Document: Socio Economic Profile 2007: Central Karoo District Municipality

Service delivery by all spheres of government has considerable influence on the quality of life. The key messages for the Socio-Economic Profiling of Local Government for SEP-LG 2007 reinforce the need to advocate a balanced developmental agenda, hence the theme entitled Service Delivery for Generational Impact. We have an obligation to contribute towards achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) while strengthening our oversight role in municipalities.

 

This year’s publication is inspired by the realisation that the decisions we take (either bad or good) as policy makers have consequences for future generations taking into consideration the changing structure of the population, the needs of the households, the structure of the economy and the outcomes from the interaction of economic agents in driving the sentiment, and the Central Karoo District’s economic

performance.

 

The SEP-LG project is in its second year of publication, deepening the understanding of the socio-economic landscape in the Central Karoo District, and driven by Bulelwa Boqwana and a team of economists from the Economic Analysis Unit. Despite the challenges surrounding the availability of data at the local level, the research has been creatively crafted to reflect the current state of affairs in the municipalities, drawing from a wide range of sources. 

 

Challenges arising from human capital deficit and other imbalances that lead to lack of social capital and environmental stress remain. It is evident that we need to take a long term view to investment. The approach to service delivery in the Central Karoo District should not be a blanket approach, but needs to focus in its own context on the quality of access to both basic and social services.