North West Premier, Professor Job Mokgoro, has tasked leaders from different industries to craft and implement focused priorities that will set the province onto an all-inclusive economic recovery path.
Mokgoro made the call during an engagement session with industry leaders, held at Sun City outside Rustenburg, on Monday.
The session aimed to look at the impact of COVID-19 on the province’s economy, and agree on a public–private partnership that will set new goals, which will contribute positively to economic recovery, growth, job creation and poverty alleviation in the province.
The session also highlighted the comparative economic advantages of each of the province’s four districts, in an effort to revive the provincial economy, which in turn will respond to the needs on the ground, in line with the national economic recovery plan.
Speaking at the meeting, Mokgoro said there is a need for a social compact and commitment from each industry, which must identify priorities that can be delivered as a matter of urgency, in order for the economic recovery journey to be started and eventually realised.
“The Coronavirus crisis has rippled through every layer of the social fabric, severely affecting sectors such as tourism, construction and transport. People lost jobs and their families went hungry, while many have lost their loved ones,” Mokgoro said.
The Premier also emphasised the need to quantify and identify the infrastructure challenges, and what it will take to address those infrastructure gaps.
“Another principle that we must develop is the existing link between these key priorities and the resources by looking at those that are in government, and those that can be made available through public-private partnerships. Let us stretch our imagination and creativity, and do what is good for the province and its people,” Mokgoro said.
With the resolutions crafted from the engagement session, the province aims to engage in aggressive infrastructure investment; reindustrialisation and export promotion; strengthening food security, support for tourism recovery and growth; green economy interventions and mass public employment interventions.
Unblocking development projects
Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs Deputy Minister, Obed Bapela, who also attended the engagement session, said the unblocking of development projects will set the province on the recovery path that government yearns for.
“As the National Champions for the District Development Model deployed in the North West, we will be working with all stakeholders, including municipalities, to ensure that the province derives much benefits from its comparative economic advantages,” Bapela said.
The session was attended by leaders from the mining sector, agriculture, manufacturing, real estate, property and town development, telecommunications, retail, creative, tourism, as well as transport industries. Members of the Executive Council, Mayors, administrators and Heads of Departments in the province also attended the meeting.
The sectors were afforded the opportunity to give an overview of their offerings and commitment towards the economic recovery path.
Study on impact of COVID-19
Meanwhile, the province has commissioned a study to understand the current and long-term impact of COVID-19 on different sectors, including the small, medium and micro enterprise (SMME) sector.
The study is conducted by the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) and the North West University (NWU), supported by Statistics South Africa. – SAnews.gov.za
