IDT creates jobs, improves lives
Sharon Hammond
15 October 2004
The Independent Development Trust secured close to R1-billion last year to provide management support to government development programmes.
The trust, which was established by the government in 1990, released its annual report for 2003-2004 at a function in Mpumalanga on Thursday.
"We can look back with pride and say we have played an integral role in government's efforts to create work, to alleviate poverty and to improve the quality of life of the poor," said Chief Executive Officer Thembi Nwedamutswu.
"We have applied our various technical and developmental skills to speed up the pace of government expenditure on delivery and in assisting government with the rollout of integrated development initiatives," said Nwedamutswu.
Deputy Minister of Public Works Ntopile Kganyago and approximately 150 guests and members of the Numbi community attended the event at the Thuthukani Development Centre - an IDT project - near Hazyview.
The IDT's annual report states that 90 percent of the trust's services were last year provided to contractors in neglected areas.
The IDT oversaw the building of 126 schools in the Eastern Cape, creating over 27 000 job opportunities.
Similar work was done in KwaZulu-Natal, where the IDT provided support for the building of 14 new schools.
In North West, the IDT was involved in school-building and sanitation programmes, where over 600 jobs were created.
The IDT also played a big role in the rollout of new health facilities in Limpopo.
In Gauteng, R150-million was spent on the Zivuseni poverty alleviation programme, which involved the renovation of 124 clinics, schools and public buildings - employing over 26 000 people, 69 percent of whom were women.
The IDT also supported the Working for Water programme, creating over 1 700 new jobs and providing income for 100 contractors from neglected areas.
In conjunction with the Department of
Social Development, the IDT will be involved in 365 projects over three years.
These projects include the provision of food security, creation of cooperatives to assist women in rural areas, development of dual purpose community centres, youth skills development projects and HIV and AIDS support.
A total of 343 new community structures were set up in the last year, enhancing self-reliance and social cohesion in rural communities.
The trust also played an active role in the National Food Emergency Programme, coordinating the distribution of 743 000 food parcels through 18 distribution centres around the country, and in Public Works Programme, which includes the development of six community production centres in rural areas.
The IDT also helped government draw up the plan for the Integrated Sustainable Rural Development Programme, which seeks to transform rural South Africa into socially cohesive and stable communities.
"Government knows it can rely on the
IDT to get the job done," Nwedamutswu said. "We have proven our ability to provide a developmental approach to programme management."
She added that development programmes were not only completed on time and within budget, but in a way which ensured an improvement in the quality of life of the beneficiaries.
Source: BuaNews
| 
