Local government is critical to the development and industrialisation of South Africa. This was said by the Minister of Trade and Industry, Dr Rob Davies at the launch of the Bachelor of Economics Degree Local Economic Development (LED) at University of the Western Cape today.
Davies described the launch as a boost to the Local Government.
“South Africa need municipalities that are effective and development need to start there. The programme will assist in ensuring that municipalities are able to stimulate area based economic development through the identification of opportunities in marginalised areas of the municipalities and assisting in packaging and implementation of appropriate economic development interventions,” added Minister Davies.
Minister Davies added that the country needs municipalities that will be able to identify the economic gaps, and work with small businesses to close those gaps.
According to the Deputy Director General- Broadening Participation Division Mr Sipho Zikode, the dti is currently in negotiating with the municipalities to take students for in-service training to complete their LED qualifications. “Bursaries will be available for the students enrolling for the degree in 2013,” added Zikode.
The Rector and Vice Chancellor at the University of the Western Cape, Professor Brian O’ Connel said the only way the country can address the inherited challenges of apartheid is by developing skills development competences. O’ Connel added that the university was honoured to partner with government on the initiative and reminded the audience that skills development is crucial to address service delivery.
The launch of the Degree is part of the rolling out of the comprehensive Capacity Building Programme which is aimed at building Economic and Industrial Development capacity at local government level.
The Capacity Building Programme consists of four key pillars including the degree that will be launched at UWC. Other pillars are the Short Learning Programme, Mentorship and Research.
The degree programme is for a period of four years and is offered by the University of the Western Cape in collaboration with UJ through their B. Econ (LED) degree. The degree programme has commenced early in 2012 with 26 registered students, slightly short of the target of 30 students. Out of those students 23 are doing second year this year (2013). 30 students are enrolled are doing first year this year.
The Short Learning Programme, Mentorship and Research are targeted towards those individuals who are already working in the municipalities and therefore are unable to attend the full-time bachelor of economic development degree. All universities who are members of the consortium have received appropriate training so that they can offer the programme to municipalities and all other interested individuals in their localities. Universities that are members of the consortium are University of the Western Cape, University of KwaZulu-Natal, University of Limpopo, Tshwane University of Technology, Walter Sisulu University, University of Fort Hare and Cape Peninsula University of Technology.
The mentorship programme has been developed with the specific purpose of trying to address leadership issues as well and ensure that the quality of the decisions that are taken by the municipal leadership improves and complements training that is offered to an individual through short learning programme and the four year degree.
The capacity building programme was developed in partnership with South African Local Government Association (SALGA), Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (CoGTA) and Industrial Development Corporation (IDC), and these institutions continue to serve on the steering committee chaired by the dti.
Enquiries:
Sidwell Medupe- Departmental Spokesperson
Tel: 012 394 1650
Cell: 079 492 1774
E-mail: MSMedupe@thedti.gov.za
