A joint working group under the chairpersonship of President Thabo Mbeki has concluded that the targets set by the Growth and Development Summit four years ago have been 90% fulfilled. A figure of 4,2% is outstanding and 5,8% could be described as work in progress.
The group met at the Union Buildings on Tuesday. Present were government ministers and representatives of big business, black business, labour and Business Unity South Africa. The ministers of finance, labour, agriculture, public enterprises, minerals and energy and a deputy minister of trade and industry attended.
According to presidential spokesperson Mukoni Ratshitanga the missing 10% included a failure to hold a conference on cooperatives, which was promised in the June 2003 meeting, and the failure to develop a formal dialogue between labour and business at a local level.
Successes noted by the group include the R4-billion in loans already advanced to black small business by banks, at least 459 840 cumulative work opportunities created through extended public works programmes since inception to December 2006, and 167 073 new work opportunities in community based care, 24 000 of whom will be long-term employees
They also noted the 37 238 jobs created through the labour job creation trust, and the recruitment of about 5 130 young people nationally in the financial year 2006/07 through the National Youth Service. Nearly three million learners attended no-fee schools in 2006, and by September 30 2006, R2,3-billion had been spent on municipal infrastructure, with the majority going on water projects and municipal roads. Two hundred thousand households have benefited from water projects and 90 790 households have benefited from sanitation projects.
The groups also pointed out in a final statement that they expect the Gautrain project to create about 58 800 direct jobs and substantial indirect income.
However, the joint groups observed that the summit targets need some realignment with those set out in the Accelerated and Shared Growth Initiative for South Africa. (Asgisa), and will need measuring against current economic challenges and needs, and targets may need to be reviewed. — I-Net Bridge