D Peters: Pixley Ka Seme District Growth and Development Strategy (DGDS)
launch

31 May 2007

Honourable Exec Mayor Pixley ka Seme District, Ms H Jenkins
Mayors and Councillors
Members of the Executive Committee present
Members of he Provincial Legislature present
Representatives of the organised labour
Representatives of the organised business
Representatives of community-based organisation (CBO) and non-governmental
organisation (NGO) sector
Representatives of DFIs and state-owned enterprises (SOEs)
Officials of the national, provincial and local government
Ladies and gentlemen

It gives me great pleasure, on behalf of the Executive Committee, to proudly
stand before you this evening and officially launch the Pixley ka Seme District
Growth and Development Strategy (DGDS). This district was the first, in our
province, to hold its summit and now is indicating its readiness and
willingness to get on with the business of implementation by launching its
strategy. In launching this strategy today, we are reconfirming our commitment
to making the required impact on the lives of our people in the district of
Pixley ka Seme. Accordingly, the municipality will implement this strategy with
a view to improving the lives of all people that live within its
jurisdiction.

Programme Director, as we all know, the development of the District Growth
and Development Strategy is in response to the directive of the President of
our country in his State of the Nation Address 2006, that all Districts and
Metro's should hold growth and development summits that would ensure a
collective and common definition of district municipality and metro development
trajectory that will provide sustainable social and economic development at
local level.

It is for this reason that we also refer to this strategy as a Long Term
Growth and Development Strategy (LTGDS) of 10 to 20 years. The resulting
strategy developed over a period of approximately 10 months to its adoption by
Council, following an extensive consultative process; is aligned to the
Northern Cape Provincial Growth and Development Strategy (NCPGDS) and expresses
the hopes and aspirations of the stakeholders in the district.

All those that participated, did so with the common purpose and vision, that
is to grow and develop this region to a state that has never existed in the
district before. In so doing, contribute positively to reaching the targets of
economic growth, halving unemployment and reducing poverty, targets we have set
ourselves as a province and country. Furthermore, through the analysis of the
IDPs, it is evident that the strategy has been used as a framework for the
development of the district IDP and the alignment being sought is starting to
become a reality.

This added benefit is the result of devoting sufficient time and effort to
the planning process and consciously prioritising and targeting opportunities
to be pursued. It also contributes to informing provincial and national
government departments of the areas that they need to focus on for
implementation to become a reality.

Ladies and gentlemen, approximately six months ago, at the District Growth
and Development Summit, I referred to our Deputy Presidents' "announcement of
government's plan to revitalise and renew the De Aar Railway network," a
project that is also included in this strategy we are launching as one of the
priorities of the district.

We have attempted, for many years, to attract an interest and support in
this project at a national level and with stakeholders that would support its
development, our efforts are about to bear fruit. Two months ago, I was invited
to a presentation, here in De Aar, regarding this very project and the
proposals with respect to it. This project being planned promises to bring with
it many opportunities to benefit to the people in the district and address the
challenges we face with respect to reducing unemployment and poverty.

At the summit, I also mentioned the selection of the Pixley ka Seme
Municipality to participate in the Presidential Pilot Project on the
application of the National Spatial Development Perspective (NSDP) in District
and Metro's. This process has proved to be a fruitful one since many lessons
have come to the fore during this process.

Through these deliberations and interactions with stakeholders: The district
was made aware of the enormous investment in roads that is to occur in its
jurisdiction over the next six-years, amounting to R1,3 billion, this being in
the field of:
* routine road maintenance, grass cutting and surface repairs
* esurfacing
* rehabilitation

Through the strategic engagement and analysis matrix (SEAM) (an analysis
tool used in the pilot project), sector departments could see areas where their
inputs were required and who should be liaising with each other with respect to
the development of projects. It facilitates the inter-departmental
collaboration and integration of plans that we are striving to achieve since it
could be seen as one of the tools to get projects and items on the strategic
planning agenda in sector departments.

Programme director, these are but two of the projects unfolding in the
district and I am sure that there are many others that district has prioritised
and wants to attain within its jurisdiction. We need to remember though, that
most of these projects will be located in local municipalities and even run
across local municipalities, for example, roads to be rehabilitated are not
confined to one local municipality, it traverses from one local municipality to
the next. The need for alignment, once again is of paramount importance.

The local municipalities must assist and work in collaboration with each
other and the district municipality to ensure that these projects come to
fruition. The strategy is not cast in stone, it is a living document, keep it
alive. Finally, I wish to reiterate the support from the provincial sector
departments with respect to the implementation of the strategy.

Through our co-ordinated endeavours, let us ensure that the implementation
of this strategy realises the vision of "A prosperous, unified, dynamic and
developmental Pixley ka Seme District that is safe and secure with a better
life for all." United in our effort, let us start the journey that will
transform, what is now referred to as the poorest district in the province, to
a socio-economically vibrant space within our beautiful and real Northern
Cape.

I thank you.

Issued by: Office of the Premier, Northern Cape Provincial Government
31 May 2007