Limpopo Premier Mr Chupu Stanley Mathabatha Officially Opening Limpopo Premier’s Inter-Governmental Forum.
The Premier of Limpopo, Mr. Chupu Stanley Mathabatha, used the meeting of the Premier’s Inter-Governmental Forum (PIGF) held on 17 March 2023 to highlight ways that government will fight unemployment and create jobs.
He urged municipalities to look earnestly into developing cooperatives and renewable energy initiatives within their areas to create jobs and fight unemployment.
“There are no reasons why municipalities should not take advantage of establishing cooperatives under the current conditions. This is an easily available route to fight poverty and unemployment. Municipalities need to use the District Development Model to solicit help in this area. The Limpopo Economic Development Environment and Tourism (LEDET) has funding to support this. By tapping into this we shall do a serious dent on unemployment,” said Premier Mathabatha.
Premier Mathabatha further said: “Yesterday we launched the R10 million Limpopo Youth Development Fund in partnership with the National Youth Development Agency. The initial funds may not be enough, but they are a step in the right direction. Municipalities should do all in their powers to make sure that youth within their areas are given opportunities to help grow the economy and create jobs. They should create conditions for these young people to actively participate in the local economy as we shall be offering them financial assistance.”
To curb the challenges of unreliable energy, Premier Mathabatha said the province should take advantage of the abundance of sun. He said mayors should start looking into these areas for renewable energy. Once they start implementing this, he said, it will have multiplier effect as it relates to adjacent business like the 4IR.
The meeting had the opportunity to listen to the Auditor General South Africa, Ms Tsakani Maluleke who was on MFMA Road Show. Limpopo local government has showed a consistent performance on audit matters. AG reported that for 2021-2022 financial year, out of the 27 municipalities in Limpopo, two (2) received clean audit opinion, thirteen (13) unqualified, eleven (11) qualified and only one (1) received a disclaimer audit opinion.
“Our team speaks highly of a good working relationship with the Provincial government. We have seen the improvement of the work of the province. Beyond the numbers, there is a story of a province that is hard at work towards improvement. What we have seen is that the impact of the work of role players is paying off, leading to some municipalities getting clean audit,” said Ms Maluleke.
The Premier concluded the meeting by emphasising the coordinating role of the PIGF and that using the structure the government may achieve more. The PIGF also resolved that those payments of services to Eskom, water boards and municipalities should be enforced.
