13 February 2009
The North West Premier, Edna Molewa, is confident that the vision of the
province since the advent of democracy is on course for the attainment of the
governmentâs objectives to develop communities and reduce poverty.
The Premier said this in her State of Province Address during the opening of
the Provincial Legislature on Friday. She said although the world was currently
experiencing an economic slowdown, where mining was greatly hit with the
exception for gold mining, government had to strengthen its performance and
concentrate on other key sectors such as agriculture and tourism, to keep its
vision alive.
This, because this sector has the capacity to absorb all skills levels, and
strengthen job creation capacity where the job creation potential of the
agricultural sector is evident.
Molewa says agriculture also shows the best employment ratio in the province
and this is evident from its contribution of 2.8% to the Provincial Gross
Domestic Products (GDP), and it accommodates 18 percent of the labour force in
the province.
âOn the tourism front which is one of the industries we can leverage to
confront the economic slowdown. We have maintained our share at 6.6 percent in
2007 as a competitive destination and tourism is particularly important in the
light of the countdown to 2010,â says Molewa.
She said part of the strategy was to continue with the existing partnerships
with the Tourism Enterprise Programme and the Grading Council of South Africa,
which ensures that tourism establishments offer quality products and services.
Also, according to the Premier, the flagship attractions such as the World
Heritage sites, the Vredefort Dome and the Taung Skull need to be enhanced.
âWe have also surged forward in infrastructure development and projects
illustrative of our infrastructure development programme are already familiar
to many people. These are multi year projects and they date back to 2004/05.
They are the Taung Irrigation Scheme which is allocated R300 million over ten
years and the Western Frontier Cattle Beneficiation Initiative which is meant
to benefit small and commercial farmers.
âIn addition, we have the Taung Tourism where we intend to develop the
potential in and around the Taung Dam, and this includes the Taung Hotel School
which will address the shortage of hospitality skills in the tourism industry.
We also have the Wild Silk Project where we are investigating the commercial
exploitation of silk worms in the Ganyesa area,â said the Premier.
Regarding to livestock improvement strategy, Molewa stated that government
had implemented the Multi-Purpose Livestock Handling Facilities project which,
it is hoped, would curb the extra travel endured by small scale farmers in
accessing markets thereby bringing markets closer to the farmers.
On the other hand, the fencing programme is intended to control the carrying
capacity of the land and ensure the production of more food crops. Additional
projects on course, according to the Premier, are in hydro-culture;
co-operatives; and small scale dairy initiatives.
âWe have registered discernible progress in terms of agricultural
development and this includes the facilitation of farmer loan funding and the
Western Frontier Beef Beneficiation Programme. We also have land reform
initiatives, specifically redistribution and restitution; the Wolmaransstad
Goat Processing Project; the Mechanisation Programme; and the Nguni Cattle
Development Programme,â she said.
The Premier further revealed that between 1996 and 2008 the Provincial Land
Reform Office had transferred 285 000 hectares of land under the
redistribution programme. And as at 31 December 1998, 1 219 land claims had
been lodged. Of those, 96% have been processed, with 154 000 beneficiaries
getting 304000 hectares of land restored to them.
âWe remain committed to land redistribution and restitution, but the land
price constitutes the greatest threat to the 30 percent target for land reform.
Other challenges range from limited budget allocation, staff capacity and
settlement support grants,â she said.
Issued by: Office of the Premier, North West Provincial Government
13 February 2009
