Belt-tightening measures order of the day for province

FINANCE MEC Ivan Meyer will take the podium before the Western Cape parliament today to reveal just how restrained the province’s economy will be over the short term as he tables the provincial and municipal economic outlook (Pero and Mero) for the province.

The pertinent question will be what impact, if any, the Western Cape government’s policy interventions such as the Provincial Strategic Goals and the much publicised game-changers, on the socio economic-situation in the Western Cape, has had. The Pero and the Mero provides a review and analysis of economic growth, labour market dynamics and socio-economic development trends within the Western Cape.

Speaking to the Cape Argus ahead of the provincial sitting, Meyer stressed the Western Cape economy was extremely vulnerable to international and domestic shocks and could not detach itself from the risks facing the global and national economy.

“Some of these risks will have a greater impact on the Western Cape than the rest of South Africa,” he added.

With economic growth in the province slowing to 2.1percent in 2014, Meyer indicated he would have to lay down the law and highlight the challenge to his colleagues to consider how the province should respond.

With the Western Cape’s main priority being job creation and growing the economy, the Finance MEC will have to show if the Pero and Mero provides an indication of whether the provincial government is succeeding in making a dent in the unemployment numbers.

“The focus brought about by policy interventions such as Project Khulisa are reflected in the very positive developments in the agribusiness, renewable energy and tourism sectors.” he said.

Recent reports suggested the Western Cape had attracted a significant increase in new investments, and Meyer said he was pleased in the investment in renewable energy in the Caledon area and the growing acknowledgement of the work taking place in the creative economy and technology sector. He gave a glimpse of what was to come :

The proportion of households considered to be poor had decreased.

The unemployment rate was estimated at 20.8 percent.

The majority of the province’s unemployed had incomplete secondary education.

Life expectancy continued to increase and there had been improvements in infant, child and maternal mortality rates, and the Western Cape achieved the highest matric pass rate nationally, with 41.7percent of these pupils achieving a Bachelor’s pass which allowed entry into a Bachelor’s degree study programme.

The 2016 Municipal Economic Review and Overview (Mero) would highlight that economic recovery was on track in the regions in the province and that the West Coast and Winelands Districts had caught up with the traditional fast growing regional economies such as the Eden and Overberg District municipalities.

The population had, however, grown faster than economic growth in most municipalities, implying a reduction in the GDP per capita during the post-recession period.

He said social indicators had moved in a positive direction and included increasing access to basic services across all municipalities, decreasing indigent households in Bergrivier, Breede Valley, Theewaterskloof, George, Hessequa and Prince Albert municipalities; decreasing poverty intensity and poverty headcount in the Overberg and Eden Districts, lower TB patients in Central Karoo District and increasing matric pass rates, among others.

Social indicators such as informal dwellers, households without income, crime, substance abuse and people with no schooling, teenage pregnancies and high unemployment levels, however, remained a concern.

Meyer warned the weak economic growth, coupled with high levels of unemployment, would likely result in the increase in demand for public services.