shoreline to relaunch the Working for the Coast programme.

Our coastline is one of South Africa’s greatest treasures. It is a source of life and livelihoods, a space of cultural meaning, a magnet for tourism, and a home to remarkable biodiversity. Protecting it is not only government’s job—it is a responsibility we all share.

The Working for the Coast programme is our way of honouring that responsibility. For many years, it has been the hands and feet caring for our shores—cleaning beaches, restoring dunes, maintaining public spaces, and keeping estuaries healthy. At the same time, it has created much-needed work opportunities for local communities.

The April 2022 floods showed us how fragile our coast can be. In their aftermath, we had to act quickly, mobilising teams to clear debris, repair dunes, and restore services. That effort proved our resilience and the value of this programme.

But the challenges have not gone away. Pollution, climate change and unsustainable practices continue to threaten our oceans and beaches.

That is why earlier this year we launched a new phase of Working for the Coast in partnership with municipalities across the country. Here in KwaZulu-Natal, four projects are now running from Amahlongwa in the south to the Umfolozi River in the north. Together, they represent an investment of more than R32 million and, most importantly, will create 1,846 work opportunities for local people.

In eThekwini alone, 1,274 participants are already at work—from Amanzimtoti to Umgababa, and from the Bluff right up to Umhlanga. The main objectives of the programme are job creation, environmental management practice and strengthening support for Small Medium and Micro Enterprises (SMMEs). The KwaZulu- Natal Province faces significant environmental challenges which are caused by inclement weather, inadequate waste management systems and unsustainable practices leading to pollution and substantial risks to coastal areas and its habitats. The Department, in trying to address these challenges, has partnered with the eThekwini Municipality in a project that is focused on cleaning your Municipality’s coastal areas. The project activities are not only limited to litter picking, sweeping, cleaning, clearing of gutters and walkways along the coastal areas. We are working very closely with municipalities to ensure that the issue of dysfunctional pump stations etc are addressed and resolved thus ensuring that communities and tourists can enjoy our beaches and hopefully restore the blue flag status to many of our beaches.The Department is employing an In-House implementation approach wherein no Implementing Agent or Service Provider will is appointed, but relies on Municipalities for daily monitoring and required administration of the project and the Departmental officials for general project management. The Department together with the Municipality is implementing this project by employing project participants under the auspices of the EPWP and in line with EPWP requirements.

The Department provides wages, UIF and protective clothing, while the Metro handles recruitment, tools, and daily management. This is what cooperative governance looks like in action.

To our participants: you are the heroes of this story. By clearing litter, protecting marine life, and keeping our beaches safe and welcoming, you are showing us that environmental protection and job creation can go hand in hand. You are restoring pride in our public spaces and hope in our communities.

Colleagues, this launch is more than a government initiative. It is a promise—that our coastline will be protected, that people will find dignity through work, and that we will build a cleaner and more resilient future together.

Let us continue to work side by side—government, municipalities, communities, and every participant—to ensure our coast works for us, and that we, in turn, work for our coast.

I thank you. 
Siyabonga.