Land pact to ease poverty in Mpumalanga

Thursday, November 17, 2016

Pretoria – The community of Govan Mbeki Local Municipality in Mpumalanga will benefit from a government agreement to give them access to agricultural land, which will be used for poverty alleviation projects.

Government will on Friday sign a service level agreement (SLA), which will affirm the provision of agricultural land by Correctional Services for the communities of Govan Mbeki Local Municipality.

The SLA will be signed by the Deputy Minister for Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (CoGTA), Andries Nel, the Deputy Minister of Correctional Services (DCS), Thabang Makwetla and Govan Mbeki Municipality Mayor Flora Maboa-Boltman in Bethal, Mpumalanga.

The signing of the SLA will be preceded by a joint Community Work Programme (CWP) Imbizo in Geluk.

“In the context of a collaborative effort to develop comprehensive community poverty alleviation projects, the departments and Govan Mbeki Municipality are forming a partnership through the CWP within the Bethal Management Area,” CoGTA and DCS said in a joint statement on Wednesday.

The project will contribute to uplifting and supporting communities, while at the same time, ensuring that participants acquire skills that they can use for the future.

The agreement will see parolees benefiting from the CWP programme, receiving training and financial support.

The DCS will provide available land for farming/training purposes and other resources within the Bethal Management Area, which will be utilised by the CWP of the Department of Cooperative Governance. Participants in the programme will be paid a stipend.

“CoGTA implements the CWP to provide an employment safety net and basic minimum income for people living in marginalised areas, where employment opportunities are not easily accessible,” the statement said.

This partnership will also contribute to strengthening and enhancing a strategy of transferring skills to unemployed youth within the Govan Mbeki Local Municipality.

“In this initiative, all parties are striving to alleviate the burden placed upon the State to provide social grants to unemployed youth in the country by transferring skills and making them economically productive and self-sufficient.” – SAnews.gov.za