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18 June 2008

Madam Speaker
Madam Deputy Speaker
Members of the Executive Council
Members of the Provincial Legislature
Honourable dikgosi
Distinguished guests
Ladies and gentlemen

"If we don't change, we don't grow. If we don't grow we are not really living." These are the words spoken by Anatole, a French writer, who told us that unless we try to do something beyond what we have already mastered, we will never grow.

We need to acknowledge what we have mastered, but more important to remember that we have an obligation to ensure constant growth and development for the citizens and the province of the Northern Cape. The seed that this government has planted was to ensure prosperity and a quality life for our people. It has not yet borne all the fruits of its growth potential and it is therefore critical to continue to nurture and feed it.

It is clear from the budget votes of various departments that we have not abandoned our responsibility as gardeners towards a better life for all. The budget tool that has been allocated to us enables us to increasingly feed the development goals of the province.

The Office of the Premier is expected to play its leadership and monitoring role and to effectively do that we have been allocated an amount of R407,855 million over the Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) period of 2008/09 to 2010/11.

The budget of the Department is divided into three major programmes namely:

* administration
* institutional development; and
* policy and strategic services

For this financial year, we received R132, 997 million, which translates into an 11% increase, with further increases of 1,4% and 3,7% in the outer years 2009/10 and 2010/11. This year's increase is attributed to the establishment of the Unit for Traditional Leadership and facilitating the new form of the Northern Cape Youth Commission as a public entity. We also had bursary obligations towards students who were transferred from the North West province.

More specifically, for the current financial year (2008/09), the budget is allocated as follows among the three programmes:

* administration: R35,401 million
* institutional development: R44,653 million; and
* policy and strategic services: R52, 943 million

Employee costs totals 42% of the budget, 34% goes to goods and services, 19% to transfer payments and 5% is allocated to capital.

Madam Speaker

The Intergovernmental Framework Act (Act 13 of 2005) is an important tool to enforce integrated service delivery. This Department is continuing to grow and improve on areas which we have identified as in need of nurturing and growth. One of the key functions of our IGR Forums is to ensure integration across spheres of government, in that we co-ordinate, monitor and support provincial departments as well as municipalities in achieving our overall objectives for the province.

The Cabinet committees have been strengthened and now operate like a well-oiled machine. The only challenge still to be addressed is increasing the research capacity, to ensure that support for clusters is not only based on what Departments present, but that new issues can also be generated through this support system.

The Executive Council has also ensured that the province makes its contribution into the current debates on the Policy Review on Provincial and Local Government, by ensuring coordination and consolidating the inputs of all government departments. This is a process which is ongoing and we need to ensure that our voices remain very audible for the duration of these discussions.

Higher levels of compliance with the Public Service Act are enhanced by the functionality of the Head of Department Forum, which also serves as the Technical Clusters' refinery chamber.

We have furthermore strengthened successful interaction between provincial and local government by ensuring continued support for municipalities through the Premier's Intergovernmental Forum. The Premier's Intergovernmental Relations Forum (PIGF) has dealt with matters like the crisis of debts of other spheres to municipalities, The Millennium Development Goals, The African Peer Review Mechanism, the situation of gravel roads, water provisioning in the province, and the most worrying issue of the audit outcomes for the provincial administration and municipalities respectively.

Whilst the Standing Committee on Public Accounts (SCOPA) has dealt aggressively with the Provincial Administration's financial and expenditure matters, the municipality issues are grossly neglected. This is an indictment on the Legislature Committees and SCOPA, that 28 of the Northern Cape municipalities should be getting disclaimers or adverse opinions.

Madam Speaker

The South African Local Government Association (SALGA) and the MEC's for Finance, Housing and Local Government, should engage the SCOPA and Local Government Portfolio Committee regarding the establishment of SCOPA's for municipalities, especially the bigger ones like Sol Plaatje and /Kharais, or investigate the possibility of a shared committee constituted for the Province by representatives of all 32 municipalities. The audit outcome is a Key Performance Area for both Heads of Departments (HOD's) and Municipal Managers (MM's).

We do have Quality Assessment and Review (QA & R) through the meetings with the Accountant-General and the Auditor-General. The appointment of the Northern Cape Accountant-General will go a long way in ensuring proper expenditure tracking and support to the big departments like Education and Health.

Madam Speaker

The African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) remains one of the important tools for critical self-assessment by African countries themselves. The four areas of assessment are democracy and good political governance, corporate governance, economic management and governance as well as socio - economic development.

South Africa's Peer Review process that started in 2005 and in which the Northern Cape played a significant role culminated in the release of South Africa's Country Review Report which was published in October 2007.

The current challenges linked to xenophobia are identified both in our own country self-assessment report and the Country Review Report released by the panel of Eminent Persons. For an example; the country report states: "Given the levels of unemployment, socio-economic inequalities, some stakeholders do perceive the presence of immigrants as an additional problem in their own struggle for a better life.

Honourable Members, let us be reminded of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights adopted by the United Nations on 10 December 1948, which reads as follows: "All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood." It is an indictment against us that today, 60 years later, we still have people who do not recognise the spirit of this declaration.

Strategies to deal with amongst others, xenophobia are outlined in the Country Review Programme of Action. In the new year, working together with our social partners and communities in particular, we will be revitalising APR processes during the implementation of the APR Programme of Action. We will soon convene meetings to discuss the report and the implementation of the programme of action. The Master Plan will during the course of this financial year, be communicated to all relevant stakeholders to ensure that the co-ordination of service delivery is further enhanced.

We need to do what is good, as captured in the Holy Bible according to the book of Titus, Chapter 3: verses 1,2, 9-11: "Remind the people to be subject to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready to do whatever is good, to slander no one, to be peaceable and considerate, and to show true humility to all men. But avoid foolish controversies and genealogies and arguments and quarrels about the law, because these are unprofitable and useless. Warn a divisive person once, and then warn him a second time, After that, have nothing to do with him. You may be sure that such a man is warped and sinful; he is self-condemned."

In July 2004, during the State of the Province Address, I cautioned members to be trustworthy, to uphold the spirit of the Constitution, to be compliant with the Law and to be honourable. Remember that I cannot protect anyone going against the law.

Monitoring and Evaluation

In order for the Office of the Premier to successfully execute its strategic leadership role, we have to constantly review our internal capacity and respond to changes in our environment. Offices of Premiers and departments of local government across the country had to establish monitoring and evaluation units, in order to better respond to the need to measure government progress more accurately and based on sound scientific internationally acceptable indicators.

We have established this unit to help track the performance of government and its social partners. The most important area of monitoring is the tracking of poverty, education and disease patterns in line with the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), the National Spatial Development Perspective (NSDP), the Provincial Growth and Development Strategy (PGDS) and Integrated Development Plans (IDPs).

For the reporting period, the M&E unit has initiated the mid-term review of the PGDS, as well as produced a mid-term report for the Programme of Action (POA) with a set of 36 indicators. We have resolved to track 500 families (100 per district) and support them out of the poverty trap. This is a multi-sectoral initiative which I will be launching very soon. According to Jeremiah 29:11; "It is the plan of God to prosper individuals, families, nations and the world." Governments must therefore make this a reality as administrators of the taxes of its citizenry.

The M&E unit has also supported Pixley Ka Seme District Municipality with the development of its District Growth and Development Strategy (DGDS), a national pilot project which has now become a benchmark project for the rest of the province and the country. In further ensuring that we adhere to the prescripts as outlined in the National Spatial Development Perspective (NSDP), we are also fortunate that the Department of Land Affairs has agreed to support the province in its selection of Frances Baard District Municipality as a pilot for the development of their spatial framework for the district.

We are pleased to report that co-operation from departments in the development of municipal IDPs has improved through the co-ordination of the unit, as well as the credibility of IDPs themselves. The areas of concern still remain the capacity of municipalities to deliver services with the current skills gaps they are faced with.

During this financial year, the M&E and Communications units have to co-ordinate the process of the 15 Year Review of Government, as required by national government. The Presidency has provided the necessary framework to ensure that provinces evaluate themselves against the national policy and programme areas of service delivery. An amount of R5 million has been set aside for this purpose. In addition to this, we have signed an agreement with Statistics South Africa (STATSSA) to ensure that our research and monitoring capacity is enhanced, that our use and analysis of official statistics improves and that departments can do much better with regards to evidence –based planning.

To compliment the work in the policy and governance programme, through the South Africa - Finland Agreement, the information and communication technology (ICT) Unit will receive a R4 million to implement the Information Society and Development Programme. In addition to this, the unit has received a further allocation of R2 million to protect our computer networks from the recent onslaught of viruses and junk–mail.

Further responding to some of our capacity challenges, we have in the past financial year facilitated a workshop, supported by the Department of Justice, during which 29 Departmental State Law Advisors have been trained in legislative drafting and a further seven officials did an accredited course at the University of Johannesburg. We now also have a functional Provincial Legal Forum to further support government departments and facilitate the sharing of best practices. In the new financial year, we will concentrate on the formulation and adopt a legal services policy, supporting government departments with drafting and interpreting contracts, providing legal advice and defending civil actions against government and drive the amendment of 11 pieces of legislation. The unit has been allocated R3, 813 million to further this work.

Honourable Members, the Legislature is a law-making institution and it is our request that MEC's, once having tabled Bills, should not be requested to withdraw it because it denies members of their constitutional obligation of Law making.

I also wish to remind Members that we still need to establish the Standing Committee for the Office of the Premier, as requested by myself in writing. The need for this Committee arises from the additional responsibilities given to this office, including Traditional Leadership and Governance, Monitoring and Evaluation, Moral Regeneration, Shared Internal Audit Services, The Provincial Aids Council and the Five Year Strategic Agenda for Local Government.

Madam Speaker

You may be aware that most provincial departments are struggling with high vacancy rates and loss of scarce skills. The Department of the Premier is no exception. Our vacancy rate has actually increased over the past financial year, mainly because we have lost some staff and created new posts which we could not immediately fill, and despite the fact that we have appointed more than thirty people the past financial year. We will therefore strife anew to recruit the expertise to help us achieve our strategic objectives.

Despite these constraints, the Office of the Premier has managed to achieve some significantly improved results, especially with regards to matters of compliance with the Public Service Act and its Regulations. We have a functional Employee Health and Wellness Unit which has already assisted a number of employees who are living with HIV/Aids, substance addiction or faced with difficult personal circumstances.

Officials from this government have twice participated in capacity building workshops on managing HIV/Aids in the workplace, arranged by Department of Public Service and Administration (DPSA) and our policy unit is in the process of consolidating the various different HIV/Aids policies from departments into one policy for government.

In the new year, we will continue with our induction process for new employees, increase access to counselling services and also train 60 managers in the management of HIV and Aids in the workplace.

Madam Speaker

We can report that all Departments are now complying with the policy on the Performance Management and Development System (PMDS), Service Delivery Improvement Plans (SDIP's) and the Financial Disclosures of Senior Managers.

Supported by the Office of the Premier, the administration has completed compulsory job evaluation (JE) for employee levels 1 to 12 as per DPSA requirement, and we now have a fully functional Provincial JE panel. The Office of The Premier also facilitated the training of 20 work study officers (at the University of Johannesburg), as we previously only had five officials in the province who had accredited training in this field of work.

We will continue to monitor and support the PMDS across the administration and train 30 Job Evaluation Practitioners for the province. My Department is one of only three provincial departments currently complying with the Public Service Regulations that require the development of human resource plans. Supported by DPSA, we will strife to ensure compliance of all departments with this prescript by September 2008.

A worrying factor in the Department has been the extent to which our supervisory staff (unit and programme managers) is equipped to deal with basic grievance and disciplinary processes. We sometimes find ourselves in a situation where we cannot, with clear conscience, exit transgressing or ill-disciplined workers, because appropriate evidence of employer corrective counselling cannot be found. To this end, we will this year start a process of training supervisory staff to manage these processes correctly.

Records management is critical in the administration as it assists efficient and effective decision making, protects integrity and security of government information and further ensures physical security of buildings. We have embarked on security awareness campaigns in the Office of the Premier, as well as in the departments of Social Services and Population Development and Agriculture. Pre-employment screening of prospective employees has been enhanced to ensure that we do not employ shady characters or law breakers, but also to check competency levels.

Departments are required to appoint security managers, who in turn must produce departmental policies on security and records management, as well as risk management. All security personnel must undergo the Private Security Industries Regulatory Authority training within the first six months of this financial year.

Madam Speaker

For government to enhance service delivery, managers must be equipped to supervise and support their subordinates. Project Khaedu is an innovative Batho Pele support programme for public senior managers, and uses action learning, through practical exercises derived from real life case studies in the public service.

Areas covered include:

* process design and problem solving
* creating realistic strategies and aligning the organisation to execute on them
* people and change management
* developing budgets and effective financial controls; and
* communicating for results.

Non-compliance with Khaedu is an indictment against us because it means middle and senior managers do not have the tools to assess the impact of service delivery and therefore do not have the ability to give feedback and appropriately guide officials at the "coalface" of service delivery.

As a province we have not been doing well in ensuring that our senior and middle managers attend this training. In 2007, a total of 35 senior managers were trained from all departments in the province. We are currently correcting this and have about forty officials who were trained a week ago, and another additional 50 senior managers and 100 middle managers are targeted for the remainder of the 2008/09 financial year.

Just this morning we have launched the start of Public Service Week in our province. Through these activities we wish to remind public servants of their obligations towards service delivery, and at the same time acknowledge those Batho Pele Heroes, who always walk the extra mile in order to serve our communities.

Further investment into the human capital within our Department and in the province is displayed through the following skills development commitments from the Office of the Premier:

* 25 staff members received bursaries in the past financial year for further work-related studies, at a cost of R142, 569,00.

* For 2008 /09, a total of 20 employee bursaries are allocated at a total cost of R137 453,00.

* The Premier's Trust Fund has enabled 448 students in the province to further their studies in various scarce skills areas. In the new financial year, the Trust Fund will continue to support approximately 450 students, including students we have inherited from the former cross—boundary municipal area of Kgalagadi. We will soon do an audit on the impact of scholarships and bursaries on the skills and competency levels in the administration and the Office of the Premier.

* The Education, Training and Development Practices (ETDP) SETA has provided 100 bursaries through the Office of the Premier, which have been allocated to needy students in different critical skills areas.

Madam Speaker

On 24 September last year (2007), our province moved much closer to our milestone and policy to restore dignity and pride of our traditional leaders - past and present. This we did when the Northern Cape province facilitated the unveiling of Kgosi Galeshewe's tombstone at Modutung. We have also facilitated the burial of the remains of Kaptein Cornelius Kok of the Griqua community. Like we reported in the State of the Province address, Kgosi Toto's remains are still at Robben Island. The biggest challenge in this regard is the reality that this site is a World Heritage site.

As this Office, we need to continuously encourage government departments and municipalities to work in harmony and respect with our traditional communities, who make a huge contribution towards the preservation of our cultural traditions and heritage.

In terms of section 211 and 212, Chapter 12 of the Constitution, national legislation must provide a role for traditional leadership as an institution to deal with issues affecting local communities, and also provide for the establishment of provincial and local Houses of traditional leadership. These specific sections of the Constitution must be implemented in line with the Traditional Leadership and Governance Framework Act (Act 41 of 2003) and the Northern Cape Traditional Leadership Governance and Houses of Traditional Leadership Act (Act 2 of 2007).

I am pleased to report that the establishment of the local House of traditional leaders in Kgalagadi is now a reality. Inauguration of these leaders took place on 12 June, with Kgosi Toto and Kgosi Phetlhu as the Chair and Deputy - Chair respectively. The process towards the establishment of the Provincial House has started, with the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) managing the electoral process. The Honourable Members of the Legislature will be kept abreast of developments.

In empowerment of our institutions for traditional leadership we will give further support to traditional councils by appointing appropriate support staff and by upgrading the buildings at traditional community level. An amount of R9, 302 million has been allocated for the work of the Traditional Leadership Unit. In addition to this, traditional leaders have requested capacity building, so they will be trained on Local Economic Development (LED), Integrated Development Plans (IDP) and Community Development Facilitation and Leadership. This training will be funded through an agreement between the Office of the Premier and the Local Government Sector Education and Training Authority (SETA).

Madam Speaker

Despite the ever-present societal challenges, our Department is continuously pursuing the objective of improving the lives of vulnerable groups. These include women, children, people with disabilities and the youth.

To this end, the Provincial Programme of Action on Disability 2003/07 was reviewed and a Provincial Accessibility Committee has been established. The Special Programmes Unit has completed a provincial survey on employment equity, and we are not doing so well in this regard.

Although some departments may be faring better than others, the province has only achieved 0,47% of our provincial target of 5%. This means that we need to appoint 737 persons with disabilities between now and 2014. We will therefore support departments and municipalities to develop disability indicators that are in line with the National Disability Policy Framework, and drive a more aggressive framework to recruit people with disabilities.

The Office on the Rights of the Child has in the past year facilitated a successful children's rights service delivery programme for Phokwane Municipality. We successfully celebrated Children's Day in the province with 1 720 children and 50 children from the province participated in the World Energy Summit - giving provincial inputs. Eight children participated in the Fun Day (Siyadlala) hosted by the Deputy President in the Western Cape.

The Department of Education and the Legislature, through the Office of the Speaker, like always, co-ordinated a successful "Take a Girl-Child to Work" campaign. This initiative is always the highlight of these girls' annual calendar. We recommend that all MPLs and Managers participate in this programme.

This year we will partner with one non-governmental organisation to mainstream, co-ordinate and facilitate children's Rights in Civil Society. We will ensure the implementation of the Children's Rights Delivery Guide in municipalities and develop a children's rights situational analysis report according to the Millennium Development Goals. We will also conduct a provincial child participation process on the review of the Children's Charter in order to input in the national process. An amount of R2,430 million has been set aside for the work of this unit.

Madam Speaker

Our collaboration with stakeholders has ensured that a gender perspective is integrated both at the planning, budgetary and the implementation levels of government programmes. In the past year, the Office on the Status of Women also focused more intensively on women on farms and in the rural areas. Empowerment sessions were conducted for 900 rural and farm women, in order for them to understand their rights and their ability to access information and resources to their benefit.

The Northern Cape province as a whole is not performing well in the appointment of women at the most senior level (HODs and MMs). In fact, in 2007 we had three women municipal managers and three HODs. The Local Government sphere is now worse off at one woman MM, and the NCPA is still at three. This is an indictment on the women in the legislature. It looks like after we had been appointed, we then kicked off the ladder.

In the forthcoming year we will further build the capacity of provincial and local government Gender Focal Persons (GFPs) on gender mainstreaming, as well as enhancing civil society capacity to participate in legislation impacting on the lives of women. An amount of R2, 4 million has been allocated for this work. In addition, I can also report proudly that our efforts to capacitate women economically are paying off through the efforts of the Mme Re Ka Thusa Trust. An allocation of R3, 150 million has been made for the work of the Trust.

As you are aware, the Northern Cape Provincial Youth Commission is now a fully fledged private entity and has to report to the structures of the Provincial Legislature separately. They are, however, still funded through transfer payments from the budget of the Office of the Premier. They have been allocated an amount of R8,954 million of which an amount of R3 million is earmarked for intensive youth training programme that will guarantee job placement for these young people after completion of the programme.

Madam Speaker and Honourable Members

We are almost at the end of the term of this current government. When we look back over the years it has been our constant message that we need to ensure the continuous growth of the province. I am convinced that this we have done, with the support of all of our communities and other stakeholders.

It has always been our pledge that we will use the little resources at our disposal, to the maximum benefit of our people. From this path we dare not waver, in order to ensure that an ANC led government will continue to enjoy the trust and confidence of our people. Our work must be viewed like relay race, we were only doing one lap, and those who will succeed us must surely continue on the path to freedom and prosperity. Let us therefore put all our hands firmly on deck to ensure that our work in this part of the relay continues.

I want to thank:

* God for good health and overall protection.
* The members of the Legislature for keeping us on track and demanding value for money.
* My colleagues in the Executive Council for their drive, their support and their dedication to the development cause of our government, to ensure that our dream for a better life for all, based on the Freedom Charter and the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, becomes a reality day by day.

* The Acting Director-General for holding the fort and steering the ship well, albeit on borrowed robes and time.
* My entire team in the Office of the Premier, keep up the good work and maintaining "all hands on deck" for better service delivery.
* My daughters Boitumelo and Kgomotso – who are really my joy and consolation at all times.

I thank you

Issued by: Office of the Premier, Northern Cape Provincial Government
18 June 2008