The Presidency
Department of Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation
Statistics South Africa
Government Communication and Information System
Media Development and Diversity Agency
Brand South Africa
Department of Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities
The Presidency
The Presidency is mandated to ensure that the President can execute his constitutional responsibilities in leading and galvanising government and society to implement the electoral mandate.
Over the medium term, The Presidency aimed to continue providing support to the President and Deputy President of South Africa in the execution of their responsibilities as outlined in Chapter 5 of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa of 1996. Accordingly, over the medium-term period, the department aimed to focus on leading and supporting the implementation of the South African Economic Reconstruction and Recovery Plan, coordinating the National Coronavirus Command Council and operationalising the e‐Cabinet system.
Leading South Africa’s economic reconstruction and recovery
The Presidency sees creating employment and retaining jobs as paramount to rebuilding and growing South Africa’s economy. To advance government’s efforts in this regard, the department will support other government departments in developing programmes that provide young people especially with management, mentoring and business skills, and access to market and network opportunities.
To this end, a key focus over the medium term will be on coordinating and facilitating the implementation of the Presidential Youth Employment Initiative (PYEI). The PYEI is meant to provide the youth with an opportunity to gain work experience, obtain skills through informal and formal training that are offered by provinces and Department of Basic Education.
As the centre of government, The Presidency continues to play a leading role in ensuring that government builds a nation that eradicates unemployment, poverty and inequality.
Coordinating government’s response to the Coronavirus Disease (COVID‐19) pandemic
The National Coronavirus Command Council has been at the centre of decision‐making in government’s efforts to curb the spread of COVID‐19 and limit the impact of the pandemic. Over the medium term, the department will continue to ensure the coordination of government’s responses to curb the spread of the virus.
In addition, the department will support the Deputy President of South Africa as chair of the COVID‐19 Inter-Ministerial Committee, which facilitates the roll-out of government’s vaccination programme, to ensure that the country’s vision of saving lives is realised and that any challenges encountered during implementation are addressed.
Operationalising the e‐Cabinet system
To ensure greater coordination between national departments, the department plans to continue to implement the e‐Cabinet system – a collaborative platform for members of the executive, heads of department and executive support staff to share, manage and store information securely.
Over the medium term, the department will ensure that the system is in full use. This will be done by ensuring that training is provided to all users, including the executives and limited support staff managing, capturing and distributing classified information for the overall optimal functioning of Cabinet and its committees.
The Presidency has developed and drives the strategic imperatives expressed in the National Strategic Plan 2022/23, which identifies the following Top Ten acceleration interventions to deliver results towards tangible outcomes in 2022/23.
- Job creation in the public and private sector.
- Ease of doing business to stimulate private sector investment and grow productive sectors of the economy as part of recovery and addressing the jobs crisis in South Africa.
- Using preferential procurement to use public procurement to empower enterprises owned by black people, women and persons with disabilities as well as small, medium and micro enterprises and cooperatives.
- Modernisation and digitalisation of the public service and the economy in general will contribute to economic recovery.
- Interventions to immediately address household food insecurity and hunger.
- The full rollout of the vaccination programme as a critical intervention to save lives, stabilise public health and enable stabilisation, recovery and rebuilding of the economy.
- Addressing water and sanitation backlogs in schools and communities.
- Addressing the title deeds backlog is a long-standing commitment with generally poor performance.
- Interventions to reduce violent crimes, including gender-based violence and femicide (GBVF).
- While important progress has been made in combating corruption and bringing perpetrators to book, more visible progress needs to be made with regard to prosecutions for corruption and related offences.
Operation Vulindlela
Government is working to unlock the structural constraints to inclusive economic growth through a programme called Operation Vulindlela, which brings together the ability of The Presidency to coordinate across government at a political and administrative level, and the technical expertise of National Treasury.
The core purpose of Operation Vulindlela is to unleash critical sectors to accelerate the implementation of structural reforms and enable higher economic growth. The initiative aims to modernise and transform network industries, including electricity, water, transport and digital communications. These network industries are the bedrock of economic growth, and are essential to creating a globally competitive economy.
Infrastructure and Investment Office (IIO)
The IIO which is located in The Presidency has become a single point of entry for accelerated infrastructure investment, with a particular focus on both public and private sector catalytic social and economic infrastructure projects.
Through the annual flagship programme organised by the IIO, the Sustainable Development Symposium – South Africa 2021 announced that 29 out of 50 projects gazetted in 2020 were reported to be in implementation stages. By mid-2022, the total investment value of these projects was estimated at around R119 billion.
Investment
The Presidency continues to lead the annual investment drive towards raising R1.2 trillion at the end of the five-year period. With 2022 being the fourth year of the five-year target, the drive had by mid-2022 managed to raise investment commitments of R332 billion.
In March 2022, Cabinet approved the Country Investment Strategy, which aims to position South Africa as a key preferred African investment destination by attracting and facilitating quality foreign and domestic direct Investment into the country.
Presidential Employment Stimulus
The Presidential Employment Stimulus to create jobs and support livelihoods as part of supporting the economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. Although the pandemic may have abated, unemployment has not. The Presidential Employment Stimulus has enabled the rapid expansion of public employment and provided much-needed relief to mitigate the effects of the pandemic.
By mid-2022, the Presidential Employment Stimulus had reached the milestone of one million participants since its inception. Its programmes range from waste collection to small-scale farming, both in urban and rural areas. Through the employment stimulus, the Social Employment Fund was started to recruit 50 000 participants in community safety, food and nutrition, digital inclusion, and sports, arts and recreation.
Minister in The Presidency
The Minister is responsible for the:
- Department of Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation (DPME);
- Statistics South Africa (Stats SA);
- Government Communication and Information System (GCIS);
- Media Development and Diversity Agency (MDDA); and
- Brand South Africa (Brand SA).
Minister in The Presidency for Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities
The Minister is responsible for the:
- Department of Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities (DWYPD); and
- National Youth Development Agency (NYDA).
Department of Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation
The DPME is mandated to:
- support the National Planning Commission;
- facilitate the implementation of the NDP through the development of sector‐specific and outcome‐specific medium‐term plans and delivery agreements, and monitor and evaluate their implementation;
- ensure the alignment of departmental strategic and annual plans and budget allocations with government’s Medium Term Strategic Framework (MTSF);
- monitor the performance of individual national and provincial government departments and municipalities, and facilitate targeted intervention programmes;
- monitor frontline service delivery and manage the presidential hotline;
- develop and implement the annual national evaluations plan, and support the national evaluations system; and
- promote good planning, monitoring and evaluation practices in government.
Over the medium term, the department was expected to continue focusing on contributing to improved development outcomes for the country through the coordination and institutionalisation of an integrated government planning system; monitoring government’s progress on its achievement of the goals set out in the National Development Plan (NDP); providing appropriate support for the implementation of the MTSF; and advancing evidence‐based planning, monitoring and evaluation.
The department aimed to address the country’s development priorities through the coordination and institutionalisation of an integrated government planning system. To this end, over the period ahead, the department planned to support the development of a government strategy for alleviating poverty, unemployment and inequality, and assist in facilitating a conversation among key stakeholders to lead a social compact on issues of development.
To monitor government’s progress on the realisation of the NDP’s vision, the department planned to conduct integrated reviews to monitor the implementation of the MTSF. Over the period ahead, two reports per year on the implementation of MTSF priorities will be produced and submitted to Cabinet.
The department planned to provide support the implementation of the MTSF by conducting training in collaboration with the National School of Government; and producing mid‐year and annual public‐service performance and capability monitoring reports that indicate corrective action to be implemented by national and provincial departments, and state‐owned entities.
In its efforts to advance evidence‐based planning, monitoring and evaluation over the medium term, the DPME plans to compile reports on all its research projects. Emphasis will be placed on GBVF, the National Youth Policy and the 16 Days of Activism campaign.
Statistics South Africa
Statistics South Africa is a national department accountable to the Minister in the Presidency. The department’s activities are regulated by the Statistics Act of 1999, which mandates the department to advance the production, dissemination, use and coordination of official and other statistics to assist organs of state, businesses, other organisations and the public in planning, monitoring, policy development and decision‐making.
The Act also requires that the department coordinates statistical production among organs of state in line with the purpose of official statistics and statistical principles.
Over the medium term, the department planned continue focusing on modernising its operating model, strengthening statistical reform, implementing the continuous population survey and releasing the results of the national population census (Census 2022).
The department’s digital transformation programme to modernise and automate the statistical value chain has been accelerated by the COVID‐19 pandemic.
As such, various computer‐assisted methodologies have been introduced in household and census survey operations.
The Statistics Amendment Bill was drafted in 2019/20 to drive statistical reform. Further engagements on the Bill with relevant stakeholders, including the Information Regulator, took place in 2020/21. The amended Bill is scheduled to be rolled out over the medium term following the adoption of the changes. The Statistician‐General will also aim to drive reform by setting statistical frameworks, standards and classifications as a basis to certify statistics as official.
As part of the continuous population survey, the department aimed to measure living conditions by collecting data on household income and expenditure patterns. A sample of 30 000 households across the country will be included in the income and expenditure survey planned for 2022/23
Government Communication and Information System
The mandate of the GCIS is derived from Section 195(g) of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa of 1996, which stipulates that the public should be provided with information that is timely, accurate and accessible. This is in support of the constitutional principles of freedom of expression, and transparent and open governance.
The department is responsible for providing strategic leadership and coordinating government communication to ensure that the public are informed and have access to government programmes and policies that benefit them.
To expand its reach to more South Africans, the department harnesses and coordinates various communication structures across the government communication system. Essential to doing this economically is joint planning, the sharing of resources and the integration of efforts among government departments.
The GCIS continues to drive a variety of its own products and platforms to ensure that information reached South Africans. These included print and electronic media, government products such as fortnightly Vuk’uzenzele newspaper, daily News Service (SAnews); weekly My District Today newsletter, monthly Public Sector Manager magazine and annual South Africa Yearbook.
Vuk’uzenzele newspaper, which is distributed digitally and physically countrywide, is the only national publication that is focused on government’s key priorities, with an emphasis on service delivery programmes and the opportunities created by government. The department also facilitates the implementation of approved media-buying campaigns.
The department also engages with the public through campaigns and outreach programmes. These include community radio talk shows, activations at taxi ranks and malls, information blitzes on commuter trains, and social media campaigns. It also holds a community and stakeholder engagements term in the form of dialogues, meetings, webinars and community radio talk shows with sector departments, civil society, youth formations, faith‐based organisations and business forums.
In addition to these initiatives, the department conducts development communication projects to enhance service delivery and keep citizens informed and empowered on government’s progress and projects.
Media Development and Diversity Agency
The MDDA’s core activity is to provide financial and non‐financial support to community broadcast projects, and community and small commercial media print and digital projects. Its emphasis is on promoting indigenous languages and contributing to community development and the alleviation of poverty and inequality.
Over the medium term, it planned to intensify its focus on communities – such as people with disabilities – who are underserved by mainstream media, and on issues associated with gender and young people.
The agency plans to ensure the sustainability of the community media sector over the medium term by investing in initiatives that support skills development.
Brand South Africa
Brand SA works to improve South Africa’s global competitiveness index ranking, and boost business confidence in the country and the country’s reputation in the region and the world. Over the medium term, the entity aimed to focus on making the South African brand more attractive, and thereby more competitive, both domestically and internationally.
Department of Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities
The DWYPD is mandated in terms of Section 9(3) of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa of 1996 to further the participation of women, youth and people with disabilities in interventions that enable their empowerment and socioeconomic upliftment.
Over the medium-term period, the department aimed continue focusing on strengthening the coordination of the national response to GBVF; promoting more responsive planning, budgeting, monitoring and evaluation in government; protecting the rights of people with disabilities; and supporting the participation of young people in the mainstream economy.
Addressing GBVF and supporting empowerment
In an effort to curb the scourge of abuse, the National Council on GBVF was scheduled to be launched in 2022. With support from this advisory forum, the department planned facilitate public awareness and advocacy events, and support and monitor the implementation of frameworks such as the National Strategic Plan on GBVF.
Promoting responsive planning, budgeting, monitoring and evaluation across government
The department will continue to coordinate and monitor the implementation of responsive planning, budgeting, monitoring and evaluation mechanisms across government on issues pertaining to gender, young people and people with disabilities.
This will entail assessing other departments’ strategic and annual performance plans, and guiding responses to policy priorities pertaining to the department’s core constituents.
To realise equal and entrenched rights for women, young people and people with disabilities, the department planned to actively seek to identify gaps in government’s gender policy and advise on how best to respond to citizens’ concerns. As such, it planned to conduct 12 meetings with members of the public and four community mobilisation events in each year over the medium- term period.
National Youth Development Agency
The NYDA Act of 2008 is the founding legislation of the NYDA. The agency’s role is to initiate, implement, facilitate and monitor youth development interventions aimed at facilitating the empowerment of young people and their participation in economic activity, and promoting social cohesion.
Over the medium-term period, it planned to continue focusing on providing interventions to support the creation of decent employment and the development of skills, and encourage entrepreneurship, for all young people.
These interventions will take the form of financial and non‐financial support to enable young people to access skills and jobs, establish and sustain enterprises, and gain access to markets. Financial support is provided through grants to township and rural enterprises run by young people, whereas non‐financial support includes accounting, website development, business plan writing and marketing.
The National Youth Service Programme is part of the Presidential Youth Employment Initiative, which seeks to provide social assistance through public employment, to ensure that young people stay engaged in service to their communities and build the spirit of patriotism, solidarity, social cohesion and unity in diversity.