The Gauteng Provincial Government will continue to invest in economic infrastructure in the townships, including the refurbishment of industrial parks, said Gauteng premier, David Makhura, during his State of the Province address yesterday (Monday).
“With regard to the revitalisation and mainstreaming of the township economy, the Gauteng provincial government has increased its spending on the township economy from R600 million in 2014 to R6 billion in 2016,” Makhura said.
He pointed out that public procurement policy was one of the instruments that government had at its disposal to help bring historically disadvantaged groups into the mainstream of the economy, noting that the provincial government had allocated 91% of the procurement budget (of R46 billion) to empower black people, women, youth and people with disabilities.
“Of the 12 000 companies that conduct business with our provincial administration, 10 000 of them are HDIs (historically disadvantaged individuals), including township enterprises,” Makhura said.
He added that some of the “radical measures” his administration was undertaking, in partnership with key industry leaders, included assisting and encouraging black firms and township enterprises to get involved in localisation and manufacturing initiatives so that they could produce goods locally and sell them to domestic and foreign markets.
“We will also be setting conditions for big companies doing business with government to sub-contract at least 30% of the main contract to qualifying black firms and township enterprises in a manner that ensures their meaningful participation,” Makhura said.
