Pretoria - Rural communities in KwaZulu-Natal will have access to basic services, and will enjoy sustainable prosperity through viable development and growing economies by 2030.
“The provincial government’s vision for rural development in KwaZulu-Natal is that by 2030, rural communities in KwaZulu-Natal will have sustainable prosperity through viable development, growing economies, healthy and skilled people, full employment and universal access to all basic social services,” said KwaZulu-Natal Premier Dr Zweli Mkhize during the opening of the two-day Rural Development Summit in Durban.
Mkhize said government's intention was not to “urbanise” rural areas.
"There are some expressions of concern being raised that in our attempts to promote the growth and development of rural areas, we are trying to generate more urban environments. This is not the case at all. This is simply about giving back dignity to the poor and to those who are in rural areas.
“It is about creating decent living standards, where people can make choices about their lives, that of their children and where women and youth are not left out of the mainstream of the economy," he said.
Mkhize said rural areas must become active social and economic centres, where investors can see the potential of rural areas and opportunities that exist for business development so that jobs can be created.
He said rural areas should stimulate small enterprise development, link small businesses to markets, encourage smallholder farmers to plough and sustain their farms and make them productive so that the future generations can see the improvement in their lives.
Mkhize said rural development can be an outcome of cohesion in dealing with issues affecting rural areas.
Rural development is one of the South African government’s five key priority areas. Under government’s National Infrastructure Plan, which aims to stimulate development and economic growth, infrastructure development in the rural areas is pegged as one of the important Strategic Integrated Projects (SIPs). - SAnews.gov.za
