D Peters: Pixley ka Seme District Growth and Development Summit

23 November 2006

Programme Director,
Honourable Mayor of the Pixley ka Seme District Municipality Alderperson, H
Jenkins,
Honourable mayors of the local municipalities and councillors within the
district municipalities,
Members of the Executive Committee present,
Members of the 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 Owed Enterprises (SOEs),
Officials of the national, provincial and local government,
Ladies and gentlemen:

Let me take this opportunity on behalf of the provincial government and the
Executive Council (ExCo), to commend the Pixley ka Seme District Municipality's
leadership on this bold initiative to be the first district municipality from
the five in the province, to proactively and diligently respond to the call of
developing District Growth and Development Strategies and holding the first
consultative summit for the launching of the above mentioned strategy.

This historic occasion is happening three weeks after the Deputy President,
Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka's parliamentary announcement of government's plan to
revitalise and renew the significant and important De Aar Railway Network. The
very railway network that was central and a large part of the source of
socio-economic life of this area.

Almost two and a half years ago on the occasion of the inauguration of the
Premier and assumption of office of the current executive, we made the
commitment and accepted that "the people of the province have mandated us the
leadership of the Northern Cape to realise a clear set of goals and objective,
including:

* reduction and eradication of poverty
* job creation and opportunities for all
* improving levels of knowledge, skills and expertise
* deepening healthcare for all
* enhancing the capacity of local governments to deliver more efficient social
services
* dealing with the abuse of women and children and the neglect of the elderly
and disabled
* and creating an enabling environment for greater participation by all
economically active in the economy of the province," "(2004: inaugural address
by ED Peters)".

We further conceded that the above would be the main blocks for the
socio-economic development strategy which the Northern Cape Provincial
Government will unfold in the coming months and years to attain the goals
contained in the African National Congress' (ANC) election manifesto which
forms the essence of the provincial government.

True to the commitment we made in 2004 on the above-mentioned occasion and
through the visionary leadership of the ExCo, the people of the Northern Cape
adopted and launched the Provincial Growth and Development (PGDS) within a
space of eight months, i.e. on 27 January 2005. The PGDS have since become this
important integrated development planning tool for us and the work of
government.

Through the PGDS we have been able to collectively define and agree to a
development trajectory for the Northern Cape. We have agreed that together as a
province for the coming five to ten years, we will pursue the following
objectives:

* promote the growth, diversify and transform the provincial economy
* deduce poverty through social development.

These objectives will be actively supported for realisation by our conscious
efforts to:

* develop requisite levels of human and social capital
* improve the efficiency, effectiveness of governance other development
institutions
* enhance infrastructure for economic growth and social development.

At the beginning of this year on 27 January 2006, we celebrated the first
year anniversary of the launch of the PGDS together with the launch of the
Namaqualand Mariculture Park in the Richtersveld Municipality (Port Nolloth).
The establishment of the park was one of the identified flagship projects of
the PGDS (intended specifically to diversify and grow the economy of the
province).

Programme Director, I have deliberately chosen to be temporal in this
address, I am taking the liberty to proof to all of us that ours is a
government that have a clear vision and agenda (informed by the needs and
inspiration of our people) of eradicating poverty and creating the much needed
jobs, a better life for all, is what we are striving for.

President Thabo Mbeki in his State of the Nation address of February 2006,
directed that the district and metropolitan municipalities hold growth and
development summits in their areas of jurisdiction. The President made this
pronouncement against the backdrop of the introduction of the Accelerated and
Shared Initiative for South Africa (AsgiSA), which builds on the outcome of the
National Growth and Development Summit of 2003.

Programme Director, may we together remember that ours is a government with
a clear vision and agenda!

One of the lessons learnt from our ten-year review of government's
performance in the first decade of freedom was that some of the good and
positive programmes intended for improving lives our people did not measure up
to maximum and satisfactory impact. This had happened because of lack of
co-ordination and integration of all of government's programmes. As an
immediate response to the above mentioned weakness, in the May 2004 State of
the Nation address, the President called for the harmonisation of the National
Spatial Development Perspective (NSDP), the PGDS and the Municipal Integrated
Development Plans (IDPs).

Since from that time and now, a lot of work has been undertaken and
completed by the three spheres of government in pursuit of the above-mentioned
presidential directive.

Programme Director, we gathered here today because now we know and agree
that:

* development do not occur in mid-air but in a geographic space
* government's ability to accelerate growth and reduce unemployment and poverty
is tied to the growth potential of different areas and regions (district
municipalities)
* different regions have different economic potential and the spatial
variations in the incidences of poverty are also different
* the national economy is a collection of effectively functioning local
economies and developing these economies in integral to achieving the economic
growth target of 10 percent by 2014 and especially the six percent by 2009.

And lastly, Programme Director, this summit today is about us having
accepted that districts and metropolitans areas are the pivotal sites on which
to build the understanding of the nature and distribution of regional potential
across the country.

Pixley ka Seme District is currently regarded as the poorest of our five
municipal districts in the province. Unemployment rate have recently been
measured at 20 percent and the Human Development Index (HDI) of some major
towns in the district measured at 0,43 compared to provincial average of
0,58.

Pixley ka Seme contributes only 10 percent to the total GDP of the Northern
Cape. Poverty levels have worsened after the scaling down of railway
transportation and freight utilisation by government and the private sector
over the past years.

Agriculture and public and community services are the two sectors that
contribute the highest in terms of the districts economy and provision of
secured jobs.

Taking the above mentioned scenario, it becomes important once more to
commend the district leadership for the pro-activeness and their resolve that
it is only them, us and the rest of those gathered here as stakeholders who
will and must extricate the people of Pixley ka Seme from the poverty,
unemployment, lack of development and the general decline in the quality of
life currently experienced in the region.

The district development strategy is intended to serve as a framework for
the development of credible IDPs by all local municipalities within the Pixley
ka Seme District. The strategy will also serve to promote local economic growth
and development and improve the quality of life of the people of the district.
The District Growth and Development Strategy (DGDS) further recognises the
leadership role government must play in driving integrated, holistic,
sustainable and participatory growth and development at a local level.

Programme Director, it is for this reason that I now call upon all of us
that for the coming two days of the summit collectively as partners in the
reconstruction and development of our country do the following:

* agree on the areas of potential that exist in the district and important
for local economic development
* agree on actions to be taken as to contribute to the six percent target by
2009 and 10 percent target by 2014
* agree on a growth target for Pixley ka Seme based on opportunities and
potential identified,
* propose and agree on the conditions for sustainable local economic
development in the district,
* the summit to agree on the nature and package for skills development
according to the make up and economic development vision of the Pixley ka Seme
District and to clearly define and agree on the role of the private sector, CBO
and NGOs the SOEs, local provincial and national government in pursuing the set
growth target for the district.

It is my firm believe that the above mentioned task is possible if we can
together pool our resources for the sake of turning the socio-economic
situation of Pixley ka Seme District Municipality.

Through our clear vision and agenda, Pixley ka Seme is host to the Karoo
Array Telescope upon which the South African bid for the Square kilometre Array
(SKA) is launched, a total of R361 million over three years is to be invested
in this municipality.

Pixley ka Seme District Municipality has the most suitable land and
vegetation for the commercialisation of goats project. The district
municipality stands to benefit substantially from the R45 million initial
investment to be made in the project.

The district municipality further stand to benefit from the Precious Metal
and Gems Stone Project that has been initiated and driven by the provincial
government.

The district municipality has been selected with other 12 district
municipalities and metros to participate in the Presidential Pilot Project on
application of the National Spatial Development Perspective (NSDP) in municipal
IDPs. This pilot project is intended to strengthen this process of the summits
and implementation of the DGDS. It is also intend to feed into the process of
developing credible IDPs. All municipalities should participate to get this
regional industrial zone pilot a success. This is a way of ensuring that
economic development is regionalised and all region's comparative advantages be
tapped into.

Based on the above projects and programmes intended for the district
municipality, as government we declare our readiness to take up our position,
roll up our sleeves and contribute towards the improvement of the district
municipality's economy through:

* the Vaal and Orange River programme with the 2 000 hectors of water
rights
* the Karoo Water Scheme
* the lamb meat industry
* possibility of a tannery in the Siyancuma Municipality
* wool processing
* the furniture co-operative.

As government we also need to create the necessary condition for business to
invest in growth while creating decent jobs. We also implore business to
further contribute to the development of the necessary skills and expertise to
expand the economy.

We will also call upon the non-State stakeholders like CBO and NGOs to
engage government on their needs and at the same time ensure the strengthening
of their organisations such that they are able to operate on the basis of
mandates and accountability in relation to their constituencies.

When government and private sector consult with them it must be clear that
they speak on behalf of constituencies and do report back to these
constituencies.

As to whether this will be yet another summit and posh gathering for
socialising and networking or an important start of a process for crafting a
development trajectory/path for the district and subsequently implementation of
summit resolutions will depend on all of us and what we will do once back to
our work stations. It is however my firm believe that like with our struggle
against apartheid and thereafter the building of our democracy we will be able
to turn around the socio-economic fortunes of this district.

We will continue to draw on the collective will and determination of the
people of the province, working in concert with government and stakeholders to
bring about a growing, safe and competitive Pixley ka Seme regional
economy.

Remember a vibrant economy releases the social developmental budget to focus
on broader population needs and it can also help grow the economy by allowing
government to invest in infrastructure supporting economic growth like roads,
transport, electricity, water and all necessary ingredients.

Madam Mayor, ladies and gentlemen, I would like to thank you for your bottom
up approach to this summit which means all municipalities and stakeholders
formed the building blocks for the strategy which will emerge. Congratulations
and good luck in the implementation process.

Ke a leboga!

Issued by: Office of the Premier, Northern Cape Provincial Government
23 November 2006