Western Cape Premier Ebrahim Rasool will tomorrow(Tues) sign a Memorandum of Understanding(MOU) with Proudly Manenberg, committing R650 000 over three years of government funds to the development of Manenberg. The Memorandum of Understanding is the first agreement to be signed by the Western Cape Government and one of the Premier's 21 Priority Areas in the province. In his State of the Province Address earlier this year, Premier Rasool called for a partnership between the Government and people of the Western Cape. As a first step, the Premier urged the province's most vulnerable communities to set up umbrella structures which would act as the link between government and communities. In this case, Proudly Manenberg is the umbrella structure which has been formed by the people and community leaders of Manenberg, one of the Premier's Priority Areas.
DATE: Tuesday, 4 December 2007
TIME: 11H00
PLACE: Manenberg People's Centre, Schelt Rd, Manenberg.
On the significance of the Memorandum, Premier Rasool said: "At the beginning of this year we promised the people of the Western Cape that we would focus government resources on those areas most affected by gangs, drugs(such as Tik), crime, poverty and unemployment.
"We challenged communities to organize themselves into proper representative structures like the people of Manenberg had already started to do.
"This agreement between the Western Cape Government and Proudly Manenberg is a sign that we are working hard to ensure that we deal, in an organized manner, with the challenges of drugs, gangs, crime and poverty facing our communities.
"With our commitment of R650 000 over three years we're putting our money where our mouth is, we're walking the talk - and it is yet another sign that we are serious about the work we set out to do in the Western Cape.
"The approach demonstrates that a community-based approach to development that includes all the sectors represented in the community can lead to real empowerment.
"We urge all other communities, especially those in our Priority Areas, to work equally hard towards formalizing the partnership that we in the Western Cape Government have called for," he said.The 21 communities are: Khayelitsha, Mitchell's Plain, Gugulethu, Philippi, Nyanga, Oudtshoorn, Delft, Kleinvlei, Muizenberg, Elsies River, Bishop Lavis, Paarl, Vredenburg, Manenberg, Hanover Park, Kannaland, Witzenberg, Cedarberg, Theewaterskloof, Central Karoo (Beaufort West), Matzikama.
Proudly Manenberg, the Khayelitsha Development Forum, and three more structures in Gugulethu, Oudtshoorn, and Philippi have succeeded in finalizing their community consultations and the election of umbrella structures. Other communities are in various stages of progress in establishing the structures. Proudly Manenberg was the first of these structures to submit a fully fledged business plan following a strategic planning session which enables the provincial government to transfer R600 000 to them over a period of 3 years. This will fund operational expenditure and costs relating to implementation of the programmes contained in the business plan. More importantly, it will enable the umbrella organizations to leverage further programme funding from other government departments (national, provincial, and local spheres) and stakeholders such as State Owned enterprises, business, and other organs of civil society.
The signing of the Memorandum of Understanding is testimony to government's commitment to build partnerships with communities towards the entrenchment of a developmental approach to service delivery. It also sends a clear signal that government is succeeding to work together with communities to leverage resources for development. This creates the opportunities for marginalized and depressed communities to start seeing hope and the glimmer of a brighter future.
Jeremy Michaels
Chief Director: Communications
Department of the Premier
Provincial Government of the Western Cape
Cell: +27 (0)82 772 1122
Office: +27 (0)21 483 9955
Fax: +27 (0)21 483 7196
Email: jmichaels@pgwc.gov.za
Postal address: PO Box 659, Cape Town, 8000.
Physical address: Office of the Premier, Mezzanine Level, M7, 7 Wale Street, Cape Town, South Africa, 8001.
Website:http://www.capegateway.gov.za/premier
