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Integrated Sustainable Rural Development (ISRDP) and Urban Renewal Programmes (URP)

Ministers and Deputy Ministers
Members of Parliament
Honourable MECs
Representatives of Local Government
Members of the Diplomatic Corps
Ladies and Gentlemen from the Media

We welcome you all to this second parliamentary briefing on the Integrated Sustainable Rural Development (ISRD) and Urban Renewal (UR) programmes.

In his State of the Nation address this year, President Thabo Mbeki placed the eradication of poverty and underdevelopment at the centre of the work of government. The President emphasised that this will be expressed in concrete, time-specific programmes that focus on achieving higher rates of economic growth and development.

The Integrated Sustainable Rural Development Programme (ISRDP) and Urban Renewal Programme (URP) are part of the concrete manifestation of key strategic programmes that the President was referring to. They are national in character and inherently inter-governmental and demonstrate how government intends to work differently from the way it was functioning in the past.

These two programmes demonstrate how sustainable development can be attained through integrated governance, where national, provincial and local government co-operate in pursuit of a better life for all.

These Programmes are the main vehicles through which we want to achieve the objectives of sustainable development and poverty alleviation. Both programmes involve investing in the economic and social infrastructure, human resource development, enterprise development and local government capacity in key urban and rural nodes.

Integrated Sustainable Rural Development Programme (ISRDP)

Significant strides have been made in the Integrated Sustainable Rural Development Programme (ISRDP). Anchor projects have been identified, budgets have been drawn up and allocated in part, and project implementation has commenced.

Through a rigorous consultative process in all the nodes:

* 137 projects worth R3.7 billion have been identified;
* Various spheres of government have committed R600 million towards these projects in all the rural nodes; and
* The nodal district municipalities further refined and identified 122 priority projects worth R584 million for the 2002/3 financial year, of which 48% are currently being implemented while 52% are in the planning stage.

Examples of key Integrated Sustainable Rural Development Projects are:

* Kgalagadi Dipudi Enterprise

The goat-farming project in Kgalagadi (the Dipudi Enterprise in the cross-boundary District municipality of the North West and Northern Cape) has grown to create employment beyond Kgalagadi itself. Already, a group of women spinners and carpet-makers in Soweto are benefiting by adding value to the product. The project has also led to the emergence of female farmers, and it is estimated that 50 permanent jobs will be created with secondary beneficiaries.

Inter-governmental cooperation for sustainable development manifests itself clearly in this project, because several national and provincial departments have committed financial, material and human resources to this project. Parastatals like Eskom and the Agriculture Research Council (ARC) are involved in providing expertise and funding for the project. The chairperson of the Provincial House of Traditional Leaders, Chief K Motsatsi, also pledged the full and active support of traditional leaders in the area.

Carnegie Libraries

The establishment of a library in the Thabo Mofutsanyane village in the southern Free State has directly benefited 4 800 learners, as well as distance learning youth and the broader community. The involvement of the Carnegie Foundation of the United States is a development that the government encourages. All foreign and local grants towards development are welcomed.

Other stakeholders involved include the Departments of Communication, Sports, Education, as well as Arts, Culture, Science and Technology as well as traditional leaders, such as the Mayor, Mathokoana Mopeli (The Regional Queen), and Chief Lekunutu Mota have also given their support to government's development drive within their areas.

To ensure the success of rural development, government has committed:

* R2 million to the DPLG to establish a specialised unit to manage and coordinate the UR and ISRD programmes; and
* A once off amount of R65 million to strengthen institutional capacity building and initiate projects in all rural nodes over a period of two years.

This year teams of experts will be deployed to all rural nodes to provide support to project teams. It is also expected that the experts, through exposure to on-the-ground experience will learn lessons that will allow national planning processes to be refined.

URBAN RENEWAL PROGRAMME (URP)

The Urban Renewal Programme emphasises three principles:

* The mobilisation of people so that they can become active participants in their own development;
* The activities, initiatives and budgetary resources of the three spheres of government should be coordinated and focused;
* Public sector investment needs to leverage private sector resources.

Progress thus far includes:

* Establishment of a national Urban Renewal Forum;
* All the provinces involved in urban development projects have established provincial coordinating structures; and
* The Galeshewe (Kimberley) and Alexandra (Johannesburg) projects were formally launched, while projects were initiated in all other urban nodes.

By the end of last year, participatory processes in the urban nodes led to the identification of an initial set of projects. The range of projects covers the following sectors:

* Infrastructure
* Housing
* Social development
* Economic development
* Sports & recreation
* Tourism and Others

The majority of projects focus on the development of infrastructure in order to address the legacy of apartheid economic development.

These projects are co-funded by urban nodal municipalities, provincial governments and national departments.

This new system of integrated governance for sustainable development arises from a new current of thinking that emphasises collective responsibility. Consequently, R400m has been specifically allocated by DPLG in the upcoming financial year for the UR and ISRD programmes. Of this amount R200m was earmarked for the Consolidated Municipal Infrastructure Programme (CMIP) and is being directed to the urban renewal and rural development nodes. The other R200m comes from the increases to the Equitable Share allocation and it is also being directed towards priority needs of nodal urban and rural municipalities. Other government departments will allocate specific funds in support of projects in urban nodes.

The critical challenges for 2002/2003 include:

* The on-going refinement and identification of appropriate urban renewal and development projects.
* The continuing task of mobilising funds to sustain the implementation of projects.
* Working within the nodes with stakeholders across the three spheres of government.
* The acceleration of delivery on the ground.

Finally, it should be emphasised that while there is a concerted effort to develop the above-mentioned rural and urban nodes, development projects are continuing outside of the nodes throughout South Africa. Lesson learnt from these nodes will be shared with municipalities in other parts of the country as well as those municipalities, which are home to the next set of nodes to be designated later.

We thank you.

Issued by Ministry of Provincial and Local Government

14 February 2002