Photograph: KZN Premiers Office
Durban Mayor Mxolisi Kaunda told the KZN Economic Council Summit that the city had established war rooms to focus on skills and job creation.
Photograph: KZN Premiers Office
Government, business and labour leaders have convened the KZN Economic Council Summit in Durban which aims to build a resilient economy to create jobs.
eThekwini Municipality mayor Mxolisi Kaunda, speaking at the KZN summit, said that it was only through the concerted efforts and unity of purpose by all social partners that KZN could address the socio-economic challenges plaguing society. “We strongly believe that one of the issues we must discuss during this summit is the progress we are making in the implementation of our economic recovery plan as a province. Where there are bottlenecks, we need to propose practical solutions to unlock obstacles that impede progress,” he said.
“We must ensure that in a short space of time, all our sectors of the economy fully recover and create jobs for our people. The majority of our people face an uncertain future as their jobs continue to be on the line and statistics indicate that over 2 million people have already lost jobs during this difficult period.”
He said the eThekwini Economic Council which was established in 2020 would work closely with the KZN provincial government.
Kaunda said the council had established 15 work streams, focusing on various sectors of the economy. These work streams are developing plans to unlock the economic potential of the following sectors which are critical in driving socio-economic recovery:
“As part of translating plans emanating from these workstreams into action, we have established a Mayoral Jobs Creation and Skills Revolution War Room which works closely with the economic council. The War Room focuses on, among other things, implementation of decisions emanating from the council within specified time frames. This war room concept addresses the challenge of lack of implementation of plans by government,” Kaunda said.
However, he added that rebuilding the economy would not be an easy task, considering that even before COVID-19, KZN already faced challenges such as a high unemployment rate; low technical skills base; a monopolistic nature economy and an unreliable energy supply.
“These are some of the issues we must discuss as social partners and find practical solutions,” he said,