Sustainable Development in Provincial Growth & Development Strategies

1. Sustainable Development in Provincial Growth & Development Strategies Presentation to the Western Cape Sustainable Development Conference June 2005 By Sibusiso Xaba Deputy Director General: Economic & Development Planning Gauteng Department of Finance & Economic Affairs

2. Outline • Sustainable Development; • Growth Strategies; • The Growth & Development Strategy for the Gauteng Province; • Some challenges; • Possible solutions; • Conclusions.

3. Sustainable Development • Meeting the needs of the present generations, without compromising (& perhaps even creating a better platform) the ability of future generations to meet their needs; • Balancing the needs for economic growth, social development and environmental integrity.

4. Provincial Growth & Development Strategies • Prepared by agreement in the President’s Co-ordinating Council; • Prepared and adopted in various fashions, responding to the specific condition of each Province; • PGDS’s take various forms and emphases as per the needs of each Province; • Most Provinces have completed or are completing their PGDS processes; • In 2004, the President announced the initiatives to align the NSDP, the PGDS’s and IDP’s, essentially to realize a better aligned planning system in the country; • DPLG is currently in a process of preparing guidelines on PGDSs.

5. Provincial Growth & Development Strategies • However, some common emerging issues: • PGDS’s should be strategic development frameworks; • PGDS’s should make choices on growth trajectories & cannot be everything we do; • PGDS’s should give direction & a level of predictability to various sectors of society regarding growth and development; • PGDS’s should seek to harness the energies, skills and resources of all the sectors of society towards the achievement of the Provinces development priorities; • PGDS’s should be linked to National (International) development priorities; • PGDS’s are not spatial plans, but are development plans with spatial elements (large or small, depending on the choices that are made).

6. The Growth & Development Strategy for the Gauteng Province • In May 2004, Gauteng EXCO decided to develop the GDS; • It has its foundation in the Gauteng Trade & Industry Strategy, the Gauteng Integrated Development Plan, the Gauteng Local Economic Development Strategy, and the Gauteng State of the Environment Report, etc; • The GDS is a plan not just the Provincial Government, but for the Gauteng Province as a whole; • Seeks to: • Coherent visionary 8 year growth & development perspective; • A framework to guide government actions; • A statement of purpose as a basis for partnership.

7. The Growth & Development Strategy for the Gauteng Province • Gauteng in context • The economic & industrial heartland of the country; • Home to almost 20% South Africans on only 1.4% of the SA surface area; • Contributes around 34% of the country GDP and Africa’s 4th largest economy; • Accounted for 49% of all remuneration in the country and 52% of organizations’ turnover in 2003; • Largest recipient of in-migration in the SADC; • One of the most unequal societies in the world; • Produces 80% of South Africa’s industrial waste; • Emerging as Africa’s first Global City Region.

8. The Growth & Development Strategy for the Gauteng Province • Recognize achievements over the past decade; • Acknowledge current socio-economic fault lines; • Present a framework for strategic intervention; • Demonstrate commitment through the use of credible strategic levers; • Commit to ongoing monitoring and review.

9. The Growth & Development Strategy for the Gauteng Province • The GDS outlines: • A shared vision for growth & development in the Province for the next 10 years; • Strategic objectives that we are working towards achieving; • Strategic mechanisms, which are choices on how we can achieve our objectives; • Strategic levers, which are instruments that we can use to turn things around; • Gauteng’s contribution to the achievement of the National goals of halving unemployment & poverty by 2014.

10. The Growth & Development Strategy for the Gauteng Province • Sustainability issues: • Ensuring faster, sustainable and shared growth; • Addressing poverty in the short to long term & providing appropriate levels of services to all Gautengers; • Densification, urban renewal & better located human settlements; • Ensuring good governance and partnership; • Focus on the most vulnerable sectors of society; • Upholding environmental governance.

11. Challenges • Not adequate emphasis on environmental management principles; • Dichotomy between growth and environmental management not completely resolved; • Lack of appropriate tools; • Better integration of environmental and development management governance systems;

12. Possible Solutions • Promotion of pro-active environmental planning instruments; • Better co-ordination between economic/ development planning & environmental management authorities; • Information sharing, eg monitoring systems & tools.

13. Thank you