Picture: The deputy minister in the Presidency for Women, Youth and People with Disability, Nokuzola Tolashe along with delegates
By OBAKENG MAJE
Some of Small Micro-Medium Enterprises (SMMEs) owners urge the government, through District Development Model (DDM), to accelerate the provision of service delivery and implementation of developmental projects. One of the SMMEs owners, George Tong said in order for the model to be effective and perform optimally, opportunities should be created.
“We understand that, the objectives of this initiative is to address treble challenges such as poverty, unemployment and inequality in particular amongst women, youth and people living with disabilities. We do have a cooperative that specialises on bakery, farming and road maintenance.
“So, we urge the government to assist us with funding. We understand that, the government cannot assist us from word go with all these projects, but we will welcome any budget based on the needs and aspirations of our people and communities at a local level,” Tong said.
He further said, they will also be grateful if they can be capacitated with the necessary skills and provision of land amounting to at least 10 hectares. Tong added that, their projects aim at creating opportunities for the youth residing in their area by utilising youth development programmes.
An entrepreneur, Tshepiso Jantjies from Jantjies Boerdery said, even though the model is a great initiative, there should be coherence between government departments. Jantjies said, most government departments operate in silos and that is a challenge.
“This can be catastrophic and lead to a lack of planning and implementation. It will impact negatively in monitoring and oversight, which will lead to a non-optimal delivery of services. The rolling out of a new integrated district-based approach in addressing socio-economic challenges should also cater.
“As we speak, we have a high rate of unemployment and the most affected are the youth. We have young people who are indulging in drugs who are dawdling at Taung taxi rank daily. Usually, I call those boys and hired them because they do have good hands to work with. So, I think the government should not overlook them,” he said.
Jantjies said they need to give these boys hope and accommodate them. He said the government has the Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL)program, where some of these boys can be developed.
Meanwhile, the Deputy Minister in the Presidency for Women, Youth and People with Disability, Nokuzola Tolashe said: “We visited the area to address key issues that were raised during our previous engagement. This will assist us to understand the differential circumstances in society and also to ensure that the socio-economic empowerment and rights of women, youth and persons with disabilities are mainstreamed across all sectors of society within the Dr Ruth Segomotsi Mompati District.
“Furthermore, to advocate empowerment and gender equality for women, youth and persons with disability through capacity building and skills development programmes for them to participate meaningfully in all areas of the economy and the workplace in the district.”
Tolashe said that, president Cyril Ramaphosa has given emphasis to the DDM as a unique form of social compacting that involves all key players in every district and metro space to unlock development and economic opportunities. She said this initiative builds the capacity of the state, where it has been most broken.
The Guardian 