IDT creates jobs, fights poverty
20 October 2003
The Independent Development Trust (IDT), now positioned as one of southern Africa's foremost development agencies, is making significant progress in helping to eradicate poverty and boost job creation.
During the 2002-2003 financial year, the IDT managed and implemented government development programmes to the value of R1.044-billion - a substantial increase over 1999-2000, when the amount spent was R269-million.
The IDT was established in 1990 as a temporary grant-making facility. Since 1998, when its mandate was changed, the IDT has played a pivotal role in the delivery of the government's socio-economic development agenda.
According to IDT chief executive Lulu Gwagwa, the IDT has emerged as a respected development implementation organisation, to which the government has entrusted a number of top priority programmes.
Among these are the R70-million Zivuseni Poverty Alleviation programme funded by the Gauteng department of
public transport, roads and works, and the R230-million National Food Emergency Programme that was implemented in a matter of weeks for the government and its partners.
The IDT's infrastructure programmes underpin the government's efforts to reduce infrastructure backlogs. These focus, for example, on school building programmes and the provision of health facilities in the Eastern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal and the North West province.
Focus on job creation
The IDT also supports and strengthens delivery institutions at community level, so that communities can ultimately take charge of their own infrastructure development. There is a strong emphasis on job creation through training and making use of emerging community contractors.
By the end of March 2003, says Gwagwa, more than 24 000 direct and indirect jobs had been created and about 160 school building projects completed and handed over within these three provinces. In addition, several
hundred previously disadvantaged people had been trained in skills such as carpentry, painting and bricklaying.
During the 2002-2003 financial year, more than 1 150 direct jobs were created as a result of programmes implemented by the IDT under the community-based public works programme of the department of public works.
And since 1999, about 3 250 direct jobs have been generated through community production centres - a poverty reduction programme which provides support for small-scale subsistence farmers.
The IDT is also involved with the department of water affairs and forestry's Working for Water programme, which improves water security and biodiversity and creates employment by eradicating alien vegetation. In Gauteng and the Eastern Cape, the IDT exceeded the 14 900 hectares target for 2002-2003 by clearing nearly 17 330 hectares of alien vegetation, with 1 706 jobs created in the process.
With support from the international donor community, the IDT is
also undertaking institutional capacity building and local economic development initiatives in certain municipalities.
Gwagwa says the IDT takes care not to set over-ambitious development targets that raise expectations among communities that cannot immediately be met.
She says community expectations need to be balanced against the availability of resources, the capacity to deliver and - importantly - the absorptive capacity of the communities themselves.
"We have proven our ability to deliver on these programmes - and we have laid a firm foundation for the ongoing and successful implementation of further projects going forward, from which communities in genuine need stand to benefit," she said.
Source: Independent Development Trust
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