[ Home ] [ Speeches & statements ]

22 June 2006

Madam Speaker,
Madam Deputy Speaker,
Members of the Executive Council,
Members of the Provincial Legislature,
Traditional leaders,
Distinguished guests,
Ladies and gentlemen;

Our collective efforts have inspired so much confidence and hope among our people for a better tomorrow. President Thabo Mbeki said during the State of the Nation address that “our people are firmly convinced that our country has entered its age of hope. They are convinced that we have created the conditions to achieve more rapid progress towards the realisation of their dreams. They are certain that we are indeed a winning nation.”

As elected representatives of the people of our province, we were mandated to implement policies and programmes that would lead to the overall improvement in the quality of life of our citizens. Working together with them and the private sector we need to ensure that the economy grows at higher rates, that it creates new jobs and continues to develop into a modern and internationally competitive economy.

The Premier and the Executive Council (ExCo), through the office of the Premier, are ultimately responsible for ensuring that the provincial government delivers on these priorities in a co-ordinated, integrated, effective and efficient manner.

This requires effective communication with the people of the Northern Cape Province. It requires integration and co-ordination of our policies and programmes across all spheres of government, ensuring simultaneously that all target groups’ interests are adequately mainstreamed and that the spread of tuberculosis (TB), HIV and AIDS and sexually transmitted infections (STIs) is contained more effectively.

Madam Speaker, I can proudly report that we are tackling these challenges with a sense of urgency to ensure that our programmes have maximum positive impact on the lives of the poor. Most of our programmes are in fact currently geared towards the most vulnerable sector of our society, i.e. the poor, people with disabilities, women, children and the elderly.

We are continuously emphasising the Provincial Growth and Development Strategy (PGDS) for the promotion of economic growth and social development. The PGDS recognises the leadership role of government in driving integrated, holistic, sustainable and participatory growth and development.

It acknowledges and identifies the role of other sectors of society in ensuring socio economic transformation and seeks to achieve a shared vision for the achievement of our objectives.

Through its programme of action for this year, government will move faster to address the challenges of poverty, underdevelopment and marginalisation of those in the second economy to ensure that the poor share in our growing prosperity.

This is in line with the country’s economic development initiative namely the Accelerated and Shared Growth Initiative for South Africa (AsgiSA). In order to achieve its objectives this initiative emphasises partnerships with business, labour as well as civil society.

Selected interventions are directed at addressing challenges related to infrastructure, sector specific strategies, education and skills development, the second economy, public administration as well as macro economic issues. The Initiative’s ultimate objective is to halve unemployment by 2014 and to eradicate poverty.

Shared growth does not mean that there will be some kind of “trickle down” to the poor, it means that our programme to eradicate poverty and to provide all our people with access to clean water, decent sanitation, better education and health services as well as electricity forms part and parcel of our chosen economic growth path.

Of course, economic growth is only one part of the challenge. We have always been clear that growth is a means to an end and the ultimate goal is a substantial improvement in the lives of our people.

In order to play its leadership role with respect to these initiatives that I have outlined, the office of the Premier has been allocated a budget of R282, 741 million for the Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) period.

Madam speaker,

Whereas this budget was previously divided into two programmes it now has three major programmes namely:
1. Administration
2. Corporate support
3. Policy and governance

This is due to the standardisation process of aligning programme structures of all Premier’s offices as per the guidelines of the National Treasury.

The MTEF budget’s annual allocations are:

R95,447 million allocated for the 2006/07 financial year,
R91,597 million in the 2007/08 financial year and in the last year of the MTEF period (2008/09) an estimated R95,697 million.

More specifically the budget for the current financial year (2006/07) is allocated as follows among the three programmes:
1. Administration R32,480 million,
2. Corporate support R25,277 million and,
3. R36,696 million for policy and governance.

It needs to be noted that this year’s allocation also include an amount of R5 million for the renovation of the youth centre in Warrenton and an additional R3,1 million for the Premier’s Bursary Trust Fund. The real increase therefore for this year is four percent compared to last year. Employee costs totals 43 percent of the budget which is in line with the decision to strengthen the monitoring and evaluation units in the Department. In addition to this 37 percent of the budget is allocated for goods and services, 12 percent is allocated to transfer payments and four percent is allocated to capital.

In pursuing some of our goals we continue to explore the forging of economic and social partnerships with other countries, making better use of the country agreements which have already been signed by our President. The province led by the office of the Premier is preparing to sign agreements with China which will focus on tourism, minerals beneficiation as well as cultural exchanges between this province and our sister province, Hunan, in China. Further relations between ourselves and Botswana are also being explored with the view to focusing on women driven co-operatives, looking at areas of diamond beneficiation, agricultural as well as tourism related ventures.

Soon we will also be exploring relations with Namibia on the possibility of working together on educational, cultural and tourism partnerships which are in line with the marketing of our new brand and the proposed “Cape to Namibia” tourism route. In addition to these ventures the Orange River Farmer Settlement programme will benefit farmers on both sides of the river, in the Northern Cape and Namibia. In order to improve our ability to benefit from these international interactions we will be strengthening the International Relations unit in the office of the Premier.

An area that we are progressively improving on is the critical imperative for government as a whole, to enhance our ability to work together in a co-operative manner in order to ensure seamless and efficient service delivery to our people. The principles of cooperative government are enshrined in chapter three of our Constitution. To give effect to these principles, the President has assented to the Inter-governmental Relations Framework Act (Act 13 of 2005) on 10 August 2005.

The Premier’s Office, through the Premier’s Intergovernmental Relations Forum (PIGF), has already been driving the principles of co-operative governance for the past three years. It has now become a legal obligation of all spheres of government to actively participate in this structure and incumbent on local government to ensure district level replication of the structure as prescribed in the Act.

Already a number of benefits have been derived from the structure, e.g. agreements reached on settling of municipal debts by other government departments, coherent efforts during the disestablishment of cross boundary municipalities, information sharing and interventions on how to deal with special target group concerns synergy among departments on delegations to local government and interactions with their Integrated Development Plans (IDPs) and discussions on service delivery challenges.

Madam Speaker,

I can say with confidence that the office of the Premier is increasingly playing its role in ensuring support for and oversight of local government. Apart from the co-ordinating benefits derived from the PGIF, there are now even more pressures on this office to ensure that government’s five–year strategy for building the capacity of local government is executed. To this end during this year, our PGDS office has already begun to embark on a process together with the Department of Provincial and Local Government (DPLG) to further ensure synergies between our municipal IDPs and provincial and national planning frameworks.

Government has adopted a National Capacity Building Framework (NCBF) for local government which is a much more comprehensive response to the challenges faced by municipalities, inclusive of existing interventions like Project Consolidate.

Within this framework the office of the Premier has been charged to ensure deliverables across all three strategic priority areas in about 17 planned interventions.

We are all aware of the fact that on 1 March we held local government elections which saw a number of new councillors entering the system. We are obliged to ensure that they are capacitated to participate meaningfully in our Intergovernmental Relations (IGR) structures and to improve on gains we have made during the past five years of local government transformation.

Madam Speaker;

I now want to refer to the disestablishment of cross boundary municipalities. During the previous financial year two pieces of legislation were passed that implemented the disestablishment of cross boundary municipalities. These are the Constitution 12th Amendment Act 2005 and the Cross Boundary Municipalities Laws Repeal and Related Matters Act, 2005. In terms of these Acts the areas in Kgalagadi and Phokwane municipalities that formed part of the North West Province was transferred to the Northern Cape.

To give effect to this process the Premier of the North West, Mme Edna Molewa and I signed an implementation protocol. This agreement allows North West to render services in these areas until such time as we are ready to render these services ourselves.

At departmental level more specific matters are dealt with in service level agreements which are in the process of being signed.

These transfer processes are being managed by joint political and technical committees. In the main the implications for our province are that our population increased by about 170 000 and the transfer of a significant number of personnel such as educators and health personnel.

Another important implication is the transfer of the responsibility for traditional leaders to our province. The North West Province has a house of traditional leaders governed by legislation. In response to this we are in the process of preparing the necessary provincial legislation. We are therefore making al the necessary preparations to constitute a house of traditional leaders in this province. A unit in the office of the Premier is being created which will provide administrative support to this important institution.

Madam Speaker,

We are presently participating in the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) which was adopted by the African Union (AU) and forms part of the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD). This initiative is aimed at fostering a culture of good governance and consequently creates conditions conducive to economic growth and socio economic development across the African continent.

South Africa voluntarily agreed to be reviewed within the framework of the APRM and opted for an approach that is broadly inclusive and participatory. In the Northern Cape, the engagement with and participation in the APRM process has reached many corners of our province.

The process started when we convened the first APRM Provincial Consultative conference on 15 – 17 November 2005. The conference was attended by representatives from government, labour, business and a broad spectrum of civil society organisations. That conference was the first opportunity for different stakeholders to freely express themselves on the progress made by government and its social partners in particular and civil society in general.

What followed thereafter was a series of community and sector engagements to ensure a truly participatory process. We must take this opportunity to thank and applaud our community development workers for their commitment by taking the process to our communities in all the districts of our vast province. As a result the views of our people are captured as part of the Country Self Assessment Report. This report has been handed over to the Country Review Mission which consists of members from other African countries and is chaired by Professor Adebayo Adebeji from Nigeria.

The APRM process has stimulated the minds and passions of the people of the Northern Cape, echoing in some ways the process that led to the adoption of the Freedom Charter in 1955.

The people expressed an expectation that their views and aspirations would be translated into meaningful policies and programmes that would improve their lives.

The people of the Northern Cape, individually, collectively and through their organisations and representatives took to the APRM process because it resonated with their traditions and expectations and with our national culture of politics, consultations and dialogue.

South Africans from all walks of life including the people of the Northern Cape have seized the opportunity to engage in a meaningful dialogue about progress to date and challenges ahead, free of any constraints, in an atmosphere of mutual respect.

An amount of R455,908,62 was spent on the first APRM Provincial Conference as well as on community and sectoral engagements.

Currently, meetings with identified stakeholders including women, the youth and people with disabilities are underway in the districts until the end of June 2006.

Our second APRM Provincial Conference is taking place today and tomorrow. The purpose of the conference is to give our people an opportunity to engage with the Country Self Assessment Report. We have allocated an amount of R496,940,00 for both the conference and an extensive media campaign.

The APRM Country Review Mission is scheduled to arrive in the country on 9 July 2006 to meet with a range of stakeholders around how the process unfolded and the Country Self Assessment Report. The Country Review Mission is scheduled to visit our province on 24 July 2006 to meet with the Premier, the Executive Council (ExCo) and the legislature.

Another event in which we are cooperating with the African continent is the Africa Public Service Day to be held tomorrow the, 23 June. As a build up to the day we have been engaged in activities during this week which included unannounced visits to departments by politicians and senior managers.

The theme for this year is “Building an ethical Public Service for improved service delivery in Africa.”

The programme for Africa Public Service Day itself, to be held at the Galeshewe stadium, includes the signing of a pledge by public servants which commits them to service excellence.

In our effort to bring government services closer to our communities we have deployed Community Development Workers (CDWs) in all municipalities throughout the province. When the programme started in February 2004, 200 CDWs were recruited and were taken through extensive training by the University of South Africa (UNISA).

During the course of the training, 20 CDWs resigned from the programme. Presently we have 180 CDWs who have successfully completed the programme and graduated on 8th November 2005. They have been appointed as public servants from 1 October 2005.

In December 2005 the Department recruited another group of 140 learners to undergo training as CDWs. UNISA is busy providing training and the last block of training is being conducted this month. Each municipal ward in the province is allocated one CDWs. They are supervised by mentors who are municipal officials dealing with community participation.

Madam Speaker,

In order to further strengthen our democracy, the participation of our people in decision making processes is imperative. Several legislative frameworks to regulate this are in place across all spheres of government. The ExCo meets the people programme is a forum for enhancing dialogue and interaction between the elected office bearers and the people of the Northern Cape. It provides an opportunity for government to communicate its programme of action and the progress being made. It further promotes participation of the public in the programmes to improve their lives. Exco meets the people also highlights people’s concerns, grievances and advice about government’s work.

Last year, the ExCo visited places like Kommagas, Okiep, Port Nolloth, Alexander Bay, Garies, Kammieskroon, Keimoes, Kenhardt, Upington, Groblershoop, Grootdrink, Danielskuil, Postmasburg, Kuruman, Deben, Victoria-West and Colesberg.

This year from August 2006 we shall go back to these communities and report back to them in terms of progress. We shall also visit other areas not targeted during the visits of last year.

In addition to our own outreach programme we have also had Presidential Imbizos during which the President and Deputy President visited communities in the province. Recently these imbizos have concentrated on local government issues, in particular the capacity to deliver on mandates. Such imbizos took place in Siyanda on 20 August and in Francis Baard on 30 September last year. The visit in Siyanda was by the Deputy President and the Francis Baard Imbizo presided over by the President.

On the 9 and 10 June, this month, the President also visited the Namakwa district and the Deputy President will be visiting the Pixley –Ka-Seme district in August.

During the Namakwa Imbizo the particular municipality and various stakeholders made presentations to the President, the Premier and various National Ministers and provincial MECs. In addition, a community imbizo was held at Poffader.

The community of Poffader indicated that in their history of more than 80 years it was the first time they had interacted with a head of State. It was therefore a memorable occasion for them. These interactions demonstrate our commitment to listen to our communities.

Madam Speaker,

In view of the number of direct responsibilities and functions the office of the Premier has to execute, it becomes more important that this office constantly reviews and amends its capacity to deliver on all of its mandates.

To this end, the human resource unit within the office of the Premier has embarked on the following programmes:
* EAP (Development of a Provincial Policy) and Implementation in the Office of the Premier.
* Implementation of Performance Management Policy.
* Implementation of the Training and Development Policy.
* Development of the Departmental Human Resource Plan (2006).
* Development of Transversal Policies.
* Setting of Standards i.t.o. Batho Pele Principles.
* Ensuring adherence to the code of conduct.

Our PGDS also recognises the need to develop human capital as being critical to our efforts to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of governance, grow the economy and accelerate socio economic development. To that extent we initiated a Masters in Business Administration (MBA) programme through our National Institute for Higher Education (NIHE). This programme is delivered by the Management College of South Africa (MANCOSA). The initial target group is managers serving within the Northern Cape Provincial Administration (NCPA). The purpose of the programme is to enhance the capacity of the administration to deliver government’s programmes. Currently there are 27 students enrolled in the programme and an amount of R420,000 is allocated for this financial year.

Furthermore, the Department through the Premier’s Education Trust fund continues to support students at tertiary level to ensure that they acquire the skills relevant to the development of our economy. We are endeavouring to build a pool of skills most needed by our province in an effort to ensure that we are able to provide those to the economic and social development areas. As a result the allocation to the bursary trust has been increased with an amount of R3,1 million to fund Northern Cape students registered at the National Institute for Higher Education (NIHE).

The total annual allocation to be transferred to the Northern Cape Premier’s Educational Trust Fund in this financial year has therefore been increased to R9,530 million.

As an incentive to the Northern Cape matriculants of this year I want to announce that the top 100 learners will each receive a 100 percent bursary to study in disciplines that are required for the implementation of our PGDS.

Madam Speaker,

As the future of information technology unfolds, so has it impacted on how government delivers its services. The Information Technology and Infrastructure unit will roll out Netware 6.5 systems to all Kimberley based departments by the end of this financial year and an amount of R2,198 million has been allocated for this purpose.. The Information Society Strategy (ISS) programme will also commence by the fourth quarter of the financial year (January 2007). The expansion of the General Services Counter (GSC) and the Batho Pele Gateway to all Multi-purpose Community Centres (MPCCs) in the Northern Cape is currently underway.

Approval of the GSC expansion was granted by the Centre for Public Service Innovation (CPSI) for the construction of counters and equipment including computers, fax and telephones.

The opening of the Augrabies Telecentre will take place in due course as would the opening of the Louisvale in Upington and Calvinia MPCCs. The Calvinia MPCC will be funded through the neighbourhood development partnership grant from the National Treasury. The Information Technology (IT) unit has been allocated a total budget of R9,147 million for this financial year to ensure that all these plans are implemented.

In pursuit of our objective to improve financial administration in the provincial administration, posts have been filled in the Internal Audit Unit and it has now managed to start performing its functions adequately. In this financial year, the provincial administration will begin to reap some of the benefits of the work in this unit. As the unit is experiencing some challenges in terms of co-operation, I want to seriously urge departments to work together on achieving our decision to have shared internal audit services functioning well in the province.

The unit has been allocated an amount of R4,485 million for the current financial year. The Internal Audit (IA) function is also enhanced by the audit committee consisting of both external and internal members. Regular monthly meetings are now being held.

The office of the Premier has embarked on a bold move to strengthen the policy and strategic management division so as to ensure a co-ordinated and integrated approach to planning, policy research, development and implementation. For this purpose an amount of R1,953 million has been allocated for the 2006/07 financial year.

The strategic objectives of the division would be to identify policy gaps, develop and improve information management functions, improve integrated planning across all spheres, monitor implementation of the government programme of action and facilitate evidence based planning and decision making.

The policy unit has embarked on a policy audit and the findings will be tabled to the relevant government structures in July, with the aim of improving our ability to report appropriately on gaps both in terms of policy development as well as implementation. The policy and PGDS units will work together to ensure that the provincial administration reports a much higher level of compliance with the government planning and reporting cycle, as prescribed by National Treasury.

For this financial year the unit responsible for government special programmes and projects has been allocated a budget of R3,871 million. This unit will track government performance in respect of its programme of action. It will also be responsible to drive the PGDS. This will, among others, include reporting on progress made in terms of the anchor projects as well as the institutionalisation of the PGDS and its implementation.

In the current fiscal year the PGDS unit supported by the relevant units in provincial departments, will be responsible for facilitating the drafting of a Provincial Spatial Development Framework (PSDF) that will ensure the application of the national spatial development perspective principles in all levels of government.

Madam Speaker,

The Premier’s office has continued pursuing the objective of improving the lives of vulnerable groups in our society. These include women, children, the youth, people with disabilities and the elderly.

To this end our country has marked Child Protection Week (CPW), from 29 May to 4 June 2006 to urge all South Africans to participate and intensify the promotion of children’s rights and child protection.

This campaign seeks to mobilise families, stakeholders and communities to work together to address the complex socio economic needs of children. It also highlighted the critical aspects that children should be loved and not abused. In an effort to curb the increasingly common and disturbing phenomenon of child abuse, the communities took to the streets, to raise awareness and campaign against child abuse and crimes against children. Child protection must be everybody’s business and must be upheld throughout the year. Child molestation, rape, indecent assault and any other form of child abuse is a serious criminal offence and those found guilty by the courts must be severely punished.

The Office on the Rights of the Child (ORC) conducted an anti-child labour campaign to sensitise children and communities about the effects of child labour. 11 schools in the farming areas were reached. An interface was also conducted with the farming communities and children.

Awareness campaigns were embarked upon during Children’s Month with the aim of developing an identity through popularisation of national symbols and relate these symbols to South Africa’s evolving national identity.

The process of establishing libraries in hospitals continued at the Colesberg Hospital. Children of Colesberg are also benefiting from this project. 20 homeless children benefited from a book writing project that resulted in a printed anthology.

Ladies and gentlemen, this year, 16 June marked the 30th anniversary of the heroic struggle waged by our young people against an unjust, brutal and oppressive system. The youth commission and other youth structures embarked on a series of activities to pay tribute to the heroic contribution of young men and women to the building of a non-racial, non-sexist, democratic and prosperous South Africa 30 years ago.

This month also gives us the opportunity to take stock of our achievements in improving the lives of the youth constituency in the province as well as people in our country at large. 16 June 1976 marked the turning point in the level of youth involvement in the struggle to liberate South Africa’s oppressed black majority from the tyranny of apartheid. When students in Soweto took to the streets in protest against a decree issued by the then Department of Education declaring Afrikaans as a compulsory medium of instruction for all black learners, police responded with teargas and live bullets.

This year’s theme; “Age of Hope: Deepening youth participation in development” calls on all of us to step up to the challenge of advancing the development of young people and tackle the challenges we will encounter as we create a better life for all our people.

As a nation it is extremely vital that we use the memory of the 16 June 1976 uprisings to build a better society which values and respects its youth. President Thabo Mbeki said, “The most appropriate way of honouring the sacrifices of the youth of 1976 is to ensure that the youth of South Africa remain committed to their revolutionary role of leading the fight against poverty and for the fundamental transformation of society.”

During our provincial programme to commemorate this 30th anniversary we unveiled a youth monument in remembrance of those young people who paid the supreme price in our struggle for liberation. This monument has been erected in the “Garden of Remembrance” within the precincts of the legislature. Names of the fallen heroes will be engraved on the monument in 2007.

The President also announced some key initiatives on youth development during the State of the Nation address earlier this year. These include work to be done to ensure youth integration and mainstreaming in the AsgiSA programme, access for young people to information that would enable their participation in the economy and the intensified roll out of the National Youth Service Programme (NYSP).

We have stated on many occasions that the development of youth remains central to the broader development efforts of our government. Central to this, is the role that the Northern Cape Youth Commission must play to ensure that youth development find expression within the programmes and interventions of the various government departments and municipalities.

As indicated during my budget speech last year, the Provincial Legislature has passed the Northern Cape Youth Act that would allow for the Youth Commission to function as a public entity. The preparation process in this regard is continuing.

In order to improve our delivery on National Youth Service Projects announced last year we have instituted a number of interventions.

These include:
The appointment of a dedicated project implementation agent to oversee the management of all three projects.

Centralising resource allocation to ensure effective and efficient spending against allocated budgets.

A training and development programme is being developed to assist with building provincial delivery capacity with regard to training service provision. This would include the Further Education and Training (FET) Colleges.

The interventions mentioned have already contributed in ensuring progress in at least two of the projects, with the Platfontein Road Construction project in the practical implementation phase.

In November 2005 the Youth Commission convened the Northern Cape Youth Convention, as part of the process for the development of the Northern Cape Integrated Youth Development Strategy. I am pleased to indicate that the strategy development process is nearing completion, we would be launching this strategy during the second half of 2006.

In March we launched the R15 million Basha Enterprise Fund, as a partnership between the Provincial Government, ABSA and the Umsobomvu Youth Fund. The fund is being managed by the Umsobomvu Youth Fund (UYF) and we will do further work in the coming period to ensure that products of the fund are aligned to various other initiatives such as the business opportunities support programme. This would ensure that young entrepreneurs are provided with a comprehensive service that would assist in sustaining their businesses.

To drive and direct the youth development response of our government, the Northern Cape Youth Commission is allocated R8,952 million.

The office on the status of persons with disabilities launched a service delivery document titled “Accessible Municipality” during disability month in November 2005 to guide and assist municipalities towards better service delivery for persons with disabilities.

With the 50th celebrations of the Freedom Charter, information was collected on progress made by government departments in terms of issues affecting persons with disabilities. This was followed up with managers in different departments.

Several programmes to train educate and inform stakeholders regarding issues affecting persons with disabilities were done during disability month. These include the managers in departments, disabled people’s organisations and the representatives of the different unions. Disability month closed on a high note, celebrating International Day for Persons with Disabilities and honouring some for their exceptional achievements on different levels of participation.

For the current financial year the Office on the Status of Persons with Disabilities (OSPD) will attempt to develop mechanisms to support “Target Group equality within government departments, intergovernmental collaborative mechanisms and mechanisms for information exchange and collaboration among local, provincial and national government. Action plans are being developed with departments in order to ensure that they integrate target group analysis in their work.”

The OSPD will develop training modules for departments and other role players and establish accountability and evaluative processes to assess progress continuously. Furthermore the OSPD will establish a resource library, developing further reference materials and tools for the use of departments.

In order to execute these plans an amount of R2,779 million has been allocated for this financial year.

The Office on the Status of Women (OSW) has been coordinating the 50th anniversary of the Women’s March programme which is a year-long programme, and the 16 Days of Activism on No Violence Against Women and Children, with special emphasis on the involvement of society at large in the fight against violence and abuse that is directed at women and children.

Through their campaign in 2005 the OSW in partnership with other departments has managed to raise funds and assisted four shelters for abused women and children (Siyanda, Pixley ka Seme, Frances Baard and Kgalagadi) and one home for homeless children in Frances Baard region. Five young women from Thuthuzela care centre, who are victims of violence, were assisted with clothing and toiletries whilst attending training organized by UNICEF and National Prosecutor Authority (NPA).

On completion of training they will produce a television documentary that will be shown during 2006. Four wheelchairs were given to women with disabilities in the Namakwa and Kgalagadi regions.

The unit has also successfully launched South African Women in Dialogue (SAWID) in all regions and at provincial level.

In the current financial year OSW will be engaging in the training of domestic workers to ensure that they become more multi skilled but also to empower them to understand their rights and conditions of service. OSW will also have information sessions discussing legislation that impact on the lives of women (e.g. Maintenance Act and Domestic Violence Act.) In their monitoring and evaluation function they will monitor the implementation of the Employment Equity Act with a specific focus on women with disabilities. Under the theme “men as partners” the unit also intends the establishment of men structures where issues like gender based violence, rape, teenage pregnancy and HIV/Aids will be debated. This unit has been allocated an amount of R2,606 million for this financial year.

Another challenge we are faced with, Madam Speaker, is the abuse and neglect of our elderly as another group of vulnerable people. A number of departments and non-government organisation (NGOs) have arranged special activities to honour our elderly but we need a more intensive programme and co-ordinated approach. We need to restore respect and a more caring attitude that will affirm the contributions the elderly have already made to society, as well as their wisdom and experience that we can learn from.

The Premier's Service Excellence Awards third cycle (2004/05 financial year) was successfully completed with the gala evening held on 3 June 2005 at the provincial legislature. These awards serve as an excellent instrument to transform government machinery to be more responsive to the needs of our people as well as to encourage and promote the principles of “Batho Pele.” It further serves as a catalyst to improve the quality and accessibility of services provided by the provincial government. At the last event the judges were particularly impressed with the spirit and commitment of all the entrants to delivering better services, some even in the face of considerable constraints. It was also their opinion that a greater focus on customers and Batho Pele needs to be properly and fully integrated into all systems and processes.

The awards criteria provide an important instrument for independently evaluating the quality of work done but to have the greatest value the level of participation across departments must increase significantly. Internal monitoring and evaluation and information management, in particular, customer relationship management systems are some areas needing urgent attention.

The provincial Moral Summit took place from 6 - 8 May 2006 in Kimberley and focused on the many ills present in our communities. The theme was: "A society characterised by abuse and crime: a challenge for communities to become custodians of morality.” Over 500 delegates from all five districts in the province participated in the summit. The budgeted amount for the summit was R500,000. The Draft Charter for positive values, drafted from inputs from across all provinces was launched by the CEO of the MRM (National) at the gala evening held on 6 May 2006. The draft charter will be taken to all communities in the province to provide a platform for communities to acquaint themselves with the Charter and take full ownership for its future implementation. Resolutions of the summit will form the basis of a provincial programme of action.

During the 2005/06 and the present financial years we have hosted several national commemoration days. On 16 June 2005, the province hosted the National Youth Day event here in Kimberley. The event was successful in that it drew well in excess of 20 000 young people from across the province, which quells the notion that our youth are detached in as far as our democratic processes are concerned. In 2005 we also had the privilege of hosting the National Youth Month programme in the Northern Cape. This was soon followed by the National Batho Pele Learning Network Conference in November 2006 and recently on the 27 April 2006, by the National Freedom Day celebration which was addressed by the President.

On 1 June we hosted the national celebrations of the International Children’s Day which encompasses the Child Protection Week and is the beginning of Youth Month. This day is intended to celebrate the children and childhood and also signals the new “Age of Hope” declared by government for this year. All these events have been very successful and they allowed our communities to participate in high profile occasions.

Madam Speaker,

In conclusion I would like to express my gratitude to the many people who makes it easier for me to carry out my responsibilities.

Thanks, firstly, to my colleagues in ExCo, national colleagues, PCC colleagues, MPLs and NCOP members. Special thanks to the office of Premier team led by the Director-General (DG) who was an all rounder, supporting other departments and who is trying his utmost with limited resources to ensure we build a Northern Cape administration with enough capacity to deliver on electoral mandates.

The ministerial staff that had to huff and puff day and night to meet the demands of my schedule.

My family for not complaining when I cannot attend to family matters, in particular my angels Tumie and Kgomotso for being loving, understanding and caring.

The VIP team, in particular the eight men who provides for my personal security, who always sacrifices personal and family responsibilities to ensure that I am safe and well protected from any harm.

Lastly, Cde Sylvia Lucas as chairperson and the members of the portfolio committee under whose protective arm the office of the Premier resides. Thanks for keeping the team on their toes and leaving visible tooth marks on them every time. Your impact is felt whenever they prepare for and departs from the committee presentations. Thank you very much; the success of government is improved by the pressure you put on us to account for every cent and for the delivery of our programmes.

Thank you!

Issued by: Office of the Premier, Northern Cape Provincial Government
22 June 2006