Businesses pledge to partner with government
Gauteng MEC for Social Development, Agriculture, Rural Development and Environment, Mbali Hlophe hosted the breakfast meeting to engage business with the aim to identify possible areas of collaboration for the implementation of Gauteng Government’s elevated priorities in Townships, Informal Settlements and Hostels (TISH).
Speaking at the Business Breakfast at the JSE Offices in Sandton recently, MEC Hlophe outlined how Public-Private Partnerships can enhance both Department’s elevated priorities, namely: Food Security, Substance Abuse, Skills Development, Environmental Sustainability and Homelessness.
“We had a successful Business Breakfast at JSE following the presentation of the country’s Medium-Term Budget Speech. Despite the tough economic period, rising from the COVID-19 pandemic, energy challenges, and increasing unemployment rates, we shared insights on finding opportunities in crisis.”
“We emphasised the need for government and business to collaborate in sparking hope during despair, highlighting Gauteng Province’s efforts to harness its youthful population for socio-economic progress,” said MEC Hlophe.
“We outlined our five key provincial priorities for our joint Departments and urged businesses to partner with us in fostering Gauteng’s growth in these priority areas of poverty alleviation, combating substance abuse, empowering the homeless, promoting environmental sustainability, and revolutionising skills development.”
“We remain grateful for the positive reception and earnest discussions from business representatives at the meeting,” said MEC Hlophe.
A myriad of businesses in the province have pledged to support the Gauteng Department of Social Development and its elevated programmes in an effort to accelerate service delivery. One such organisation that pledged support is Primestars – a Sandton based company that specialises in facilitating Youth Development Programmes for high school learners from underprivileged communities.
Recently, Primestars partnered with McDonalds South Africa to empower boys from drug-ridden school, East Bank High in Alexandra, with mentorship.
This comes after the Department visited the school to bring its drug and substance abuse awareness campaign “Ke Moja Fridays” to address the scourge of substance abuse in schools.
