Join forces to develop district, says deputy minister
Deputy minister of higher education, training and innovation Buti Manamela visited South Coast areas hard-hit by GBV and Covid-19 in order to liaise with communities on how best to tackle these issues.
Government’s plan to strengthen the fight against Gender Based Violence (GBV) together with efforts to mitigate the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic are being rolled out.
Recently, deputy minister of higher education, training and innovation Buti Manamela visited South Coast areas hard-hit by GBV and Covid-19 in order to liaise with communities on how best to tackle these issues.
He was joined by KZN MEC for social development, Nonhlanhla Khoza, Ugu District mayor Sizwe Ngcobo, Ray Nkonyeni mayor Cynthia Mqwebu and Umzumbe mayor Londolo Zungu.
The visit followed President Cyril Ramaphosa’s announcement on May 27 that all ministers and their deputies were to join MECs in tackling challenges faced by districts and metros and to help develop those districts.
Gamalakhe TVET college, Southcoast Mall and Mlonde High School in Mvutshini were among the places visited.
Part of the visit was also to monitor whether measures to limit the spread of coronavirus were being properly followed in line with government’s Risk Adjusted Strategy.
Speaking to media after his visit to Gamalakhe, Mr Manamela said the district faced inequality and unemployment. “Our focus will essentially be on education, health, unemployment and improving the economy.
“As national and provincial government, we will be working together with district and local municipalities to make sure that we harness all available resources. We have to engage both national and provincial government in terms of channeling resources into the development of the district. The greatest resource our country has is its people,” he said.
He added that if people improved their skills and stayed healthy, they would be able to establish their own businesses and grow the economy of their districts.
Responding to numerous calls from Cosas, Sadtu and other unions for learning institutions be shut down until the coronavirus pandemic was manageable, Mr Manamela said that this was not a decision which could be taken lightly.
“The national command council is discussing what needs to be done, and they are relying on scientific evidence. We collect data from all our colleges in terms of the number of infections and mortality rate.
“On the basis of this data we will determine whether our universities and TVET colleges should continue to operate but we have not yet reached crisis point,” concluded Mr Manamela.
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