GARDEN ROUTE NEWS - At the inaugural State of the District Address (SODA) - mere days before the 1 000 days in office mark - the executive mayor, Councillor Memory Booysen reflected on the Garden Route District Municipality's current programmes, successes and plans going forward.

Booysen highlighted the expected increasing demand on basic infrastructure requirements that will stem from rapid population growth in the area.

"The built environment of our district has changed profoundly, as a result of access to basic services since 2016.

"The population is expected to grow in our region at a rapid pace – research done by South African Cities Network reveals that 63% of the current population in South Africa reside in urban areas, this will rise to 71% by 2030.

"Our population is expected to grow from 635 600 (2019) to an estimated 679 213 (2024)."

Service delivery progress
"Despite the challenges we may be confronted with in the near future, there has been remarkable improvement in the level of service delivery in our region," Booysen said.

• Access to water: households with access to piped water inside the dwelling or yard or within 200 metres from yard is at 96.9%
• Access to electricity: households with access to electricity as primary source of energy for lighting purposes is 96.1%
• Access to sanitation: households with access to flush toilet connected to sewerage system is 94.3%
• Access to refuse removal is 88.8%
• Access to formal dwellings is 85.7%

The mayor emphasised that every achievement is accompanied by its challenges, and listed the perpetual dependency ratio which has grown to 56,1%, and the proportion of poor people below poverty lines within the district at 40,5%, as major concerns.

Risks:
"We are confronted by three socio economic risks, namely slow economic growth, an increase in demand for services, and rising unemployment."

A fire risk assessment project is set to be completed by April 2019. An Invasive Species Monitoring, Control and Eradication Plan was developed, which is a requirement in terms of National Environmental Management and Biodiversity Act (NEMBA).

Booysen highlighted the IDP objectives for 2019/20 financial year:

• Healthy and Socially Stable Communities; Expenditure R47 Million.
• A skilled Workforce and Community; Expenditure R15 Million.
• Bulk Infrastructure Co-ordination; Expenditure R170 Million.
• Environmental Management and Public Safety; Expenditure R62 Million.
• Good governance; Expenditure R77 Million.
• Financial Viability; Expenditure R24 Million.
• An inclusive District Economy; Expenditure R13 Million.

"Our total expenditure for 2019/2020 financial year is estimated at R410 Million, inclusive of capital and operating expenditure."

Growth
"We are focusing our attention on programmes on the key parts of the economy that are labour intensive. These include Agriculture and Tourism, Mayor Booysen said.

He added that the potential of agriculture for job creation and economic growth remains largely underdeveloped, and mentioned the large areas of unproductive land or land laying-fallow. "Council has taken a decision of availing vacant land for economic development initiatives. An MOU with the Department of Agriculture is being finalised for the development of emerging farmers. We have already leased land to black farmers for Aquaponics farming in Glentana and Western Cape Honey-bush Tea near Oudtshoorn."

Booysen added that efforts in marketing the region as a prime destination of choice is gradually yielding results. "Our highest priority of enhancing destination marketing was evident in the four events that we financially supported, namely the Herold Meander Saxophone Festival, Ostrich Crawl Festival in Oudtshoorn, Mossel Bay Soul Festival and Hessequa Proe Bietjie Festival."

Please click here for the full State of the District Address.

'We bring you the latest Mossel Bay, Garden Route news'