Section 100 Intervention gave birth to improved audit opinion for Office of the Premier NW
Audit results for 2020/21 show continued positive trajectory after five years of decline and stagnation. Office of the Premier received unqualified audits following Section 100 Intervention in the province.
The North West Provincial Government was placed under Section 100 (1) (a) and 100 (1) (b) intervention in terms of the Constitution for over four years to address maladministration, non-adherence to supply chain prescripts and poor service delivery among others.
“Since the national intervention, we have made some significant strides in addressing the governance and service delivery challenges facing our province. They include improved alignment of planning between departments to deliver on service delivery priorities. In addition to this we have filled key management positions and this is primarily aimed at improving our capacity to deliver services. We are happy that a moratorium on the recruitment of staff has also been lifted. This is going to enable us to expedite the pronouncements made during the State of The Province Address" remarked Premier Maape.
Functions previously centralised in the Premier Office have been transferred back to their original departments. Moreover, wasteful and poorly managed outsourcing contracts were also terminated and officials have been empowered to do the work they were employed for.
As part of restoring financial controls and governance, the Office has built capacity across departments to strengthen supply chain management. Provincial departments have also been reconfigured to correlate with national norms and standards. Massive reduction of irregular expenditure was achieved and improvement on internal control systems was registered resulting in unqualified audit findings.
Key services administered by Office of the Premier include the Youth Advocacy Programme and Skills Training which contributes to the development and empowerment of youth. The Office also provides bursaries for young people from poor backgrounds to access tertiary education through the Victor Thebe Sifora Bursary Scheme.
Office of the Premier has also approved a Fraud Prevention Policy and implementation plan. The policy is being implemented through awareness campaigns on a quarterly basis as a control measure to deter any form of fraud and corruption within government.
Office of the Premier also uses the complaints management system to deal with various service delivery complaints across the province through the Provincial Call Centre Toll Free hotline.
“Through different platforms, collaboration and partnerships we have made significant progress in steering the Province in the right direction and strengthening the capacity of government to deliver quality basic services to the people, as well as mending the broken bridges between ourselves, communities and organised labour.
Office of the Premier remains committed to serve the community of North West Province and strengthen its oversight role on monitoring the implementation of all government plans through provincial departments” concluded Premier Maape.
Ends
Enquiries:
Sello Tatai
Cell: 064 756 2510 or 082 450 7842
E-mail: statai3@gmail.com
Brian Setswambung
Cell: 076 012 4501
E-mail: bsetswambung@nwpg.gov.za
