
=====================================================================
Towards an Integrated, Sustainable Rural Development Strategy for the Eastern Cape
=====================================================================

Speeches and Media Releases
 Premier's Office

[         w



MEDIA STATEMENT
 20 SEPTEMBER 2000

TOWARDS AN INTEGRATED, SUSTAINABLE RURAL DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY FOR THE EASTERN CAPE

Much has been said and done by many stakeholders to improve the lives of millions of especially rural communities of the Eastern Cape. 
Despite such efforts the impact registered has been less than desirable and factors that create this untenable situation are perhaps common 
knowledge.However it is absolutely crucial to reiterate the historical roots of these challenges as colonial and apartheid systematic 
strategies of deprivation and underdevelopment of these areas, which were reduced to reserves and Bantustans of dispossessed natives.They 
functioned as reservoirs of cheap labour for white miners, farmers and industrialists.As a result, the rural areas of our province have 
come to be characterized by extreme levels of poverty, landlessness, huge infrastructure backlogs, and economic stagnation and 
unemployment. Furthermore, the lack of institutional capacity to plan and manage development at a local level has constrained the ability 
of government to deliver resources and services in the remote rural areas of the province.

The need for an integrated rural development strategy

It is against this background that the provincial government is convening a Rural Development Summit to be held at the University of 
Transkei in Umtata on 5th and 6th October 2000.The aim is to ensure the consolidation and integration of planning and implementation of 
rural development programmes across the province and South Africa thereby realising a nation at work to rid the province of poverty and 
underdevelopment.

Both national and provincial governments have long realised the need to confront these development challenges. Both the Reconstruction and 
Development Programme (RDP) and the National Rural Development Framework advocate for greater rural focus in service delivery, and put the 
needs of impoverished rural dwellers high on the policy agenda. This has been given added impetus this year in President Mbeki’s State of 
the Nation address. At a provincial level, the Provincial Growth and Development Strategy (PGDS) highlights integrated rural development as 
a priority policy focus. Furthermore, the recent Budget Indibano has prioritized integrated rural development for the next three-year 
budget cycle.

In order to consolidate rural development interventions, the provincial government has initiated a process to develop a provincial 
Integrated Rural Development Strategy. This process has seen the establishment of a rural development steering committee (made up of the 
Director General, four MECs, as well as representatives from the trade union and NGO sectors. Research and strategic support to the process 
has been played by the Eastern Cape Socio-Economic Consultative Council (Ecsecc).

One of the key outcomes of the process thus far has been the production of an Integrated Rural Development Framework Document, which seeks 
to build minimum consensus on vision, conceptual approach to rural development, as well as the proposed terrains of intervention.

The document provides a situation analysis of the province’s rural political economy, pointing to the high levels of poverty, lack of 
access to basic services, and general economic stagnation, especially in the former Transkei. Based on this situation analysis, the 
document points to four key terrains of intervention for the provincial rural development strategy, these being policy development, 
programme design and implementation, technical and financial support, and democratic participation.

The Rural Development Summit

The Summit will serve to place rural development firmly on the policy agenda and mobilize key stakeholders (Government, NGOs, trade unions, 
the churches, training institutions, donor organizations, and development finance institutions) behind a common Programme of Action. The 
primary objectives of the Summit are as follows:

* Build consensus around a vision and strategic framework for rural development in the province;
* Mobilize support for a strategic Programme of Action;
* Set up commissions to interrogate the key terrains of intervention identified in the framework document, and develop concrete resolutions 
relevant to each;
* Design an enabling implementation framework to operationalise the Programme of Action.

Critical outcomes of the Summit and Integrated Rural Development Strategy should be the following:

* An integrated, sustainable rural development vision based on the principles and key pillars of the RDP and Provincial Growth and 
Development Strategy;
* Concrete resolutions and projects for immediate implementation;
* Greater cohesion and integration among the various development agencies involved in rural development;
* A platform for Government to engage stakeholders on issues of rural development;
* A strategy for technical and financial resource mobilisation for rural development.

Conclusion

Our motto as the provincial government is “development through unity”.I believe that through this initiative, that vision will be 
realised.All of us, including the media, should join hands to make a real difference to millions of our people who have been trapped in 
poverty for decades.

By: EC Premier Rev MA Stofile

Issued:Communications Division – Office of the Premier
 Inquiries:Manelisi Wolela – 0824147768 / 040-6392070

---------------------------------------------------------------------
Home | About the Eastern Cape | Documents
 Economy | Structures | International Relations | Site Map
 Premier's Office | Speeches & Media Releases | Links
 Top of Page

---------------------------------------------------------------------

About the Eastern Cape

Premier's Office

Structures

Documents

Speeches & Media Releases

International Relations

Economy

Links


