The Gauteng government will invest more than R1 billion to build and improve infrastructure for township economies in the next five years, says Premier David Makhura.
“We want to make the township economy a critical player in Gauteng’s economy. We want 30% of the Gauteng economy to be composed of township enterprises,” Premier Makhura said on Tuesday.
He said government wanted to double the size of the Gauteng economy and grow it to a two trillion rand economy over the next 15 years.
Speaking at a one-day Summit on Township Economic Revitalisation, at Orlando Stadium in Soweto, he said government was responding to the needs of the township entrepreneurs.
Premier Makhura said the Gauteng provincial government was looking at seven interventions which would help grow the township economies
“The government has pledged an amount of R60 million in the current financial year to invest in building proper infrastructure for township entrepreneurs to be able to do their business in better conditions,” Premier Makhura said.
He said in the month of October government would invest several billions of rands into the revitalisation of the public transport infrastructure.
Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa said: “Innovation is what drives economies, I want you to sit back and think what you can do that is innovative. Winners in any business are those who are innovative, who think out of the box,” he said.
“We should not aim just to remain here; the township economy is our launch pad. We must launch ourselves like a rocket,” he said, and called on big business to support township economies.
http://sanews.gov.za/south-africa/r1bn-build-improve-township-economies
