Finance and Economic Opportunities

[1] [a] When was the Western Cape Economic Development Partnership [WCEDP] established,

The WCEDP was established as a Not-for-Profit Company [NPC] and Public Benefit Organisation [PBO] in April 2012.  The WCEDP legislation was promulgated in 2013: the Western Cape Membership of the Western Cape Economic Development Partnership Act, 12 of 2013 [“the WCEDP Act”].

[b] [i] Purpose of the WCEDP

The WCEDP was set up as an independent, non-partisan organisation meant to empower and connect local and regional government, the private and non-profit sectors, communities, civil society organisations, and research and academic institutions, to work together to improve the local and regional [and where possible the national] economic system.

Section 3 [1] of the WCEDP Act outlines the objectives of the WCEDP:

 “the facilitation and encouragement of the formation of effective partnerships pursuant to:

• The development of economic and market intelligence;
• The enhancement of economic system performance and monitoring; and
• The implementation of economic vision, strategy and delivery.”

[b] [ii] What is the relationship with the Department of Economic Development and Tourism [DEDAT]:

Section 6 of the WCEDP Act, defines the relationship between DEDAT and the WCEDP as follows:

• 6 [1]: “For the purpose of this Act, the accounting officer* is responsible for the financial management of any funds appropriated and transferred by the Provincial Government to the Company and must manage and account for those funds in accordance with the Public Finance Management Act”;
• 6 [2]: “The accounting officer must maintain appropriate measures to ensure that funds transferred to the Company are applied for the intended purpose, which measures must include reporting procedures as contemplated in the Public Finance Management Act.”

*     The accounting officer is defined in section 1 of the Act as the head of the provincial department responsible for economic development.

As such, the Department of Economic Development and Tourism is responsible for contracting with the WCEDP to enable the transfer of funding to them, where this has been approved and is available in alignment with normal provincial budget processes. DEDAT is therefore also responsible for the monitoring and evaluation of the transfer payment agreements [“TPAs”] that it signs with the WCEDP, in a given year.

[c] Reporting and governance structure of the WCEDP:

The WCEDP is an independent Not for Profit Company [NPC] with its own Board of Directors, currently:

• Ashoek Adhikari
• Andrew Boraine

• Barbara Hogan
• Lance Greyling
• Dhiresh Ramklass
• Letebele Masemola-Jones
• Tebogo Naledi
• David Lakay

Standard Company law applies to this company’s governance and operations.

The WCEDP reports to the WCG in line with the WCEDP Act. Practically, this takes the form of reports against signed TPAs, which incorporate approved business plans. The TPAs enable the transfer of funds in alignment with the Act.

The WCEDP may also develop reports for projects that it is working on that are called “partnership reports”[e.g., where it supports a municipality on a growth strategy development, it will provide that municipality and its stakeholders with reports relevant to progress on partnerships]. Should a project that the WCEDP is working on interface with a WCG Department’s initiative, the WCEDP will also ensure that its “partnering reports” are provided to that Department as a project stakeholder.

[d]   How does such interface with the Department of Economic Development and Tourism, with the Premier and/or with any other provincial departments’ work:

The WCEDP does not service the WCG, rather it facilitates and encourages the formation of effective partnerships between various stakeholders that can unlock economic value for the Western Cape and beyond. In doing so, it may co-opt WCG departments and officials [including the Premier] to participate in partnering processes.

The WCEDP contribution to the focus on growth and jobs takes the form of a set of programmes. These programmes, which focus on strengthening the underlying fundamentals and improving the performance of the regional economy, have been grouped under the following headings:

• Municipalities and their role in economic recovery and growth;
• Water and economic recovery and growth;
• Food and economic recovery and growth; and
• Collaborative practices for economic recovery and growth.

The WCEDP undertakes different initiatives or projects under each programme and will interface with different parts of the WCG depending on the need for partnership required by the project.

[2]  from its establishment to date, what is the total funding that the WCEDP has received from her Department, from the Department of the Premier and/or from any other provincial department and entity [a] as a direct allocation, [ii] as grant funding, [iii] through consulting or [iv] for any other related service;

A total of R122.189 million has been transferred to the WCEDP since its establishment to date from DEDAT. Of this, R4 million was allocated from funding from the Department of the Premier, R2.5 million allocated from funding from the Department of Community Safety and R500 000 was allocated from funding from the Department of Health.  

[3] [a] how much was budgeted for COVID-19 relief and recovery, led by her Department, on the Cape Flats during the [i] 2019/20 and [ii] 2020/21 financial years and [b][i] what amount was finally spent and [ii] on what?

This question is a new question, unrelated to the main question and in line with the rules of Parliament, the member is requested to submit this as a new question.