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A special audit by the municipality of Plettenberg Bay is to be conducted by a forensic team and the Auditor-General. This was announced at a public meeting at Plettenberg Bay by the Western Cape Minister of Housing, Cecil Herandien. His announcement was wildly cheered by the more than 300 people who attended the meeting.

Earlier Mr Herandien, in reply to a question, said nearly R50 million had been spent on housing in the Plettenberg Bay area. Residents refused to believe this as there was nothing to show for it. Mr Herandien then said that there had been some irregularities and that an audit would be held. His announcement was loudly applauded.

At the start of the meeting Premier Gerald Morkel said his trip to California held some exciting prospects for the people of the Southern Cape especially in the field of tourism. He also announced a job-creating strategy, which entailed the provision of start-up finance for new projects. The Western Cape Minister of Agriculture, Gerrit van Rensburg, would be visiting the area within the next three weeks to discuss the possibility of establishing new farming units and to find land on which such units could operate.

Mr Morkel offered the province's expertise to local municipalities who experienced administrative difficulties. "We are here to help with capacity building. Where we have the expertise we will share it. After all, we are here to serve all the people of the Western Cape," he said.

The Provincial Minister of Education, Helen Zille, also announced that she intended to publish an open vacancy list by the end of July, bringing to an end the teacher redeployment scheme. This was extremely well received and loudly applauded.

A meeting with the Garden Route/Klein Karoo District Municipality, attended by all the mayors from the various regions, was followed by a joint undertaking at closer co-operation between the three spheres of government with the emphasis on service delivery.

The province's Minister of Finance, Business Promotion and Tourism, Leon Markovitz, told the meeting about plans to provide a major boost to tourism in the Southern Cape. A committee of provincial and local government officials would be in place by July, or at the latest by August, to investigate ways and means of turning George into a major international charter flight destination. "It is my dream to turn the Southern Cape, through George airport, into the main charter flight destination of South Africa," he said. Special bus routes would be introduced to link tourists to other parts of the Western Cape.

Mrs Zille also announced that the George Woman's Military College is to be handed over to the Western Cape Education Department. No definite plans had been formulated as to what the college would be used for, as it was not yet clear what conditions were attached to the hand-over. But it could be a major education facility, Mrs Zille said.

A second public meeting will be held at Albertinia tonight.

Mr Morkel expressed his satisfaction with the meetings to date and said it was clear that the attempts by ANC demonstrators to spoil meetings had not been successful with only 20 placard-bearing demonstrators pitching at two of the meetings. The placard demands ranged from "SA belongs to All, "Jobs and houses for all" and also "free services".

The Western Cape Cabinet is being warmly received wherever they go with public demands for more frequent visits. This was echoed by the ANC Councillor for Oudtshoorn, Sipho Kroma. Mr Morkel said by bringing Cabinet to the people, history was being made as this was a real attempt at a true partnership between the public and Government, also at local level.

Enquiries: Chris Koole Cell: (082) 774 3462

Issued by the Office of the Premier: Western Cape, 15 May 2001