President Cyril Ramaphosa will on Friday deliver the keynote address during the closing ceremony of the Presidential Social Sector Summit to be held at the Birchwood Conference Centre in Boksburg, Gauteng.

The Presidential Social Sector which kicks-off tomorrow is held under the theme “Fostering Social Cohesion to enable Socio-Economic Participation in Communities”.

In a statement on Wednesday, the Presidency highlighted that in his 2018 State of the Nation Address, President Ramaphosa issued a call to the nation for a social compact – a shared national agenda and commitment that will guide all sectors of society in building the South Africa envisaged in Vision 2030 of the National Development Plan.

“In line with the National Development Plan’s advancement of active citizenry, the Summit will bring together stakeholders from a wide range of constituencies to work with government to address socio-economic challenges and mobilise resources for civil society, among other objectives,” the Presidency said.

The Department of Social Development set up a National Task Team comprising key departments, civil society organisations, the National Lotteries Commission and the NEDLAC Community Constituency to coordinate and ensure the inclusiveness of the Social Sector Summit.

The Presidency said that dialogues were held in all provinces between provincial governments and social partner organisations as part of the build-up to the summit.

“The summit will consider dialogue reports from the nine provinces covering challenges that have been raised.

“These challenges include access to funding, regulatory issues; transformation of the social sector with a view to fostering a state-civil society partnership to address challenges related to poverty, inequality, and employment, and the deepening of democratic participation,” the Presidency said.

The summit is expected to be attended by about 600 delegates from various Civil Society Organisations (CSO) from across South Africa.

The Presidency said that these organisations play an important role in society through welfare, economic empowerment, skills development, sports and recreation, advocacy and human rights.

“President Ramaphosa will underscore the role of civil society organisations in the realisation of the National Development Plan,” the Presidency said.

Source: South African Government News Agency