Building a New Partnership for Shared Growth in the Cape Winelands

The Cape Winelands District, which includes the Breede Valley, Witzenberg, Drakenstein, Breede River Winelands, and Stellenbosch municipalities will develop a district wide Local Economic Development Strategy in the build up to their Growth and Development Summit to be held in November this year.

In preparation for this, Provincial Minister of Environment, Planning and Economic Development, Tasneem Essop and the department of Economic Development and Tourism held two LED Roadshows, one in Eden and one in the Cape Winelands, last week.

An exciting outcome of the Cape Winelands Roadshow was a commitment by all the mayors to develop a District Economic Strategy.

The district municipality and the B-muncipalities will now have an enhanced co-ordinated approach to their strategies and will emerge with a district wide strategy. A work group, made up of relevant officials and politicians from all the muncipalities and the Provincial Government will be set up immediately to start working on the strategy.

Following the two days of intense engagement, Minister Essop said "It was clear that all the municipalities had been working hard on their individual local economic development strategies, but it remains clear that there are uneven levels of development and capacity. The municipalities and the District would now have to share each other's strengths and deal with their weaknesses in a combined effort to deliver on a District-wide Economic Development Strategy. We have agreed, as the political leadership, that the next two months will be critical if we are to emerge with a credible growth and development strategy. It is important to recognise that in order to achieve our growth targets in the Western Cape, and the country, we will require long-term sustainable strategies at a local level".

Cape Winelands District Municipality Mayor, Clarence Johnson said he was encouraged by the renewed commitment of all the municipalities as well as the Provincial Government. "The district partnership for economic development gives effect to seriously implement and align the plans of government to improve the lives of our people; to fight unemployment and poverty. It is Government's commitment to work with businesses and communities and this will surely bring results in the medium to long term.

The Mayor's of the B-muncipalities were all in agreement that not only had progress been made, but that a more co-ordinated approach would result in exciting outcomes for each municipality and for the district as a whole.

Wizenberg Mayor, Katriena Robyn said engagements between all three spheres of Government was crucial and should have happened sooner. "I am excited at the thought of working together in the build-up to the Growth and Development Summit and beyond."

Breede River Winelands Mayor John Ngonyama said he was extremely happy that the municipalities were starting to democratise the economy.

Stellenbosch Mayor Loretta Maree said she was very excited about the idea "that the different municipalities consolidate their efforts in a structured way to drive the economic development of the district."

Drakenstein Mayor Charmaine Manuel said: "We have taken a leap in getting to a situation where there will be greater synergy and alignment between municipalities and Province so that we can all be on the same page."

President Thabo Mbeki has identified the Cape Winelands District as a Presidential Pilot to co-ordinate all of Government's interventions to facilitate economic development and growth.

Government has committed itselt to Asigisa, the Accelerated and Shared Growth Initiative of South Africa. Under this programme the national economy is expected to grow by 6%. The Western Cape, which has consistently reached higher growth rates than the national rate, has aimed to grow the economy by 7% to 8%.

To achieve this however the role of Local Government is critical. Local Economic Development Strategies will identify key sectors which can be used as a catalyst for local economic growth.

The President has requested that all Districts and Metros must hold Growth and Development Summits before March next year. This summit will include all roleplayers, viz business, labour, civil society and Government.