Western Cape Government launches new economic growth strategy, ‘Growth For Jobs'

Joint Media Release: Western Cape Government launches bold new economic growth strategy, ‘Growth For Jobs’

Today Premier Alan Winde, Provincial Minister of Finance and Economic Opportunities, Mireille Wenger, and Provincial Minister of Infrastructure, Tertuis Simmers, officially introduced the Western Cape Government’s (WCG) new Growth For Jobs (G4J) strategy.

Given South Africa’s declining growth rates and rising unemployment, the Western Cape Government identified the need for a strategy to dramatically lift the provincial growth rate and, to the extent that growth continues to falter in South Africa at large, to decouple the province’s growth trajectory from that of the rest of the country.

At the core of this bold plan is the understanding that it is the private sector that creates jobs, while the role of the WCG is to enable this by making it as easy as possible to do business in the province. This will be done by ensuring that the private sector has access to the energy, water, infrastructure, skills, and technology they need to grow and succeed.

The vision set out in the strategy is of a provincial economy that achieves break-out economic growth, resulting in sufficient employment and opportunity and an economy that is sustainable, resilient, diverse, inclusive and thriving – generating confidence, hope and prosperity for all.

The G4J Strategy sets an ambitious target of building a trillion-rand jobs-rich, inclusive, sustainable, diverse, and resilient provincial economy, that is growing at between 4 and 6 percent per year in real terms by 2035. This has the potential to create over 600 000 jobs. 

“The Western Cape is endowed with a wealth of resources and people. The aim is to unlock massive potential through this ambitious strategy. We have proven that despite adversity, together we can still endure and succeed. G4J will provide us with renewed vigour and guidance to achieve break-out economic growth,” said Premier Winde at the briefing.

Minister Wenger added, “The fact is that we need to drastically boost economic growth to generate sufficient employment that can pull people out of poverty. What sets G4J apart is that it has been worked on with the private sector, by which we mean formal and informal, including township economies, because ultimately, our goal is to enable and rapidly grow the economy. The Strategy takes cognizance of the rural and urban dimensions in its approach with a clear spatial lens, with an aim to connect people in our towns, cities and rural communities to economic opportunities.  It also takes a much longer view, going all the way up to 2035, and our plan of action involves the whole of government.” Continued Minister Wenger.

Minister of Infrastructure, Tertuis Simmers said: “Investment in infrastructure allows the Western Cape Government to create an environment that enables jobs and economic opportunities. The Western Cape Infrastructure Framework 2050 (WCIF2050) is the overarching guideline that will ensure infrastructure becomes the catalyst in the growth of jobs creation. Furthermore, we will look to strengthen public and private partnerships so that the Western Cape becomes the economic hub in South Africa.”

The Premier continued, “This is a courageous plan, much-needed given the sluggish economic growth South Africa has been languishing in for far too long. Through this strategy the Western Cape aims to lead the way for our residents, especially the most vulnerable, to prosper through seeking out economic opportunities that lift them out of poverty.”

The strategy is based on seven priority focus areas (PFAs), each with a strategic goal in mind, as detailed in the table below.

The plan is guided founding principles, first agreed to in a strategic framework. These include:

• An open market economy that makes it possible for an open opportunity society that is aimed at improving competitiveness and productivity.
• Horizontal enablement that places government as an enabler of the economy offering support to the private sector to ensure growth and opportunities.
• Equality of opportunity will see a state that facilitates economic opportunity for citizens and expands choice and the independence of residents.
• Redress through active economic participation that pulls more people into the economy, stimulating competition, improving skills and productivity, raising investment, and reducing poverty.
• Partnerships should be nurtured with the various spheres of government and the private sector to increase the speed and scale of change.
• Innovation to ensure new ideas are embraced and to push the boundaries of the Western Cape’s constitutional mandate to enable private-sector-led growth and job creation in tourism, trade, and industrial policy.
• Agility and flexibility in how government pursues break-out growth
• Sustainability entails growth being decoupled from wasteful resource usage and fossil fuel dependency.
• Data-led decision-making in making sound decisions. This requires a data management and reporting capability that pulls together and utilizes the excellent data that the province already has.
• Responsiveness to impactful opportunities which sees that government is responsive to all private-sector-led opportunities, while being selective about which support levers are deployed based on the extent of private sector involvement.

The Premier remarked, “While unemployment in the Western Cape is lower compared to the rest of the country, we must acknowledge we still have a long road ahead of us. Intolerably high levels of poverty and unemployment, caused by years of maladministration, neglect and corruption at a national level, will continue to pose considerable challenges. But I have all the confidence in G4J. This strategy provides us with a clear, brave blueprint for what our government and our partners need to do over the next 12 years. We are all on the same page, aiming to pour considerable resources into seeing G4J succeed in its mission to boost our economic growth and create more jobs. This strategy belongs to all the citizens of the Western Cape. Businesses big and small, entrepreneurs and civil society are all a part of G4J. Working together to create employment is the driving force behind this initiative.”

He concluded, “All our citizens want to prosper. Equipped with G4J, we will be able to offer opportunity and hope.”