The Western Cape Growth and Development Summit has agreed on ambitious targets, including the creation of 120 000 jobs by 2008, attracting investment of R5-billion by 2006 and increased levels of infrastructure investment and public works programmes.
Some of the nuts and bolts of last weekend’s summit resolutions — such as raising provincial infrastructure spending to 2,5% from 1,1% — are expected to feature in Western Cape finance minister Ebrahim Rasool’s mid-year budget speech, which was delivered on Thursday, too late for the Mail & Guardian’s deadline.
It is believed that R77-million of the revised provincial budget has been earmarked for the provincial government’s summit commitments. About R32-million will go to implementing a human resource strategy to reverse the 50% drop-out rate before matric. Another R45-million will be spent on programmes to kick-start enterprises.
Rasool said a key decision was that the Provincial Development Council, set up to stage the summit, would continue to monitor and evaluate the implementation of summit decisions.
“That immediately transforms it from a talk-shop into a solution-orientated programme,” he said.
He added that the summit had achieved unprecedented consensus among the government, business, labour and community-based groups. The council will report to stakeholders every three months and hold annual mini-summits to assess achievements.
Agreement on such a structure was a priority for the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) in the Western Cape. Provincial Cosatu chairperson Tony Ehrenreich said this effectively created a National Economic Development and Labour Council-type structure in the province to create a synergy between labour, the government, business and civil society.
Meanwhile, business pledged to encourage sectors to look beyond their individual interests. “They will explore whether excessive price increases in industries such as tourism and the film industry, which negatively impact on the growth and development of these sectors … could be contained,” said the official summit statement.
Resolutions include a strong focus on small, medium and micro-enterprise. A pilot project where 100 emerging entrepreneurs will benefit from a full range of services and a review of regulations governing small traders.
The summit agreed to ensure that sectoral training and education authorities are functioning properly.