With an unprecedented number of property developments and an average economic growth rate of 5.7%, Buffalo City Municipality is becoming an attractive investment destination. Economic growth in the area has largely been driven by capital injections of billions of rands into significant commercial, retail and residential developments, as well as golfing estates.
But, said executive mayor Ntombentle Peter, it was imperative not to leave the poorest of the poor behind in this time of economic pressure, when the average South African household spends 60% of its total expenditure on food, transport, housing and municipal services — the very areas where inflation hits consumers the hardest.
“We need to expand delivery, gear for growth and speed up change. There are areas where we need to improve,” she said.
She added that the municipality’s main priorities were identifying needy households that did not benefit from existing support systems, as well as creating self-employment opportunities through micro-enterprises and co-operatives.
“We also need to speed up the provision of community infrastructure to achieve universal access to minimum standards by 2014,” Peter said. “There are too many people who remain economically marginalised.
“One in six Buffalo City residents still lives in informal settlements, and a large proportion of Buffalo City residents still have to exist on less than R1 500 a month.”
Acknowledging capacity challenges, the mayor said a skills drain had affected the municipality’s ability in technical areas such as engineering, ICT, project management, development planning and finance.
“It has left us with a mountain to climb.”
Peter said the city needed to strengthen social cohesion, combat crime and corruption and improve community security — especially the security of women and children.
“Local communities are challenging the city to translate vision into visible delivery, and to translate strategy into practical implementation,” she said.
Despite the challenges, Peter alluded to a growing body of evidence that the city was brimming with opportunity.
“There are a number of major developments that constitute a vote of confidence in the future of Buffalo City. We see a robust growth trajectory ahead.”
Source: Business Times
Publisher: I-Net Bridge
Source: I-Net Bridge
