NW Department of Economic Development squanders R17 million on fruitless feasibility studies

24 July 2019

The Democratic Alliance (DA) in North West will write to the MEC for the Department of Economic Development, Environment and Tourism (DEDECT), Keneitswe Mosenogi, requesting her to investigate the R17 424 000 spent on feasibility studies commissioned to the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) between 2014 and 2018.

During the adoption of the Annual Performance Plan (APP) of DEDECT yesterday, Tuesday 23 July 2019, it came to light that feasibility studies into the development of viable business plans have indeed been conducted, but has never been implemented by the Department.

The Department identified eleven high impact industrial sector development projects in different sectors through structured consultations, research and information analysis in 2012.

Business plans were initiated in 2013 and the CSIR was to conduct the feasibility studies, of which the reports were given to the North West Development Corporation (NWDC) for implementation.

The process to develop preliminary terms of reference for conducting feasibility in the identified projects then commenced.

Funding, of which the amount was not specified by the Department, was made available in the 2013/14 financial year and the first round of business plans were handed over to NWDC, but due to their lack of an implementation strategy, the business plans were merely left to collect dust.

In 2014/15, funding was redirected to the Integrated Economic Development Services (IEDS) Unit within the Department and after the NWDC was moved to the Office of the Premier, this Unit approached the National Empowerment Fund (NEF) in an attempt to source funding for some of the projects.

The NEF identified three projects that they were interested in funding, but this was not approved by the MEC’s office. The reason cited was that the implementation of projects cannot be conducted by an entity outside of the Department.

The incessant failure by the Department to ensure the implementation of the business plans indicates their utmost disrespect for the people’s money.

With close to one million unemployed people in North West, economic growth is essential. This substantial loss of potential jobs proves that the failing ANC is not capable of growing an economy conducive to job creation.

Where the DA is in government, we implement economic policies that create jobs, not only in the Western Cape, but also in the metros and municipalities we govern.

Issued by Jacqueline Theologo, DA North West Spokesperson on Economic Development, Environment, Conservation and Tourism, 24 July 2019