President Cyril Ramaphosa will chair the second President’s Coordinating Council meeting in Pretoria later on Friday morning.
The meeting will receive a progress report on the implementation of the District Development Model from three pilot sites.
Under this model, all three spheres of government coordinate development plans and mobilise capacity to ensure growth and job creation.
President Ramaphosa launched the model’s three pilot projects in the rural setting of OR Tambo District in the Eastern Cape followed by the metropolitan City of eThekwini in KwaZulu-Natal and then at the mining region of Waterberg District Municipality in Limpopo.
In the video below, President Ramaphosa launches the District Development Model:
The progress report will include updates on economic development and growth, youth employment and the provision of water and houses among others.
All the nine premiers and mayors representing the 44 district municipalities and the eight metros are expected to attend the meeting.
SABC’s Ayanda Mhlongo explains the District Development Model:
Mining and energy
Ramaphosa says the Waterberg District Development Model in Shongoane village near Lephalale in Limpopo will bring development closer to the people.
The Waterberg district is home to many coal mines and the two Eskom power stations, Medupi and Matimba.
Ramaphosa conducted a walk-about at the multi-billion-rand Medupi power station.
Residents of the Waterberg District in Limpopo are hopeful that the implementation of the District Development Model will bring positive changes to their lives.
In Waterberg, the focus will mostly be on mining and energy.
Streamlined approach
Addressing African National Congress (ANC) branches in eThekwini ahead of the launch of the new model in KwaMashu north of Durban, Ramaphosa says the district development model will provide a streamlined and well-co-ordinated approach between government departments and municipalities when responding to a multitude of development needs of communities.
Ramaphosa says the new model will enable the government departments that work with municipalities to focus on all development challenges in a particular district.
“This model, comrades, is to integrate everything that we are doing – and it forces us to cooperate, and we cooperate around something that is quite specific, so that everybody can see that these are challenges, the needs and these are the steps that we must take to address those needs,” the President adds.
In the video below, Ramaphosa addresses ANC supporters in eThekwini:
Cogta to oversee model
Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma says her department is expected to oversee the district development model that will boost projects at local level.
Dlamini-Zuma says, “We have a good profile of what each department and how much is being spent by government, not just by one sphere but by government in eThekwini, what infrastructure capital investment is being made available by government as a whole in eThekwin – so there is better transparency about budget; better monitoring when the plan is there and the budget is there. We will be able to see if it is being implemented and implemented properly and what the impact on the ground is.”
Additional reporting by Vusi Makhosini and Nonkululeko Hlophe
