EC finds guidance in Seoul deal

EASTERN Cape Premier Phumulo Masualle has just returned from leading a visit aimed at strengthening the economic and diplomatic ties with South Korea.

He left the province in the capable hands of a woman, acting premier Helen Sauls, to lead the high-level delegation to strengthen ties with a country led by a woman president.

Masualle was accompanied by the MEC for economic development, environmental affairs and tourism, Sakhumzi Somyo, as well as agriculture MEC Mlibo Qhoboshiyane and senior bureaucrats Bongani Gxilishe and Mahlubandile Qwase.

The South Korea initiative is in line with the ties which our province has cemented with the German state of Lower Saxony.

In remarks to the portfolio committee in the office of the premier prior to his departure for Seoul, Masualle said the “jury is still out” on whether the Eastern Cape was succeeding in its efforts to address spatial and structural inequalities in the economy. The members of the committee left the meeting aware that if we were to make an impact, structural changes would have to be made centrally, starting with the next budget cycle.

It was against this background that the delegation led by Masualle left for South Korea to examine ways of improving the primary economy as opposed to the tertiary economy of the province.

The Eastern Cape closed the year in a liquid position. Audit outcomes remained the same, with three departments with previous clean audits regressing to unqualified audits, and two matters of emphasis on the premier’s office – one in treasury and another at the cooperative governance and traditional affairs department.

Masualle appraised the committee on how Eastern Cape municipalities had spent 96% of their municipal infrastructure grant (Mig) allocations for the year and how this was a significant improvement compared to previous years.

He also stressed that although such expenditure was commendable, much more was still required to improve both the quality and effectiveness of the expenditure to ensure that our 6.5 million citizens benefited from such expenditure.

The Eastern Cape is improving its governance and institutional stability, building on the legacy of previous administrations. Some highlights are:

Eleven out of 12 heads of department are now in place, together with a capable new woman director-general;

Food security campaigns are beginning to yield tangible results with more subsistence farmers benefiting through rural enterprise development hubs at Mqanduli and Ncorha;

The province registered success in women-owned farming enterprise development with some of its entities getting recognition nationally. Eastern Cape-born Nokwanele Mzamo emerged as the top female entrepreneur in agriculture last year.

In South Korea, Masualle’s delegation placed crucial importance on the blue economy, focusing on initiatives to harness maritime banking. South Korea has developed expertise based on a plethora of coastal fishing villages similar to our own Wild Coast.

The delegation wants to ensure that the Eastern Cape, with more than 800km of the country’s coastline, unleashes its potential in terms of the ocean economy which President Jacob Zuma launched through Operation Phakisa last year.

The revitalisation of East London Port, identified for boat building and ship repair, was also key in the talks, as was Ngqura with respect to oil rig repairs.

In the state of the province address in February, Masualle identified five aquaculture development zones in the province in Qolorha, the East London Industrial Development Zone (IDZ); Hamburg; Coega IDZ and Port Elizabeth Port.

A few months ago, the premier committed to establishing direct support to youth programs via the creation of a youth unit in his office. South Korea places a premium on the education of its youth population and has 65% of its citizens in the 25- to 34-year-old cohort with bachelor degrees. This figure is the highest in the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development zone.

Our further education and training colleges, together with technical, vocational, educational and training colleges, as well as skills education training authorities, stand to benefit directly from the South Korean visit. Agreements reached will ensure that outputs from these institutions contribute to a much broader skills base.

Trade, investment and skills development forms the backbone of the relations between South Africa’s “Home of Legends” province and South Korea.

Masualle indicated in last year’s state of the province address (Sopa) that “the strategic logic of our infrastructure programme in the province will also ensure we prioritise linkages with mineral producing regions in the country to promote large scale industrialisation in the province”.

This will stand as a key output of this strategic interaction with our South Korean counterparts. South Korea’s techno- and agri-parks are better equipped to share their expertise with our own home-grown IDZ institutions. The province may register successes in the near future, especially in its revitalisation of our Magwa and Majola tea estates which were boosted by R15million through a recent provincial executive committee resolution.

True to Masualle’s closing remarks in his Sopa in February this year, “We too in the Eastern Cape are captains of our souls; we too are masters of our fate.”

Siyaqhuba!

We too in the Eastern Cape are captains of our souls . . . masters of our fate

Nomfanelo Kota is a communications manager in the office of the premier.