In Cape Town we have seen this tragic situation play itself out around several key areas.
One of the most serious of these is housing.
With a backlog of nearly 400,000 housing units and the annual arrival of 16,000 people who have no jobs or houses, the demand for decent housing has reached critical proportions.
And many of our people have been waiting for up to 20 years on a list that keeps on growing. This is creating serious social divisions, not only along race lines. It has led to major public protests. It has also led to approximately five land invasions a week, which sometimes result in violent clashes.
So far the problem has not been tackled adequately. The government has only made financial provision to deliver 7 000 housing opportunities a year, and that is only if the existing budget is spent, which hasn’t been the case for the last few years.
The N2 Gateway Project, which Housing Minister Lindiwe Sisulu promised would deliver 20 000 units by this year, has so far only resulted in 700 rental flats, in an unsustainable, unaffordable programme.
And already the communities that were supposed to benefit from the project are polarising around who can and can’t afford these flats.
The shortage of housing in our city is a serious problem in its own right, but it is symptomatic of a deeper problem, which is unemployment.
About 25 % or 450,000 of Cape Town’s economically active adult population are unemployed, and over 60% of our city’s adult population do not have a matric.
This has created tensions around who does and who doesn’t have access to jobs. Recently we witnessed violent protests over certain ward councillors who sought to determine which members of the community should get work for solid waste removal in Khayelitsha.
We have also witnessed the brutal killing of a number of Somalian refugees who have been targeted for their success in small businesses. And the taxi wars continue to flare up over the limited availability of key routes.
It is clear that the economy is simply not creating enough new business opportunities and jobs to significantly change this situation.
The national government has calculated that we need to push economic growth in this region up to at least 8% by 2010 if we want to reduce unemployment significantly.
During 2005 the Western Cape economy grew by 5.3%, and it is predicted to slump to a 4.7% average for the next three years.
If we want to change this, we are going to have to work very hard, and very strategically. This means unlocking the power of the private sector, particularly small and medium enterprises.
As local government, there are things we can do to encourage investment and job creation.
We must improve service delivery, and make sure the city is an investor-friendly destination. We need to make it cleaner and safer, and we need to spend adequately on roads, electricity, water, libraries and other forms of infrastructure.
We also need to cut down on red tape, and build partnerships between business and the government that can tackle serious developmental challenges like housing and job shortages.
And we can release land and title deeds for housing, which will give the poorest of the poor a foothold in the economy by giving them some stable collateral and fixed assets.
While a growing economy is one of the most important ways to ensure that Cape Town stays on the path towards tolerance, there is another key factor that influences race relations and social cohesion - political leadership. Full Story Cape Argus
One of the most serious of these is housing.
With a backlog of nearly 400,000 housing units and the annual arrival of 16,000 people who have no jobs or houses, the demand for decent housing has reached critical proportions.
And many of our people have been waiting for up to 20 years on a list that keeps on growing. This is creating serious social divisions, not only along race lines. It has led to major public protests. It has also led to approximately five land invasions a week, which sometimes result in violent clashes.
So far the problem has not been tackled adequately. The government has only made financial provision to deliver 7 000 housing opportunities a year, and that is only if the existing budget is spent, which hasn’t been the case for the last few years.
The N2 Gateway Project, which Housing Minister Lindiwe Sisulu promised would deliver 20 000 units by this year, has so far only resulted in 700 rental flats, in an unsustainable, unaffordable programme.
And already the communities that were supposed to benefit from the project are polarising around who can and can’t afford these flats.
The shortage of housing in our city is a serious problem in its own right, but it is symptomatic of a deeper problem, which is unemployment.
About 25 % or 450,000 of Cape Town’s economically active adult population are unemployed, and over 60% of our city’s adult population do not have a matric.
This has created tensions around who does and who doesn’t have access to jobs. Recently we witnessed violent protests over certain ward councillors who sought to determine which members of the community should get work for solid waste removal in Khayelitsha.
We have also witnessed the brutal killing of a number of Somalian refugees who have been targeted for their success in small businesses. And the taxi wars continue to flare up over the limited availability of key routes.
It is clear that the economy is simply not creating enough new business opportunities and jobs to significantly change this situation.
The national government has calculated that we need to push economic growth in this region up to at least 8% by 2010 if we want to reduce unemployment significantly.
During 2005 the Western Cape economy grew by 5.3%, and it is predicted to slump to a 4.7% average for the next three years.
If we want to change this, we are going to have to work very hard, and very strategically. This means unlocking the power of the private sector, particularly small and medium enterprises.
As local government, there are things we can do to encourage investment and job creation.
We must improve service delivery, and make sure the city is an investor-friendly destination. We need to make it cleaner and safer, and we need to spend adequately on roads, electricity, water, libraries and other forms of infrastructure.
We also need to cut down on red tape, and build partnerships between business and the government that can tackle serious developmental challenges like housing and job shortages.
And we can release land and title deeds for housing, which will give the poorest of the poor a foothold in the economy by giving them some stable collateral and fixed assets.
While a growing economy is one of the most important ways to ensure that Cape Town stays on the path towards tolerance, there is another key factor that influences race relations and social cohesion - political leadership. Full Story Cape Argus
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