With grim employment statistics released yesterday, a new cannabis initiative in KwaZulu-Natal aims to unlock job opportunities, especially in the rural parts of the province. The Department of Economic Development, Tourism, and Environmental Affairs (Edtea) has recently detailed its plans for the sector, including a partnership aimed at piloting a Shared Cannabis Processing Facility.
This project is critical, with at least one municipality, the Okhahlamba (Bergville) Municipality, pinning its hopes on it to address unemployment and boost the municipality's budget. The central focus of the project is processing cannabis into various products.
Addressing unemployment needs urgent attention as Statistics South Africa's latest quarterly labor force survey, which was released yesterday, indicated that the unemployment rate has increased by one percentage point from 31.9% in the last quarter of last year to 32.9% this year.
Musa Zondi, the MEC for Edtea, stated that the industry presents an opportunity to enhance the rural economy. Edtea's rural economy strategy includes the formalization and expansion of the cannabis and hemp sector, not as a side project, but as part of a centrally focused legitimate industrial activity.
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