Msukaligwa Local Municipality 2008/09 - Co-operative Governance ...

Social inclusion strategiesA first stage should be to establish who and where the most vulnerable communities are, and then develop strategies to include them. These strategiescould include, for example, language programs for ethnic minority communities, helping women into/back to work encouraging the recruitment ofdisabled people into the workplace, and encouraging social activities for the very young and elderly citizens.Crime prevention measuresThese can include everything from introducing ‘good citizenship’ classes into the school curriculum, to initiating after-school activities to keep youngpeople busy. Other initiatives could include everything from drug-free zones to imposing curfews at night Present initiatives such as the proposedSecurity Parking system for the Ermelo CBD would promote this objective.Cluster developmentCluster development means that LED initiatives are concentrated on encouraging and supporting inter-firm collaboration, institutional development and supportin targeted industrial sectors. Cluster developments undertaken within a broader LED strategy that would normally include the standard approaches. Programsand projects include:Developing broker and network agenciesSpecial attention is paid to encouraging local people engaged in the same cluster to meet together to enable business development opportunities. Thesecould include encouraging local builders / developers and estate agents to meet and exchange ideas on improving facilities and adding more value totheir products so they would all benefit another example could be to start a craft network. The network could jointly market their goods and then startinter-trading with each other to build synergies.Supporting joint researchInstitutions of higher learning can undertake research that benefit all in the cluster.Developing cluster-focused public procurement and local purchasing agreementsThe Msukaligwa Municipality is one of the largest buyers in the Msukaligwa Jurisdiction and as such there are opportunities to enable local businesses toaccess tender processes more easily. It is often difficult for small businesses, in a cluster or not to bid for large government contracts. A cluster initiativehere could include developing a food supplier network to supply government catering needs. A logical cluster development initiative could be toencourage suppliers of basic food products to enter into some form of food processing. Cluster development activities could then move on totransportation, storage and packaging of food products. From there it is likely businesses could start retailing and producing processed foods for theprivate sector.Providing cluster specific informationOnes of the most effective ways of developing a cluster is to gather and disseminate information about businesses and Institutional support systems inthe cluster. Thereafter, with a small effort, supplier linkages can be developed.Msukaligwa Municipality: Integrated Development Plan 2007/2012 251