Limpopo Senior Management Service (SMS) Mid-term review conference, Bolivia
Lodge, Polokwane, Capricorn District
6 December 2007
Programme director
Executive Mayor and Mayor
Director General
Heads of Department
Members of our Senior Management Service
Distinguished guests
Ladies and gentlemen
This mid-term review session of the second Senior Management Service (SMS)
summit provides us with an opportunity to assess progress made in implementing
the commitments made early in the year, during the second senior management
summit. It is expected of this summit to note bottlenecks and difficulties
still being experienced in implementing resolutions of the previous summit,
including commitments made in the State of the Province (SoPA) address and
budget votes of departments. Not least important in this endeavour are the
queries raised by Standing Committee on Public Accounts (Scopa) committee and
the implementation of recommendations made by the Office of the Auditor
General. At the end of the day, we will be satisfied with nothing less than
tangible solutions to the challenges that would have been identified. Of
importance to say, is that, whatever progress we could have made, this should
be measured against the overall targets set in our:
* the Provincial Growth and Development Strategy (PGDS),
* the National Spatial Development Initiative (NSDI),
* the Accelerated and Shared Growth Initiative of South Africa (AsgiSA),
* the broader electoral mandate of the ruling party,
* of course the United Nations (UN) Millennium Development Goals.
It should clearly be understood by all of us that, the hopes and aspirations
of the majority of citizens in this province will be dashed, if we do not live
up to these commitments. Therefore, we all have a responsibility to do all that
it takes, to build a vibrant and dynamic public administration which is
underpinned by principles of good governance and efficiency.
Programme director
Several issues of importance were raised in the last SMS summit, of which we
hope the Director General is better placed to narrate detailed responses to
these issues. These are critical matters which borders on whether, we succeed
or not, in transforming the capacity of the State to meet the challenges at
hand. Amongst some of the issues we committed ourselves to address in the
previous SMS summit include the following:
* To ensure that we address the credibility of the budgeting process and
that budgeting is aligned with actual service delivery needs. This comes after
we have noted that in some instances, the budget process is not even aligned
with the Provincial Growth and Development Strategy (PGDS) goals and Integrated
Development Plans (IDPs) of municipalities.
* To curb the continuous underspending of allocated funds. It remains a
matter of great concern that for the past two years, government has been
underspending between the regions of R400 600 million, which is a huge margin,
considering the fact that these funds could have been better spent in
addressing social backlogs.
* To address the question of inflated prizes and role played by tender
committees when it comes to awarding tenders. Too often, prizes of goods get
inflated by officials when it is government that is suppose to buy these goods.
In your last meeting, we raised the challenge of (3) three quotations system
which is being manipulated by officials for their personal benefit. We need to
review progress, as to how far we have gone in addressing this challenge.
Programme director
The other challenge which we have always been raising relates to the
question of conflict of interest or self dealing. We are aware for instance,
that there are SMS members who manage private businesses during working hours.
Obviously this is a problem which we need to confront and find better ways of
dealing with.
Programme director
* The issue of turn around time in relation to the filling of vacant posts
was also one matter that we committed ourselves to address. This is because in
most cases, we usually seem to be caught off guard when employees retire, and
vacancies have to be filled. We do not seem to have good HR planning
mechanisms, which is the reason why in most cases, the process of filling these
posts usually takes longer than anticipated.
* Similarly, there is a tendency to keep officials suspended for a longer
period of time, whilst on full pay, which is counter productive and wasteful.
We need to review, how far we have gone in addressing this challenge.
Programme director
We also committed ourselves to address the challenge of credibility of
appointments at all levels of the public service. The fact remains that anyone
who gets appointed should meet the requirements of the job. In other words, he
or she must have the necessary competence and experience, and also must have
relevant qualifications to do the job. We would obviously have nobody to blame
if we opt for the appointment of less qualified officers, even when people with
appropriate skills are available. In addition, it would also be important that
we asses the extent to which we have moved in addressing the question of
aligning training interventions with performance management system (PMS).
Programme director
It is our hope that next year when we hold the third SMS summit, early in
the year, we would be able to feel proud about the milestones we have reached
in improving our administration.
All of the things which remain the objectives of this government will not
see the light of the day, if we consider things, to be business as usual. We
therefore challenge you to work-harder, in your various departments in order to
meet the targets that we have set, in all our clusters. The battle of fighting
poverty and underdevelopment would not be won if senior public servants are not
focused. Let us therefore, do our utmost, to strive to build a clean and
efficient public administration that will serve the people of this province
with diligence and integrity.
We wish this summit well in its difficult task of reviewing the progress
that has been made, in building a caring state for the benefit of all our
people.
Merry Christmas and happy festive season to you all!
I thank you
Issued by: Limpopo Provincial Government
6 December 2007
