The Minister of Social Development, Ms Bathabile Dlamini, will on Tuesday, 10 May, table the Department’s Budget Vote (Vote 17) to the National Council of Provinces (NCOP) at the Old Assembly Chamber in Parliament, Cape Town.
Prior the NCOP sitting, Minister Dlamini will host a Cooperatives Workshop with representatives of cooperatives from all provinces under the theme, “Showcasing the Co-ops”.
The workshop serves as a platform to engage on challenges faced by cooperatives and assess progress made through the Nine Point Plan as announced this year by President Jacob Zuma in his State of the Nation Address (SONA) earlier this year.
The Nine Point Plan is aimed at responding to slow economic growth in the country and seeks to unlock the potential of SMMEs and cooperatives in rural communities and townships. Cooperatives play a crucial role of improving the lives of rural communities through the use of local asserts for economic opportunities.
The President also announced that thirty percent of government departments’ procurement budgets will be spent buying goods and services from cooperatives.
The Department of Social Development and its agencies, the South African Social Security Agency (SASSA) and the National Development Agency (NDA), has also launched a cooperative programme which helps people - especially women - from poor communities establish income generating cooperatives as a way of fighting poverty and unemployment.
This approach to contribute to radical socio-economic transformation leverages on social assistance as well as food and nutrition security programmes.
SASSA spent R251, 000, 000 in the past financial year procuring fresh produce and school uniform for its Social Relief of Distress Programme (SRD) from cooperatives. This is money government has put into the hands of poor black people who so far have been excluded from the mainstream economy.
The NDA continues to educate and create awareness in communities on the strength and socio-economic value of cooperatives in order to promote their organic emergence and increased participation, particularly of young people and women.
Over and above education, the NDA provides capacity building (access to resources, quality assurance, specialist training, governance and management support, and conflict management) and skills development programmes.
Members of the media are invited to attend and cover Cooperatives Workshop and NCOP Budget Vote Speech, arranged as follows:
Cooperatives Workshop Programme
Date: Tuesday, 10 May, 2016
Time: 9h00
Venue: Cape Sun Hotel, Strand Street - Cape Town
NCOP Budget Vote Speech Programme
Date: Tuesday, 10 May, 2016
Time: 14h00
Venue: Old Assembly Chamber in Parliament, Cape Town, 120 Plein Street
Members of the Media can RSVP by contacting:
Jaconia Kobue
Cell: 073 026 1111
E-mail: jaconiak@dsd.gov.za
Justice Ditshego
Cell: 079 4977 426
E-mail: justiced@dsd.gov.za
Media enquiries may be forwarded to:
Lumka Oliphant
Cell: 083 484 8067
E-mail: lumkao@dsd.gov.za
