Gina to visit Port Nolloth to assess available economic opportunities

Gina is visiting the Northern Cape coastal town as a champion of the Namakwa District Development Model (DDM).

Trade, Industry and Competition Deputy Minister, Nomalungelo Gina, will be visiting Port Nolloth to assess available economic opportunities in various towns in the Namakwa District Municipality, for the benefit of residents.

Gina is visiting the Northern Cape coastal town as a champion of the Namakwa District Development Model (DDM).

During her two-day visit, on Monday and Tuesday, Gina will hold a meeting with the leadership of the Richtersveld Local Municipality and other stakeholders, accompanied by Namakwa District Municipality Mayor Mervin Cloete.

The DDM technical and political work in the district has produced a Nine-Point Plan on key developmental priorities for the district that will be implemented in various local municipalities through the collaboration of the district leadership, as well as the provincial and national governments.

The plan seeks to drive socio-economic development across the district’s six local municipalities through various measures such as infrastructure revitalisation from harbours to small towns, and harnessing minerals economy, agriculture and fisheries.

Gina said they are looking forward to the engagements in Port Nolloth, as they expect them to facilitate the successful implementation of the Nine-Point strategy throughout the district with the aim of changing the lives of the people of the district for the better.

“One of the interventions proposed by the Plan is the revitalisation of the Port Nolloth Harbour in order to stimulate various economic activities around the port that will also benefit small and medium enterprises,” Gina said.

She added that the Richtersveld Local Municipality will also get an opportunity to provide a brief on key projects whose rollout can be expedited by the participation, or support of both provincial and national governments, as well as various agencies of government.

The Deputy Minister will spend the second day of her engagements conducting site visits to some of the areas where infrastructure projects in the Namakwa District Development Plan are located within Port Nolloth town.

“The aim is to ensure that there is fast-tracked and measurable implementation of projects which will impact positively on the socio-economic lives of the people of the district, in line with the objectives of the District Development Model,” Gina said.

Namakwa is one of the 44 districts around the country where the District Development Model, which was adopted by Cabinet in August 2019, will be rolled out to speed up service delivery and economic development, including job creation.

The objective of the model is to coordinate a government response to the triple challenges of poverty, unemployment and inequality. 

The DDM propagates efficient implementation of practical solutions to the socio-economic challenges that people experience in various parts of the country. 

(With Inputs from South African Government Press Release)