The Gauteng provincial government will invest R15 million in infrastructure for smart cities in the new financial year, in a bid to trim unemployment.
Finance MEC Mandla Nkomfe this morning presented the province's 2012 budget speech in the Gauteng legislature. He said unemployment in general and youth unemployment in particular remain unacceptably high in SA and the province.
“Clearly, this is a cause of concern, hence, we urge everyone in government, organised labour, and the private sector to do whatever is legally possible to address the unemployment challenge.”
Nkomfe said government would intensify its efforts to boost economic growth through initiatives such as developing strategic infrastructure to stimulate employment-led economic growth.
Gauteng would also build an innovation and knowledge-based economy to drive entrepreneurship and competitiveness such as through investments in broadband and smart city innovations, said Nkomfe.
“The knowledge-based economy is vital for driving the competitiveness and growth in the province. In support of these developments, R15 million will be invested in infrastructure which supports smart city innovations during the 2012/13 financial year.”
Gauteng will also reindustrialise identified economic nodes to support the growth of labour-intensive industries, said Nkomfe. “These re-industrialisation initiatives seek to train tool-making artisans, steel industry sector developments, develop the automotive sector, and 20 business process outsourcing and off-shoring enterprises by 2014.”
Share