PREMIER MABUZA CALLS ON THE MPUMALANGA ADMINISTRATION NOT TO BE PRE-OCCUPIED WITH ELECTIVE CONFERENCE OF THE RULING PARTY

24 October 2017

Mpumalanga Premier David Mabuza has called on the administration of the Mpumalanga Provincial Government not to be pre-occupied or be distracted by the upcoming elective conference of the ruling party scheduled to take place in December this year.

Addressing a two-day executive lekgotla in Mbombela today, Premier Mabuza said the provincial administration should remain disciplined; stay focused and must continue to work for the people with dignity.

The Premier said it was natural and normal that they would have their views, he however urged them to stay away from politics but should focus on the task at hand, which was to deliver the services for the people.

“This Lekgotla takes place when we are preoccupied by the next conference of the governing party, which will elect a new leadership for the next phase of our struggle. Once this has passed, the focus will immediately be on the 2019 elections."

“As we move forward, stay disciplined and focus on the agenda. Be positive as we carry change, let us be optimistic about our country; we need to be open-minded and be selfless. We all need to think about the country’s success."

“It thus means as this government, we must intensify our communication with a focus on our achievements and delivery record. Our communication machinery has not been effective in highlighting the achievements made, and in shaping the narrative of progress from where we were since our ascension into government."

“It is as if, all that is doing is corruption thus putting a stain on the good work we are doing. That is why at a governance level, we must pay attention to improving our systems and improving our performance on audit outcomes, reflecting a commitment to clean governance,” said Mabuza.

The Premier further extended his appreciation to the administration for the work done thus far in the implementation of the government work.

“This is a critical time in the life of our government as we officially enter the last lap towards completion of the term of the current administration and preparing for the next cycle."

“Over the next two days, we will be making an assessment of how far we have gone in meeting the commitments we made, but also in identifying those areas where we needs to put more energy in order to end the term on a high note and to hand over a clean administration to the next government. Overall, I am certain that we have made a necessary progress in ensuring that a better life to the people of Mpumalanga is achieved."

“We must take comfort in that we have come with practical initiatives that supported provision of social protection to the vulnerable, by among others, increasing access to basic services, levelling the playing field through investment in education and health and by so doing, we have expanded opportunities for human development."

“In essence, we have ensured that a process of enlarging people’s choices through building of their capabilities, has extended dignity to our people,” said Premier Mabuza.

He explained that the current provincial administration was in a sense entering a transition period to the next, and it was important to accelerate the implementatino of government programmes on key commitments.

He said as they were making the assessment of the past performance at the lekgotla, they should be able to isolate issues that required consolidation as well as those that required accelerated interventions.

“Unachieved targets should be reflected with clear underlying causal factors, backed by clear acceleration plans where applicable. There is no time for complacency and the patience of the public is waning."

“At the heart of our interventions, we should be preoccupied by a determination to work hard towards the fulfilment of the hopes and aspirations of our people to enjoy a secure and decent livelihood, be in gainful employment, and have hope that ending poverty and inequality is possible"

“I want us to focus on implementation, implementation and more implementation,” said Mabuza.

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