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23 July 2007

President Thabo Mbeki accompanied by Cabinet Ministers and senior government officials concluded a successful two day Provincial Imbizo in the Western Cape province today. The Imbizo, which took place under the theme: "building partnerships for development and safer communities" saw the President interacting with the provincial political leadership, civil society and several communities during which thousands of people attended.

The Western Cape Imbizo follows successful municipal Izimbizo which sought to address service delivery challenges previously identified under Project Consolidate. It provided government with an opportunity to assess progress on the implementation of development programmes in line with the national Programme of Action (POA) and the Integrated Development Plans guided by the Provincial Growth and Developments Strategy (PGDS) and the National Spatial Development Perspective.

In this regard, while there is need for increased speed in implementation and greater co-ordination within all spheres of government, Western Cape Provincial Government efforts in implementing the POA are encouraging. Some of the visits saw examples of projects undertaken by the provincial government to better the lives of the people of the province which include:

* The De Novo Drug and Alcohol Rehabilitation Centre in Kraafontein which the President launched at the start of the Imbizo on Saturday aims to rehabilitate victims of drugs and substance abuse and thereby address some of the social challenges that confront the province.
* A sod turning ceremony at the Khayelitsha Lifestyle Housing Project which is a partnership between the government, Old Mutual and Nedbank. The latter will provide funding for the building of more than 500 housing units in Khayelitsha. These units will contribute immensely to the housing challenge in the province.

The two day Imbizo included interaction with over 10 000 members of the community of Lwandle who raised issues pertinent to development and service delivery for a better life for all, with housing as a dominant need within the province, a direct result of increased inward migration into the province.

The Imbizo also included a visit to Bredasdorp Municipality which has a successful Extended Public Works Programme. There, the President witnessed some of the first graduates of the first provincial learnerships 1 000 programme. The province intends to commence with another intake of 1 000 learners in August. The learners have been trained in areas such as engineering, which are critical to the economic growth of the country and service delivery in local municipalities. All of them have signed four year contracts to remain in the employ of the public sector.

The final phase of the programme was an intergovernmental meeting with all three spheres of government to refine integrated planning for seamless delivery. The Izimbizo remain a valuable forum central to participatory democracy and continues to enable communities to interact in meaningful ways with their elected leaders.

Enquiries:
Mukoni Ratshitanga
Cell: 082 300 3447

Issued by: Government Communications (GCIS)
23 July 2007
Source: SAPA