SPEDU Marketing and Communications Officer, Dineo Seleke told Business Monitor in a wide ranging interview last week that the initial challenge in putting up the agency was to identify the human resources necessary for the implementation of the diversification programme. "For the programme to be a success, skilled manpower had to be in place and had to be relevant to the intention of the programme," she noted.
Seleke explained that SPEDU had to define distinctively the agency's mandate to eliminate confusion with other government-founded agencies like CEDA and LEA. She said the region's expectation was that SPEDU is a funding institution and this had to be clearly explained during community consultations. She said another challenge, which still persists, is that of the mindset of the community in the SPEDU region. She mentioned that the community is still stuck to the traditional economic practices and seems to fear change. She said this alone will make the economic diversification of the region quite a difficult task in that, locals, who have land infrastructure and other means to sustain the economy, do not feel comfortable with transforming their activities to align them with the modern economic demands of the region.
