By OBAKENG MAJE
29 November 2024- The North West Premier, Lazarus Mokgosi said the problem of poverty is not the concern of poor people alone. Mokgosi, who was part of the debate at the National Council of Provinces (NCOP) in parliament said, poverty is a challenge facing all humanity for which they need to seek collective solutions to reduce and finally eradicate it.
Mokgosi further said an occasion such as today’s debate is an opportune moment to garner their efforts to resolve and find solutions to challenges of poverty affecting communities. He added that they are gathered here not to remind the people that they are poor and hungry.
“But, to find ways aimed at finding lasting solutions to address their socio-economic needs. We are not here to repeat the truths of how much we have changed the lives of our people as we celebrate the 30 years of the country’s democratic breakthrough.
“This is what they expect from us. To see their lives, change for the better and to afford basic needs. Mr President, poverty has a face, unfortunately it is gendered and is found in our spatial disparities,” said Mokgosi.
He said poverty is a product of the past, a blemish to the present and if they are not careful, it would be the reality of the future. Mokgosi said the fight against poverty needs solutions that work, not theories that sound good.
“Mr President, the North West Province is at least 68% rural and accounts for the highest number of unemployed people in the country representing half of our population.
“Our province is also endowed with vast natural resources accounting for some of the largest deposits of critical minerals that sustain global economies,” he said.
Mokgosi said there is no reason for there to be poverty in the North West. He said as they take over the reign of G-20 leadership, they should not miss the historic opportunity to disrupt the hegemonic global economic order to construct a just economic world order that will take the people of the North West along.
“The welfare of the poor people of the world should be placed at the top of the agenda during South Africa’s G-20 tenure. Since the 2024 General Elections, we have made enormous progress in creating opportunities for the people of North West to address high unemployment, and reduce high levels of poverty in our communities.
“We have recently revised our Provincial Growth and Development Strategy to map a developmental future for the province backed with scientifically modelled economic scenarios and choices open to us to lift our people out of their current situation.
We have adopted bold commitments to revive the vision of the National Development Plan to reduce the rate of poverty in the North West by half by the end of the 7th administration which is 2030,” he said
Mokgosi said the road ahead will be difficult, but they are prepared to stay the course and see to the full implementation of the interventions and the objectives they have set for themselves. He said they are encouraged by the emerging confluence of positivity that has seen the province registering the highest number of jobs created in the latest Quarterly Labour Force Survey with sixty-nine thousand jobs (69 000).
The Guardian 