Western Cape
23 July 2007
President Thabo Mbeki accompanied by Cabinet Ministers and senior government
officials concluded a successful two day Provincial Imbizo in the Western Cape
province today. The Imbizo, which took place under the theme: "building
partnerships for development and safer communities" saw the President
interacting with the provincial political leadership, civil society and several
communities during which thousands of people attended.
The Western Cape Imbizo follows successful municipal Izimbizo which sought
to address service delivery challenges previously identified under Project
Consolidate. It provided government with an opportunity to assess progress on
the implementation of development programmes in line with the national
Programme of Action (POA) and the Integrated Development Plans guided by the
Provincial Growth and Developments Strategy (PGDS) and the National Spatial
Development Perspective.
In this regard, while there is need for increased speed in implementation
and greater co-ordination within all spheres of government, Western Cape
Provincial Government efforts in implementing the POA are encouraging. Some of
the visits saw examples of projects undertaken by the provincial government to
better the lives of the people of the province which include:
* The De Novo Drug and Alcohol Rehabilitation Centre in Kraafontein which
the President launched at the start of the Imbizo on Saturday aims to
rehabilitate victims of drugs and substance abuse and thereby address some of
the social challenges that confront the province.
* A sod turning ceremony at the Khayelitsha Lifestyle Housing Project which is
a partnership between the government, Old Mutual and Nedbank. The latter will
provide funding for the building of more than 500 housing units in Khayelitsha.
These units will contribute immensely to the housing challenge in the
province.
The two day Imbizo included interaction with over 10 000 members of the
community of Lwandle who raised issues pertinent to development and service
delivery for a better life for all, with housing as a dominant need within the
province, a direct result of increased inward migration into the province.
The Imbizo also included a visit to Bredasdorp Municipality which has a
successful Extended Public Works Programme. There, the President witnessed some
of the first graduates of the first provincial learnerships 1 000 programme.
The province intends to commence with another intake of 1 000 learners in
August. The learners have been trained in areas such as engineering, which are
critical to the economic growth of the country and service delivery in local
municipalities. All of them have signed four year contracts to remain in the
employ of the public sector.
The final phase of the programme was an intergovernmental meeting with all
three spheres of government to refine integrated planning for seamless
delivery. The Izimbizo remain a valuable forum central to participatory
democracy and continues to enable communities to interact in meaningful ways
with their elected leaders.
Enquiries:
Mukoni Ratshitanga
Cell: 082 300 3447
Issued by: Government Communications (GCIS)
23 July 2007
Source: SAPA
