Council
14 September 2007
The Presidential Co-ordinating Council chaired by President Thabo Mbeki and
attended by the Deputy President, several Cabinet Ministers and senior
government officials took place at the Union Buildings today.
The Department of Provincial and Local Government presented a proposal which
aims to stimulate economic development in the 21 nodal areas by attracting
private sector investment in these areas.
The department will, amongst other measures, host a series of Economic
Indabas in the nodal areas.
For its part, the Department of Education made a presentation on the state
of infrastructure in public schools as well as progress in the implementation
of the 'No Fee Schools'.
While noting that the provision of school infrastructure remains a serious
challenge, the report noted substantial progress registered in the provision of
school infrastructure over the years. For example, overall infrastructure
backlogs fell from 51% in 1996 to 24% in 2006.
The number of schools with electricity increased from 11 174 in 1996 to 20
713 in 2006 while the number of schools without toilets decreased from 3 265 in
1996 to 1 532 in 2006.
The department is making further investment in these and other areas such as
school libraries, laboratories, computers and fencing in order to improve
infrastructure and the general environment within which learning and teaching
takes place.
The eradication of water and sanitation backlogs will, in this context,
receive top priority over the next two years.
Since January this year, nearly five million learners (40%) have been
beneficiaries of the 'No Fee School' policy. The policy has been overwhelmingly
well received in communities and stands to have a lasting impact in access to
education. It has accordingly increased access, reduced pressure on households
while at the same time removing uneconomic administration of small amounts.
The Department of Public Service and Administration presented a progress
report on the work of Community Development Workers (CDWs). It noted that 2 929
Community Development Workers (CDWs) are deployed in over 2 000 wards across
the country.
As previously noted, CDWs serve as a link between communities and government
departments. Their role straddles across a variety of issues such as assisting
communities to acquire identity documents, birth certificates and register for
other services such as housing, participate in such forums as may include ward
committees, Integrated Development Plan Forums and general mobilisation of
communities for public participation.
The meeting noted the state of provincial budgets and expenditure as
recently presented by the Minister of Finance in Parliament.
For more information:
Mukoni Ratshitanga
Tell: 012 300 5436
Cell: 082 300 3447
Issued by: The Presidency
14 September 2007
Source: SAPA
