SOPA| Dukwana prioritises economic transformation, jobs and delivery of basic services

PHUTI MOSOMANE

JOB creation, delivery of basic services and economic growth are some of the key priorities for newly elected Free State Premier, Mxolisi Dukwana.

Dukwana, who last week replaced Sisi Ntombela as the new Premier of the Free State, delivered his maiden State of the Province Address (SOPA) on Tuesday in Mangaung.

“To deal with these challenges, we have embarked on a decisive path of recovery. The Free State official unemployment rate declined from 38.1% in the third quarter of 2021 to 33.8% in the third quarter of 2022,” said Dukwana.

He said the mostly rural province of the Free State has just developed 11 Economic Sector Master Plans and was now in the process of reviewing the Free State Growth and Development Strategy.

“This will deepen our initiatives to create an enabling environment for inclusive growth, investment attraction, economic transformation and job creation,” said Dukwana.

He told Members of the Provincial Legislature (MPL) that the Free State has created at least 50 082 job opportunities through the Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP) across the three spheres of government.

Of this number, the Community Works Programme contributed 26 871 job opportunities.

Dukwana said the composition of the participants of these job opportunities is aligned to “stated priorities of designated groups as 36 839 beneficiaries were women while 17 197 were youth and 407 were persons with disabilities.”

Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) are key drivers of economic growth and job creation, in the current financial year, and 869 enterprises were provided with financial and non-financial support, of which 472 were youth-owned.

He said the Free State Development Corporation (FSDC) provided financial support to 24 Small and Medium Enterprises, including eight youth-owned Contractor Development Programme businesses.

“We will undertake a substantial review of the current state of our public entities