MAKWETLA TO DELIVER STATE OF THE PROVINCE ADDRESS
Mpumalanga Premier Thabang Makwetla will open the Mpumalanga Provincial Legislature when delivering his second annual State of the Province Address on Friday (18/02/2005) at the Mpumalanga Provincial Government Complex in Nelspruit.
The State of the Province Address is an annual occasion that accords the Premier an opportunity to address the provincial citizenry on matters that affect their socio economic development and how government accounts for spending the revenue over a specified financial period.
The 2005 address will be based and primarily informed by the resolutions of the ANC Lekgotla, mandates from the President's State of the Nation Address, outcomes of the provincial cabinet Lekgotla and most instructively the priorities of the Provincial Growth and Development Strategy (PGDS) that were adopted by government, labour, business and community organisations last week at Badplaas.
The PGDS Summit highlighted good governance and zero tolerance against corruption, skills development, creating decent work opportunities, accelerating investment, NEPAD and regional cooperation, stimulating local economic development, improving the health profile and social development as important priorities that must be addressed in order to put Mpumalanga on growth pedestal.
As part of State of the Province Address, the Premier will announce plans aimed at reducing the input costs of starting or sustaining business enterprises through investing in infrastructure (roads), strengthening the provincial equity fund and accelerating the implementation of Black Economic Empowerment in order to spread the economic benefits to all.
Special emphasis will also be placed on the economic sectors that can play a catalyst role in opening prospects for poverty reduction and job creation. These include the land reform process, tourism, petrochemical, mining and the services sector that have to be unbundled and optimally utilized for providing more people with incomes.
In order to achieve these objectives, Makwetla has emphasized an absolute need to diversify and expand the skill profile of the province in order to match the demands of the true potential of the economy. This is a challenge confronting both the private and public sectors. As a result, in his last State of the Province address, Makwetla pronounced the commission of a skills audit for the entire provincial administration in order to identify the gaps and strengthen the capacity of the administration to play a developmental role.
The strengthening and capacitating of Local Government as development agencies will also be highlighted, particularly the provision of free basic municipal services.
The 2005 address will therefore entail a report back to the community on public commitments announced last year that include the Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP) jobs created, number of houses constructed and the accreditation of Anti Retroviral dispensing sites. The address will furthermore unveil government's service delivery plans and targets for 2005.
EVENT DETAILS:
TIME : 08H30
VENUE : RIVERSIDE GOVERNMENT COMPLEX
ENQUIRIES:
Ntime Skhosana
0137662055 / 0846730415
ISSUED BY: OFFICE THE PREMIER- MPUMALANGA PROVINCIAL GOVERNMENT