Lekwa Local Municipality 2013/14 - Co-operative Governance and ...

“To be the leading, people centered municipality excelling in economic growth, development and governance”partnerships and infrastructure investments needed to act as a catalyst for industrial growth anddevelopment. Local Economic Development and Growth: The District, in partnership with other spheres ofgovernment, will use its resources to: Promote and support SMMEs and emerging entrepreneurs; Promote and support the sustainability of existing business; and Increase local beneficiation and shared economic growth. Agriculture, Forestry, Manufacturing and Mining: The District will facilitate and actively promoteinvestment opportunities in downstream opportunities of its raw materials within agriculture,forestry, manufacturing / petrochemicals, and mining sectors. Environmental Management: The District boasts one of the country’s largest wetlands, and features aunique and sensitive eco-system, responsible for the general well-being of not only the District, butalso the economic hub of South Africa, namely Gauteng. Consequently, the District will all supportdevelopment(s) aimed at meeting the following objectives: Biodiversity; Promotion and protection of indigenous plants and vegetation; Rehabilitation and revival of local streams and rivers; Eco-tourism activities.2.12 The Gert Sibande Spatial Development Framework, 2009 (GSSDF)The Gert Sibande Spatial Development Framework, 2009 (GSSDF) drafted for the Gert Sibande DistrictMunicipality, is based on the following development principles: To actively protect, enhance and manage the natural environmental resources of the District, in orderto ensure a sustainable equilibrium between biodiversity conservation, mining, manufacturing andindustrial activities, agriculture, forestry, and tourism related activities within the District. To optimally capitalize on the strategic location of the District and its five key economic strips /corridors, and to functionally link all towns and settlements to one another through establishing andmaintaining a strategic road and rail network comprising internal and external linkages. To utilize the existing natural environmental, cultural-historic and man-made activity areas within theDistrict as Tourism Anchors and Nodes; and to develop and promote the eastern parts of the District(around route R33) as a Primary Tourism Corridor linking the Lowveld Tourism Precinct to the north (in Ehlanzeni), to the St Lucia Tourism Precinct located to the south ofthe District. To promote forestry within and along the identified Primary Tourism Corridor. To promote intensive and extensive commercial farming activities throughout the District, and tofacilitate and concentrate subsistence farming activities within certain rural communities. To unlock the development potential of existing towns through developing industry specific SpecialEconomic Zones / Economic Clusters throughout the District, in line with the MPISF and the provincialLED Strategy. To ensure that all communities have access to at least the minimum levels of service as enshrined inthe Constitution. To establish a functional hierarchy of towns and settlements in the District, and to ensure equitableaccess to social infrastructure and the promotion of local economic development by way of Multi-Purpose Community Centres (MPCCs). To facilitate and accommodate mining in the District in a sustainable manner in order to support localelectricity generation and industrial development. To consolidate the urban structure of the District around the highest order centres by way of infilldevelopment and densification in Strategic Development Areas (SDAs). In order to ensure alignment between the Lekwa Local Municipality SDF and the District SDF theseprinciples should be applied when drafting the Spatial Framework.Specific development proposals with regard to Lekwa Local Municipality are as follows:33 | P a g e - D r a f t i n t e g r a t e d D e v e l o p m e n t P l a n 2 0 1 3 / 2 0 1 4