DURBAN - President Cyril Ramaphosa will on Friday lead a district development model (DDM) visit to the Ugu District, focusing on the development of the Eastern Seaboard which is set to traverse the KwaZulu-Natal and Eastern Cape provinces along a 600km stretch between the eThekwini and Buffalo City Metros.
The event will be held at Ugu Sports and Leisure.
Ramaphosa will be accompanied by the Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Dr Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma; the Premiers of KwaZulu-Natal, Sihle Zikalala and Eastern Cape, Oscar Mabuyane; the mayors of Ugu, Harry Gwala, O.R. Tambo and Alfred Nzo districts and mayors of local municipalities.
The DDM was initiated by Ramaphosa and later adopted by the cabinet in 2019, to facilitate cooperative governance through sound intergovernmental planning, budgeting, implementation and monitoring.
At the time the president identified the “pattern of operating in silos” as a challenge which led to “to lack of coherence in planning and implementation and has made monitoring and oversight of the government's programme difficult”.
The consequence, the president said, was the non optimal delivery of services which undermined efforts at tackling the triple challenges of poverty, inequality and unemployment.
The Eastern Seaboard Development spans two provinces, four districts and 17 municipalities situated along the 600km coastline.
Presidency spokesperson Tyrone Seale said the visit was part of a phased systematic process of institutionalising the DDM in practice.
“The DDM methodology seeks to address better planning and integration within government and between government and social partners, with a view enabling inclusive growth and development,” Seale said.
He added that the development constituted one of the DDM flagship projects, aimed at building inclusive local economies through leveraging district endowments, comparative advantages and optimising industrial structures.
The Eastern Seaboard Development will be pursued under the theme #Building_Together in keeping with the principles of the DDM approach, Seale said.
he president will also engage with traditional leaders as well as business and government representatives in joint plenary discussions.
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