Date: 01/11/2003
Source: Western Cape Provincial Government
Title: Dowry: Urban renewal celebrations, Western Cape
EXTRACT FROM A SPEECH BY COBUS DOWRY, WESTERN CAPE MINISTER OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT AT THE URBAN RENEWAL CELEBRATIONS, Swartklip, 1 November 2003
URBAN RENEWAL: ADDRESSING SOCIAL EXCLUSION AND POVERTY ON A FOUNDATION OF ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY AND JOB CREATION
With the opening of the Provincial Parliament the Premier gave the vision for the province as iKapa elihlumayo: Hope, Delivery and Dignity for the Next Decade. In the Western Cape, as is the case in the rest of South Africa, the emphasis must move to the plight of the poor. It is therefore necessary to also give hope, delivery and dignity to all the people of the Western Cape, including the poor and those in desperate need. The Western Cape government has set itself clear policy objectives and we need, now more than ever, to highlight the need for job creation and sustainable urban and rural development.
The urban areas need specific attention as the masses of the poor and destitute are streaming to cities in search of a better life. Therefore we have established the Urban Renewal Programme (URP), which - as is the case in the Integrated Sustainable Rural Development Programme - centres on the development of a specific node or nodes. I want to assure you that the Western Cape Province is committed to see improved service delivery in the URP. In the Western Cape the identified urban nodes for development are Kayelitsha and Mitchell's Plain.
The URP entails the co-ordination of investment in economic and social infrastructure, human resource development, enterprise development, the enhancement of the development capacity of local government, poverty alleviation and the strengthening of the criminal justice system.
The programme focuses on giving people access to houses; clean water and sanitation; electricity; health and recreation facilities; roads, affordable and efficient public transport; other social infrastructure; and economic development opportunities.
What did the renewed intervention entail? On 16 July 2003, a Provincial Cabinet meeting considered the URP Strategic Framework as well as the existing financial commitments made by national and provincial departments in the respective nodal areas. The Provincial Cabinet mandated the Department of Local Government to lead a process, in collaboration with the provincial departments and the City of Cape Town, to draft and refine a business plan for provincial involvement in the URP nodes.
The aim of this initiative is to get closer to an ideal plan for development that is able to quantify and guide the additional efforts required in these areas. The expectation is that this is not business as usual but that a special effort be made to turn around the high levels of poverty and despair that manifests in these areas. In the process it should enable:
* improved engagement with all stakeholders with resources, especially national and provincial departments, to prioritise their involvement and commitment in the nodes
* negotiations with potential donors for "top up" funding in the nodes
* timeous access to resources by the municipality
* improvements in the municipality's management of the URP
* improvements in inter-governmental implementation by introducing a stronger geographic logic to planning and budgeting.
We have seen significant improvement in community involvement and commitment by the City of Cape Town in this year. The strategic partnership between the community, the City of Cape Town the province and the national sphere of government has yielded significant results. The city has drafted a focused business plan with clear development outcomes to guide future investment in the Khayelitsha and Mitchell's Plain nodes. We have reached the point of aggressively promoting and implementing development initiatives aimed at turning around the social exclusion these areas have experienced due to the apartheid heritage. The main thrusts of intervention focus on combating crime, improving access to social services, enhanced skills development and education, creating additional housing opportunities and an environment of which the communities can be proud of.
It is clear that any strategy to turn decay around and address poverty and underdevelopment, must address the social exclusion that these areas are experiencing. With a focus on poverty alleviation our strategic theme for the URP is: Addressing social exclusion and poverty on a foundation of economic opportunity and job creation."
This will be achieved in the medium term through various focus areas. I name a few:
PROMOTING LOCAL ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
The key to economic development is entrepreneurship and investment confidence. It must be worthwhile for entrepreneurs to move there and less costly to stay. Government has the important role to create the environment for this to happen by amongst others, promoting entrepreneurship, supporting SMMEs, ensuring a clean, attractive and safe environment, incentives for investment, make effective and efficient governance a reality
BY FIGHTING CRIME EFFECTIVELY
It is about creating a law-abiding, safe and secure environment. This can be achieved with zero tolerance, visible policing, effective judicial system, gang intervention strategy and addressing crime at source.
EDUCATION, TRAINING AND SKILLS DEVELOPMENT
Access to a job, starts with the ability to do the job. High quality education, training and skills development, is the single most important contribution government can make to promote economic development and to push back poverty. Therefore the focus must be on children should be at school and not on the streets, quality education must be available, awareness about the importance of education up to tertiary level and addressing illiteracy.
NEXT WE MUST ESTABLISH AN ENVIRONMENT TO BE PROUD OF
A clean, well maintained environment (streets, parks, public buildings, etc.) will give a sense that the community is not neglected, that things are not falling apart, that society is not doomed, that there is order.
The strategy must also focus on efficient, integrated and user-friendly transport systems as transport plays a major role in empowering these communities to become part of mainstream activities - socially and economically. There is a positive correlation between poverty levels and dependency on mass transport.
YET ANOTHER FOCUS IS ON LABOUR INTENSIVE METHODS OF CONSTRUCTION
Given the high unemployment figures, it is essential that every effort be made to use labour intensive construction methods wherever possible.
FOCUS ON YOUTH PROGRAMMES
Parents have to be assisted in countering the influence of the criminal economy based on drugs, prostitution and gangsterism. Our youth must be made aware of role models and sport could be a tool to demonstrate this. iKapa elihlumayo: Hope, Delivery & Dignity for the Next Decade must also provide hope for the youth.
LASTLY A FOCUS ON WELL-MANAGED SAFETY NETS
This is the role the different spheres of government must play with indigent policies, free basic services, social support grants, effective, efficient, user friendly health services and the provision of housing.
I have a personal commitment to the eradication of poverty and my department through all our programmes have achieved some success. Local Government in the Western Cape is extremely proud of its achievements thus far within the URP, but we cannot accept that all our efforts will alleviate the plight of the poor. More needs to be done and we must enhance our efforts so that everyone in the Western Cape can share it all this wonderful province have to offer.
The province itself has responded to the call of improved service delivery in Khayelitsha and Mitchell's Plain by reprioritising resources from all our provincial departments. My department is still in a process to verify all the contributions from the different provincial departments but the indications are that the provincial contribution to Kayelitsha will be R263,53 million and to Mitchell's Plain R148,49 million which makes the total contribution in the current financial year for the URP: R412,027 million.
I am proud to say that huge progress has been made in these two nodes and that this nodal point serves as benchmark for other development nodes. This is however possible only through the dedication and commitment of all three spheres of government, stakeholders and communities. The City of Cape Town as the implementing agent for delivery must be lauded for the work done thus far. It was a huge achievement.
The Western Cape Provincial Government is a government open for business. We are committed to building our World Class Province, which Cares in cooperation with all of our economic partners. We urge you to engage with government to help us in this endeavour.
Enquiries: Jan Bosman, 083 775 5312
Issued by: Ministry of Local Government, Western Cape Provincial Government
1 November 2003
Source: Western Cape Provincial Government
Title: Dowry: Urban renewal celebrations, Western Cape
EXTRACT FROM A SPEECH BY COBUS DOWRY, WESTERN CAPE MINISTER OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT AT THE URBAN RENEWAL CELEBRATIONS, Swartklip, 1 November 2003
URBAN RENEWAL: ADDRESSING SOCIAL EXCLUSION AND POVERTY ON A FOUNDATION OF ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY AND JOB CREATION
With the opening of the Provincial Parliament the Premier gave the vision for the province as iKapa elihlumayo: Hope, Delivery and Dignity for the Next Decade. In the Western Cape, as is the case in the rest of South Africa, the emphasis must move to the plight of the poor. It is therefore necessary to also give hope, delivery and dignity to all the people of the Western Cape, including the poor and those in desperate need. The Western Cape government has set itself clear policy objectives and we need, now more than ever, to highlight the need for job creation and sustainable urban and rural development.
The urban areas need specific attention as the masses of the poor and destitute are streaming to cities in search of a better life. Therefore we have established the Urban Renewal Programme (URP), which - as is the case in the Integrated Sustainable Rural Development Programme - centres on the development of a specific node or nodes. I want to assure you that the Western Cape Province is committed to see improved service delivery in the URP. In the Western Cape the identified urban nodes for development are Kayelitsha and Mitchell's Plain.
The URP entails the co-ordination of investment in economic and social infrastructure, human resource development, enterprise development, the enhancement of the development capacity of local government, poverty alleviation and the strengthening of the criminal justice system.
The programme focuses on giving people access to houses; clean water and sanitation; electricity; health and recreation facilities; roads, affordable and efficient public transport; other social infrastructure; and economic development opportunities.
What did the renewed intervention entail? On 16 July 2003, a Provincial Cabinet meeting considered the URP Strategic Framework as well as the existing financial commitments made by national and provincial departments in the respective nodal areas. The Provincial Cabinet mandated the Department of Local Government to lead a process, in collaboration with the provincial departments and the City of Cape Town, to draft and refine a business plan for provincial involvement in the URP nodes.
The aim of this initiative is to get closer to an ideal plan for development that is able to quantify and guide the additional efforts required in these areas. The expectation is that this is not business as usual but that a special effort be made to turn around the high levels of poverty and despair that manifests in these areas. In the process it should enable:
* improved engagement with all stakeholders with resources, especially national and provincial departments, to prioritise their involvement and commitment in the nodes
* negotiations with potential donors for "top up" funding in the nodes
* timeous access to resources by the municipality
* improvements in the municipality's management of the URP
* improvements in inter-governmental implementation by introducing a stronger geographic logic to planning and budgeting.
We have seen significant improvement in community involvement and commitment by the City of Cape Town in this year. The strategic partnership between the community, the City of Cape Town the province and the national sphere of government has yielded significant results. The city has drafted a focused business plan with clear development outcomes to guide future investment in the Khayelitsha and Mitchell's Plain nodes. We have reached the point of aggressively promoting and implementing development initiatives aimed at turning around the social exclusion these areas have experienced due to the apartheid heritage. The main thrusts of intervention focus on combating crime, improving access to social services, enhanced skills development and education, creating additional housing opportunities and an environment of which the communities can be proud of.
It is clear that any strategy to turn decay around and address poverty and underdevelopment, must address the social exclusion that these areas are experiencing. With a focus on poverty alleviation our strategic theme for the URP is: Addressing social exclusion and poverty on a foundation of economic opportunity and job creation."
This will be achieved in the medium term through various focus areas. I name a few:
PROMOTING LOCAL ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
The key to economic development is entrepreneurship and investment confidence. It must be worthwhile for entrepreneurs to move there and less costly to stay. Government has the important role to create the environment for this to happen by amongst others, promoting entrepreneurship, supporting SMMEs, ensuring a clean, attractive and safe environment, incentives for investment, make effective and efficient governance a reality
BY FIGHTING CRIME EFFECTIVELY
It is about creating a law-abiding, safe and secure environment. This can be achieved with zero tolerance, visible policing, effective judicial system, gang intervention strategy and addressing crime at source.
EDUCATION, TRAINING AND SKILLS DEVELOPMENT
Access to a job, starts with the ability to do the job. High quality education, training and skills development, is the single most important contribution government can make to promote economic development and to push back poverty. Therefore the focus must be on children should be at school and not on the streets, quality education must be available, awareness about the importance of education up to tertiary level and addressing illiteracy.
NEXT WE MUST ESTABLISH AN ENVIRONMENT TO BE PROUD OF
A clean, well maintained environment (streets, parks, public buildings, etc.) will give a sense that the community is not neglected, that things are not falling apart, that society is not doomed, that there is order.
The strategy must also focus on efficient, integrated and user-friendly transport systems as transport plays a major role in empowering these communities to become part of mainstream activities - socially and economically. There is a positive correlation between poverty levels and dependency on mass transport.
YET ANOTHER FOCUS IS ON LABOUR INTENSIVE METHODS OF CONSTRUCTION
Given the high unemployment figures, it is essential that every effort be made to use labour intensive construction methods wherever possible.
FOCUS ON YOUTH PROGRAMMES
Parents have to be assisted in countering the influence of the criminal economy based on drugs, prostitution and gangsterism. Our youth must be made aware of role models and sport could be a tool to demonstrate this. iKapa elihlumayo: Hope, Delivery & Dignity for the Next Decade must also provide hope for the youth.
LASTLY A FOCUS ON WELL-MANAGED SAFETY NETS
This is the role the different spheres of government must play with indigent policies, free basic services, social support grants, effective, efficient, user friendly health services and the provision of housing.
I have a personal commitment to the eradication of poverty and my department through all our programmes have achieved some success. Local Government in the Western Cape is extremely proud of its achievements thus far within the URP, but we cannot accept that all our efforts will alleviate the plight of the poor. More needs to be done and we must enhance our efforts so that everyone in the Western Cape can share it all this wonderful province have to offer.
The province itself has responded to the call of improved service delivery in Khayelitsha and Mitchell's Plain by reprioritising resources from all our provincial departments. My department is still in a process to verify all the contributions from the different provincial departments but the indications are that the provincial contribution to Kayelitsha will be R263,53 million and to Mitchell's Plain R148,49 million which makes the total contribution in the current financial year for the URP: R412,027 million.
I am proud to say that huge progress has been made in these two nodes and that this nodal point serves as benchmark for other development nodes. This is however possible only through the dedication and commitment of all three spheres of government, stakeholders and communities. The City of Cape Town as the implementing agent for delivery must be lauded for the work done thus far. It was a huge achievement.
The Western Cape Provincial Government is a government open for business. We are committed to building our World Class Province, which Cares in cooperation with all of our economic partners. We urge you to engage with government to help us in this endeavour.
Enquiries: Jan Bosman, 083 775 5312
Issued by: Ministry of Local Government, Western Cape Provincial Government
1 November 2003
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