[ Home ] [ Speeches & statements ]

16 March 2006

Honourable Speaker Deputy Speaker
Deputy Speaker
Comrade Premier
Honourable Members of the House
Honourable Members of the Provincial Cabinet
Comrades
Ladies and gentlemen

Comrades and Honourable Members of the House, in this Age of Hope, let us remember that the one common national objective is to improve and transform the conditions and quality of life of our people. Let us remember too that this improvement and this transformation have to be people-centered, people-driven and people-led. In other words, we must not forget the fundamentals of the Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP) that delivery, which is of both goods and services, cannot and must not, be a passive process in which people are objects of charity and government does it all; rather delivery must be a process in which all our people are empowered to jointly, collectively, in the spirit of Masakhane and Tirisano, meet their own needs, using their own energies, through their own knowledge and their own skills.

Let us remember therefore, that, as politicians, managers and administrators, right from our respective departments and offices, we must, first and foremost, be agents of empowerment starting with the empowerment of our own staff in our own offices, from the humblest member of the cleaning staff and security personnel to Senior Managers, GMs, SGMs and DGs.

Comrades and Honourable Members, we must be serious, show deep commitment, political will, that is, the will to organise society and run it differently, more effectively and more efficiently. We must be systematic and scientific in our approach, which means that we should be able, each one of us, to come to understand our different tasks and roles in this endeavour; to appreciate that it is a collaborative effort, in which the weakness of one department is the weakness of all other departments, and the improvement and strength of one department is the improvement and strength of all.

In this Age of Hope, all of us must come to understand that political leaders, managers and administrators must be nurtured and moulded from much earlier on. The career guidance process must start at the community, at the primary and high school levels, in the processes of participating, of involvement in the development of solutions to community problems. Community structures must link up with the schools and colleges, and the latter with tertiary institutions in the process of identifying, nurturing, guiding and developing new political leaders, new managers and new administrators for the new Age of Hope.

Comrades and Honourable Members, it is in the processes of community involvement that identity with the people and their problems, ownership of solutions to people's problems and commitment to the well being of the people is developed; that a high moral sense of social responsibility is engendered; that values of accountability and transparency are instilled. It is here that the ground for any elitist notions and bureaucratic tendencies are nipped in the bud. It is this ethos that is generally lacking in our midst; it is this patriotism, this sense of social responsibility and accountability that is lacking.

Colonialism and apartheid had for far too long silenced our people, transforming them into objects of history, into the governed, the managed and the administered, and never saw them as subjects of their own history, never recognised them as governors, managers and administrators. However, it has been and still is the mainstay of the new democratic regime's strategic objective that this state of affairs comes to an end.

To that end, and especially in this new Age of Hope, let us cut through all the red tape and unwieldy protocols in our departments and offices, and try not just to be more accessible to the people, but to be with the people where they encounter their problems and sort out solutions to those problems. Let us stop the culture of endless bureaucratic circulars, memoranda and staff meetings to plan and plan and plan! Let us gather around issues and problems to be tackled in our departments. Let us also meet more frequently at the communities where problems are to be solved together with the communities themselves.

Let us call the professor, the researcher, the social worker, the psychologist, the sociologist, the businessperson, the politician, the student, the traditional leader and the traditional subject to an indaba to tackle concrete practical problems together and, thereby, learn to work together, to team together, to grow together into one nation. Comrades and Honourable Members, let us in this way unleash the great potential of our people and, in this new Age of Hope, let them unite in action to liberate themselves from the scourges of unemployment, poverty, ignorance and disease.

Comrades and Members of the House, politicians, managers and administrators must be leaders; and a leader must have a vision and not just a strategic plan for implementation. Besides scientific and technical knowledge necessary for the efficient performance of their respective tasks, politicians, managers and administrators must have a vision rooted in the needs and aspirations of their people, and the political will to ensure that this vision is fully realised. The political will here refers to the commitment that society is changed and reorganised in such a way that all benefit, and to the ability and enthusiasm to inspire and lead those under their leadership; to the ability to share with great passion and vigour this vision with all members of our departments. with cleaners, drivers, security, senior managers, the lot! This will ensure that the theoretical scientific knowledge of politicians, managers and administrators assist all staff members in our departments to understand and value their own work, to enhance their commitment and to increase their productivity.

In turn, the problems, difficulties, fears, aspirations and ambitions of all staff members will make politicians, managers and administrators understand better the complexities of the work situation and thus to rethink, revise and sharpen their theoretical knowledge and understanding. Our departments would thus become veritable centres of mutual teaching and learning, of collective growth and harmonious development of all parties concerned.

However, Comrades and Honourable Members, as we enter this new Era of Hope, let us not forget that we have not yet created the new society of non-racialism, non-sexism, democracy and national unity. Let us not shy away from the fact that memories of the past, of apartheid and of the struggle against apartheid, memories of a terrible past for the majority of our people, have not yet been erased from our social life and our social consciousness. After all, it is just a mere eleven years since then...these memories are still much fresher than those of the Anglo-Boer War, the South African War at the turn of the last century, and still much fresher than those of the Holocaust amongst the Jewish people

Therefore, Comrades and Honourable Members, equally let us not forget that the people who constitute the public service still carry along with them a whole baggage of bad habits inherited from our terrible past. Many have not, for instance, outgrown the negative and uncaring attitude towards anything that has to do with government. Many have not yet begun to look upon work as a moral necessity; many still look upon it as a material necessity to earn a salary or wage for themselves, their families and relatives.

Indeed, over and above the question of lack of skills and knowledge in government departments, there is the whole negative work ethos of individualism and elitism that is bureaucratic, oppressive, exploitative and self-seeking: there is the pervasive fear of authority, lack of self-confidence and self-esteem, as well as lack of initiative and creativity, and an alarming passivity and docility amongst junior members of staff on the one hand; and a highhanded dogmatism and opportunism, an authoritarian bureaucratic insensitivity amongst senior staff on the other. Further, right across the whole spectrum of civil servants, there is also a small layer of those who are always critical of almost anything that the new government does. This small layer is critical to a point of paralysis, hence it is always complaining, always whining, but never doing anything to improve or change things. It is a disease pathetically and tragically characteristic of the upper echelons of the public service, unfortunately!

Comrades and Honourable Members, we have, indeed, in the past eleven years, been trying to create in our public service unity and cohesion, and an understanding of the dynamics of social reconstruction and development, of state and government, of democracy in the context of our social-economic and politico- ideological transition; we have since translated the policies of the Freedom Charter and the Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP) into law so that public servants may act from an informed position regarding their country, continent and world; we have been trying to transform the public service into a contingent of servants of the people rather than masters of the people by instilling in them the values and principles of Ubuntu and Batho Pele, of transparency and accountability.

But we must admit here today that the Auditor-General's audit statements leave much to be desired. There is still the perennial question of unauthorised expenditure and failure by some departments to spend the funding requested for and allocated. There is also still the suggestion that some might be using their power and authority for private profit. All that notwithstanding, Comrades and Honourable Members, we must on our part remain committed to exposing and denouncing embezzlements, thefts and other immoralities in our management and administrative systems.

Be that as it may, Honourable Speaker and Honourable Members, Comrades and Compatriots; allow me to table the budget of the Department of Finance for the 2006/2007 financial year as follows:

Honourable Speaker, the Provincial Treasury has made significant improvements through the implementation of proper accounting systems.

Our human resource component is being trained and developed to keep pace with new technology and other developments. The number of professionals is to be increased to enhance capacity within the department. Emphasis will not only be on the improvement of skills and professional levels. of employees, but also on ensuring that there is a high level of commitment and dedication to their work, that there is high motivation and job satisfaction across the board.

To promote and enforce transparency, to inculcate, effective and efficient management in respect of revenue collection and expenditure, and therefore' ensure excellent delivery to the people of our province, we are currently revamping our supply-chain management; diligently implementing the national and provincial treasury norms and standards; and also jerking up our corporate governance systems and policies in line with our national macro-economic policy and in pursuance of our provincial growth and development strategy.

Honourable Speaker, the R286,652 million allocated, to our department will be used appropriately to achieve the objectives that we have set ourselves in our Annual Performance Plan.

Comrades and Honourable Members, hereunder we accordingly present to you the programmes of the Provincial Treasury.

Corporate (Administration) Governance

Mr Speaker and Honourable Members, the main objective of Corporate Governance is the continuous improvement of management and administrative support functions, which comprise:
* Human Resource Management and Development as stipulated in the White Paper on Human Resource Management
* Strategic Operations responsible for strategy policy formulation.
* Knowledge and Information Management to support each core function to ensure effective and efficient service delivery; and
* management of Legal Services.

Comrades and Honourable Members, Corporate Services was inadequately resourced in the previous financial years, that is, 2003/04 and 2004/05. This situation has since been rectified, and the delivery of services has improved significantly.

We have also taken several measures to equip our human resource personnel with the necessary knowledge and skills. Whilst we do not intend to do away with private public partnerships in our work, we, however aim, to achieve a respectable level of self-sufficiency in carrying out the core duties of our department in the immediate future.

Our investment in the education of our youth in the province is paying good dividends. Many of our youth are progressing well with their studies and a number of them have now completed their B.Com degrees and are very grateful for the financial assistance accorded them for their studies.

Honourable Speaker and Members of the Housel we have budgeted an amount of R77,035 million for this programme, under which we have the following subprogrammes:
* Financial Management;
* Corporate Services;
* Information Management;
* Strategic Operations; and
* Security and Risk Management Services.

Sustainable Resource Management

Honourable Speaker and Honourable Members of the House, a budget of R41,576 million is proposed for the Sustainable Resource Management programme. This will enable us to discharge our responsibility of managing the provincial budget as a whole in accordance with the Public Finance Management Act and the Municipal Finance Management Act.

This will make it possible for us to promote and enforce transparency and effective management in respect of revenue expenditure, assets and liabilities of the government departments and provincial public entities.

We will also be able to provide fiscal policy advice, and to develop the requisite provincial revenue framework.

Comrades and Honourable Members of the House, Sustainable Resource Management consists of six sub-programmes, which are:
* Economic Analysis
* Budget Management
* Fiscal Policy
* Public Finance
* Intergovernmental Fiscal Relations
* Programme Support.

Indeed, some of these sub-programmes must be put into operation as a matter of extreme urgency. For instance, the coming into effect of the MFMA demands of us to monitor and assist in the development of municipal revenue policies and resource distribution.

Although a few of these sub-programmes are not yet in operation, those that are operational are making a positive impact on the resource management of our government systems. For instance, in the past there has been inconsistency in the tariffs charged by different departments on similar items; this has been rectified. Now we are also able to detect beforehand if there is a likelihood of under or over expenditure and to take the necessary corrective measures in time. As a result, there has been a timely reallocation of the infrastructure reserves of R196 million and budget pressures of R209 million which was distributed in May 2005. This was done in line with the priorities of the Provincial Government.

Comrades and Honourable Members of the House, as far as Intergovernmental Fiscal Relations is concerned, although some of our municipalities did not reconcile their budget alignments with their Integrated Development Plans (IDP's) for the 2005/06 financial year, we managed, through this programme, to review their IDP's and use them to inform their budget inputs.

We shall continue to work hand in hand with our municipalities to assist them to prepare the multi-year budgets as required by the MFMA. We shall continue to conduct workshops to assist the municipalities to develop effective supply chain management systems to improve the standard of their service delivery and to ensure transparency and good governance.

Honourable Members of the House, the Provincial Treasury will continue to increase the reliability of the in-year-monitoring (IYM) mechanism, and we promise that the projection of expenditure and revenue by the departments will be of high standard and quality. We are going to regularly require from accounting officers to adhere stringently to reporting norms and standards. Where technical assistance is required the Provincial Treasury will provide such assistance. If there are any delays in giving this technical assistance, the accounting officers will be free to contact the office of the Provincial Director-General and/or the MEC in the Provincial Treasury.

Comrades and Honourable Members of the House, last year we said that people's power is best realised at the local sphere of government and accordingly, that our focus will be at the local level. Consequently, through our assistance, five municipalities which had a backlog were able to submit their outstanding financial statements at the end of July 2005, and the high capacity municipalities were able to adopt their supply chain management policies with effect from 1 October 2005. Through our assistance and progressive interventions, all the thirty-two (32) municipalities in the province managed to complete and submit their MFMA checklists to the National Treasury by 7 September 2005.

Comrades and Members of the House, we shall continue to ensure that professional advice and support on economic, fiscal, and technical support to all our municipalities are readily available. Sixty-two (62%) percent of our municipalities confirmed that their annual financial statements for 2004/05 were prepared in-house. This tremendous improvement gives us hope that our resolve to ensure that democratic and developmental local government is, indeed, empowering our people. Further, in this financial year, we shall continue to increase the reliability of the IYM projection of expenditure and revenue by all provincial departments. We shall fully implement the Debt Management Strategy and interest generating measures in Departments.

We shall continuously follow up on municipalities whose budget schedules are outstanding to ensure that their budget process plans comply with proper budget cycles. We shall assist them to align the IDP and budgets. We shall also develop capacity within the Provincial Asset Restructuring Unit for it to be in a position to approve Public Private Partnership transactions. If necessary, we shall second officials to National Treasury to beef up their knowledge and expertise on PPP transactions and the approval process.

Assets and Liabilities Management

Comrades and Honourable Members of the House, we have budgeted R24,S04 million for this programme. The programme’s primary focus is on the management of assets and liabilities, supply chain management, and on providing assistance in capacity building within municipalities.

The Assets and Liabilities Management programme is divided into the following four (4) sub-programmes:
* Assets Management
* Liabilities Management
* Supply Chain Management
* Programme Support.

Comrade Speaker, in the previous financial year we submitted that we shall improve the collection of revenue and the appropriate management of debtors. Due to improvement in cash flow management, interest generated has increased tremendously. From April to December 2005 we generated an amount of R73,8 million.

On the Supply Chain Management side, we managed to establish a system which is in compliance with the PFMA and the guidelines provided by the National Treasury.

This financial year, Honourable Speaker, Comrades and Honourable Members of the House, we shall complete the verification of the properties which are still outstanding. We are also faced with the challenge of retraining Supply Chain Managers and officials and thereby moving them away from the tender board system which they were accustomed to. We need to train the historically disadvantaged individuals (HDIs), small, medium and macro enterprises (SMMEs), people with disabilities, youth, and women so that they too are empowered to participate in the procuring of goods and services in the province. In terms of quality improvement measures, we shall improve on the deviation between the" monthly request for asset reports and the actual cash flow. This will enable us to acquire more reliable estimates of implementation, income and interest regarding investment management.

Financial Governance

Comrades and Honourable Members of the House, the Financial Governance Programme administers the accounting services and the development of systems for the province. The norms, standards and. procedures are monitored within this programme to ensure efficient and effective utilisation of state finances.

We propose for this programme a budget of R143,537 million in order to accomplish our responsibilities in relation to monitoring in the two spheres of government, that is, provincial and local spheres. To that end, we want to increase the monitoring of the provincial departments and public entities. We also need to improve our Risk Management Sub-Programme so that early warning signs are detected before the challenges and problems escalate.

This programme, Honourable Speaker, has the: following sub-programmes:

* Accounting Services
* Interlinked Financial Systems
* Internal Control And Risk Management
* Financial Management
* Programme Support.

Comrades and Honourable Members of the House, there is still an acute shortage of financial management skills in the municipalities. We hope to address this challenge as a matter of urgency. We shall also keep on upgrading the financial and management skills of officials in all the provincial departments.

Conclusion

Comrades and Honourable Members, we accordingly present our 2006/07 departmental budget for consideration and adoption by the House. We are committing ourselves to do everything within our means to ensure that the objectives of our province are achieved.

We shall at all times ensure that the people of Limpopo continuously reap the fruits of their freedom and democracy. We shall ensure that their contribution is part and parcel of the activities of government. We dedicate this budget to the realisation of our PGDS. And we are confident that all of us will roll up our sleeves to ensure that the needs and aspirations of our people are met, and the Age of Hope becomes reality! We rest our case, and thank you!

Annexure 1
Summary of 2006/07 MTEF budget
(a) Budget by Programmes

Administration
2006/07: R77 035 000
2007/08: R82 930 000
2008/09: R339 232 000

Sustainable Resource Management
2006/07: R41 576 000
2007/08: R51 013 000
2008/09: R54 074 000

Assets and liabilities management
2006/07: R24 504 000
2007/08: R40 160 000
2008/09: R42 569 000

Financial Governance
2006/07: R143 537 000
2007/08: R122 355 000
2008/09: R129 695 000

(b) Budget by economic classification

Compensation of employees
2006/07: R106 268 000
2007/08: R111 161 000
2008/09: R117 831 000

Goods and Services
2006/07: R172 206 000
2007/08: R178 127 000
2008/09: R440 139 000

Transfers and Subsidies
2006/07: R314 000
2007/08: R366 000
2008/09: R388 000

Payment of capital assets
2006/07: R7 864 000
2007/08: R6 804 000
2008/09: R7 212 000

Total
2006/07: R286 652 000
2007/08: R296 458 000
2008/09: R565 570 000

Issued by: Limpopo Provincial Government
16 March 2006