President Cyril Ramaphosa has lauded the Northern Cape for being fertile ground for investment and a target for big investments in the near future.
The President said the Northern Cape has been able to create more jobs and the level of unemployment is continuously coming down in relation to other provinces.
“The Northern Cape is a big target for big investments that are going to come. I was in Saudi Arabia and some of the companies that are seeing investment opportunities here in the Northern Cape, with regards to solar, renewables and green hydrogen [power], want to come to no other place other than this province, and I hope you are all ready for the investments that will be coming here,” the President said.
The President was speaking during the 5th Presidential Imbizo held at the Mxolisi Dicky Jacobs Stadium in the ZF Mgcawu District in Upington, Northern Cape.
To date, President Ramaphosa has visited five provinces namely the North West, Free State, Mpumalanga, Gauteng and Northern Cape, where he interacted with residents.
The Presidential Imbizo provides a platform for the President to engage with communities on their experiences of daily life and service delivery by government.
President Ramaphosa said the province has great potential.
“We are going to see continuous investments flowing in where… our government [will] also beginning to focus on new ways of doing things… We need to build more schools here… we need to be forward-looking and be able to finance schools that should be built now and project the finances into the future,” he said.
Similarly, the President said his administration should do that with housing as well, which is one of the main challenges raised by community members.
“These are wonderful experiments that we want to put in place here in the Northern Cape and we will do it. I want to… [send] my gratitude to everyone who participated in the imbizo in a disciplined, dedicated and patient manner,” the President said.