By Nangamso Mabindla
3 August 2005

ONE OF the main focuses of the newly formed Buffalo City Development Agency is to help the municipality to alleviate poverty in the region.

Gaster Sharpley, the agency's chief executive, said this was in line with the pro-poor Provincial Growth Development Plan. That plan aims to halve unemployment and reduce poverty by 2014.

It focuses on empowering the province's poor by creating employment opportunities for them, and decreasing the number of people who depend on government grants.

Like the provincial plan, the City agency wants to use development potential to deal with poverty. According to the Buffalo City Integrated Development Plan (IDP), 53 percent of the city's 880 000-strong population are unemployed.

At the IDP hearings in April, the City heard that the public thought some of the barriers to job creation and investment in the region included the government's inability to move fast regarding investment decisions and the slow pace of doing business.

In outlining plans to set up the city agency, Sharpley said there were many opportunities for the agency to help the city's development.

"Some of these include the race track on the West Bank, the Esplanade on the beachfront, the Sleeper Site in Quigney and the Marina Glen," he said. "We need to look at utilising these areas in order to lure investors and create employment opportunities for our people."

Executive Mayor Sindisile Maclean has suggested that the proposed 40&nsbp;000 seater stadium for the World Cup 2010 be built close to the west bank race track. The Marina Glen could be used to lure investors interested in building a multi-purpose hotel at the beachfront.

Sharpley also outlined a strategy that needed to be put in place if the agency was to fight poverty successfully.

This included appointing a board and staff to the organisation, developing systems to lure investors and receiving development interests from potential investors.

"Most importantly, we need to consult the communities we serve regarding investment, because they stand to benefit from [that] investment ... and we need to create sustainability for the agency," he said.

The agency would design a master plan for the beachfront, one of the city's main attractions. "Our agency needs to benefit our future generations," Sharpley concluded.