Master of ceremonies
Honoured guests
Ladies and gentlemen
I would like to express my sincere appreciation to my colleagues in government for allowing me to do this vote of thanks as we witness the work and dedication demonstrated by our public servants in ensuring that as a collective we build an image of clean governance.
I wish to pay a special thanks to the Honorable Premier Dr Zweli Mkhize and his team for organising this important conference which seeks to revive our conscience. Our determination to uproot the menace of fraud and corruption in our government is not questionable regardless of the challenges we have in this regard.
The hosting of this conference is timely given the fact that the provincial government has started to act in line with the pronouncement in the 2011 State of the Nation Address by the President Jacob Gezeyihlekisa Zuma who said: “The fight against corruption also continues”.
No doubt, the line-up of speakers, the topics that have come under discussions and resolutions of this conference will surely assist us, as the provincial government to “do development differently” and put into place or re-activate monitoring mechanisms that will enhance service delivery, improve customer care and ensure that we put into practice the Batho Pele principles.
We know that the task is enormous and we are not suggesting that everything can be done overnight. But at least the start has been made. Of course this initiative is a formidable foundation on which we are laying the bricks as we build a fraud and corruption-free KwaZulu-Natal.
As we walk out of this conference, we will be looking forward to the implementation and management of the KZN Anti-Fraud and Anti-Corruption Strategy.
We must be able to coordinate and manage the citizens’ complaints relating to poor service delivery while creating an empowered and informed citizenry about the workings of government, how to access services and relevant information that will help them improve their lives. We must be able to project an image of a caring and responsive government that commands the respect and confidence of the citizens.
We want KwaZulu-Natal to be an example of a province where it becomes a norm for all
public servants to ‘do right - even when nobody is watching’.
With those few words, I once again wish to express my appreciation to all of you. Let us all continue to join hands and share ideas on how we can contribute to take our
province to greater heights and overcome some of the challenges that continue to draw us back as honorable public servants and elected representatives respectively.
I thank you.
Province
