Pretoria - Minister of Women, Children and People with Disabilities, Lulu Xingwana, says people in rural areas do not have to relocate to the cities in order to access a better life.
Unveiling the Women's Construction Flagship Project in Caguba in Port St Johns, Xingwana said improving rural service delivery was paramount to helping the country meet the Millennium Development Goals.
Launched on Saturday, the project marked the roll-out of various rural development projects that target women, children and people with disabilities. These include a women's multi-purpose centre for income generating activities, a children's park and a memorial community hall.
Xingwana said these interventions were meant to address the lack of recreational facilities for children and youth, address unemployment, poverty and lack of skills development, particularly for rural women and people with disabilities.
She said government wanted to promote and facilitate the active participation of women and people with disabilities in infrastructure development and economic empowerment.
"Today we are launching a rural women's construction flagship project, which we want to ensure becomes a sustainable development project for women in this village of Caguba. Through this project, we seek to eradicate extreme poverty and to promote gender equality and empower women.
"Through the Port St Johns project, we would leave behind a team of local women who would be empowered to continue to run and manage the project on their own. We want to come back here one day and arrive to a community where economic development has taken shape, a community where there will be food in households," Xingwana said.