The Premier of the North West Province, Lazarus Mokgosi says the most important priority of the 7th administration is job creation, particularly for the youth. Speaking during the opening of the Provincial Legislature in Mahikeng, Mokgosi stressed that poverty and unemployment remained critical issues, particularly affecting women and youth and that the provincial government would make resources and tools available to drive growth and the creation of jobs.
“Hon Members, the apex priority of the 7th administration is job creation for the youth. We want to get our young people to work and contribute to the development of the province. We can report that legal processes to pave the way for the rollout of the Labour Activation Programme are nearing completion to unleash 27,000 work opportunities and training for unemployed people and the youth of our province. The Office of the Premier has signed a Memorandum of Agreement with the National Skills Fund to finance critical interventions in the province across departments. The National Youth Service will implement training and skills development opportunities that will benefit over 1200 young people,” says Mokgosi.
Mokgosi says the provincial government will also continue to prioritise long-standing issues in ailing municipalities, to ensure that they function effectively to meet the needs of residents
“Many of our municipalities are in financial distress unable to collect sufficient revenue to fund their operations and drive development. Regrettably, in some cases, poor financial management and questionable procurement and tendering processes are responsible for the collapse of governance systems. We have directed the Provincial Treasury to conduct financial assessment on the 2024/25 draft budgets of municipalities to assess the credibility and funding of municipalities. The premier will convene the North West Premier’s Coordinating Council with all mayors to present the outcome of our assessment and demand accountability from municipalities to improve their financial management,” says Mokgotsi.
Opposition parties were not convinced.
“We are actually disappointed because it appears that the office of the premier has no concrete plan in terms of fighting this unemployment that we are faced with as a province. So, the levels of unemployment in the province are unprecedented. We are at 53% yet the premier doesn’t speak to a precise plan of what must happen. One, he speaks about tourism that is collapsing. He doesn’t mention that, among other things, we don’t have proper infrastructure that can attract tourists to come to the province,” says Fanon Moema from EFF.
“He says that there is youth job creation, about 60 000 jobs that are going to be created in the North West. We would like to see that. There is a lot of plans being funded through other agencies than the political party. The department itself. That is worrisome for us as Freedom Front Plus. Why do we outsource things that we can do inside,” says Michal Groenewald from Freedom Front Plus.
“The promises are well and good on paper, but this has been the case for the last 30 years. I’m not over excited about what I heard today. Yes, indeed I would like to see these things happening on the ground but my experience and what we have experienced in this province particularly is that this has not come to pass,” says Kgosi Kwena Mangope from ActionSA.
Mokgosi also undertook to prioritize the revival of agricultural initiatives and complete key infrastructure projects.
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