Zuma pledges to assist poor with housing
New opportunities for business to be part of the economic transformation agenda were offered by President Jacob Zuma last night in a proposal that private banks become intricately involved in a R1 billion housing-for-the-poor plan while releasing thousands of hectares of state land for this purpose.
The president also proposed a separate electricity agency that would buy from independent power producers (IPPs) and end Eskom's monopoly on power purchases.
In a business-friendly opening of parliament speech - his second - he called on business and private citizens to become involved in assisting the poor and marginalised. Zuma was also candid about the government's failure to provide permanent job opportunities.
He acknowledged that during the recession about 900 000 jobs were lost. "Many of those who lost their jobs were the breadwinners in poor families."
He argued, however, that his pledge in his last State of the Nation speech to provide 500 000 job opportunities had almost been met. "We are pleased to announce that by the end of December, we had created more than 480 000 public works job opportunities, which is 97 percent (sic) of the target."
The jobs were in areas such as construction, home- and community-based care, and environmental projects, although most were temporary employment. "Let me reiterate that these are not jobs in the mainstream economy. These are job opportunities created to provide unemployed people with an income, work experience and training opportunities."
Zuma, in the presence of former president Nelson Mandela on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of his release from prison, called on communities to join police community forums to fight crime. He said violence in political protests would not be tolerated.
Recent job statistics, he argued, indicated that the worst of the scale-down caused by the recession was over. The government intended to bump up the public infrastructure spending programme over the next three years to R846 billion, up from the R787bn previously announced. Much of this spending would be carried out by the state-owned enterprises.
"Economic indicators suggest that we are now turning the corner. Economic activity is rising in South Africa and we expect growth... The labour statistics released on Tuesday, show that the economy is now creating jobs rather than shedding them."
A major concession was made to IPPs, which have pushed for years to end Eskom's monopoly on purchasing power, with a plan for a separate agency to purchase power from both them and Eskom. Further details for this public company are expected to be announced by Energy Minister Dipuo Peters shortly.
Voicing concern over the many South Africans who earned above the threshold for housing grants but could gain bank loans to build houses, he said they would be supported by a R1bn "guarantee fund" where the government would underwrite loans to lower income families.
He said the state would garner about 600 000 hectares - about the size of Bloemfontein - for low-income "and affordable" housing.
Business Report
Posted at 08:17AM Feb 12, 2010 by Editor in Residential |