Pretoria - The second National Imbizo Focus Week has seen government representatives, including Cabinet Ministers and their deputies, embarking on over 70 events countrywide.
The week, which took place from 7 - 12 April 2015 under government’s five year theme ‘Together we move South Africa forward’, has come to an end.
It saw political principals from all three spheres of government engaging in dialogues with community members and stakeholders across the country.
“The purpose of these engagements was to unpack the pronouncements made by President Jacob Zuma during the State of the Nation Address (SONA) and to promote active democratic citizenry as envisioned in the National Development Plan (NDP),” acting Cabinet spokesperson Phumla Williams said on Tuesday.
The political principals also had an opportunity to share government plans to improve service delivery and eradicate issues facing communities and South Africa as a whole.
Among the events held during the focus week was the launch of the Siqhingeni water scheme. The water scheme is set to benefit about 15 522 villagers, covering 10 deep rural villages of Mt Frere.
Another notable event was held on 10 April 2015 at Harrismith town hall in Free State, which focused on finding solutions to the Harrismith Hub and N3 De Beers Pass developments.
The Harrismith Logistics Hub had been identified as a key driver for economic growth in that province. Williams said the imbizo set in motion a process for more consultation and communication between all stakeholders and affected parties.
Other izimbizo included the women imbizo in Bela Bela, Limpopo, which was attended by about 250 women representing women’s organisations and people with disabilities.
It focused on challenges confronting women and people with disabilities in co-operatives and small businesses, and sought to empower them to access opportunities and services that government has availed to them.
During this imbizo, it was noted that access to information remains a critical challenge for citizens, as many people are not aware of the programmes, services and opportunities that are meant to assist their small businesses and co-operatives.
A stakeholders and experts imbizo was held in the cyber technology sector in Pretoria on Friday, 10 April, to discuss issues relating to the advancement of technology in safeguarding national security.
The closing of National Imbizo Focus Week was held at the Government Communication and Information System (GCIS) national office in Pretoria on 12 April, with a video link-up to a site in KwaZulu-Natal and Mpumalanga.
The event was streamed live on the GCIS web streaming platforms, with interactions from social media platforms.
Williams said these izimbizo engagements allowed government to note the issues that were raised with the public and made a commitment to make interventions. - SAnews.gov.za
