Eastern Cape Premier, Oscar Mabuyane says the gloomy global economy has had a structural and geo-political impact on the economic trajectory of the province.
Mabuyane is delivering the first State of the Province Address (SOPA) for the seventh administration at the Eastern Cape provincial legislature in Bhisho.
He says while the provincial economy currently stands at 2.1% which is still below the set target of 2.8% in 2025, there are plans to increase the rate of employment to 2,4 million in 2030.
“Working together with our social partners, we grew the number of employed people in the Eastern Cape to one million four-hundred and fifty thousand in 2024. We aim to increase this number to 2,4 million by 2030. We believe this is achievable because quarter four Labour Force Survey results indicate a significant decrease in the number of unemployed persons by 20 000 in our province. We are henceforth scaling up and repurposing public employment programmes to benefit over 600 000 people.”
VIDEO| In his SOPA, Eastern Cape Premier Oscar Mabuyane announced employment programmes:
Oceans economy
Mabuyane says the Department of Public Works and Infrastructure has begun the processing of gazetting Hamburg and Mbizana harbours in a bid to make fishing accessible for budding and experienced fishers in the outskirts of the province.
He says this investment is extremely necessary for the growth of the oceans economy.
“Government has allocated an initial amount of R10 million to support small-scale fishers with infrastructure such as cages and fishing boats. Additionally, we have secured approximately R10 million problue funding, which will be used to identify value chains and market channels for seaweed, abalone and finfish farming,” he says.
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