Cape Town – Rural Development and Land Reform Minister Gugile Nkwinti says creating jobs through cooperatives will lead to thousands of jobs and the development of rural communities.
Reacting to the State of the Nation Address (SONA) on Tuesday night, the minister said this would ease pressures associated with rapid urbanisation, where people leave rural areas to go to urban cities to seek economic opportunities.
In his speech, President Jacob Zuma said the National Development Plan (NDP) states that by 2030, about 80% of South Africans will live in urban spaces of some kind.
“Urbanisation is an international phenomenon and is not something that can be easily stopped.
“We have a good relationship with China and they have a programme called Township and Village Enterprises, where they actually create industries [in rural areas],” he said.
Minister Nkwinti said two months ago, he sent 40 young people on a learning mission to see how the Chinese do it and return to implement their ideas.
“We are considering the options that they brought back because we want to [learn] that from young people,” he said.
He said his department would create mega cooperatives of young people from rural areas to do construction and transform them into a “class of black industrialists” to create more jobs and build social infrastructure. – SAnews.gov.za
