Government and Business Partnership in Procurement Summit
5 May 2006
WORKING TOGETHER FOR EFFECTIVE AND EFFICIENT SERVICE DELIVERY
Programme Director,
The Mayor of Nkangala District, Hon Clr Speedo Mashilo,
Members of the Executive Council,
Honourable Mayors and Councillors present,
The DG of the Province and Head of Departments,
The Executive Committee of NAFCOC Mpumalanga and other distinguished
representatives of the broad business community of our province,
Senior government officials at both provincial and local government
levels,
Colleagues,
Ladies and Gentlemen
Once again we convene as we have done before in a number of fora in the
province, to seek solutions to the many challenges that confront us as Public
Servants who carry the hopes of many, for improved conditions in their lives.
Loskop Dam is fast becoming a meeting point of delivery partners of our
provincial government, to hone our strategies whilst promoting a âtoenaderingâ
and the consolidation of a social pact among key stakeholders in the struggle
to champion development in our province. Not so long ago, we had an Indaba with
public sector unions at this very place, in pursuance of the same goal which
has brought us here today, the quest for a better life for all.
Two years ago, in the April 2004 general elections, the electorate gave the
African National Congress (ANC) 70% support (in Mpumalanga 86%), to endorse the
call and a promise for accelerated delivery over the five year period we are
going through now. To underpin this imperative in our national conjuncture, the
President and the ANC have emphatically articulated the view that the singular
challenge of our government in this second decade of our freedom is the
implementation of our numerous good policies, the translation of our vision
into reality.
Consequently, the last two National Cabinet âMakgotlaâ, from July last year,
placed the spotlight on the organisation and capacities of government to
roll-out government delivery programmes.
This overarching priority is a responsible acknowledgement of the
expectations and hopes of 70% of South Africaâs voters, lest we compromise our
democracy through disillusionment as a result of unfulfilled hopes, which can
breed civil instability. Another real threat is the fact that inability to
implement may lead to a sluggish delivery pace which may be outstripped by-far
by growing demand associated with population growth rates.
In a nutshell, colleagues, comrades, ladies and gentlemen, this is the
reason why we are here today. Business is a critical partner of our provincial
administration. We are here because we seek a stronger bond with our business
entrepreneurs, to cultivate a unity of purpose, shall I say in tandem or beyond
the conventional profit motive. (I say this not to insult, but as an acceptance
of the objective logic of business, which we all respect).
At the outset I wish to state that we are not here to promote a witch-hunt.
Were that to happen it would be a disaster of immeasurable proportions. Our
governmentâs mission is to deliver a better life to all, including previously
disadvantaged individuals in business. As government, we remain committed to
empowering those who did not have access to opportunities before. We are
committed to see you become successful, thriving business people. It is part of
our strategic obligations to ensure that the programme to deliver a better
life, in particular to the previously disadvantaged, must not be executed in a
way that entrenches the racial ownership patterns of the past. Was this to
happen, it will most certainly lead us into another catastrophy.
In this regard, I may even venture to say our province has not performed
well compared to other provinces regarding the growth of a post-1994 black
middle-class. This places a heavy responsibility on those institutions in the
province which carry the mandate to economically empower the previously
disadvantaged beneficiaries.
Programme Director, ladies and gentlemen, from what I have said above, we
will all agree that what we are here to tackle is a challenge presented by what
seems to be an unintended clash of policy goals. The task we have is to ensure
that all these policies succeed to devise a win-win solution that will leave
all the constituencies that are beneficiaries of these policies, happy.
Programme Director, the socio-economic upliftment of blacks must be
all-inclusive, encompassing all segments of our communities, all classes and
strata. As government, our overarching policy is to intervene on behalf of
those with a lesser ability to fend for themselves. Conversely, many of
governmentâs delivery programmes target mainly the poor, ranging from the
delivery of free books at schools to the provision of houses, health and the
transportation of learners to schools.
Programme Director, it is common knowledge that the overwhelming majority,
if not all, of these delivery programmes are not provided through government
in-house capacity. All these delivery programmes are largely rolled-out from
goods and services provided by private business entrepreneurs, from the
provision of houses to the transportation of learners to school. Quite clearly,
whilst government manages services and goods providers, the providers, the
entrepreneurs, are responsible for actual delivery.
This is the crux of the matter, a case for a healthy partnership and the
reason for common purpose between the people who are here today.
Speaking for government, the challenges are many. However, permit me to
isolate two central challenges. The first one is the common knowledge that as
government nationally we have put tight timelines for the delivery of many
services, including houses, water and electricity. Secondly, the quality of
everything government provides (professionalism and standards) from houses to
learner transport and roads are a cause for concern as to whether government is
getting value for money.
To tackle these challenges successfully there is no doubt that some of the
weaknesses flow from institutional capacity problems to flawed procedures and
inadequate checks and balances. There are weaknesses we will probably trace to
compliance issues pertaining to supply-chain-management. Other weaknesses may
be attributed to practices in the industries themselves, while other problems
may be as a result of the outright greed of individuals.
Be that as it may, what is scary colleagues, is a spectre of government
resources squandered without the attainment of our dream of a better life for
our communities. A syndrome of kids who are transported to school in
unroadworthy bakkies, houses that are collapsing, roads that last only for
three months, school feeding schemes that are a nightmare. Government cannot
afford programmes that are in ruins because of service providers.
It will indeed be a sad story and a national calamity if a few blacks were
to end up wealthy and rich when the conditions of the majority continue to
shame us all. It would be even worse if a limited number of blacks were to be
well-off at the expense of government delivery programmes intended for the
poor.
Until there is proof to the contrary, we will continue to hold the view that
in our country black business will for the foreseeable future continue to
harbour sentiments of solidarity with black communities and their plight. The
black bourgeoisie cannot easily be devoid of patriotism.
It is our belief that the broad business leadership, and National African
Federation Chambers of Commerce and Industry (NAFCOC) in particular, will be
able to share with us in this forum the many challenges encountered from where
they are sitting, with the view to generating solutions on the way forward.
This conference must give impetus to efficiency, professionalism, commitment
and pride in the work business is doing with government and vice versa, all in
the name of our people.
We can go about this challenge such that when the face of this province and
the country shall have changed, there will be families and companies within
South Africaâs business community that can say with pride that they transformed
and changed the face of this province and country. People who will proudly
point at enduring world-class infrastructure and say, âwe built that road, we
built that township, we built that college, we built that clinic, etcâ¦â
Let this forum, the first of its kind, be another building block to our
collective leadership.
I thank you.
Issued by: Officer of the Premier, Mpumalanga Provincial Government
5 May 2006
