BuaNews (Tshwane)
Michael Appel
31 August 2007
Tshwane — The Development Bank of South Africa (DBSA) in partnership with Government has partly financed two projects that will benefit the poorest within Refilwe Township in the Metsweding District.
The projects will involve providing electricity and prepaid meter facilities to the community, as well as deal with sewage capacity and water reticulation. Delivering his keynote address at the launch of DBSA's Annual Report, Thursday, Finance Minister Trevor Manuel highlighted that the DBSA plays a crucial role in capacity building for infrastructure development.
"[The DBSA is] a key development finance institution that has a crucial role to play in building capacity to undertake and finance infrastructure, and contribute to the region's achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)."
The minister said economic growth should not be pursued for the mere sake of attaining economic growth, "[but] we pursue economic growth because it provides people with work opportunities, and it provides people with higher incomes to buy and build houses".
Posing a question to those present at the launch, Mr Manuel asked what government's role is during times of rapid economic growth? "There are in my view, three main functions or roles of government during times of rapid growth," he said.
The first would be to sustain high rates of economic growth and create conditions to foster further growth.
The second, and probably the most important, he said, is the mandate of government to ensure that people benefit from the "fruits of faster growth".
Lastly, government's role is to identify and unblock obstacles that are likely to impede economic and social development in the future, he said.
He added the DBSA is actively involved in both the second and third roles of government.
The minister underpinned the importance of creating shared partnerships between financial institutions and civil society, communities and government. He advocated that what is necessary are innovative models of thinking involving local communities through democratic institutions with development partners such as the DBSA.
In South Africa, Mr Manuel said, we are faced with the challenge of having to translate the outcomes of 5 percent economic growth so that everyone, especially the poorest and most vulnerable benefit.
He noted, "Too often the delivery of services falls far short of what could be achieved, especially for the poor."
According to the DBSA's infrastructure barometer, the Eastern Cape has 36.2 percent of its population with no access to basic sanitation, compared to Gauteng with 5.8 percent.
"We know that 3 152 schools in our country do not have a water source on or near the school. 8 470 schools have just pit latrines and 1 532 school have absolutely no sanitation facilities," he said.
The minister appealed to the DBSA to continue the "sterling work" that has led to milestones being reached, and to continue putting "shoulder to the wheel to support the reconstruction of our country and region". -
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