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INTRODUCTION

The twentieth century, particularly the last three decades witnessed Africa's intense revolution against and triumph over colonialism and other forms of oppression.

As Africa celebrates the dawn of the twenty first century, it is already bracing itself for the intensification of its second revolution, namely, the struggle for socio-economic liberation. Undoubtedly this revolution will be pursued with the same vigour and tenacity as the first one and we are convinced that out of this encounter will emerge heroes and heroines to emulate those of the twentieth century.

This century, already dubbed the African century, warrants a major offensive against poverty, crime, joblessness, illiteracy, inequality and the HIV/AIDS epidemic. The latter having demonstrated its potential of depriving us of human capital. Finally it is our fervent desire that Africa will be at peace with itself, an important precondition for socio-economic prosperity.

This is indeed a period in our history that calls for bold and decisive interventions. In the words of President Theodore Rooseveldt:

"In any moment of decision the best thing you can do is the right thing, the next best thing is the wrong thing, and the worst thing you can do is nothing."

Undoubtedly South Africa must play a leading role in delivering total freedom to Africa. As we embark on this important journey whose plan surely extends beyond our lifetime, cognisance must be taken of the milestones already achieved in laying a firm foundation towards the reconstruction and development of our country. In pursuit of our noble ideals for the African continent we will ensure that we focus on the right things.

In a period of accelerated economic change, globalisation and increased competition, a budget speech can only contribute to the country's economic development challenges if it intensively wrestles with the foremost economic issues of the time.

At the dawn of a new millennium, the imperative for a provincial government in South Africa, such as the North West, is for the annual budget speech to go beyond mere accounting statements but to deal critically with our thinking about economic strategies and policies. It must incisively evaluate the relevance and successes of our economic interventions as government.

Moreover, in an open dynamic society, a budget speech should also act as a wake-up call; as a signal for future direction and as a template against which to evaluate outcomes.

The budget presented here today is a genuine and sincere attempt to:

* fully engage the economic development challenges of our country and the province
* outline the focus of our economic policies viz. industrialisation, expansionary fiscal policies towards job creation, economic infrastructure development and delivery of social services
* engage all role-players in the province to build on the successes of the past year and
* set out our spending priorities for the next fiscal year.

ECONOMIC OVERVIEW

Global Context

The signing of the Free Trade Agreement with the European Union was prominent in the news in 1999. So, too, was South Africa's role in Sub-Saharan Africa, and the growth in electronic commerce, Internet-based business and the expansion of telecommunications infrastructure.

Our response as a country is therefore to cope with the challenges of adjustment so that international trade can expand; to see trade in Sub-Saharan Africa and indeed the rest of the world not as a threat but as an opportunity, to see it not only as part of the problem but as part of the solution.

The transformation brought about by the process of globalisation calls for a 'new economy". The new economy, which is both knowledge-intensive and global, supported by a myriad of electronic networks, impose new challenges and new paradigms for achieving economic development within a community.

Communities with unique production competencies and complementary assets that can stay ahead of business trends will be in high demand.

Local leadership is necessary to recognise the qualities, which make a province special, and how that relates to a global economic system to develop the economic foundations of a regional economy in a rapidly changing environment.

Domestic Context

Critics are unanimous on at least one important aspect of Minister Manuel's blockbuster Budget Speech of last Wednesday i.e. five years of hard-fought transformation is indeed yielding positive results.

On the domestic front the macro-economic indicators are showing signs of stabilisation. The interest rate, which at the height of the Asian crisis rose to 25,5%, is now down to 14,5%.

The inflation rate is still within single digits and is currently at its lowest level and averaged 5,25% during 1999. The budget deficit as a percentage of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) has been revised downwards to 2,4% against earlier projections of 2,8% for 1999/2000 as opposed to the period 1990/1994 when it averaged out at 6,6%.

The reduction of both the inflation and interest rates is likely to increase disposable income of the working class as well as business who could not afford the higher cost of borrowing.

Market analysts are more optimistic about economic growth prospects for the year 2000. There seems to be wide agreement that growth could reach 3.5%. Despite this, there has been less optimism amongst development economists.

Firstly, economic growth has not automatically led to job creation.

Secondly, despite the fact that this government has dealt decisively with eradicating discrimination in all forms, inequality in South Africa is rising.

Thirdly, poverty levels, both absolute and relative show no signs of being alleviated

The South African economy cannot grow sufficiently and create enough sustainable jobs because of weaknesses in our stock of human capital, material and inadequate infrastructure.

It is well known that almost 35% of the South African labour force is illiterate by world standards.

Our country is geographically far away from its major markets from which the majority of inputs required by our factories must be purchased.

In his State of the Nation Address, President Mbeki identified the urgent need to unshackle especially small and medium enterprises from their constraints. We are convinced that this is the right approach, as it will ultimately advance Black economic empowerment - not through highly publicised share shuffles on the stock market - but by creating a vibrant entrepreneurial middle class with a depth of skills and aptitudes for creative business development.

The American management guru Tom Peters has stated that "you can't shrink an organisation into greatness"' Honourable Speaker, South Africa cannot become a great country if almost 40% of our labour force is unemployed. We need to break out of a vicious cycle of retrenchments, unemployment and low investment into a virtuous cycle of jobs, stability and prosperity.

The present government has the ability and resolve to break this vicious cycle. Over the past five years this government had the following achievements:

* The re-establishment of fiscal control. The budget deficit has been lowered from in excess of 9% under the apartheid regime to less than 2,9% of GDP during the present fiscal year.
* The opening up of the SA economy from its protectionist inward-looking approach to an outward focused, global competitor.
* The withstanding of external shocks caused by the Asian contagion.
* The improvement in competition levels in the domestic economy through deregulation and privatisation initiatives. In the latter regard four public entities were privatised, earning government R7.2 billion.
* The consolidated budget deficit of provinces of R5, 9 billion in 1997/98 was converted into a surplus of R0, 6 billion in 1998/99.

The fundamentals of the South African economy are inherently sound. This was confirmed last week Friday when we got an excellent credit rating from Standard and Poor an internationally reputable rating agency. This clearly demonstrates the international community's confidence in South Africa as one of the best investment destinations for developing countries.

THE NORTH WEST ECONOMY IN PERSPECTIVE

In 1996 the North West Provincial Government took a strategic step in launching a process which led to the adoption of a five-year economic development strategy known as North West 2001 and the establishment of a development forum, known as A re Ageng whose responsibility was to actualise this strategy and provide an economic think tank to the provincial government.

In 1998 a five-year SMME development strategy was developed. Both these strategies are focused on job creation and economic development.

The complicating factor to job creation is that our most critical sectors viz. mining and agriculture have been shedding jobs in the North West, which I believe can be attributed to a repositioning by these sectors as our markets are gradually being opened for global competition.

Between 1970 and 1995, total employment (outside government) in the North West Province expanded from 360 699 to 425 455 - a percentage increase of only 0.8% (while output increased by 2.2%).

Moreover, and disconcerting, is the process of de-industrialisation which has taken place over recent years. North West's manufacturing sector is dominated by food processing, fabricated metals and non-metallic mineral production etc. (responsible for over 80% of manufacturing output). These are all low-skilled, resource intensive industries.

Noticeable also is that between 1985 and 1995 the increase in unit labour costs in the North West's manufacturing sector was the highest of all provinces, namely 14.9%.

Let me hasten to say that it would be futile for South Africa and even North West to compete only on the basis of labour costs. Instead we must redouble our efforts to attract Foreign Direct Investment into our provincial economy, and especially into the manufacturing of high technology products where we can create niche markets.

Our five-year experience has taught us that economic development calls for a joint effort from government, the private sector and broader civil society. The implementation of the SMME programme though still at a developmental stage has set a good example of how these entities can work together.

PROSPECTS FOR THE YEAR 2000

Honourable Speaker, what do these trends imply for our country and the North West in particular?

To start with, Africa, South Africa - and this includes North West Province - cannot rely on free markets alone to eradicate poverty, create enough jobs, reduce inequality and increase our global competitiveness.

Government and organs of civil society are very vital in this regard.

Firstly, good government and civil society remove barriers to private sector profitability and uncertainties, and build effective, capable and strong institutions of governance. The legal and constitutional foundation of the economy is extremely important.

Secondly, good government and civil society must build human capital: train and educate our population. This government is proud to state that it has done more in six years to build and empower South Africa's human capital than had been done throughout 40 years of Nationalist misrule. However, a major shortcoming is the lack of demand for our human skills.

There may be little sense, Honourable Speaker, in training and educating our people if they do not gain employment. International evidence stresses the importance of experience, on-the-job training and learning by practical application, in economic development.

Crucial in its attempts to break the vicious cycle of unemployment, decreased skills, low growth and competitiveness and further employment, the North West Government wants to place the emphasis on two crucial strategic thrusts for economic policy:

The first of these is an expansive fiscal policy stance. Our private sector has, for almost two decades, been operating under a contractionary macro-economic policy, with record-high interest rates severely affecting investment and optimism in the economy. Fiscal discipline has been firmly established and we believe that there is now scope for tax reductions, and higher government expenditure on fixed infrastructure investment.

The second of these is a renewed emphasis on manufacturing development. Manufacturing is an engine of growth and is important for development through benefiting a country through all its external effects.

We have already laid important foundations in this regard. For instance, during 1999 Professor Wim Naudˆ from Potchefstroom University conducted a survey of manufacturing firms in North West in conjunction with the Free University of Amsterdam. This survey, funded by the South African Netherlands Programme on Alternative Development found, amongst others that:

* The most significant constraints experienced by manufacturing firms of all sizes are lack of demand, lack of access to working capital, and high interest rates.
* There are still not sufficient opportunities for women in manufacturing, as 95% of owners and managers of manufacturing firms are men.
* Investment in capital stock by manufacturing firms declined during 1999 by 35% on average.
* The average profitability (rate of return) on investment in manufacturing in North West Province in 1999 was 11%.

The above survey will be completed in 2000. The preliminary findings suggest that government will have to investigate ways of improving demand in the economy, lowering the interest rate, and also broadening the access of especially small firms to finance. In the latter regard, the lack of a well functioning venture capital market in South Africa is constraining manufacturing development.

In addition to these focus areas, the North West Government has recently launched the Redeployment of Mafikeng Airport as one of our core strategic thrusts to improve the competitiveness of the North West economy in the global, new, economy.

In 20 years time - maybe even sooner - we will have, around Mafikeng Airport, one of Southern Africa's premier Global Transparks.

More than R1, 7 billion worth of projects have been scoped, which could create up to 2500 new job opportunities annually once the airport is commercialised. In addition, the redeployment of the airport will save this government almost R3 million per annum, which could now be re-allocated to more pressing socio-economic needs.

More on the positive side, the Platinum Spatial Development Initiative (SDI) is once again on track, which will amount to a R1, 5 billion investments in infrastructure alone and holds the promise of major economic spin-offs in our region.

The Tourism Masterplan is in the process of been costed. We have already secured major investments especially in the Hartbeespoort area on tourism infrastructure.

PERFORMANCE REVIEW 1999/2000

Financial management

Honourable Speaker, this province is renowned for its prudent financial management and this reputation has been further enhanced during the last fiscal year through the following:

We have stabilised the fiscal environment, and will produce a balanced budget

Our cash flow management was highly effective and we anticipate a real surplus

We continued to experience better expenditure control ably assisted by our commitment register system.

Through the internal audit, internal control measures were enhanced. Audits were conducted on high-risk areas to ensure that preventative measures are undertaken e.g. revenue collection points, ordering practices, classroom building projects etc.

Major steps have been taken to address optimisation of own revenue - R30 million more was collected on motor vehicle licences than in the previous financial year.

Fraud and corruption

By comparison incidences of fraud and corruption have reduced substantially during this year particularly on orders, invoices and cheques. We've investigated 87 cases of which 32 were of a serious nature in this financial year as opposed to more than 150 cases the previous financial year. Our fight against fraud and corruption will be intensified to ensure that our society espouse a culture free of fraud and corruption.

The Y2K project

We successfully dealt with what was commonly known as the millennium bug and all our mission critical systems are Y2K compliant. The province spent R15 million on the Y2K project. This amount is substantially lower than what the market quoted us because of our own internal capacity.

Budget Reform

The process of budget reform is on track. We have fully implemented the Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF). The benefits gained from this framework includes certainty in planning and effective expenditure management because departments have a better view of trend lines.

We produced a Medium Term Policy Statement, which gave additional information on government's position regarding the budget.

CHALLENGES FOR 2000/2001

1. Implementation of the Public Finance Management Act (PFMA)

The Public Finance Management Act represents one of the most important reforms undertaken by government to improve financial management in the public sector. These reforms are in line with reforms undertaken internationally. The Act challenges traditional practises of officials and political office bearers.

It imposes on us a new philosophy of managing public resources.

The Act addresses the following key aspects

* Output based management, which focuses on the services, which are delivered, i.e. it promotes the principle of value for money.
* A financial accountability framework based on assigning responsibility and performance assessment, rather than on the imposition of controls and sanctions.
* Accrual-based management which provides the basis for the recognition of the full costs of government's activities and which is the foundation for better accountability and management.
* It further promotes transparency in the manner in which we do things.

The Act will be implemented in phases from 1 April 2000.

2. Maximisation Of Own Revenue

A revenue collection project, spearheaded by Treasury, was piloted for the collection of motor vehicle licence fees. The project has already started to yield positive results as mentioned earlier.

Specific recommendations have been made on how to expand this project so that we can maximise our own revenue potential; these include:

* The revenue division in the Department of Finance must be strengthened and its role is to design policy, manage, control and inspect revenue collection by departments.
* Procedure manuals for revenue collection are being finalised for implementation in the new financial year.
* The Department of Health in conjunction with Treasury are already working on a Public Admission and Billing system for collection of revenue in hospitals. Phase one of this project has been completed at a cost of R6 million. We have already connected 1269 points at hospitals, health district offices, clinics and health care centres.
* The Walker financial system to be adjusted to cater for the on-line recording of revenue.
* Review of the Gambling Act to enhance our revenue potential in that sector.

Based on the findings of the team and assuming that all corrective measures for collection of own revenue are successfully implemented there is a potential of collecting R100 million more than is currently collected.

3. Integrated development

The Honourable Premier announced the restructuring and clustering of departments last year for purposes of better planning, co-ordination and delivery of services in a cost effective manner.

We would also like to strike a balance between social spending and investment in economic infrastructure. It is no secret that given the huge infrastructural backlogs we've inherited, not enough is done in terms of capital development projects.

To ensure that integrated development takes place we have taken a bold initiative by creating a capital development fund.

This fund is going to be sourced by cluster departments through the submission of implementable business plans. For the current year R250 million has been set aside. May I hasten to say that this amount excludes ongoing projects in Departments amounting to R302 million. This effectively means a total of R552 million will be spent on capital projects in this financial.

Strict criteria, which include inter-alia integrated planning, redress of urban-rural imbalances, public-private partnerships and intergovernmental co-operation, will be applied to access the capital development fund.

4. Financial Management

As new systems and technology for managing finances unfold we have no option but to adjust the new circumstances.

In the following year we will focus on the following:

Centralisation of creditor payment

A decision has been taken by EXCO to centralise creditor payments of all departments in the Department of Finance.

There are benefits to be reaped from this arrangement including timeous payment of creditors, better cash flow management, negotiation of discounts for early settlement of accounts, reduced accumulation of suspense accounts and further reduction of fraud incidences.

Departments will now concentrate on their core business without being worried as to whether goods and services purchased are being paid for.

Finally Mr. Speaker I believe that we will save costs by centralising creditor payments as we can now implement the Electronic Funds Transfer system (EFT) to pay creditors.

Audit of payroll

We are going to assign internal auditors to undertake quarterly audits on the payroll to prevent all the risks associated with salary payments. In some instances monthly audits will be undertaken in specific departments when the need arise. We've already improved our systems on Walker to curb the abuse of supplementary payments.

5. The Wage Bill

Mr. Speaker, in my presentation last year I informed the house that 61% of the total budget was allocated to personnel. In my Adjustment Estimate speech recently these percentages decreased to 59% and in the budget being presented today, the share of personnel costs accounts for 56% of the total budget.

We will be introducing stringent measures to curb any escalation in personnel related costs. Some of these measures are:

* Monthly checking of payroll to ensure that only legible beneficiaries are paid.
* Reduce all discretionary elements of personnel expenditure by 25%.
* Only 50% of funded vacancies to be filled
* Develop a Medium Term Personnel Framework (MTPF) to ensure proper utilisation of human resources.

6. Capacity Building

We cannot be competitive if we do not have quality managers in Government to manage public resources. There are dedicated funds available for training and development amounting to R28, 2 million of which R10, 4 million will be rolled over from the previous financial year. Departments earmarked for these funds are Finance R3, 4 million, Education R15, 2 million, Local Government R1 million, Health and Social Services R8, 6 million.

National is also assisting in this regard and the Institute for Public Finance and Auditing (IPFA) has been established to cater for training and development needs in the public sector.

7. Restructuring of Parastatals

Although the number of parastatals has substantially reduced, some still suffer from role ambiguity. In the past year fundamental changes in the management and structure of several parastatals in the Province, in particular that of the North West Development Corporation and its major subsidiaries consisting of North West Transport Investments and Comark Holdings were implemented.

At the political level the Premier presided over the Parastatal Political Oversight Committee, which paid close attention to the situation of parastatals in the province and interacted in a dynamic and regular manner with management with a view of refining the role of parastatals in the context of the new democratic dispensation.

Substantial growth in the value of listed shares of North West Development Corporation and in particular it's holding in Sunhold/SISA was realised adding R180 million during this past financial year. NTI, the biggest public transport sector company in the North West Province, is repositioning itself for the new tender process for transport routes. We have already signed a purchase agreement with a private sector company to dispose of our shareholding in IKHWEZI transport.

Comark Holdings, through its subsidiary, Durabuild has also been short listed as a manufacturer in terms of the Government's taxi recapitalisation program and it is envisaged that this program will lead to increased job opportunities in its factory facilities in Temba.

Agrichicks is in the process of being sold and a preferred bidder has already been identified.

The Government is convinced of the strategic potential of its investment in these companies and has committed itself to an active role in maintaining their future well being as a major contributor to the economic development of this Province and its people.

We will however, review our position towards greater private sector participation underpinned by our strategic goals of empowerment of previously disadvantaged persons. This will be done in a well-structured manner to realise maximum value for our investment, ensure improved service delivery and open the market for greater levels of participation.

8. Hiv/Aids

HIV/Aids continuous to pose a serious challenge to our country. Its economic impact is going to be very significant in the future.

Experts estimate that HIV/Aids may have affected 20% of the productive labour force by the year 2005. This forecast will have a devastating effect on productivity of our companies.

Costs associated with HIV/Aids are rising and our challenge is to ensure that we continue to campaign vigorously against the spread of HIV/AIDS.

An amount of R194, 531 million has been provided in the various departmental budgets, the bulk of which is in the Department of Health (R187 million) for HIV/Aids programmes. The Department of Health co-ordinate the Aids programmes but departments will manage their own budgets and programmes.

9. Local Government Finance

It is no secret that quite a sizeable number of our local authorities are not financially viable. During the last year we had two Section 139 interventions and a host of other interventions in some local authorities.

The new local government dispensation will see a reduction from the current 53 to 29 local authorities. This will enhance financial viability as well as improved service delivery.

This however, has a potential impact on the Provincial fiscus especially in as far as the proposed cross-border arrangements of the new demarcation process are concerned. The full impact is under investigation and we will report to the Legislature in due course.

The Public Finance Management Act (PFMA) also strengthens the oversight and interventionist role of the Province in matters of local government finance.

THE 2000/1 BUDGET

Revenue

Revenue is budgeted at R9, 055 billion an increase of 15% over its 1999/2000 level. National transfers account for 95.8% of the total funding requirement and are budgeted at R8, 673 billion, R8, 009 billion being the equitable share and R663, 502 million as conditional grants. The balance of R382, 298 million or 4,2% is own revenue.

Expenditure

Total expenditure is budgeted at R9, 055 billion an increase of 15% over its 1999/2000 level.

The 2000 budget makes provision for R7, 116 billion or 79% of total budget for social services. This amount will be adjusted to R7, 160 billion in year two and to R7, 279 billion in the third year of the Medium Term Expenditure Framework.

The allocations will be as follows:

Office of the Premier
The Office of the Premier has been allocated R13, 590 million.

Office of the Legislature
The Office of the Legislature has been allocated R30, 375 million an increase of 3,7%.

Department of Health
The Department of Health has been allocated R1, 565 billion, an increase of 9,3%.

Key programmes of this department are district health services to which R924, 771 million has been allocated and provincial hospital services to which R380, 202 million has been allocated.

Department of the Premier
An amount of R88, 574 million has been allocated for the Department of the Premier an increase of 3.5%

This department is responsible for corporate services, which include human resource development, legal services, knowledge management and transformation.

Department of Safety and Liaison
Department of Safety and Liaison has been allocated R6, 671 million, an increase of 19%.

This department provide a civilian oversight function. Their programmes include community policing fora and social crime prevention, to which R1, 507 million has been allocated.

Department of Economic Development and Tourism
The Department of Economic Development and Tourism has been allocated R74, 787 million.

This department will amongst other be responsible for the promotion of tourism (an amount of R33, 044 million will be transferred to NW Park & Tourism Board) regulation of the gambling industry and the promotion of SMME's. The latter has been budgeted an amount of R13, 643 million.

Department of Finance
The Department of Finance has been allocated R108 million.

In the coming financial year the implementation of the Public Finance Management Act, the centralisation of creditor payment an the revenue collection project and internal audit will be major focus areas of this Department.

Department of Education
The Department of Education has been allocated R3, 517 billion.

Their programmes will include public school education (R2, 978 million), special school education (R53, 934 million), teachers training (R52, 590 million) and technical colleges (R67, 625 million)

Department of Local Government and Housing
The Department of Local Government and Housing has been allocated R454, 703 million.

An amount of R276, 2 million has been set aside for housing development and R16, 1 million for the implementation of a rural development strategy.

Department of Transport, Public Works and Roads
The Department of Transport, Public Works and Roads has been allocated R907, 203 million.

The department will focus on the commercialisation of the motor fleet; infrastructure development and investigation of further options of commercialising non-core functions.

Department of Social Services, Arts, Culture and Sport
The Department of Social Services, Arts, Culture and Sport have been allocated R1, 521 billion.

This department's key programmes are social security, welfare grants to which R1, 387 billion has been allocated. What is of particular concern is the rapid uptake rate of the child support grants at a growth rate of 295% over the last 2 years. We are monitoring the situation closely.

Department of Agriculture and Environmental Affairs
The Department of Agriculture and Environmental Affairs has been allocated R218, 532 million.

Of significance is the department's programme on entrepreneurial development budgeted at R67, 645 million.

Contingency Reserve

This is a new vote amounting to R514, 313 million and has been occasioned by:

* the budgeting by provinces for the first time of improvement in condition of services for an amount of R224 million
* the establishment of a capital development fund to the tune of R250 million
* an amount of R40 million for other unforeseen and unavoidable contingencies.

CONCLUSION

Honourable Speaker, the budget process is inherently about choices. In arriving at this product we were mindful about how our choices will materially influence the well being of the people of the North West. Given the overwhelming mandate which this Government received from the electorate, we want to assure them that we will not betray their trust.

We view the budget as a powerful instrument towards our reconstruction and development objectives. The budget presented here today reinforces these objectives.

This budget reflects both elements of redistribution and growth. On the redistributive side 79% of this budget will be spent on social services targeting the poor and vulnerable of our Province. On the growth side we would like to invest more in infrastructure and other economic supply-side measures to enhance the labour absorptive capacity of our economy.

The environment in which we need to discharge our mandate has been described by Dolence and Norris as follows:

"Society is undergoing a fundamental transformation from the Industrial Age to the Information Age. This is a global phenomenon with very significant local implications. All people, organisations, societies and nations are affected, although not at the same pace or to the same degree. Those who realign their practices most effectively to Information Age standards will reap substantial benefits. Those who do not will be replaced or diminished by more nimble competitors.

Given our history of struggle we have no intention to sacrifice our democratic gains on the altar of ill-conceived, populist initiatives. We will stay focused, being mindful that there are no 'quick-fixes' to the challenges we are facing.

Honourable Speaker, allow me to express a word of gratitude to the following:

* Honourable Premier for your leadership and support in dealing with highly complex issues; but above all the high standards that you've set for this Province underpinned by the prudential application of public resources
* Colleagues in the Executive Council for making fiscal discipline not a solo effort but a collective approach.
* Honourable Z. Sebekedi and Honourable A. Venter, Chairpersons of the Finance and Public Accounts Committees respectively; your dynamic interaction with the Department enhanced our efforts towards good financial management.
* Former Director General Prof. J. Mokgoro and Heads of Departments for ensuring implementation of Government policies under very trying circumstances
* Mr. P. Tjie - Head of Finance, Mr. E. van Wyk - Head of Treasury and your team of highly professional men and women who worked tirelessly to arrive at this product and the manner in which you've ensured the successful implementation of governments fiscal policies.
* The Auditor General's Office for the wonderful teamwork that has developed with the Department to safeguard the integrity of our financial systems.
* Our external stakeholders in A RE AGENG, you served as a valuable resource to shape Government policies.
* To my wife Liz and the kids for your support and understanding in operating in a sometimes very complicated environment.

Finally, for the audience out here and the media, thanks for your interest; it is highly appreciated.

Government has made its choices and we are convinced of the correctness of these choices. It is our fervent desire that the contents of our budgetary framework will be digested with enthusiasm and implemented with courage.

I thank you Honourable Speaker

Issued by the North West Provincial Government