Current Edition >> Archive Section >> Special Features >> 27 March 2007
On 28 February 2007 the Lejweleputswa Growth & Development Summit was held at Welkom with the overriding aim of addressing the adverse effects of the steady decline in the gold industry on the region's economy and to forge an interventionist approach to turn the situation into a positive growth trajectory.
Current background
The current status of the Lejweleputswa economy is reflected in the fact that it contributes 21% to the GDP of the Free State, in comparison with 33% by Motheo, 32% by Fezile Dabi, 11% by Thabo Mofutsanyana and 3% by Xhariep.
• Within the Lejweleputswa District, the contribution of the five local municipalities are as follows:
• Matjhabeng (Welkom, Virginia and Odendaalsrus) covers 16.2% of the area of the District, but accommodates 62.1% of the population and produces 72.4% of the District GDP. The main economic contribution comes from the mining sector.
• Masilonyana (Theunissen, Brandfort and Verkeerdevlei) covers 21.3% of the area of the district, has 9.8% of the population, and has the second highest GDP contribution in the District (10.8%). The main economic sector is again mining.
• The third largest economic contribution comes from Nala (Bothaville and Wesselsbron) with 9.4%. The main economic contribution comes from agriculture.
• Tswelopele (Hoopstad and Bultfontein) covers just over one fifth of the area of the municipality with 8.2% of the population. It contributes 5.9% of the GDP in the Free State. Agriculture is the largest contributor to the economy in this municipality.
• Tokologo (Boshof, Dealesville and Hertzogville) makes the lowest economic contribution (1.5%), but it has the largest area in the District (29.2%) [Economic Profile for Lejweleputswa, 2007].
Proportionally, the percentage of people living in poverty in the Free State has increased in the Lejweleputswa District - In 2004 56.1% compared to 34.9% in 1996. The 2004 % is also considerably higher than the average for the Free State or South Africa, whilst in 1996 Lejweleputswa was better off than the national average. The number and percentage of people formally employed in the Lejweleputswa District dropped from 229 954 (36.7% of the total percentage of people formally employed in the Free State) to 164 390 (28.1% of the total percentage of people formally employed in the Free State). The number of people that are informally employed in Lejweleputswa has increased from 11 000 to 20 500. However, as a percentage of the informally employed in the Free State, the percentage has remained stagnant at around 20%.
Main conclusions
Flowing from the above, the following main conclusions are made:
· In mining and construction, the relative contributions to the economy have declined between 1996 and 2004. Mining's relative contribution has declined from over 50% in 1996 to 36% in 2004, while construction has declined from 2% in 1996 to 1% in 2004.
· In all the other economic sectors, there has been an increase in the relative contribution to the economy – except electricity where it remained more or less constant. The increases in the relative contributions by the other sectors should not necessarily be seen as an increase in the output of these sectors. It is more due to the massive decline in the mining industry output.
· If the statistics are grouped in terms of the primary, secondary and tertiary sectors, the primary sector has declined from 58% in 1996 to 45% in 2004, while the secondary sector has declined from 8% in 1996 to 7% in 2004. The tertiary sector has, however, increased from 34% in 1996 to 48% in 2004.
Action by Summit
Against this background the Lejweleputswa Growth & Development Summit took note of the growth and Development Strategy for the district that the District Municipality has prepared in draft format, in conjunction with other stakeholders. This draft Strategy is in line with the Free
State Growth and Development Strategy, as well as the National Growth and Development Strategy.
Opening the Growth & Development Summit, the executive mayor of Lejweleputswa DM, Councillor Sebenzile
Ngangelizwe, said: “This summit must come up with a growth and development strategy instead of a shopping list. The development strategy has to contain new features and enlarge the base of activities for economic growth.” Ngangelizwe then touched on the main economic sectors namely industrialization, agriculture, tourism, mining and infrastructure development as the economic drivers of the district. He urged all stakeholders across the entire spectrum of society to synergize in order to make Lejweleputswa District a better place.
Mr Busani Nqeaweni, senior Policy Analyst in the Office of the Presidency, made a presentation entitled “Defining a new trajectory”, while Mr. Jeff Rademeyer of the North West spoke under the title “Lejweleputswa Growth and Development Strategy”. Other presenters included Ms. Uyanda Makama of the Development Bank of Southern Africa, Ms. Thabitha Mokone from the Department of Agriculture and Mr. Albie van Rensburg from the Office of the Premier.
Key objectives
The key objectives set by the Growth & Development Summit are as follows:
• Economic growth rate of 6 – 7% per annum
• Reduce unemployment from 38% to 20%
• Reduce the number of households living in poverty by 5% per annum
• Provide adequate infrastructure for economic growth and development
The following sectors have been identified as the main economic drivers in the District for the fzuture: Gold mining, agricultural beneficiation (especially bio-fueles), jewelry hub and tourism. To this end the following areas has been identified for linkage to the sectoral development:
• Administrative centre: Welkom
• Educational centre: Welkom
• Collective economic node: Welkom - specialized services
• Retail and private services nodes: Welkom, Odendaalsrus, Virginia and Bothaville
• Manufacturing node: Welkom
• Labour intensive mass produced goods: Wesselsbron
• Mining nodes: Welkom, Theunissen, Odendaalsrus and Virginia
• Agriculture nodes: Hoopstad and Bultfontein
• Tourism nodes: Welkom and Virginia – Events
• Bio fuel nodes: Bothaville and Bultfontein
• Nature conservation areas: Sandveld and Erfenis Dam and marshes around Wesselsbron
• Jewelry hub: Virginia
These areas have been refined in much more detail, which are being worked on and which are available on request.
Five commissions were appointed and mandated to investigate respectively the five main economic sectors and report back to the Secretariat of the Summit.
Declaration
The Summit concluded with the adoption of the following declaration:
“We, the people of Lejweleputswa District Municipality, within the Free State Province, gathered on the 28th February 2007, hereby declare the following:
Believing that we have the following challenges: High unemployment levels / Challenges of HIV/AIDS / High poverty levels / Unequal economy / Under-development
Noting that all spheres of government will work in unison and that all stakeholders will join forces in order to give character to the theme “Beyond the rock” on a priority basis.
We further declare that we commit ourselves to the growth and development of the District in order to create an environment that is investor friendly and to further create a society that is built on unity and productivity in order to create a better life for all.”
The South African Institute of Chartered Accountants (SAICA) has joined the drive by the Department of Science and Technology (DST) to address the alarming shortage of higher grade mathematics learners from previously disadvantaged communities. According to a media release, SAICA will manage two DST/Thuthuka Maths and Science Development Camps between Sunday, 25 March and Friday, 30 March 2007, at Ventersburg in the Free State and at Sabie in Mpumalanga. Thuthuka, SAICA's education upliftment initiative, has partnered with the DST to empower learners with the numerical skills needed to enter tertiary faculties. The joint project, themed Today's Learners, Tomorrow's Leaders takes place in eight provinces. The series of week-long camps aims to enhance the skills of Grade 11 and 12 learners in the key areas of mathematics, science and accountancy in order to grow their competencies and to position science, engineering, technology and chartered accountancy [CA(SA)] as careers of choice. Learners from rural areas and poorly resourced township schools will thus be exposed to careers that they may never have considered. Additionally, learners are empowered with life skills and coping mechanisms. For more information, contact Gugu Makhanya at SAICA at tel (011) 621 6616, fax (011) 622 3321 or gugum@saica.co.za or Edward Makwana at edwardm@saica.co.za or cell 083 717 3184.
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