Nene calls on govt, private sector to spend more on community development
Former finance minister Nhlanhla Nene says government needs to rethink it's budget and resource allocation strategies to benefit communities.
Nene, who was speaking in his capacity as the chair of Thebe Investment Corporation, was speaking during a webinar on socio-economic development on Tuesday.
Nene said the recent looting and vandalism in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng is proof communities need to lead their own rebuilding efforts.
"In the 2021 financial year our government spent R413 billion on social services, the bulk of it went to social protection. Now rethinking our budget means certain resources must be made available to communities to build or to rebuild their own social infrastructures," he said.
Nene said the resource allocation should not be tied to government programs or policies.
The role of the private sector
"Our companies in South Africa, both local and multinational corporations, spent R10 billion in 2020 on corporate social investment. Half of this went towards education projects, with 15% to social and community development and 9% to health. A large percentage went to food security and agriculture," said Nene.
He said to strengthen social economic fabric of society, both the state and the private sector must think deeply about social and community investment.
"There needs to be a greater focus on community development, community development matters a great deal because without it social and economic infrastructure build by either government or the private sector runs the risk of vandalised.”
He made an example of the vandalism at public schools which have been equipped with up-to-date technology.
Nene said with the support of agencies, community members can identify and take collective action on issues which are important to them.
He said through this, more communities will be empowered.
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