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27 June 2008

Honourable Deputy Speaker
Honourable Premier
Members of the Executive Council
Other Presiding Officers
Office Bearers
Party leaders
Honourable members
Colleagues and friends

Introduction

I feel honoured to present the Fifth and the last budget of the Gauteng Provincial Legislature in this current term of Office. We started our current term of office informed by the ten year governance review report. The report stated that we have managed to introduce various innovations of a parliamentary system based on the best international practices as well as on the evolving unique parliamentary traditions.

This uniqueness of our parliamentary traditions is underpinned and informed by our historical policy document of our people, which was adopted on the 26 June 1955, the Freedom Charter.

As we celebrate the 53rd Anniversary of the Freedom Charter, it gives us pleasure as the Gauteng Provincial Legislature to thank our movement for affording us an opportunity to lead the Gauteng Provincial Legislature, which we regard as the tribune of the people. We again, want to thank the people of the province for their contribution in the processes of the Legislature and thereby living in accordance with the vision of the Freedom Charter.

Complete our 2004/09 Political Mandate

Honourable Deputy Speaker, we have walked a long way in completing our 2004/09 mandate given to us as per the recommendations of the ten year review report. That mandate is as follows:

* Putting in place appropriate systems of Executive accountability
* Monitoring the implementation of the government's programme of action to create a better life for the people of Gauteng. In this regard ensuring that the five priorities of government are implemented
* Deepening democracy through enhanced public participation programmes as part of a caring government that listens and implements the needs of its constituencies
* Evaluate laws in line with a transformative agenda to develop an enabling environment for the creation of a better life for the people of Gauteng.
* Position the office of the Speaker to assume political leadership of all the processes in the legislature

Strategic goals of the Legislature
The process of compiling our budget has always been informed by our political mandate and the strategic goals of the Legislature, namely:

* Strive for and maintain a modern, dynamic Legislature in the 21st Century, which reflects the values, aspirations and cultures of the South African people
* Strive for and maintain the most competent, accessible, transparent and accountable Legislature
* Foster public confidence and pride in the Legislature
* Enhance government ability to deliver
* Aim to attract and retain skilled and professional staff, recognise their roles; reward their efforts and provide a stimulating an exciting environment where people are respected and developed
* Locate Public Participation at the centre of Legislative business, through strengthening of oversight and law – making and deepening of democracy
* Strive for and maintain a transformative and developmental Legislature
* Ensure the training and development of members of the Legislature in order to; (a) enable them to fulfil their duties effectively and efficiently and (b) empower them to make best use of their natural abilities in the present and future democratic South Africa

In this financial year, our top priority is, therefore, to complete all outstanding issues relating to our mandate and guided by our ten year review document.

Strengthening the role of the legislature

The first clause of the Freedom Charter, namely, The People Shall Govern, makes a call for the right to vote by all the citizens and for the establishment of the bodies that make laws led by the people's representatives. It further makes a call for all to be in involved in the governance of our country, eliminate all forms of discrimination and calls for deepening of democracy by democratic organs of self government.

Recently, our province and our country experienced a number of developments dominating the public discourse in a quest to answer the following question; are our people governing since the inception of our democratic government? with organs such as the Parliament and the legislatures being established. At the centre of the these developments were further questions such as; the definition of democracy, the role of the people and/or citizens, the role of the political parties in establishing and deciding on the institutions of governance and its leadership, the role of public representatives, transparency and accountability, the rule of law, the principle of separation of powers with regard to the different organs of state and the role and relevance of Parliament and the Legislatures.

These developments, affirmed the correct assertion we made during our last budget presentation, that is, to find better ways of strengthening our legislatures in discharging their constitutional responsibilities regarding, law-making, public participation and oversight over the Executive. We did so by mentioning three types of legislatures and their characteristics. Of importance, was the transformative legislature, which has the authority and power to change proposed government programmes, including budgetary and resource allocation decisions in order to pursue a transformation agenda.

As we all know, currently, the public discourse is dominated by, among others, the need to create and strengthen Parliament and the Legislatures to be the real representative of our people's aspirations and hope, and thus, enhancing the capacity of the public representatives and their political parties in involving their constituencies and the public in general in executing their responsibilities. The passing of the Political Party Funding Act by this Legislature is but part of our contribution to the many challenges facing our society with regard to deepening democracy and ensuring that public participation remains at the centre of the Legislature's business and processes.

At the beginning of last year, the Legislature, under the leadership of Parliament, adopted the following theme: Masijule Ngengxoxo Mzansi aimed at encouraging debates and participation by all at different spheres of our society and mobilisation and engagement of all sectors of society on matters of national interest and development. Furthermore, together with the Provincial Youth Commission, we held a successful Youth Parliament, which evaluated the extent to which the youth development programmes, as discussed in the year under review, have been implemented.

Leadership and Governance

The presiding officers consolidated their collective leadership role by improving the role of both the presiding and the office bearers forums in providing strategic political leadership to the institution and strengthening political management between the presiding officers, the Office of the Chief Whip, the Premier's Office and the Office of the Leader of Government Business. Over the past year, the presiding officers focused much of their energy on answering the question posed to this house before, that of building an institution, which would be responsive to the political imperatives.

The Legislature Services Board has also played a major role in ensuring that, together we build an organisation responsive to the political imperatives and strengthening our effort in discharging our constitutional responsibilities of law making, public participation and oversight over the Executive. We have reported before on our process of evaluating the effectiveness of the Legislature Services Board. On the basis of the findings, an implementation plan was developed and adopted by the Legislature Services Board and would be implemented in this current financial year.

Madam Deputy Speaker, It was our intention to table the Legislature Services Board Amendment Bill before this House. The delay in introducing the new Finance Act for the Legislative Sector, namely, Financial Administration of Parliament and Provincial Legislatures Act (FAPLA), by the National Parliament spearheaded by the National Speaker's Forum, impacted negatively on our plans. We are waiting the enacting of the Bill by Parliament and would then incorporate the relevant provisions to the Legislature Services Board Bill before presenting the amended version for adoption by this House.

Transformation process of the Institution

During this period, a number of observations were made in relation to the institution's endeavours to respond to the identified transformation challenges. These include, the piecemeal organisational intervention made by different units, the lack of common understanding of the organisation's core function, the lack of understanding of the business model of the institution, low staff morale and leadership challenges in administration. Notwithstanding these, there are systems, policies and procedures in place to ensure an effective and efficient administration we however, have to improve the speed at which decisions are implemented.

As part of the transformation process of the institution, the presiding officers resolved on engaging in the organisational design process for the entire institution with a view of building a new administration for the Legislature. Terms of reference were developed, a consultant was appointed and the report was presented in this financial year.

We regard the results of the organisational design as an important breakthrough in that the organisational structure of the legislature was divided into the core and the support functions. The core function is part of the entire Parliamentary Operations with three new clusters established, namely, Parliamentary Business, Communications and Knowledge Management. A Directorate of Finance, under the leadership of the Chief Financial Officer was established. This directorate is part of the support function including the Institutional Support Services, Operational Support Services and Members' Directorate.

The Gauteng Provincial Legislature has in the past received unqualified reports from the Auditor General and in some instances with matters of emphasis being raised. However, last year we received an unqualified report without any matter of emphasis being raised by the office of the Auditor General and we hope and trust that this newly established Finance Directorate would continue with the excellent work.

During the current financial year we would be focusing on the adopted organisational design implementation plan, which would include refinement of the current organisational strategy and the business model, developing the leadership model, change management processes and a detailed communication plan for the transformation of the legislature, thereby laying a firm foundation for the new administration, going forward. The implementation plan would be rolled out in this financial year aimed at, amongst others, resourcing the core function accordingly, in terms of both human and financial resources.

Members Affairs

Honourable Deputy Speaker, our commitment of empowering the members with the necessary business tools has contributed positively in ensuring the efficiency and effectiveness of members in executing their duties. The main purpose of the Members' Directorate is to provide dedicated support to members as primary stakeholders, to provide a strategic insight into the running of the Members' Directorate through development of policies, improving the administration and enhancement of Members' facilities in order to ensure that they are best equipped to exercise their constitutional mandate and responsibilities. To this end, an amount of R4,7 million was allocated for research allowance. The travelling facilities were allocated an amount of R1,6 million whilst the Constituency allowances were allocated R16,1 million. Training and Development for members was allocated R1,2 million.

The directorate has also been engaged on a number of flagship projects. The service centre was launched and the impact was evident in the result of the stakeholder survey, which registered drastic improvement in stakeholders' perceptions in service performance of the Legislature. Due to the Party Funding Act, a new memorandum of agreement between the Legislature and the political parties represented in the Legislature was developed to define the nature, terms and the scope of the services to be outlined by means of a framework. A workshop on the PFMA was held with the accounting officers to assist them in effectively managing the allocated funds. In this regard, an amount of R21 million is allocated to the political parties represented in the Legislature.

A Policy Framework for members was implemented leading to the review and amendment of several policies such as travelling allowance, mobile tools and laptop policy. As part of the European Union (EU) programme, a total of 42 members were trained, including capacitating 28 party support staff.

Legislature core functions
Law making

Towards the end of last year, the Legislature, together with the Executive, initiated an Act aimed at funding the political parties represented in the Gauteng Provincial Legislature. Subsequently we developed regulations to give effect to the Act.

As reported, we would be engaging on a project of evaluating the efficacy of the laws passed by the Legislature since 1994 and a report in this regard will be presented at the end of the current financial year.

Public participation

As part of contributing towards a robust Legislature that mobilises civil society organisations to participate in the Legislative processes, we are continuing to implement the recommendations of the national conference on public participation. In this regard, our committees continue to convene quarterly stakeholder meetings with civil society organisations as part of broadening public participation in our law-making processes.

We have also established a stakeholder relations office aimed at developing a comprehensive stakeholder management strategy for the entire institution. To this end a report containing the strategy would be presented in due course.

Oversight work

As part of strengthening our oversight work, the Legislature will be undertaking a project to review the efficacy of PEBA. This would be a multi-faceted evaluation approach involving, amongst others, units such as Research and Committees, Office Bearers and the Executive in its approach. The envisaged outcomes of this process will be a detailed report with recommendations on how to strengthen our oversight model.

Ministerial Accountability

We take into cognisance, the fact that the ministerial accountability project was prolonged for quite a long time due to processes to be observed in finalising this matter. We are, however, pleased that after consultations and discussion between the Executive and the Legislature, we would be presenting the final report through Oversight Committee on the Premier's Office and the Legislature (OCPOL) for adoption by the House at the end of July this year. We want to take this opportunity to thank OCPOL under the capable leadership of Hon. Member de Beer for a job well done.

Establishment of the committee for the scrutiny of subordinate legislation

One of the projects we were seized with over the past year was the establishment of the Committee for the Scrutiny of Subordinate Legislation aimed at ensuring that the Gauteng Legislature exercises its mandate of monitoring the implementation of all the laws passed by the Executive in the province. It is a known fact that in the past the Legislature has not done so with respect to all the laws passed in the province. To this end, we are in the process of establishing this committee. We would also be engaged in an exercise of training members of the committee to enhance and build the capacity of the committee. The Legislature's Legal Unit will also provide support to the committee as this committee will require sound legal advice.

Communication and Profiling of the Legislature

As reported, the Directorate of Information and Liaison ceased to exist as a result of the organisational design process initiated by the presiding officers. A communication unit was therefore established as part of the integrated approach in the Parliamentary Operations Directorate.

This move necessitated a need to re-look at the operational mandate of this unit, moreover, it should be noted that the public participation unit now forms part of the communication cluster. A communication strategy was initiated and it is envisaged that this strategy would be focused on both the external and internal environment of the institution, and thus contribute in profiling the Legislature in the hearts and minds of the people of the province. To this end, an amount of R1.2 million is allocated.

Human Resources Development

Up to the end of the 2007/08 financial year the directorate has been responsible for ensuring sound financial management, ensuring that there are effective and efficient procurement systems and practices in line with the Preferential Procurement Framework Act as well as the Supply Chain Management Framework. The directorate was further responsible for Good Administration Support Services as well as effective Human Capital Systems and practices. To this end, an organisational design exercise was carried out in the last quarter of the financial year, which recommended the migration of the Finance and Procurement unit out of the Institutional Support Services (ISS) directorate and the formation of the Finance Directorate under the CFO.

The implementation of the Human Resource Strategy was rolled out in the year under review, and it included some of the key elements such as raising the level of capability and competence of the Legislature staff and stakeholders, to enable the organisation to operate at a more strategic level and to create and leverage a best human resources function.

Co-operate Governance

Co-operate governance has been one of the challenges for the Legislature. We have, however, exercised this through our involvement in the National Speakers' Forum and recently established the Provincial Speakers' Forum consisting of local municipalities convened by our Office. The main purpose of the forum is to share knowledge, experiences and best practices.

The Provincial Speakers' Forum was capacitated and has, in this regard, been involved in numerous activities such as convening a workshop on the separation of powers as part of our contribution to the transformation of local government structures and systems, piloted by the Johannesburg Metro.

For this year, the Provincial Speakers' Forum has since convened a workshop on ethics and code of conduct for municipalities and has developed a petition campaign aimed at involving all municipalities in the province, with the objective of empowering those municipalities in dealing with petitions in their respective communities.

The International/Continental Arena

Our approach to the study tours and international trips is informed by the Legislature's inter-institutional strategy and the national strategy on foreign relations.

Over and above the study tours and international trips, the Legislature sent three staff as attachment to the Scottish Parliament as part of the capacity building programme. We also participated in the Common Wealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) activities held in Tanzania and Namibia respectively. Furthermore, the CPA Africa Region Conference was held in South Africa, Cape Town and the CPA International Conference, in India. Together with the KwaZulu-Natal Legislature, we hosted the CPA inter-branch exchange programme held in Durban in 2007. We again participated in the CPA seminars held in Scotland, Westminster in London and Common Wealth Women Parliamentarian seminar in Namibia.

We are going to participate in the CPA Africa region conference to be held in Zambia and the CPA international to be convened in Malaysia. We would also be hosting the CPA inter-branch exchange programme and will also be involved on both the local and international activities. To this end an amount of R2,2 million is allocated.

Honourable members, these programmes have become more crucial and important not only for our institution but also to the entire country and continent. The recent development in our country, in particular, the Gauteng province regarding the Xenophobic attacks on foreign citizens poses a challenge to all of us to utilise such programmes in order to contribute towards Africa's development and thus building a continent which belongs to all who live in it. Let us all join the people of our country in condemning these attacks. Never again shall these despicable acts happen in our country.

This is but one budget speech ending our current political term and towards the beginning of the fourth legislature. In this regard, we are hard at work in preparing a handover report with recommendations to the new leadership after the forthcoming general elections.

Honourable members, may I present the Legislature's Budget as follows:

Executive Summary of the Budget
Political Representation: R30 million
Leadership and Governance: R7 million
Office of the Secretary: R10 million
Parliamentary Operations: R41 million
Institutional Support Services: R41 million
Operational Support Services: R56 million
Communication: R30 million

Conclusion

We still have a long way to travel, but we must recognise how much more we hope to achieve. It is in that spirit we say that this budget vote should not only mark the end of our office term, but to also mark the beginning of the next legislature term. The collective and strategic political leadership provided by the presiding officers and the Office Bearers served as a guide in providing direction to both management and political matters in the Legislature.

Honourable members
Our sincere appreciation goes to party leaders for their positive contributions on a number of challenges facing our institution through, amongst others, the Legislature Service Board.

We also thank all of you, Honourable members, for your contribution throughout the year under review. Let us acknowledge and thank all the staff of the Legislature and, in particular, senior managers of our institution under the leadership of the provincial secretary for all the sterling work.

Let me take this opportunity to once more welcome the new provincial secretary, Mr Peter Skosana and the new Director Parliamentary Operations, Ms Hlengiwe Bhengu, who became part of us at the end of last year.

I therefore humbly request this House to approve the Gauteng Provincial Legislature's budget as presented.

I thank you.

Issued by: Gauteng Legislature
27 June 2008
Source: Gauteng Provincial Government (http://www.gpg.gov.za/)