The education sector has been urged to help equip young people with skills that will empower them to participate in the various economic development projects earmarked for the Northern Cape.
Trade, Industry and Competition Deputy Minister, Nomalungelo Gina, on Tuesday addressed the Namakwa District Development Model (DDM) executive in Aggeneys in the Khâi-Ma Municipality in the Northern Cape.
Attended by stakeholders including the Northern Cape Agriculture MEC, Monopole Mase, mayors, municipal managers and senior officials, the meeting was convened to chart a way forward following the approval of the Namakwa One Plan DDM.
Gina is the national champion appointed by President Cyril Ramaphosa for the Namakwa District.
In the Namakwa district, efforts are being made to address critical challenges, among them the decline in mining activities, which has impacted negatively on the economy. The district is the biggest in the country by land mass.
One of the major upcoming programmes is the Namakwa Special Economic Zone (SEZ) recently designated by Cabinet. Vendata Zinc International is an anchor investor, with R16 billion earmarked for its operations in the SEZ.
Gina told the leaders and senior officials that one of the most urgent tasks is ensuring that schools, especially technical schools and institutions of higher learning work towards producing skills required by the new economic sectors for the district.
“This province is going to be the home of renewable energy for the country in solar, wind and green hydrogen. My biggest worry is the speed with which investments in the green economy are coming to this province and the district, without a local skills pipeline to meet them.
“We need to produce the required skills for these industries. I will not be excited to see technical people coming exclusively from outside the province and locals being left behind because of the skills deficit,” she said.
Gina said real work must begin immediately, and discussions with investors and the efforts to increase interest towards the district must be well coordinated.
The meeting resolved to establish two skills centres working with major companies, one in Poffader (in the Khâi -Ma municipality) and another in Port Nolloth (Ritchersveld Municipality), which is a host to Boegoe Baai deep sea and a future green hydrogen energy project.
The District Development Model was initiated by President Ramaphosa in 2019. It is aimed at improving the coherence and impact of government service delivery with focus on 44 Districts and 8 Metros around the country as development spaces that can be used as centres of service delivery and economic development and job creation. – SAnews.gov.za
