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Joburg has not escaped the effects of the global economic crisis, the impact of which on Gauteng and South Africa is the topic of a daylong seminar at Wits.
THE effects of the global economic meltdown on South Africa and Gauteng will be analysed at Ice Age 4: Global Economic Meltdown, on 17 April, a Gauteng City-Region Observatory and Gauteng Economic Development Agency seminar.
The Gauteng City-Region Observatory is a partnership between the Gauteng provincial government and the universities of the Witwatersrand and Johannesburg; the Gauteng Economic Development Agency (Geda) is the province's official economic, investment and trade promotion agency.
The seminar is aimed at helping people - in the government, labour, the private sector and others - understand the effects of the current global economic crisis on South Africa and Gauteng. It will be held at the Chalsty Auditorium, West Campus, Wits University, starting at 8.30am and ending at 5pm.
It will be opened by Prof Loyiso Nongxa, the Wits vice-chancellor and principal; scholars and expects will speak on a variety of topics.
Mandla Nkomfe, the MEC for economic development, will deliver the keynote address, A provincial economic development perspective of the global crisis. After this session, the first panel discussion will follow with selected speakers and topics:
- Ben Turok MP: The challenge to economic orthodoxy - time for change;
- Leon Louw of the Free Market Foundation: The global government failure crisis; and
- Siphiwe Mgcina of Cosatu: A labour perspective on the economic crisis.
The second panel will consisting of:
- Neva Makgetla of the Development Bank of Southern Africa: The structural roots of the global crisis - impact on South Africa and government response;
- Rudolf Gouws of Rand Merchant Bank: The broader impact of the economic crisis on South Africa; and
- Alan Mabin of Wits: Regional and city responses - a global perspective.
There will also be breakaway sessions focusing on: labour, led by Ashwin Desai; towns and cities, led by Mabin; the government, led by Daniel Plaatjies; and economic and investment development agencies, led by Blake Mosley-Lefatola. Ice Age 4: Global Economic Meltdown is at Wits West Campus on 17 April. Entrance to the summit is free.
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