Opening remarks by Premier L.K Mokgosi on the occasion of a meeting with President Cyril Ramaphosa and Cabinet.
Programme Director,
His Excellency President Cyril Ramaphosa
Deputy President, Paul Mashatile
Ministers and Deputy Ministers present here today, Members of the North West Executive Council,
The Provincial Chairperson of South African Local Government Association, The Executive Mayor of Bojanala Platinum District Municipality,
The Executive Mayor of Ramotshere Moiloa Local Municipality, The North West House of Traditional and Khoi-San Leaders, Executive and Senior Government Officials,
Members of the Media, Bagaetsho Dumelang,
His Excellency, President Cyril Matamela Ramaphosa, we happily welcome you, the Deputy President and members of Cabinet to the North West Province under better circumstance compared to your visit in 2018.
The North West provincial government you will interact and hear about in our report is different from the state of paralysis and disunity of 2018.
We are an administration hard at work, aligned with the mandate of the 7th administration to implement the three strategic priorities of the Government of National Unity as contained in the Medium Term Development Plan.
Mr. President, we thank you for your leadership to introduce a much needed paradigm shift aimed at putting emphasis to our planning approach to address the scourge of unemployment, poverty and high costs of living afflicting our communities.
The innovation of a Medium Term Development Plan serves as a constant strategic reminder to us as leaders and public sector managers to change the lives of our people for the better.
We further appreciate your thought leadership approach to introduce this intergovernmental approach of Provincial visits to break the walls of separation between National and Provinces.
We are all enjoined by our Constitution under Chapter 3, Section 41 (1) (h) to cooperate with one another in mutual trust and good faith, by assisting and supporting one another.
We will be open and candid with cabinet and present the work of the 7th administration with the understanding of the responsibility to be held accountable, but also the constitutional duty on national government to assist and support us in areas we will outline in our report.
Ka Setswana “Moeng Ngaka o sidila ba-bobodi”
Baagi ba porofense ya rona ba letile ka tlhoafalo go utlwa gore kopano ya gompieno e tla thusa jang go imolola bokete jwa bo tlhoka tiro le lehuma, bogolo segolo mo basheng le boMme.
We have the largest expanded unemployment rate sitting at 54 % largely affecting the youth and women.
The endowment of critical mineral resources exposes our province to both positive and negative implications of global economic activities like mining; the up and down swings of world markets, irregular regional migration, disparities in income levels and unfortunately regular episodes of job losses.
His Excellency, as we meet here today there are looming retrenchments by ferrochrome mines such as Glencore and Samancor who have issued Section 128 into their smelters due to high electricity tariffs.
A few weeks ago, I had a meeting with the CEO of Glencore who indicated that if there is no intervention by national government in this regard, over five thousand people will lose their jobs.
These job losses will have a negative multiplier effect in the economy of our province and in particular this district affecting over fifty thousand people.
Needless to say, the impact will be extended to labour sending provinces like the Eastern Cape and by extension the SADC region.
Therefore, drastic steps are needed to stem this negative trend.
His Excellency, in mitigating these challenges, we intent to share with you and cabinet opportunities that exist within the province across sectors such as agriculture, tourism and the energy.
We believe there are opportunities to leverage into tangible projects for communities across the province.
We have finalized and adopted the Provincial Growth and Development Strategy which contains key economic interventions to ignite growth and unlock the potential of the North West economic and industrial capacity to create shared benefits of job creation.
We have also established an Economic and Investment Advisory Council that advises the Premier and Government, facilitates the development and implementation of economic policies to stimulate economic growth and job creation.
The province can benefit from cooperation and partnership with the Presidential Economic Advisory Council on identified strategic projects.
We are in the process of hosting a Provincial Investment Conference which could be an opportunity to collaborate and convert into a Presidential Investment Conference with special focus on the North West Province.
There could also be an opportunity for a special Presidential Youth Employment Services Programme specifically for the North West Province to cushion young people against the high levels of unemployment in our province.
Among the many intervention measures we have developed particularly for the consideration of cabinet are the strategic development nodes and corridors anchored on the provincial road network system.
These are, the N4 Route popularly known as the Platinum corridor which is located on the eastern part of the province and covers the Brits, Rustenburg and Zeerust towns.
Some of the key development projects that are at various stages of implementation to spur economic growth along the Platinum Route encapsulates, the Special Economic Zone in Moses Kotane local municipality, where efforts are underway to mobilize local and foreign investors to develop industries that will manufacture goods and services.
However, we will request the President to help unlock the challenges experienced in the approval and licencing of the SEZ to open up the latent local and foreign investment drive in the region.
We are collaborating with the North West University to construct the Engineering and Mining Faculty Campus in Rustenburg to address the supply pipeline of critical skills demanded by investments in the SEZ and the wider mining and engineering sector in the region.
This initiative require support from government through national departments of Higher Education and Training, and Mineral Resources.
Mr President, tourism is important for our Province and the country. We are reviving the Pilanesberg Airport to support travel into Sun City and the wider eco-tourism attractions in the Bojanala District and Moses Kotane Municipality in particular
The N12 Route – also referred to as the Treasure Corridor, has immense growth potential taking into consideration its rich natural heritage offerings, and competitive advantage in various agricultural enterprises.
Earlier this year, the Province in collaboration with the North West University and the Desmond & Leah Tutu Foundation, unveiled the Desmond Tutu Medical School.
We request the President to take special interest in the project named after our icon in order to facilitate further release of funding required for the construction of infrastructure in Matlosana and JB Marks Local Municipalities where the school will be hosted.
To exploit the comparative advantage of the area in agricultural produce, we are planning to establish an Agri-hub focussing on Fresh Farm Produce and Meat processing plant in the JB Marks municipality.
Through this initiative, the province seeks to derive maximum value from its primary agricultural products along the crop and livestock value-chain before exporting them to other provinces.
Other projects targeted along the N12 include the establishment of the Solar Energy plant in Matlosana including the Bloemhof Dam Resort Development to take economic advantage of the flora and fauna species.
N18 Route is yet another important node that we will solicit financial and non- financial support and partnership of national government for its implementation.
N18 passes through Vryburg, Taung, and Mahikeng towns and economic opportunities that exist include the development of a Cargo Hub in GD Montshioa Airport in Mahikeng which offers cross border warehousing and trade opportunities in the SADC region.
As part of the Crop Massification programme the department of Agriculture and Rural development is currently refurbishing the Springbokpan Silos where the Agrihub facility will be operationalized to amongst others store and trade on grain products.
Other supplementary projects targeted for development and expansion along this route include the Agripark in Vryburg, Taung Irrigation Scheme, Taung Skull and Vryburg regional shopping Centre.
His Excellency, we welcome and support the Cabinet’s decision to put Ditsobotla Local Municipality under National Administration.
We believe that this decision will send a strong message to other municipalities which are perpetual offenders in failing to account to residents and fail to abide to legislative frameworks governing municipalities.
Our intervention in Ramotshere Moiloa has yielded desired results following weeks of administrative turbulence.
We have recently launched the fifth phase of the Accelerated Service Delivery Programme famously known as Thuntsha Lerole to assist municipalities address various service delivery challenges afflicting their administrative and developmental trajectory through the deployment of Provincial Executive Representatives and Financial Recovery Plans.
His Excellency, the provincial government recognizes the critical role that traditional leadership plays in the development of our province.
To this effect we will outline the support and programmes of the provincial government to the traditional leadership structures across the province.
Cabinet will also be informed about the efforts launched by the Premier to facilitate the resolution of over 50 traditional leadership disputes across the province to achieve leadership stability and create conducive environment for development to thrive.
Land ownership remains one of the most emotive issues among our people. We will therefore appraise cabinet of the land claims lodged by traditional authorities across the province highlighting some of the cases which are in court.
I thank you!
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