The community of Saulsville recently engaged with the provincial Economic Development department on topics discussed during this year’s state of the province address (Sopa).
The imbizo was held at the Saulsville community library on March 6, where MEC Tasneem Motara along with Gauteng Growth and Development Agency, Gambling Board, Liquor Board, Enterprise Propeller and Tourism Authority engaged with the community.
Members of the business and residential community could voice their concerns to the senior officials, and get info about the services and opportunities available to them.
Regarding the business community, concerns mainly centred around access to funding for SMMEs as well as markets, with one resident commenting “people are always told to visit Vilikazi Street, no one ever says come see Sosha or Ga-Rankuwa.”
A spokesperson to the MMC, Bongiwe Gambu, said: “We want to make the area more marketable.
“To attract more activity to the areas we need to be able to sell in packages what kind of goods and services the area can offer to attract both foreign and local investment.”
Gambu said that it was not just the MMC that was in the firing line of the community’s concerns as CEOs and senior officials were available to explain the particular requirements needed for local businesses to receive assistance.
The imbizo took place from 12:00-17:30, business were addressed from 12:00-13:00 followed by a public meeting from 16:00-17:30.
Gambu says that the issues brought up during the community engagement are “not unique to the area”.
Topics such as crime, deteriorating infrastructure, service delivery, school overcrowding and lack of housing were addressed during the session.
“Tshwane is our constituency, we are always going to be here and we are grateful to have an MMC that is extremely passionate about economic development. We are in regular contact with our fellow departments and other entities to bring the changes and services our residents need,” Gambu assured.
The department wants to revitalise job creation through its Township Economic Revitalisation Project, which will prepare the youth and other job seekers for employment in the fourth industrial revolution during various training programmes.
For more information, visit the department’s social media pages:
Facebook – Gauteng Department of Economic Development
Twitter – GautengDED
LinkedIn – Gauteng Department of Economic Development
Do you have more information about the story?
Please send us an email to [email protected] or phone us on 083 625 4114.
For free breaking and community news, visit Rekord’s websites: Rekord East
For more news and interesting articles, like Rekord on Facebook, follow us on Twitter or Instagram