The Eastern Cape provincial summit on rural development recently held in Mthatha heard that for the rural development strategy to succeed all government departments and municipalities should work together in a coordinated manner.
Rural development is one of the five key priorities of the government. The Eastern Cape province is rural in nature, has no natural resources and invariably poor. It is estimated that 60 percent of the population of this province live in rural areas where poverty is endemic.
The rural development programme seeks to improve the lives of the people living in rural areas. The provincial rural development plan intends to address six pillars which are viewed by the provincial government as key to the success of rural development.
These are: Land reform which entails addressing the imbalances in land ownership, agrarian transformation and food security which is the industrialisation of agriculture to produce more food for both consumption and marketing, infrastructure provision, non-farm rural development which entails such aspects as agro-processing, social and human development in the form of good health and education facilities and the creation of an enabling environment.
The recent summit took place at the backdrop of stalled economic projects due to land claims instituted by allegedly previously dispossessed owners in Mthatha. Poverty in some of these underdeveloped rural areas is deepening, sometimes due to failed crops and natural causes.
Addressing the summit, the MEC for Agriculture and Rural Development, Mbulelo Sogoni cited poverty, unemployment, underdevelopment and inequality as a major reason for the introduction of rural development programme.
Several speakers called on all government departments to take part in the implementation of the rural development strategy. The summit had as its focal point the implementation of the rural development strategy.
The summit was convened after the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development had held extensive consultations with stakeholders throughout the province explaining the rural development strategy.
The summit was marked by robust debate by various speakers who emphasised that rural development should encompass the development of viable economic sectors in the countryside, including small coastal towns such as Port St Johns, Coffee Bay etc.
Dams to conserve and harness water should be built on all the big rivers of the province in order to advance the economic development of the rural areas, speakers urged the government. Enough water would ease the water shortages of the urban areas of the rural towns and enhance the economic development of the province.
The summit heard that the provincial government is going to cost the amount needed for the implementation of the rural development strategy. Although the rural strategy is still to be coasted, the provincial government has earmarked the Transkei Development Reserve Fund to kick start implementation.
The summit noted that the rural Eastern Cape was proned to natural disasters. The summit called on the provincial government to budget for natural disasters, and reduce over dependency on national government to provide relief fund for provincial disasters.
It was also noted that the province is still grappling with infrastructure backlogs inherited from previous governments. Speakers at the summit called on the provincial government to lobby national government to assist with funds to wipe out these infrastructure backlogs, thus facilitating implementation of the provincial rural development plan.
The Department of Agriculture and Rural Development work closely with the people about rural development so that citizens of the province could take ownership of the rural development programmes.
The Premier is expected to play a central role in ensuring central coordination, and optimising linkages and coherence with the Provincial Industrial Development Strategy.
All speakers and stakeholders were unanimous in their support for the strategy, and pledged to work with government to ensure speedy implementation of rural development programmes in the Eastern Cape.
The summit was concluded with the following declaration:
“We, the delegates gathered here, representing our institutions in government, the legislature, civil society, academia and traditional leadership, have concluded the first Rural Development Summit in the province in this fourth term of our democracy, held on 25 to 26 January 2010 in Mthatha, OR Tambo District, and accordingly hereby endorse the following, as our Summit Declaration Statement.
“We note that:
* The colonial and apartheid balkanisation of South Africa’s rural areas into underdeveloped bantustans, contrasting with well developed white owned commercial farming areas, has resulted in segregation which is further entrenched in such sectors as education, health, social development, transport and employment.
* This has indeed left deep scars of inequality and economic inefficiency in our province, and has further resulted in our society being confronted by serious challenges relating to all aspects of society including, but not limited to, economical, social, political, moral, cultural, and environmental challenges. In the words of our first President, the great Dr NR Mandela, ’rural people and rural women in particular bear the largest burden of poverty in South Africa’. If we can change the inequalities and inefficiencies of the past, rural areas can become productive and sustainable.”
* This is the sad legacy of the historical neglect of our people which is manifesting itself in a variety of ways.
* Government is currently engaged in an effort to make a decisive intervention to change the conditions of our people towards the attainment of the vision of a better life for all. To this end a Rural Development Strategy, aimed at achieving sustainable growth and development for improved quality of life of the rural communities, has been developed.
* The approach to the implementation of the rural development strategy will be underpinned in the main by the following principles:
a) Current and future strategic plans of the province, including municipal Integrated Development Plans (IDPs), must be designed such that they reflect the essence and substance of the Rural Development Strategy (RDS). This means among other things that strategic plans, guidelines and frameworks, must by design, anticipate the focus on rural development,
b) Tools for the assessment of the credibility of strategic plans must be designed such that they test and confirm the alignment of strategic planning to the goals of rural development,
c) There must be alignment of policies and strategies with similar objectives through the cluster system and all intergovernmental relations platforms in the province,
d) Critical indicators for rural development will be informed by the six pillars of the RDS to ensure effective monitoring, evaluation and reporting, and
e) Governance of RDS must reflect a transversal nature of rural development
* Therefore, the summit makes the following commitments:
a) The provincial government must ensure that critical capacity is developed to ensure the successful implementation of the RDS.
b) All partners and stakeholders commit to participate in the fora and structures required for the successful implementation of the RDS, including the proposed Eastern Cape Rural Development Agency, in the monitoring and evaluation processes of the RDS.
c) All partners also commit to promote the spirit of mutual cooperation and partnerships enshrined in the RDS.
“Therefore we resolve:
* that, working together, we, the people of the Eastern Cape, fully support the Rural Development Strategy, the Implementation Plan, and Institutional Framework. Accordingly we call for a speedy execution of the Strategy.”
Issued by: Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, Eastern Cape Provincial Government
4 February 2010
Source: Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, Eastern Cape Provincial Government (http://www.agr.ecprov.gov.za)
