Bua Briefs - 14 of 2010
27 October 2010
War on Poverty visit to Ntunda Village
Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe will conduct a visit to Ward 17, Ntunda Village in the Nkomazi Municipality, Mpumalanga, on 30 October 2010 to assess progress on the roll-out of the War on Poverty Programme in that province. The visit signifies government’s drive to reach people who have no or limited access to most of the services and programmes it offers.
The War on Poverty Campaign seeks to eradicate poverty and improve the quality of life of the poor by addressing specific needs of households through the provision of a suite of government services.
- Using provincial incidence of poverty, Ward 17 of Nkomazi Local Municipality was identified with 17 other wards in Mpumalanga as the most deprived. Identified needs include access to identification documents, social grants, health services and education opportunities, including adult literacy.
- The visit will also strengthen partnerships with non-governmental and religious organisations to intensify the implementation of anti-poverty initiatives. The Provincial War Room, led by the Premier’s Office and the Department of Social Development, coordinates the implementation of various departmental interventions to address the challenges facing the village.
- The progress assessment visits, led by the Deputy President, allow government to monitor progress on commitments made to families and communities, identify blockages to progress and speed up service delivery in the identified area.
- The regular reporting and monitoring mechanisms on the implementation of the War on Poverty programmes contributes towards the realisation of government’s outcomes approach by enabling it to measure service delivery and better manage performance over the long term.
The War on Poverty Campaign is implemented in conjunction with other government programmes to ensure a coordinated and integrated approach that secures a greater impact towards alleviating poverty in communities.
- The National Integrated Social Information System (NISIS) was used by the War on Poverty Campaign to capture the baseline information (household profiles). This has also has been adopted by the Comprehensive Rural Development Programme (CRDP).
- The War on Poverty Campaign and the CRDP target the same identified municipalities and wards.
- Government departments are currently accessing service referrals via the NISIS and offering specific and targeted interventions to profiled households across the country.
Successful implementation of the War on Poverty Campaign has helped transform communities.
- Through this initiative, government and partners from various sectors have reached 227 000 households since the launch of the project in 2008.
- The launch of the CRDP in Muyexe Village, Limpopo, by President Jacob Zuma on 17 August 2009 is helping to transform rural communities across South Africa.
- The Deputy President has conducted follow-up visits to Jacobsdal in the Free State, the village of Lubala in the Eastern Cape, and Bitou in the Western Cape, assessing service delivery and qualitative improvements in the lives of poor communities.
- The long-term impact of the War on Poverty Campaign will be reviewed in 2014 when the country submits its final report on the millennium development goals. However, its immediate impact is being realised through families and individuals benefiting from services such as free basic services, water tanks, vegetable tunnels, school uniforms, employment on public and community work programmes, etc.
Working together we can do more to fight poverty
Making poverty history in South Africa
Highlights
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Cheaper Internet on South Africa's horizon
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Telkom goes mobile with the launch of Heita
South Africans may benefit from increased competition in the local mobile telecommunications market, with fixed-line operator Telkom launching its own cellular offering, branded as 8ta (Heita). 8ta products will offer more value than any other network-provider and the new service will be the one that will “get people to talk more”.
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Gautrain Tshwane stations ready by mid-2011
The Pretoria, Hatfield and Centurion Gautrain stations will be ready and operational in June 2011. The ticket offices, station control rooms and payment stations are standard components, but each station has its own brief and accommodation schedule. -
South Africa to spend $115 billion on power infrastructure
South Africa will spend more than $115 billion on power-generation infrastructure in the next few years to help plug an energy supply shortfall. The planned investment includes the R385 billion Eskom aims to spend on new power plants over the next five years. Government has warned that the country faces rolling blackouts from 2011 to 2016 unless extraordinary measures are taken to generate more power. -
South Africa to build world's largest solar park
South Africa is on its way to becoming a leader in the green-energy revolution with a giant solar park which, once fully built, will be the largest in the world. The multibillion-rand park – earmarked for the hot, dry Northern Cape – will be built over thousands of hectares and provide 5 000 megawatts (five gigawatts) of electricity, which will be fed into the national grid. According to the Department of Energy, the pre-feasibility study has already been done, and the results are "extremely favourable".
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South Africa tops emerging markets in corporate markets
South Africa received the top global ranking for its corporate governance disclosure requirements out of 24 emerging markets, according to a report by the International Standards of Accounting and Reporting. This ranking follows the recent number one spot accorded to South Africa by the World Economic Forum for its auditing and reporting standards.
General
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Shanghai Expo boosts South Africa's profile
On 1 May 2010, South Africa joined 242 participants made up of 192 nations and 50 international organisations as the Shanghai World Expo opened its doors under the theme “Better City, Better Life”.
South Africa’s image as a globally competitive nation received a major boost from its successful participation in the expo with about three million people flocking to the country’s pavilion.The Minister of Home Affairs, Dr Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, attended the closing of the pavilion on 18 October.
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Business, labour back new economic plan for now
Business Unity South Africa and trade union federation Cosatu have both came out in support of government's new economic growth path, adding that they will wait for more details of government’s plan, which will take effect through a series of interventions to facilitate the creation of about five million jobs in the next 10 years while reducing unemployment from 25% to 15%. Five hundred thousand jobs a year will have to be created in the economy to achieve these goals.
