The Executive Council (EXCO) held an extended lekgotla recently in Secunda, Govan Mbeki Local Municipality, to adopt the Medium Term Development Plan (MTDP) of the province.
The plan seeks to guide all state institutions through an integrated approach, to implement job creation measures, service delivery intervention programmes and institutional support.
During the session, Premier, Mandla Ndlovu pointed out that the plan is a guide for all state institutions to work towards the achievement of the apex priorities, namely: Drive inclusive growth and job creation, reduce poverty and tackle the high cost of living, and build a capable, ethical and developmental state.
The Three Priorities are as follows:
Priority 1: Drive inclusive growth and job creation
The plan will be implemented through an integrated approach to maximize the limited resources.
Through the plan, government is committed to increase domestic and Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) to R10 billion in various economic sectors, mainly agriculture, mining and tourism.
Priority 2: Reduce poverty and tackle the high cost of living
The adoption of the MDTP reinforces the implementation of indigent policies across all municipalities, Value Added Tax (VAT) exemptions for new basic foods, the review of administered prices, and the construction of more than 11 000 individual housing units.
Targets of beneficiaries for social protection programmes are also set in the MDTP. Among these are a target of 1.7 million beneficiaries to be supported through the different Social Grants, and the more than 200 000 Child Support Grant beneficiaries.
Priority 3: Build a capable, ethical and developmental state
For Local Government, lack of revenue collection give rise to the failure of municipalities to pay the Eskom and Rand water debts. These challenges are also linked to the non achievement of clean audits which are significant to improve a public trust.
Filling of critical vacancies to strengthen state capacity and the implementation of Municipal Monitoring Support Systems (MMSS) are integrated in the MDTP as targets for the realization of Priority 3.
EXCO is determined to support municipalities with financial challenges. As such the payment of the Eskom and Rand Water debts is included to ensure that they are supported effectively through the development and implementation of Financial Recovery Plans. Clean audit outcomes are also included to support state institutions to achieve the targets with the ultimate improvement of public trust about the proper spending of public funds.
