2008/09 Policy and Budget Speech for Mpumalanga Office of the Premier by Honourable Premier Thabang Makwetla, Mpumalanga Legislature
12 July 2008
Honourable Speaker and Deputy Speaker
Honourable Members of the Provincial Legislature
Distinguished Members of the Executive Council
Colleagues, ladies and gentlemen
Allow me to recognise all our guests in the gallery this afternoon, who have demonstrated their keen interest in the work of our Administration through their presence today, and to thank them for coming.
Once again it is a great honour and privilege to table the 2008/09 priorities and programmes for the Office of the Premier to this esteemed house. This occasion accords us an opportunity to reflect on progress we have made in discharging our responsibilities of overall macro-policy co-ordination, strategic leadership, as well as monitoring and evaluation of the implementation of the government’s programme of action.
Madam Speaker, Gordon White, in his seminal work on constructing a developmental state, says a developmental state must have “…clearly defined socio-economic objectives that require active state interventions in order to achieve the alleviation of absolute and relative poverty; the correction of glaring inequalities of social conditions (between genders, classes, regions, and ethnic groups); provision for personal safety and security; and the tackling of looming threats such as environmental degradation… ” Within this framework, the role of the Premier’s Office is to ensure that the center holds, that there is policy coherence in the work of government and that there is socio-economic development in the province.
Over the last four years, the endeavour to transform and reposition the Office of the Premier as a centre of excellence, has enhanced the contribution of the Office to the work of the Provincial Administration as a whole. Significantly, the Office has continued to play a pivotal role in providing strategic leadership and support to the provincial macro-planning processes in order to ensure that our programmes purposefully address the challenges of poverty, underdevelopment, and unemployment in the province.
We sought to improve the organisation and capacity of the Provincial Administration, including the roll-out of project management practices and systems; to further enhance the effectiveness of the executive decision-making process, including transforming the cluster system to achieve organic ‘joined-up government’; to successfully facilitate, monitor and brand our provincial flagship projects, including 2010 targets, in accordance with goals set by the Executive Council; we endeavoured to monitor and evaluate government programmes, including building on an early warning system; to position the Office of the Premier as a centre of excellence in terms of systems, values, processes and people; and lastly, to brand and market the province.
Honourable members, all the above is work we must consolidate as we go through the last financial year of this Administration’s term of office.
Madam Speaker, it gives me pleasure to say all the above duties have contributed not only to the opening of new vistas for the accelerated development of the province, but are responsible for achievements scored in pushing back poverty and reducing unemployment in the province. The advances made are indeed inspirational, be it the many jobs created through the road infrastructure construction and maintenance projects, significant among which is the over 450 jobs created through the construction of the poverty alleviation Bulembu road and the R40 road to Barberton, the over R1,8 billion repairs to the coal-haulage roads network in the Gert Sibande region, or the soon-to-commence R8,6 billion Accelelated Shared Growth Initiative of South Africa (AsgiSA) jobs massification Moloto Rail Development Corridor Project. Through the Expanded Public Works Programme and the intervention to return people back to the land for livelihoods, we have contributed to the growing absorption rate of our labour market as a region. Mpumalanga experienced the highest growth in the percentage of the working age population with jobs in September last year (2007) when compared to the rest of the other provinces. The working age population with jobs rose by 4,2%, from 41,4% in September 2006 to 45,2% in September 2007. Unemployment decreased by 5,1% between September 2006 and September 2007.
Marketing and branding
Honourable members, in November last year the new Mpumalanga brand was launched. This project entails the development of the province’s new brand image which gives depth and adds value to Mpumalanga’s product offerings and value proposition beyond being the “land of the rising sun.” The brand content is positioned on four pillars, viz our history, our natural assets, our attitude, and our capabilities. Natural assets speak to physical attributes that relate to the geography and topography of our province. These include scenic beauty, and natural resources above and beneath the soil. Heritage/history speaks to points of interest and relevance deriving from the history of this area, its role in the formation of the country, diversity of culture, etc. Capabilities refer to attributes required as a result of interventions, policy, education, infrastructure, workforce skills level, tourism facilities, etc. Attitude refers to qualities associated with the people resident here in this province, their mindset, work ethic, hospitality, energy etc.
It is often said that “A brand is not just an image. It is a promise to the customers, an expectation of performance, a mark of integrity and reputation. Ultimately, it is an asset and a controlled identity that must deliver value to both its custodians for their investment in its development, and its customers who will also invest in it.”
Madam Speaker, we make reference to these injunctions because it is important to remind ourselves that ‘Brand Mpumalanga’ as an experience and an expectation born by customers, is shaped by all of us, residents of this province. All of us are stakeholders. All our institutions – public and private – are responsible for shaping the brand at the end of the day. However, it is also true, Madam Speaker, that the foremost institutions that are stakeholders in this brand is the Government Administration and the Provincial Legislature. It is in this context that I wish to take this opportunity to appeal for a fulfilling and constructive partnership between these two role-players in promoting our province. Honourable Members, this Branding and Marketing Project must serve to:
- drive investments into the province
- drive tourism into the province
- drive immigration into the province – attract skills
- foster pride and citizenship in the province, thereby helping to build a better life for communities in our province.
Provincial Growth and Development Strategy review and the Growth and Development Summit
As reported previously, we are paying particular attention to macro-policy development and coordination to provide an over-arching strategic framework to drive socio-economic development in the province. It is important that we play a critical leadership role in ensuring that public policy development and implementation appropriately responds to the dynamic macro-social environment of the province. The pinnacle of our macro-policy co-ordination is the Provincial Growth and Development Strategy (PDGS).
As part of articulating the PGDS strategic framework, a number of related interventions are underway. Among some of the key interventions are the Macro-Social Research led by the Social Services Cluster, the Human Resource Development Strategy led by the Department of Education, the Social Cohesion Framework led by the Department of Culture, Sport and Recreation and the Economic Development Strategy led by the Department of Economic Development and Planning.
Madam Speaker, in grappling with the development challenges in the province, we are conscious of the critical role that business, labour and civil society play in partnering with government to pursue a shared vision for growth and development in Mpumalanga. In a matter of weeks we will finalise the process of refining and enhancing the Provincial Growth and Development Strategy to ensure that it is embedded in the spatial dynamics of our province, together with a more focussed and improved strategic framework that provides coherence and focus to our strategies for growth, employment creation, poverty reduction and environmental sustainability.
We envisage that the Growth and Development Summit scheduled for the end of this month will provide a platform for government and our social partners to agree on a Growth and Development Strategy for Mpumalanga that supports co-operative implementation, and defines a process for systematic and structured engagement between government and its social partners in the implementation of prioritised programmes. Critically, we will need to agree on the establishment of the appropriate structure to institutionalise cooperative implementation and oversight of the PGDS.
As government, we believe that the Growth and Development Summit will present an ideal opportunity for exploring how the energies and resources of our social partners can best be channelled to support the accelerated implementation of the ‘big five’ flagship programmes. We are encouraged that all the districts have held their Growth and Development Summits in consultation with the stakeholders in their respective areas. One of the key outcomes of this GDS will be a province-wide consensus on a specific and tangible set of priorities to which the private sector, labour and civil society can commit their resources as our partners in development.
Madam Speaker, one of the most pressing constraints to growth and development in the province is the limited availability of skills that are critical to the industries that must drive development and service delivery. The recent Mpumalanga Labour Market Summit, in which government and its social partners participated, highlighted, amongst other things, the need to focus on targeted skills development that is aligned to the profile of the Mpumalanga Provincial economy. Among the initiatives that assist us to do this is the Vul’ematfuba Project, which is a strategic scarce skills project that is jointly facilitated by the Department of Labour and the Office of the Premier.
This is an inter-departmental programme whose total value is R99 million over three years. Already by January this year, we had awarded bursaries to 150 engineering students. In August, we will commence a programme to train 200 fully qualified artisans, as well as four learnership programmes benefiting 400 learners in tourism and hospitality related skills.
We will continue to improve access to skills development opportunities to enable the unemployed to acquire skills that facilitate increased absorption into the labour market.
Honourable members, as we tackle growth and development challenges, we must ensure that our international relations are strategically targeted to enhance the implementation of the provincial flagship projects and the 2010 World Cup programme. In advancing the objectives of New Partnership for Africa's Development (Nepad) and regional co-operation within the African continent, we have renewed our Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Maputo Province in Mozambique and signed a new MoU with the Governorate of Ismailia in Egypt. Among others, our co-operation with these two African provinces will focus on strengthening trade and investment, agriculture, tourism development, culture, as well as the implementation of the 2010 World Cup Programme.
We have also renewed the Memorandum of Understanding with the Province of North Rhine Westphalia to strengthen co-operation on the preparation for the 2010 FIFA Soccer World Cup, good governance, sports and youth development, economic development as well as health and HIV/AIDS. We will soon renew our MoU with Maputo City Province. The line departments responsible for specific areas of co-operation are currently prioritising projects for implementation to ensure that they take advantage of opportunities presented by these international partnerships.
Support for the implementation of flagships
Madam Speaker, when we tabled our priorities last year, we committed to providing technical and project management support to complement capacities for the effective implementation of the ‘Big Five’ flagship projects. Working closely with cluster chairs and lead departments, we are encouraged by the progress we have made in ensuring that the implementation of flagship projects gains momentum to help us pursue the developmental goals that we have set ourselves.
I am happy to report that programme co-ordinators for the ‘Water for All’, Accelerated Capacity Building, Heritage, Greening Mpumalanga and Tourism, and Maputo Development Corridor flagship programmes have been appointed, and have already assumed duty. The appointment of the Programme Co-ordinator for the Moloto Rail Development Corridor flagship will be finalised by the end of July this year. The programme coordinators will provide the necessary technical expertise and leadership to the project teams and lead departments to ensure the accelerated implementation of flagship projects. The Programme Management Units for all the flagship projects will be in place by July this year and will enhance programme delivery capacities for the flagships.
We are encouraged that the implementation of the ‘Water for All’ flagship is making progress to address challenges of access to clean and safe water to all citizens by 2010. The Programme Management Unit for the ‘Water for All’ flagship is in place, and the teams are already working with municipalities to provide support in the roll-out of water projects.
The detailed feasibility for the construction of the Moloto Rail Development Corridor has been approved by National Cabinet with an estimated budget of R8,6 billion. The economic scoping study to identify economic development opportunities is currently being finalised to ensure economic opportunities along the corridor are fully exploited through private and public sector investments.
As part of the implementation of the Heritage, Greening Mpumalanga and Tourism flagship, we are enthused that we have surpassed the target of planting 100 000 trees to promote the ‘greening’ agenda of the province. The Mpumalanga History and Heritage book, which showcases Mpumalanga’s rich and diverse heritage, was launched in June last year. Subsequently, the book won the prestigious Mail and Guardian Award for Best Non-fiction Book of the Year. An abridged version, with translations in Siswati and isiNdebele, will be published this year.
Madam Speaker, the challenge of building a truly developmental state requires of us to enhance state capabilities in terms of people, systems and processes in order to achieve the desired developmental outcomes. We are satisfied with the progress made by the Accelerated Capacity Building flagship programme in terms of enhancing the management and leadership skills and competencies of our senior and middle managers to improve their performance. Our senior and middle managers are currently going through training programmes to enhance their management and leadership skills in order to enhance the provincial administration’s impact in the broader developmental state.
The launch of the Mpumalanga Public Management Centre in February this year was an important commitment to ensuring that we identify permanent infrastructure to coordinate management training and development interventions. This Centre will serve as an in-service facility, where a range of programmes and courses will be offered to both the provincial and local government managers.
Alongside initiatives to enhance human capital, the Accelerated Capacity Building flagship endeavours to strengthen organisational systems, performance and professional integrity. The transformative capacity of a developmental state to improve the lives of people for the better, lies in our ability to change an organizational culture that perpetuates mediocrity, poor performance and non-accountability for performance and results. We need to infuse a new organisational culture that values performance, professionalism, honesty and integrity.
Madam Speaker, if we are to effectively drive Mpumalanga’s socio-economic development, it is imperative that we improve systems and processes to detect instances of corruption, fraud and unethical conduct as these undermine service delivery and the fundamental values of commitment to service and empowerment of the citizens of the province. With the establishment of the Integrity Management Unit in the Office of the Premier, I am pleased to report that we are making progress in our work to build a culture of institutional integrity to counteract fraud, corruption and unethical behaviour.
In the previous year, the collaboration between government and the financial institutions saved government more than R6 million in fraudulent activities. This collaboration was instrumental in stopping syndicates between government officials and service providers, where service providers were paid without rendering any service. As I speak, some of these cases are being handled by the courts.
Our strong hand in fighting fraud and corruption has raised awareness and confidence among the public and government officials that when cases are reported, government follows up to bring the perpetrators to justice. The fact that the number of reported cases increased from 107 in 2006/07 to more than 220 in 2007/08 bears testimony to this.
We have appointed additional personnel in the Integrity Management Unit to enhance our capabilities so that we are better positioned to prevent fraud and corruption in the Administration. Equally, we want to ensure that provincial departments enhance their internal capacities to implement risk management strategies and programmes to minimise fraud and corruption.
We believe that building an ethical culture in government will contribute towards the better management of government resources and ensure that resources are used for bettering the lives of all the citizens instead of enriching a few greedy individuals.
During 2008/09 our awareness campaigns will target students at both primary and secondary school levels. This week on Tuesday we launched the Ethics Education Campaign in Schools to ensure that students are taught and exposed to ethics when they are still young, because inculcating an ethical culture among the youth will breed leaders capable of improving the management of public resources in future.
Integrated planning and implementation
Madam Speaker, as part of enhancing integrated planning and implementation across the Administration, we have ensured that we continuously provide strategic and technical support to the work of Executive Council clusters. Significantly, clusters are crucial in entrenching a culture of collaboration and coordinated planning among the provincial departments in order to deliver government services in a manner that achieves maximum impact.
In the 2008/09 financial year, we will continue to monitor the implementation of the consolidated Programme of Action to ensure that prioritised programmes are effectively implemented. We have also prioritised the implementation of an effective monitoring and evaluation system to ensure that government programmes are implemented according to agreed plans.
In order to improve the quality of monitoring, we have established a Provincial Performance Monitoring Forum, comprising the Premier's Office, which is tasked with monitoring non-financial performance; the Provincial Treasury, which is tasked with measuring financial performance of both provincial departments and municipalities; and the Department of Local Government, tasked with monitoring the performance of municipalities, including implementation of the five year strategic plan of action. This forum will provide integrated reports on the performance of departments and municipalities on a quarterly basis. The integration of financial and non-financial information will enhance our understanding of the causes of project failure and poor performance and enable us to avoid these pitfalls in the future.
2010 World Cup co-ordination
Madam Speaker, the successful coordination of the 2010 FIFA World Cup preparations in collaboration with the host city, Mbombela, continues to be one of the key priorities for the 2008/09 financial year. I am happy to report that the construction of the stadium is on course. Despite the outstanding land ownership dispute, we are encouraged that there is agreement among the parties to the conflict that the construction of the stadium will not be negatively affected. The 2010 Political Committee is seized with finding an amicable resolution to the ongoing land ownership dispute.
I am pleased to report that an integrated 2010 Office has been established to serve as a central point of co-ordination for all 2010 World Cup programme activities, and to enhance coordination among the implementing institutions. An integrated 2010 Office will foster alignment and synergy in the work done by Mbombela Municipality, the Office of the Premier and the Department of Culture, Sports and Recreation.
Work on the implementation of the 24 FIFA World Cup projects to which government has committed, is currently in progress in terms of agreed plans. Despite challenges in some areas, we are satisfied that, on balance, there is satisfactory progress in the implementation of sector plans. Among others, the Public Transport Operational Plan is in place and has been submitted to the National Department of Transport for approval. Last month, a Safety and Security Summit was held to discuss safety and security issues around the hosting of the 2010 World Cup games.
As part of enhancing mass mobilisation and participation, we will implement build-up initiatives such as hosting the Mpumalanga Premier’s International Football Cup and the Cosafa Cup games. In July, 13 Southern African countries will be hosted by the province during the period of the Cosafa Cup games.
Madam Speaker, despite progress in many areas, it is critical that we pay particular attention to hospitality, night life and accommodation needs for the World Cup period and beyond. Collaboration with Mozambique and Swaziland will be of vital importance to jointly plan for the provision of hospitality and accommodation that will meet the needs of visitors during the World Cup games.
Target groups
Madam Speaker, high levels of unemployment and poverty among the youth of our province calls for extraordinary interventions to expand programmes that facilitate opportunities for young people to acquire skills and access to employment opportunities. Indeed, the discussion document on an Anti-Poverty Strategy for South Africa, presented to national Cabinet in May this year, illustrates that in 2005, for adults aged below 30 years, the unemployment rate was 43%, compared to 17% for older people. Adults aged below 30 years constituted 80% of the unemployed, but only 40% of the employed.
Critically, because we have a youthful population, a large number of young people enter the labour market each year after they have completed schooling and tertiary education. Clearly, if we are to succeed in addressing the problem of unemployment, it would be critical to target the youth as they account for a large and growing portion of the unemployed in the province.
The Provincial Youth Commission is working collaboratively with provincial departments and municipalities to implement programmes focusing on youth development and empowerment. We will continue to enhance the capacity of the Youth Commission to discharge its responsibilities in line with its mandate.
Madam Speaker, last year we committed to finalising the listing of the Youth Commission as a public entity. I must report that this process has been put on hold pending the finalisation of the national decision to merge the Umsobomvu Youth Fund with the Youth Commissions. The impending merger has necessitated a moratorium on restructuring and appointments until the framework and modalities for the merger with Umsobomvu Youth Fund have been concluded. In this regard, we are awaiting an announcement from the Minister in the Presidency.
Last year, we committed to improve our monitoring capability to ensure that all our programmes give effect to women empowerment and gender equality, equalisation of opportunities for persons with disabilities, and the protection and development of children. Critically, we should continue to enhance systems, mechanisms and capacities of provincial institutions to mainstream the development needs of target groups in the delivery of government programmes.
In line with the Millennium Development Goals and the Provincial Growth and Development Strategy, we are continuing to make progress in the implementation of programmes targeted at the vulnerable sectors of our society.
As part our commitment to transform both the senior and middle management echelons in the Provincial Administration, it is encouraging to record that women occupy 31% and 32% of positions in middle and senior management respectively. This level of performance gives us hope that by the end March next year, we will be able to reach 50% in line with the national target.
Madam Speaker, our performance in respect of employment of persons with disabilities remains a priority that must be pursued with more rigour and commitment by all provincial departments and municipalities. In 2008/09, the Office on the Status Persons with Disabilities, in collaboration with human resource practitioners in provincial departments and municipalities, will develop a recruitment strategy for persons with disabilities to ensure that we are in line with the provisions of the Employment Equity Act.
Honourable members, poverty amongst the most vulnerable groups of our society such as unemployed rural women, rural children and rural persons with disabilities remains high on the development agenda of government. In this regard, we are planning to identify and profile poor households in need of urgent assistance and link them with existing government programmes targeted at improving sustainable livelihoods.
We are encouraged by progress made through the Expanded Public Works Programme in targeting women, people with disabilities, and youth as beneficiaries of job opportunities. At the end of December last year, 19 076 job opportunities had been created through the Expanded Public Works Programme. Of the 19 076 job opportunities created, 34% went to the youth, 58% to women, and 0,8% to people with disabilities.
House of Traditional Leaders
Madam Speaker, the successful implementation of government programmes in areas under the jurisdiction of traditional leadership hinges on effective partnerships with the institution of traditional leadership in furthering development and service delivery. Therefore, it is critical that we continue to enhance the meaningful participation of traditional leadership institutions in development planning and implementation within our democratic system of local government.
In the 2008/09 financial year, we will continue to provide support to the institution of traditional leadership in the province by ensuring that it has the necessary infrastructure and capacity to discharge its responsibilities. I am pleased to report that the Provincial House of Traditional Leaders has relocated to their new offices.
As highlighted during the State of the Province Address, we are making progress in the implementation of the Mpumalanga Traditional Leadership and Governance Framework Act, 2005. I am happy to report that last year, we finalised the establishment of Local Houses of Traditional Leaders at district level, and elected the Provincial House of Traditional Leaders. The Department of Local Government and Housing is currently working on the finalisation of elections for the Traditional Councils. In terms of the elections, 53 of the 59 Traditional Councils have entered the elections. To date, the results for 40 Traditional Councils have been announced while objections in the remaining 13 Traditional Councils are currently being addressed by the Elections Tribunal.
We believe government’s partnership with traditional leadership institutions will improve the quality of engagement and participation by citizens in matters of development and service delivery. It will enhance communication about government programmes and services.
Cabinet outreach
Madam Speaker, continuous engagement and interaction with communities to ascertain their development needs provides an opportunity for the Executive Council to gain insight into the day-to-day service delivery challenges that communities are facing. We will continue to utilise the Outreach Programme of the Executive Council to constructively engage with communities on service delivery and development issues affecting areas where they live.
Madam Speaker, I am satisfied that we have improved our system for capturing and monitoring the processing of issues raised by the communities in all community meetings. Regular reports are generated to give the status on the responses or implementation of service delivery issues raised by communities.
Conclusion
Madam Speaker, the challenges of addressing poverty, unemployment and underdevelopment require collective leadership commitment from all of us. In many facets of social life, the Provincial Administration is contributing to the attainment of a better life for all. We are confident that the Premier’s Office is on track to change the lives of our citizens for the better.
In this endeavour we draw inspiration from many examples of diligence and conscientious work by colleagues in other centres of our Provincial Administration. I also wish to take this opportunity to pay tribute to the authors of these good deeds in the Office of the Premier and enjoin them to stay true to the aspirations of our people at all times.
To all our managers, keep on striving for cutting-edge techniques, we too as a province are second-best to none.
Madam Speaker, Honourable members, allow me to present the budget of the Office of the Premier and seek your support to enable us to discharge our mandate during the 2008/2009 financial year.
Madam Speaker, I proceed to table the following documents for perusal and approval by this august House:
- the Implementation Plan of the Office of the Premier for the year 2008/09
the Budget of the Office of the Premier for the year 2008/09
I thank you.
