Page 10 - SDG Report

THE BROAD SECTORAL COMPOSITION OF ETHEKWINI’S GDP IN 2021 IS DEPICTED IN THE FIGURE
ETHEKWINI GVA BROAD SECTORS
Agriculture, R3727 093
Mining, R1083 351
Community services, R57913 143
Finance, R56660 536
Manufacturing, R46412 647
Electricity, R4784 146
Construction, R9900 245
Trade, R41291 145
Transport, R33849 649
Agriculture and mining are minor contributors to the economy across all metropolitan regions in 2021. eThekwini has initiated a number of programmes to assist in the alleviation of food insecurity. These include the creation of dedicated structures to drive agriculture, aqua and poultry farming; soya bean project, community support farms; community gardens, mushroom vs. hydroponics project.
In terms of urban and peri-urban agriculture the metro has an Agro Ecology Programme in place which complements other municipal policies which focus on poverty and unemployment. There are seven agricultural hubs and 16 fishponds in place.
Secondary Sector: The dominant sectors in the metro mirror those of the province, except for tourism, which also includes various other sectors especially the retail trade, catering and accommodation sub sectors. We note that these sectors especially tourism have been most affected by the Covid Pandemic.
The Covid-19 pandemic has had a devastating impact on the eThekwini municipal region since March 2020, when national government commenced the series of lockdowns that affected a multitude of sectors – textiles, education services, catering, and accommodation (including tourism), beverages, tobacco, footwear, and transport. In many instances, the small and medium enterprises were the most negatively impacted. The City’s GDP and employment trends during the lengthy lockdown were also adversely affected. While the City was able to effect swift changes to the budget, continue with basic services and assist those most affected, the pandemic has left a lasting impact which will take many years to restore back to health.
While many sectors have resumed activity following the series of lockdowns, which as of 1 October 2021 sits at level 1, it is expected that a small percentage of people will continue to work from home – a phenomena that many believe is the future trend of businesses, especially those in the services sector which has now been fast-tracked due to the pandemic. This will have a negative impact on the property market in terms of demand for office space and rental growth over the next five years. It is expected that the
demand for warehousing may continue during the pandemic as many businesses have put supply chains under great stress which has promoted a trend to further diversify their supply of products to mitigate this risk.
The eThekwini Municipality’s Economic Recovery Plan was crafted to address the impacts from the pandemic which has wreaked havoc on the health and economic value chains globally, threatening a protracted recession and possibly a depression. While various stimulus packages have been made available from national government and the private sector to assist with food parcels for the most vulnerable, National Treasury stipulated that they will not bail out municipalities. To this end, the Stimulus Plan – which also aligns with and draws from the National Recovery Plan, has addressed the short and medium-term impacts of the pandemic and submitted a suite of action plans. These included the adjustment of the capital budget, focusing on only those major projects that may contribute significantly to the city’s rates base, providing sector-specific relief measures or reducing the costs of various municipal fees relating to building plans and other permits, offering subsidies to businesses in the hospitality industry so that the transition to optimal trading activity is made as painless as possible, boosting local tourism as international visits are unlikely to occur within the next two years. All these measures were aimed at stabilizing the local economy and putting the city on the path to recovery.
The pandemic has increased the number of people living in poverty and the city has had to redirect part of its already reduced budget (due to the loss in rates revenue) to address these new challenges over the next few years.
8 SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS GOOD PRACTICE