EAST LONDON – Government officials hosted a media engagement session to discuss the District Development Model (DDM) Presidential Imbizo. Led by the Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (COGTA), Thembi Nkadimeng, and supported by the Eastern Cape MEC for CoGTA, Zolile Williams. This session paves the way for the 9th DDM presidential Imbizo which will be held on the 11th of August 2023 in the Chris Hani district municipality, Eastern Cape cape.
The session aimed to provide an update on the progress made since the revival of the Presidential Imbizo program in March 2022 and discuss preparations for the upcoming DDM Presidential Imbizo.
Minister Nkadimeng highlighted the significance of the DDM as a flagship program of the current administration, emphasizing its role in tackling these triple challenges and ensuring the needs of communities are met.
During the session, Minister Nkadimeng emphasized the importance of the DDM in meeting the needs of communities and tackling socio- economic disparities. She stated, “The District Development Model (DDM) is a flagship programme of the 6th administration. It is through the DDM that government aims to tackle the triple challenges of poverty, inequality, and unemployment to ensure that the needs of communities are met.” The minister’s statement reaffirmed the government’s commitment to using the DDM as a strategic framework to address the socio-economic disparities faced by various communities.
In regards to improving Cooperative Governance, the Minister expressed that adopting the DDM as an operational model would greatly contribute to the formation of a capable, ethical, and developmental state.
“DDM also aims to enhance state capacity, institutional powers and functions which includes the ability to work in a cooperative manner so that there is greater cohesion and positive development impact.” She said
Regarding the shortage of adequate infrastructure and the damaging impact of disasters on the province’s current infrastructure, the MEC for CoGTA, Zolile Williams,emphasized that addressing these issues is a top priority “ The challenges we face during rainy season and disasters, there’s agreement in the province and infact in our submissions to the minister when we submitted all the disaster assessments we have indicated to the minister and to the National disaster center that we would want in the whole of the province for the low laying bridges to be changed. As these bridges are not helping and are affecting the economy of the province and we said in our submissions the technicians must make proposals for a changed type of bridge, where water will go under the bridge and the bridge will be sustainably able to carry transport whether it’s rainy season or not and the department is responding positively.l,” MEC added
The Director general Mbulelo Tshangana who was also present at this session said “ We have a project that the president will be visiting , state of the art project we have a number of projects. One of them was launched by the minister of higher education and training in Cofimvaba which is Intsika yethu local municipality it’s a science lab , we want scientists from this district, we want mathematicians from this district and we want astronauts from this district so we do have a state of the arts science lab in Cofimvaba.”
This media engagement session provided not only a consolidated report on the progress made so far but also shed light on the readiness for the forthcoming DDM Presidential Imbizo. Government officials are actively working towards promoting inclusive development, uplifting disadvantaged communities, and delivering effective governance through the implementation of the DDM.
As the government continues to prioritize poverty reduction, inequality reduction , and job creation, the DDM remains a crucial instrument in realizing these objectives.
By convening media engagements and Imbizo sessions, the government aims to ensure transparency, accountability, and effective communication with the public.
