The ANC in Dr WB Rubusana will soon convene a regional general council where a plan to deal with high levels of unemployment in the region will be crafted.
Addressing delegates at last weekend’s elective meeting at the city hall in East London, newly elected regional chair Pumlani Mkolo said the plan would include a clear strategy on how to revamp ailing infrastructure.
Among major projects which have been shelved for years, is the much-anticipated multi-billion-rand Sleeper Site project that will change the “old” face of the East London CBD, the Quigney area and beachfront area of the Eastern Beach.
In 2017, municipal manager Andile Sihlahla announced in council that there was a plan to obtain “first-class” office accommodation for 104 politicians and officials in the East London CBD, a building which will need 2776m² of land.
Currently the municipality is renting office space and some of these buildings are in a poor state of repair.
Mkolo said: “The regional executive has to prioritise infrastructure development in this city because indirectly this will create jobs. Not just any jobs, but sustainable jobs. These are jobs that will ensure that poor households are better positioned for the future.
“The ANC does not create jobs. But as a governing party we have the responsibility to provide leadership such that there is intervention to deal with poverty, inequality and unemployment, which is adversely affecting women in particular. We have to address the issue of our aged infrastructure,” added Mkolo.
In order to ensure that there is a pool of skilled people to draw from within the region, Mkolo said the regional executive council (REC) would have to form partnerships with institutions of higher learning, such as the University of Fort Hare, Buffalo City College and Walter Sisulu University, in order to refer would-be students to get the sought-after skills.
Mkolo said BCM youth are trapped as there is an increase of drug and alcohol abuse.
His comments come a few days after Sanca raised the alarm about the increasing number of people in the BCM using drugs.
“As the new REC of the ANC we need to intervene and have a clear youth development plan to address the issue of skills shortage as we revamp the city’s infrastructure,” he said.
He also called on delegates to go and inform their respective communities that the party was back on its feet.
“For the past two years, that ANC was non-existent because there was no programme. We have to go back home and see how to revive the positive energy that the ANC is back.”..