BOKONE Bophirima Premier, Supra Mahumapelo presented the budget for his office at North West Provincial Legislature on Thursday. Mahumapelo received a total allocation of R648.857 million for 2017/18 financial year.
Mahumapelo said the Administration received R127.288m, Institutional Development received R320.034m. He said Policy and Governance structure received R201.535m while North West Development Corporation (NWDC) received R32 893.
Newly formed structure, Youth Entrepreneurship Services (YES) received R11 078.
“In summary, the above programmes serve as a framework to achieve concomitant mandates like effective and efficient administration, Institutional Development and Support, Development of Policy and effective governance. T o g e t h e r w e will m o v e B o k o n e B o p h i r i m a f o r w a r d. Our long-term strategic goal is to create a National Democratic Society (NDS) which is united, non-racial, non-sexist, peaceful and prosperous through the National Democratic Revolution (NDR).
“The course of this struggle will be a protracted one pursued by us for the benefit of future generations like the generation before us fought for us to inherit the democracy we enjoy today. This imposes an obligation on all of us collectively as a society to continuously strive for the creation of this national democratic society to deal with the injustices of our past,” Mahumapelo said.
He further said the minimum programme to achieve the creation of the national democratic society is the National Development Plan which in the Province is implemented in the context of the Rebranding, Repositioning and Renewal (RRR) through the five concretes.
“Overview, our province’s competitive advantage in the mining industry as an important tributary accounts for 50% of world’s platinum, gold, diamonds, chrome, vanadium, granite, slate, limestone, dimension stone, nickel, silica, manganese, phosphate, fluorspar, zinc etc. Mining is a strategic catalytic sector and tributary to other fundamental strategic areas of focus by the fifth administration, like ACT.
“To illustrate this understanding, I would like to provide the following example: If one owns a plot of 10ha it will be more strategic economically to plant crops and use mineral deposits embedded there in as a basis to raise capital for growing and sustaining crop through the necessary infrastructure for water, crop, livestock etc. Agriculture in your 10ha plot will exist forever whilst the diamond or gold in the 10ha will be depleted at some point,” he said.
Mahumapelo added that capital generated from the mining activity can also be used to attract tourism to the establishment for entertainment as part of arts & culture and accommodation, lessons on farming, history of the area as part of tourism and this will exist continuously, anchored on the best marketing plan. He said all these will finally clarifies all the people including some of honourable members who have claimed that mining is excluded as an important sector of our economy.
“Our province is the food basket of South Africa, producing more than 20% of South Africa’s maize crop. The province also produces livestock (cattle & poultry), sunflower seeds and oils; nuts; citrus, tobacco (all GMO free). The Business and financial services contributes 14% to provincial GDP and accounts for 5% of employment. There is high potential in renewable energy opportunities within Municipal Waste conversion, Biomass (converting alien invasive plants into energy) and Solar Technologies including Off-grid energy for rural areas.
“The strategic location of our province bordering Botswana, is ideally positioned to access the 14 countries comprising the Southern African Development Community (SADC) as well as the islands of Africa’s east coast, and even the Gulf States and India. The Province’s well developed road and rail links provide the platform and infrastructure for ground transportation deep into sub-Saharan Africa,” Mahumapelo said.
“It is important for them the difference between an economic target and economic projection. When experts project that the economy might contract due to behaviour of various variables in the equation, it does not necessarily mean that the target has to be abandoned.
“Changing conditions in the economy impose a huge responsibility on implementers to strive for the same under the new conditions. We mean fundamental change in the structure, systems, institutions and patterns of ownership, management and control of the economy in favour of all South Africans, especially the poor, the majority of whom are African and female, as defined by the governing party which makes policy for the democratic government,” he said.
Mahumapelo said apartheid demography are deep levels of economic inequalities and marginalisation of the vast majority of our people, majority of whom are in villages, townships and small dorpies. He said they will do everything in their power to preserve the democratic state as an instrument of change, to practically implement radical changes to the structure of our economy for the benefit of all our people, united in our diversity.
“We have deliberated on Economic Rebranding, Repositioning and Renewal of the NWDC. We have made a determination to attend to some of the necessary imperatives of the provincial economy to ensure proper planning and coordination. In this regard, NWDC will create an enabling environment for foreign direct investment into the province by establishing Industrial Parks within the VSTD Areas.
“This will also serve as a strategic vehicle to expedite the delivery of key provincial projects to facilitate access of Bokone-Bophirima citizens into the mainstream economy. To lead the implementation of VTSD Industrialisation Plan by ensuring that identified initiatives in VTSD areas are developed. Projects through Premier’s VTSD Economic Outreach Programme and the NWDC will monitor implementation of provincial mining agenda, accelerate VTSD agro-processing businesses, establish special economic zones, intensify implementation of the Mahikeng airport logistics hub strategy, implement the VTSD industrial hubs and implement the provincial industrialisation action plan,” Mahumapelo said.
Mahumapelo said a preliminary list of just over 400 possible VTSD Industrialisation Projects has been identified for implementation in the province across Provincial Departments, SOEs and municipalities. Some of the Industrialisation projects identified include: – Motlopi Coffee Pilot Project – Sun-farming Food and Energy Project – Taung Mining Project – Manufacturing of Learner Teacher Support Material and Tablets – Automotive Manufacturing Company – SEZ – Special Economic Zone – Transport Logistics – Manufacturing of School Uniforms – Lighting & Fitting – Agro-processing – Meat Processing – Light Industrial Park – Taung Irrigation Scheme 10 | P a g e T o g e t h e r w e m o v e B o k o n e B o p h i r i m a f o r w a r d – Bakeries – Matlosana Industrial Park – Commercialisation of Villages – Expansion of EDC Centres.
“Country Bird Holdings has highlighted during SOPA 2017, due diligence and feasibility studies have been finalised. Public Industrial Corporation (PIC) and the Land Bank have been approached for possible funding. We will put in place plans to utilise funds currently spent on security tenders to create employment for the youth and empower them with portal skills to enable them to obtain gainful employment or create own enterprises,” he said.
Source: http://www.newsnote.co.za
taungdailynews@gmail.com
