PRETORIA – Gauteng Premier David Makhura delivered his 2020 State of the Province Address at the Sefako Makgatho Health Sciences University in Ga-Rankuwa.
He said in the next five years, the Gauteng Provincial Government will spend R60 billion on building and maintaining infrastructure, and this will contribute to the creation of 100 000 jobs.
Makhura also announced that government would be providing 10,000 service stands to qualifying Gauteng residents who wanted to and were able to build their own homes. The serviced stands would be available across the province between April 2020 and June 2020.
The premier said government is working closely with the National Housing Finance Corporation, Indlu and Umastandi Social Capital Entrepreneurs to enable township property owners to develop formal backrooms to allow them generate sustainable income.
“This will provide an additional 250,000 people with affordable rental and decent accommodation over the next five to 10 years,” he said.
“The current load-shedding by Eskom is destroying the economy and impacting negatively on people’s lives. Instead of waiting and whining, we must all act decisively to safeguard energy security and enable a just energy transition to a low-carbon economy,” said Makhura.
The following are Gauteng government’s priorities:
- Economy, Jobs and Infrastructure
- Education, Skills and Healthcare
- Sustainable Human Settlements, New Cities and land Release
- Safety, Social Cohesion and Food Security
- Sustainable Future For All
- Building a Capable, Ethical and Developmental State,
- Building a Better Africa and Better World.
By 2025, the Gauteng-City-Region is expected to have three fully operating Special Economic Zones in Ekurhuleni, Tshwane and Sedibeng, and a Special Agro-Processing Zone in the West Rand.
“This will be a single industrial ecosystem that supports the 10 high-growth sectors and township SMMEs,” the Premier announced.
By 2030, Gauteng is also expected to have the biggest inland logistics hub and dry port in Africa – the Transnet Tambo-Springs Logistics Gateway.
“We will improve the ease of doing business in each sector, develop the skilled workforce for each industry and build enabling infrastructure, including special economic zones and industrial parks,” he said.
Makhura announced that the Gauteng government will be:
- Spending R4 billion per annum in buying goods and services from 2000 township enterprises;
- Using government’s infrastructure programme to support 50 black industrialists, enabling them to participate in the 10 high-growth sectors of the Gauteng economy;
- Supporting 50 emerging black farmers and 20 black agro-processors to help them turn their businesses into full-scale commercial agri-food enterprises;
- Supporting 500 cooperatives in the care economy through an enabling policy framework that will enable government to buy uniforms, dignity packs and food packs for vulnerable households directly from cooperatives, instead of going through established businesses.
- Creating 250 000 sustainable and decent jobs for young people.