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12 November 2008

Chairperson
MECs
Members of the media

My statement will cover key achievements and plans for the Gauteng Treasury, the Department of Economic Development and its agencies as well as the Gauteng Shared Services Centre.

The Gauteng Treasury
As part of ongoing efforts to complete the 2004 mandate and to lay a solid foundation for vision 2014, on 20 November 2008, the Gauteng Treasury will present the 2008/09 Adjustment Budget and the Medium Term Budget Policy Statement to the Legislature.

The adjustment budget will revise budget allocations that were tabled at the Legislature in February this year. This will be done in order to ensure that all identified priority programs as per the Gauteng Provincial Government's (GPG) Five Year Strategic Plan are completed.

The Medium Term Budget Policy Statement will indicate GPG's spending priorities over the 2009/10 Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) period. Before the end of this calendar month, we will launch the Gauteng Fund. The purpose of this fund is to leverage resources from the private sector, including debt funding, to finance strategic and economically viable infrastructure projects across the province.

We have allocated an amount of R500 million as seed capital for this Fund and the intention is to raise R7 billion.

The Gauteng Treasury has finalised preparations of the Consolidated Annual Financial Statements for the whole of GPG. These Statements will allow our stakeholders to have a detailed picture of the financial position of GPG. They detail the assets we have as a Province, our liabilities as well as our revenue and expenditure.

The statements are an important instrument that we will use to account to the people of Gauteng on the management of public funds.

The Treasury has also published the second Provincial Economic Review and Outlook Report which provides an analysis of the provincial economy and forecasts its performance until 2011.

The Department of Economic Development
The Department of Economic Development continues to register new and decisive gains in its efforts to create an enabling environment for job creation and the accelerated growth of the provincial economy. To further deepen the gains made in growing the provincial economy and creating jobs, we have begun a process to draft a long term development plan for Gauteng G 2055.

Linked to this is the establishment of the Gauteng Planning Commission whose purpose is to facilitate integrated planning among all spheres of government and between various government departments and agencies. Before the end of the current term of governance we expect to complete the expansion of the Innovation Hub and the Automotive Supplier Park in Rosslyn. In addition, our plans to build a new supplier park in Silverton together with the City of Tshwane are at an advanced stage.

These infrastructure projects are critical for the growth of some of our priority sectors, namely, knowledge-based industries, information and communications technology (ICT) and the value-added manufacturing sector.

By the end of March next year we expect to complete the Film City Strategy. This strategy will guide the investment and other support measures that we will continue to provide to the film, audio visual and broadcasting sector.

Tomorrow, we will be hosting the provincial Film Indaba. With the theme 'Beyond 2010' this Indaba will bring together key role-players to investigate ways of strengthening the provincial film, audio-visual and broadcasting sector and promoting Gauteng as South Africa's leading production centre.

Early next year, the Gauteng Enterprise Propeller will launch the 20 Priority Townships Business Renewal Project. In terms of this project, businesses in some of Gauteng's old established townships will be targeted for various forms of assistance to ensure their sustainability. We have committed an amount of R50 million towards this project over the next three years.

Blue IQ successfully completed the 2008 cycle of the Smart Young Minds Competition. More than 250 schools across Gauteng took part in this competition aimed at encouraging learners to enrol in maths, science and technology subjects.

Blue IQ and the Innovation Hub hosted the International Association of Science Parks World Conference attended by more than 400 delegates from across the globe. It was the first time that this conference was held on the African continent.

Blue IQ has also successfully organised the inaugural Blue IQ City-to-City Marathon. Almost 4 000 participants took part in this race which was dubbed Africa's richest race. The successful hosting of this race has strengthened Gauteng's position as a competitive destination for the hosting of major events.

As part of developing the competitive sports sector of the Gauteng economy, we recently secured the rights to host the A1 World Championship of Motorsport for the next three years. We have also facilitated the return of the Superbike World Championships to South Africa with Gauteng being the host province.

Work is continuing to develop a provincial Water Sport Strategy that will guide our interventions aimed at supporting competitive water sport in Gauteng as one of the key drivers of economic growth and job creation.

The Gauteng Shared Services Center (GSSC)
The process of converting the GSSC into an agency that will provide back office support to all GPG departments is forging ahead. We will implement all the necessary change management interventions required to ensure that this process proceeds smoothly. Together with worker representatives we will soon finalise issues around remuneration, structure, medical aid and pension fund for GSSC employees.

As part of implementing e-governance across Gauteng, by 2009 we will ensure that 1 200 public schools are fully connected to the Gautengonline network and have fully functional computer laboratories. We have completed the business plan for the implementation of the G-link project. Through this project we will increase broadband capacity and improve connectivity throughout Gauteng.

As part of efforts to promote expanded participation in the mainstream economy, the GSSC will form strategic partnerships with suppliers to support GPG's Preferential Procurement Strategy, which maintains a deliberate bias towards businesses owned by black people, women, youth and people with disabilities.

In the coming months the GSSC will continue to pay attention towards ensuring the full automation of its services. This we believe will go a long way towards improving the time it takes to pay our suppliers and reduce the number of audit queries.

In this regard, the implementation of E-invoicing and E-receipting will be rolled out at the Head office of the Department of Education and in 28 hospitals including three academic hospitals across the province.
Ladies and gentlemen, we are doing all of these things to ensure that we successfully complete the current term of this government and that we lay a solid foundation for the realisation of our vision for 2014.

Contact:
Percy Mthimkhulu
Cell: 082 379 1913
Tel: 011 355 8534
E-mail: percy.mthimkhulu@gauteng.gov.za

Issued by: Gauteng Provincial Government
12 November 2008
Source: Gauteng Provincial government http://www.gautengonline.gov.za/)