The Deputy Minister of  Trade, Industry and Competition, Ms Nomalungelo Gina says she is committed to working with the leadership of the Namakwa District Municipality for the betterment of the lives of the district’s residents.  Gina held her first meeting with the district’s leadership after being deployed by President Cyril Ramaphosa to champion and coordinate the implementation of the District Development Model (DDM). The political leadership and officials from the six local municipalities of the district attended the virtual meeting.

Gina said the DDM was designed to revolutionise government planning and address the systemic fragmented service delivery from three tiers of government. This, she said, was aimed at entrenching a new way of intergovernmental planning, as well as fast-tracking of infrastructure development and related big projects using the existing capacities at district municipality level, provincial and national government, in a coordinated way.

“At the heart of this district model is the new integrated district-based approach to address the pattern of operating in silos as three spheres of government. This model instructs us to adhere to efficiency, coherence and effectiveness in the implementation of government programmes. It has identified 44 districts and eight metros around the country that will be used to speed up service delivery and economic development, including job creation. This is the first of the many meetings to come where we will be exchanging ideas and sharing information on plans that we will have to devise and implement in order to better the lives of the people of Namakwa,” said Gina.

Gina added that the purpose of the meeting was to spend time listening to what the district has in terms of development plans, the state of local municipalities, and what the economic drivers where that could create much-needed jobs in the district.

“But we also want to find out the challenges that the district encounters and the opportunities that we can explore together for the maximum development of the district. The aim is to plan together, address challenges together and shape development together. Today’s meeting will give us an important insight that will assist us in developing a solid programme to fast-track issues,” said Gina.

The District Municipal Manager of the Namakwa District Municipality, Mr Chris Fortuin, said challenges plaguing the district included lack of safe and reliable water, cost of electricity, cost of water, inadequate roads, and lack of employment opportunities. However, he said there were a myriad opportunities to explore in mineral beneficiation, agro-processing, infrastructure, renewable energy development; and oil and gas.

Gina said the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition (the dti) was in the process of establishing the Namakwa Special Economic Zone (SEZ) which has already attracted commitments worth R26 billion from interested investors even though it has not yet been designated. The proposed Namakwa SEZ will focus on mineral processing, with added attention to zinc beneficiation, agro processing, logistics and renewable energy production and engineering inputs services. the dtic is working in partnership with the province to finalise feasibility studies and business plan on the establishment of the SEZ.

Enquiries:

Sidwell Medupe-Departmental Spokesperson
Tel: (012) 394 1650
Mobile: 079 492 1774
E-mail: MSMedupe@thedti.gov.za
Issued by: The Department of Trade and Industry
Follow us on Twitter: @the_dti

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