Volume II - The Northern Cape Provincial Spatial Development ...

Northern Cape PSDF
Volume 2
December 2011
Approximately 22 drop‐in‐centres were established and are supported nationally. These are
physical structures where a comprehensive range of services are rendered with a specific focus on
meeting the needs of children, orphans, women and the frail, through programs such as after
school care, day care for HIV/AIDS infected children, provision of emotional support to
beneficiaries by social workers and, linking and referring beneficiaries to social security grants and
other services and government departments for further assistance and support. Short term
support rendered includes provision of immediate food relief in the form of food parcels, school
feeding schemes and soup kitchens (Pixley ka Seme SDF, 2007). In the Northern Cape, this type of
facility can be successful in poor, rural communities where the needs of vulnerable groups are met
holistically 41 .
E.4 COMPREHENSIVE RURAL DEVELOPMENT
E.4.1 THE COMPREHENSIVE RURAL DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM (CRDP)
The CRDP opts for a definition of rural areas from the 1997 Rural Development Framework,
adopted by the Government in 1997. These are described as ‘sparsely populated areas in which
people farm or depend on natural resources, including villages and small towns that are dispersed
throughout these areas. They include large settlements in the former homelands, created by
apartheid removals, which depend on migratory labour and remittances for their survival.’ The
CRDP is aimed at being an effective response against poverty and food insecurity by maximizing
the use and management of natural resources to create vibrant, equitable and sustainable rural
communities.
The vision of government is to create vibrant, equitable and sustainable rural communities
through social cohesion and development. CRDP is focused on enabling rural people to take
control of their destiny, thereby dealing effectively with rural poverty through optimal use and
management of natural resources. This will be achieved through a co‐ordinated and integrated
broad‐based agrarian transformation as well as strategic investment in economic and social
infrastructure that will benefit entire rural communities. This also calls for improved integration
and co‐ordination of services in development planning and social facilitation. The CRDP therefore
focuses on the following areas:
a) Land and Agrarian Transformation;
b) Social Transformation;
c) Economic Development.
In order for the CRDP to succeed, the commitments and actions of the sector departments need to
be co‐ordinated in accordance with the principle of co‐operative governance. This principle has
been given a legal foundation by the Intergovernmental Relations Framework Act (Act 13 of 2005).
This collaboration needs to focus on achieving the following:
(i) Joint planning, resource allocation and collaborative implementation of agreed rural
initiatives.
(ii) Partnerships with local government and alignment with Integrated Development Plans
(IDPs).
(iii) Increased Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) in support of rural development.
41
http://www.age‐in‐action.co.za/NC%20Background.htm – accessed on 16 September 2011.
Office of the Premier &
Department of Rural Development & Land Reform
111
Dennis Moss Partnership