Plans to upgrade Mitchell's Plain
Seshoane Masitha
15 October 2004
Government and the private sector met in Mitchell's Plain on Thursday to discuss ways of stimulating sustainable economic development in the area.
Mitchell's Plain is one of two nodes in Cape Town that has been identified as part of the Urban Renewal Programme announced by President Thabo Mbeki in 2001.
The programme is aimed at assisting depressed areas to uplift themselves through partnerships with all spheres of government over a five- to seven-year period.
It is also aimed at investing in economic and social infrastructure, human resource and enterprise development.
Speaking at the Portlands Indoor Sports Centre, Cape Town councillor Clifford Sitonga said the majority residents in the South East Metropole, which includes Philippi, Khayelitsha and Mitchell's Plain still endured poverty and unemployment.
Sitonga said the majority of the 375 000 unemployed people in the city lived in the South East Metropole.
"To reduce
this number of unemployed people in our city our economy needs to create approximately 40 000 jobs annually, and in order to do this our economy needs to grow at a rate of six to seven percent annually," he said.
Sitonga said as a response to this challenge, the Provincial Growth and Development Summit held last year committed the province's and the city's governments to work towards the creation of 100 000 jobs by 2008 and reducing unemployment by half by 2014.
"We want to see Mitchell's Plain being a sought-after destination to visit by tourists, a place in which to invest, trade, run a business, work, live and prosper," said Sitonga.
He also said the city had committed millions of rands to ensure a safe and attractive transport interchange in the area, as well as the development of an industrial and commercial node.
Also present at the summit were officials from Tradeworld who will assist small entrepreneurs to register their businesses on the city
council's database.
The South African Revenue Service was also on hand to help with the filling out of tax returns for businesses, as well as Proudly South African campaign which explained the concept.
Source: BuaNews
| 
