Ebrahim Rasool, Premier of the Western Cape
21 May 2007
Introduction
The 2001 Nobel Prize winner for Economics, Joseph Stiglitz, reflecting on
globalisation, comes to the following realisation:
"A growing divide between the haves and the have-nots has left increasing
numbers in the Third World in dire poverty. Despite repeated promises of
poverty reduction made over the last decade of the twentieth century, the
actual number of people living in poverty has actually increased by 100
million. At the same time that the total world income actually increased by
2,5% annually."
Another Economics Nobel Prize winner, Amartya Sen, gives a telling
description of what this poverty is, beyond simple low-income levels:
"Indeed we cannot even identify what level of income would count as low - below
the poverty threshold depends not only on prices, but also many other features
of the persons involved. Whether they are prone to particular illnesses,
whether they live in a region with many epidemics, whether there is much crime
and social chaos around, whether there are no schools or hospitals and so on,
poverty can be seen basically as deprivation of a person's effective freedom to
live the way he or she has reason to want to live."
Increasingly it has been such reflections that have shaped the United
Nations Development Programme agenda for human development, but also their
triumph in the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
However, the MDGs have two blind spots: the role of economic growth to
realise the MDGs and the role of political power in re-ordering public
priorities, realigning resources and institutions and driving progress towards
the targets of the MDGs. We need serious implementation of both programmes for
economic growth and the creation of a safety net against poverty.
The journey to implementation
The journey to implementation has been pursued systematically since 2004
when the ANC assumed governance in the Western Cape. The agenda remains
fundamentally correct and is beginning to deliver results to ensure that we
meet our short-term targets before 2010, and our medium-term ones for 2014.
Ironically, even our opposition, the Democratic Alliance (DA), has conceded
that the Western Cape is a well-run province and it scored this province
highest, based on the Auditor-General's assessment of three Departments
(2005/06). This is certainly a welcome compliment from a Party that aspires to
govern the Western Cape in 2009. Of more significance, though, is the tracking
of the Markinor Survey. They have shown that, with notable exceptions in crime
and housing, the Western Cape is among the top performers in service delivery
and economic development. This translates into consistently positive approval
ratings for the Provincial Government of the Western Cape. This is a vote of
confidence by a demographically representative sample of the people of the
Province.
Most importantly, this government knows that it is on the right track with
its:
* inclusive vision of a Home for All
* medium-term strategy of iKapa Elihlumayo
* work towards realising the MDGs
* regular short-term delivery campaigns from the 2004 '100 Day' campaign to our
Siyabulela campaign in 2006.
All of this means that we can now use this speech for assessing the progress
in transforming governance and to plan the strategy for implementation in
meeting our unique combination of challenges: economic, environmental and
social.
Transformation of the state
Three years ago, in 2004, we mapped out a conceptual framework for the
transformation of the state in the Western Cape under the rubric of "Modern
African Governance". This framework posited six ideas that underpin a
developmental state:
* A state that is interventionist
* A state that is ethically founded
* A state pursuing holism in its developmental outcomes
* A state that is a learning organisation
* A state always trying to achieve public value.
This framework of a developmental state was in complete contrast to what was
inherited as a fragmented and inequitable state, perceived to be anti-poor and
anti-black, and in which the public service was gripped by fear, intrigue and
inertia. More than this, the state was fundamentally unrepresentative of the
population of the Western Cape.
As the beginning point towards the transformation of the state, the 2004
budget speech for the Department of the Premier was about re-organising this
very department to achieve integrated, co-operative, responsive and globally
connected governance. This required a rigorous conceptualisation of the
leadership role of the Premier's Department both to respond to the changing
national policy landscape and the challenges of our iKapa Elihlumayo strategies
- the strategies to grow and share the Cape.
Most of 2005 was taken up with the task of re-engineering the Department of
the Premier in order to meet these challenges. This department needed to
integrate the entire Western Cape state, link it to national and local
governance and ground it in the people of the Province. Our leadership role
therefore was in:
* policy leadership, through the Provincial Growth and Development
Strategy
* a capability to diagnose and intervene
* ensuring a Performance Management System
* establishing a provincial-wide Monitoring and Evaluation System
* performing a comprehensive communications function for Government
We not only now have these functions built into the structure of the
Department of the Premier; we also have, by and large, the people to perform
these functions. Our re-engineering process has been successful even in
managing the complex and sensitive task of marrying the best of the old with
the best of the new, ensuring both continuity and change while dramatically
making the Western Cape Government far more representative than it has ever
been.
The department has over the last year made a major impact in addressing the
shocking situation of representivity. In 2003 there was only 1 African person
employed in the Department of the Premier at Senior Management Service (SMS)
level. In fact, this person was the only African person above level 10. Whites
occupied 60% of the SMS posts in 2003 with Coloureds 36% within our department.
This was unacceptable and much needed to be done to conform to the provincial
demographics of the Western Cape being: 50% Coloured, 30% African and 20%
White.
Our analysis, interventions and re-engineering have produced a more
representative SMS with the concomitant expertise and thought leadership
necessary for the implementation of government policies. This is also affirmed
by the Markinor Survey and the Department of the Premier's consistently rising
approval levels.
Thus as seen in Table 1 we now have 13 Africans or 24% of the total SMS;
40,7% Coloureds and 33% Whites.
Figure 1: Department of the Premier Demographics
Category: B
2003: 1 (4%)
2007: 14 (24%)
Category: C
2003: 9 (36%)
2007: 22 (40.7%)
Category: I
2003: 0 (0%)
2007: 1 (3.3%)
Category: W
2003: 15 (60%)
2007: 18 (33%)
Category: Total
2003: 25 (100%)
2007: 54 (100%)
Across the province a similar picture applies with the comparative total
provincial staff figures for 2003 and 2007 respectively, Africans 15,64% vs.
19,21%, Coloureds 62,5% vs. 61,18%, Whites 22,68% vs. 19,06%. Across the
provinces women are still represented more, but only because of the service
levels of nursing and teaching.
For the SMS level for the whole province we have now reached the following
spread: 24% Africans, 40,07% Coloureds, and 33,3% Whites. Overall we still have
more males than females at the SMS level. It remains a challenge to reach the
target for disabled persons.
The Transformation of the State is a means to an end, and so while
re-engineering the state in the Western Cape, we have also had to crystallise a
Provincial Growth and Development Strategy (PGDS). In a very real way, the new
leadership of the Department of the Premier came on stream whilst we brought
the PGDS into public consultation. The new Department could, therefore, already
anticipate the programmes and projects required by the PGDS. There is, thus, a
close correlation between policy, strategy and implementation. We are flying
the plane while fixing it.
The unfolding of the PGDS formed the backbone of the Budget Speech last year
and much of it pre-empted both Accelerated and Shared Growth Initiative for
South Africa (AsgiSA) and Joint Initiative on Priority Skills Acquisition
(Jipsa). This means that the Western Cape has been readier than most on these
two programmes, hence the national selection of the Cape Flats Renewal
Programme with Klipfontein Corridor as its foundation as well as the success of
Jipsa with the province drawing down R99 m for scarce skills development.
Districts poised for growth and development
As we speak now every district and metro have held Growth and Development
Summits over the last six months. These are meant to drive shared growth across
the Western Cape, and to lay the basis for the Provincial Growth and
Development Summit on 22 June 2007.
Only at the Growth and Development Summit will we be able to sign-off on the
entire growth and development strategy for the Western Cape. But if each of the
District strategies were to be implemented, the Western Cape will be buzzing
with economic activity. Our emphasis on this is an attempt to overcome the
blind spot in the MDGs, by explicitly factoring in the shared economic growth
as critical to overcoming poverty.
Cape Winelands
The Cape Winelands understands that its potential is linked to its strategic
proximity to the City of Cape Town, the Cape Town port, the N1 Corridor and the
agricultural hinterland. The District is poised to become an export orientated
agri-business and tourism hub. With a 6% growth target for 2014, the District
will be exploring a range of growth enhancing opportunities over the upcoming
years like investment in the Klapmuts industrial area and the potential hosting
of a Customs Centre in Worcester.
West Coast District
The West Coast is strategically positioned given its port and coastal
location to becoming the Western Cape Oil and Gas Gateway into the West African
Trade Corridor. The District understands that given its growth and development
prospects, it must focus on becoming a 'learning economy' with a strong and
diversified economic base. This includes actions to supplement declining fish
stocks and reinvigorate coastal economies through exploring aquaculture
opportunities for renewable species like prawns, scallops and abalone.
Eden District
Eden, although being hit hard by environmental disaster has mobilised itself
around disaster relief investments to develop a "12-Pronged Action Plan for
Developmental Take-Off". It sees itself as a major tourism as well as
competitive timber-manufacturing hub. The expansion of the Mossel Bay harbour
in co-operation with the National Ports Authority and private sector is crucial
for developing competitive manufacturing niches.
Central Karoo District
The Central Karoo has come to understand that despite its current reliance
on social and intergovernmental transfers, its daunting developmental
challenges are not unique. It will be benchmarking its economic potential
against other semi-arid localities in Israel, Nevada, Australia and South
America. Other growth opportunities include exploring uranium-mining prospects
in Beaufort West.
Overberg District
In the Overberg, tourism is a major source of employment and Foreign Direct
Investments. Despite a significant decrease in the District's growth output due
to a declining fishing industry, the Overberg sees itself as the aquaculture
centre of the Western Cape. It has defined a new growth path and we are
co-operating on getting the South African National Defence Force to co-use the
Bredasdorp Air Force base as an airport for both passengers and cargo to unlock
the economic and tourism potential for the Southern Tip of Africa.
There are significant imperfections in the process, including the fact that
the City of Cape Town does not see job creation and poverty reduction as its
constitutional mandate. We understand that with the city, we still have the
task of persuading our colleagues that a hands-off approach leads only to
greater inequality because the market is blind to the needs of the poor and
excluded. Hence the Metro Growth and Development summit was singularly
unsatisfactory. In the absence of state intervention, the market will only
affirm those already active in the economy.
On the other hand, the rural districts carry a visible burden of poverty and
we are seeing positive moves from the Districts to align their Growth and
Development Strategies with their Integrated Development Plans (IDPs). These
are not yet perfect but the urgency for Growth and Development is there.
Furthermore, as part of ongoing Intergovernmental Relations engagement,
continued work is being done to nudge provincial departments to respond in
their own budget and planning processes to clearly identified priorities within
District Growth and Development Strategies and IDPs. We will also continue to
inspire Provincial Treasury to identify creative alternative revenue raising
possibilities.
Across the board all Districts see the necessity for:
* a spatial development framework to guide the provincial, district and metro
growth and development strategies
* an economic development agency that can harness our potential
* skills development and addressing literacy and numeracy deficits
* bulk infrastructure and reticulation geared towards water, energy, income
generation and job creation
* urban gap housing market and need to integrate urban settlements
Unfortunately, a number of priority agendas are falling through the cracks
and are not being given the attention required. These are primarily the issues
of climate change, environmental degradation and regional integrated transport
planning.
All our work means nothing if we don't impact on the poorest of the poor.
The 15 areas are the litmus test for our success. The measure of our success in
growth and development in the Western Cape is the quality and impact on our
poorest and most vulnerable communities.
AsgiSA - Cape Flats renewal
The PGDS will evolve to its full potential over time. It is going to need
significant awareness to ensure that it remains true to its intention of
epitomising shared growth. Other than the matters identified by the Districts
to catalyse their growth and development, AsgiSA is the one initiative driven
by the Deputy-President to ensure a national effort towards 6% growth in Gross
Domestic Product.
The Western Cape has nominated the Cape Flats Renewal Programme as our
AsgiSA programme to catalyse growth and development. In order to ensure that
the poorest and most excluded benefit, we have located our AsgiSA programme on
the Cape Flats - the historically marginalised part of Cape Town. This is to
maximise the possibility that shared growth is the outcome.
The Cape Flats Renewal AsgiSA programme is the combination of investments
in:
* public transport focussing on the Klipfontein Corridor, upgrading of the
railway network, integrated fair management and the N2 Transport Corridor
Rehabilitation, amongst others
* World Cup 2010 focussing on the stadia development (Green Point, Athlone and
Philippi), the hospitality industry and tourism marketing
* economic infrastructure focussing on the upgrade of the Cape Town
International Airport, the Dreamworld Film Studio, the Cape Flats Tourism Node
and Retail Development across the Cape Flats
* Human Settlements focussing on the further R400 m for the N2 Gateway and
other integrated housing projects as part of the overall programme of
development and basic service provision
* social infrastructure focussing on improving health infrastructure and
continuing the momentum in our school building programme.
The Cape Flats Renewal Programme also combines a variety of resources from
the public sector (National, Provincial and City), State-Owned Enterprises
(Airports Company South Africa and the South African Rail Commuter Corporation
Metrorail) as well as the private sector.
These are multi-billion rand projects and they are in various stages of
development from planning to implementation. There is no doubt that the World
Cup 2010 has created a wonderful catalyst and urgency that has essentially
galvanised all the partners and brought timetables forward.
Both private and public sector projects are currently being tracked and
linked with each other. A team, comprising different project managers meet
every quarter to assess progress and rollout of the projects, while a set of
draft monitoring and evaluation indicators have been developed to evaluate the
overall impact of the AsgiSA programme.
Emerging developmental role of the province
The 'Role of Provinces' debate is still unformed and we face the risk of
missing the real complexity in the role of the sub-national sphere within a
developmental state.
Perhaps the starting point is not the number of Provinces required, nor one
about power and elections and suspicion of gerrymandering boundaries and
therefore election outcomes. Judging by the lessons coming out of the IDP and
PGDS, the debate, has to be about the Developmental role of Provinces.
Given that nations compete globally more effectively at the sub-national
level, whether province/state, metropolitan, district or municipal - we need to
discuss what constitutes this substantial level, how do they interrelate, and
how do their collective efforts ensure that 'on the ground' relevance informs
the national policy efforts.
Our experience is that local government boundaries, in addition to standing
on constitutional mandates, are too small to ensure a real developmental
impact. This gives rise to the idea of functional regions. These do not
threaten jurisdictional boundaries or authority, but creates the need for a
sphere that can ensure cross boundary or functional planning and co-ordination
of resources.
If we do not define a developmental role for provinces, and if we do not
allow for such sub-national governance to ensure that we locate planning
mechanisms at the level of functional regions then we will have parochialism
and non-developmental governance. It is at a 'functional regional' level that
the sub-national develops economically and competes globally.
On the other hand, the Eastern Cape with its poverty and infrastructural
deficit has a poverty index that correctly gives it a net increase in fiscal
transfers from national level, despite the fact that a gap remains between the
new money and the capacity for, and rate of, service delivery and institutional
improvement. The poor then use their own economic intelligence to migrate and
the money does not follow this process of cross-provincial migration.
The Western Cape, on the other hand has a lower poverty index and,
therefore, declining fiscal flows. But its institutional capacities to deliver
mean that the poor migrate to it, putting pressure on services. If the two
provinces were combined, both would benefit from the poverty index and fiscal
flows so that where people go for services can be kept functioning while the
institutional capacity can be developed equitably.
In the debate about the developmental role of provinces, we need to be
robust. Provinces cannot merely be an agency to deliver on health, education
and welfare. This ignores their role to harness the specific locational
benefits as well as the economic opportunities in their sphere. They cannot
rely exclusively on national transfers, especially if those transfer areas are
increasingly conditional, but must have the capacity within reason, to explore
other revenue avenues for infrastructural and economic development, and to play
a more effective directive role in the economy.
Sub-national entities, with its specificities can compete more robustly with
comparative entities around the world for, inter alia, tourists, investors and
Foreign Direct Investment which is often lost in a simple national-level
marketing exercises.
It is out of such a debate that indeed the numbers and combination of
Provinces can be debated more intelligently. But it does create the pressure on
Provinces to justify investment in them. They must increasingly meet the
capacity challenges and make an impact on the ground. More than anything else,
this will determine the viability of Provinces and their future.
State of the State
Provincial Programme of Action (PPoA)
The instrument to drive the alignment of day-to-day provincial government
activities with the PGDS is the PPoA, placed in your hands today. We are
cognisant of the fact that it is not enough to simply reach agreement on what
government has to do to give expression to its priorities, we must align the
institutional system of design-making, organisation, incentives and sanctions
to drive it as well. This has been at the core of our institutional work over
the past few months.
Cabinet Reform
Cabinet has now been dramatically streamlined behind the PGDS. The Sector
Coordinating Committee has been introduced last year to cohere the work of the
three Cluster Committees through the lens of the PGDS as crystallised in the
State of the Province Address in February 2006. Consequently, the work of the
Social Cluster Committee is now focussed primarily around: drugs and gangs;
human settlements; Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP) and skills
development to ensure economic inclusion as an underpinning of social
development. The work of the Economic Cluster Committee is now focussed on: the
second economy; property development; EPWP; skills development; and climate
change since this may be the most adverse threat bearing down on our long-term
growth prospects. The activities of the Governance and Administration Cluster
are, in turn, trained on: governance; home for all; World Cup 2010; and drugs
and gangs. We believe that this streamlining of the work that inform our
executive deliberations will produce more focussed departments and much more
effective developmental outcomes as we forge our pathway to shared growth.
Delivery Targets and monitoring and evaluation (m&e) (building on the
Western Cape Programme of Action)
The beauty of the PPoA approach is that it lends itself to systematic
monitoring and assessment of our performance towards our targets for 2010 and
2014. In this regard we will be posting the Western Cape PPoA on the
government's website, Cape Gateway, to allow all citizens an opportunity to
engage with this agenda. However, this is not sufficient. It is also important
to measure our progress against globally recognised development indices such as
the human development index. This will allow us to triangulate our performance
between performance on targets set in the PPoA and broader measures of
development outcomes and impact. In this regard we are far advanced to publish
a compendium of indicators on our website in 2007; work that is being done in
close consultation with Statistics South Africa.
Performance Management Systems and Interventions
Beyond re-organising the work of Cabinet and its Committees around the ten
action areas of the PGDS, and aligning the provincial wide monitoring and
evaluation system in terms of the PPoA, we have also been hard at work to make
sure that our performance management system is brought in line with this
agenda. I am proud to announce to this House that we have now implemented an
integrated computer-based and web-based Performance Management Information
System (PIMS). Critically, this is an operational system for planning,
reporting and analysis of individual performance management, as well as
institutional performance management. In this step we have managed to overcome
a common weakness of m&e systems whereby institutional and individual
performance gets assessed through parallel registers. As a consequence of this
innovation, we will now be able to drive a much more effective Annual
Performance Planning process across government.
Human and Social Capital Underpinnings
The House may be forgiven for thinking that we have tilted the pendulum too
far to the performance management end of the spectrum, which may seem overly
harsh on our staff. We are paying equal attention to supportive measures to
empower our staff.
During the past year we successfully completed a government-wide training
needs assessment, alongside a cultural audit of each department. Leadership and
project management skills are the most critical deficits we need to address at
scale. In this regard we have now concluded the design of a cutting-edge
leadership development programme for our senior management cadre. A consortium
of our local universities, in partnership with Harvard University, has designed
a tailor-made postgraduate leadership development programme structured around
iKapa Elihlumayo and Holistic Governance imperatives. The first cohort of
managers will enter the programme in July 2007.
In addition, the Premier's Seminar series was launched to ensure that the
delivery of the state is informed by evidence-based imperatives. This not only
serves to enhance thought leadership, but also create an open space where
pertinent issues relevant to the strategic agenda of government can be
debated.
The challenge remains to facilitate a cadre of workers with a developmental
mindset, and to reward the best through the Premier's Service Excellence
Award.
Inter-Governmental Relations (IGR) Reform and Agenda Setting
In moving from strategy to delivery, the agenda for the Premier's
Co-ordinating Forum over the next year will have a programmatic focus,
primarily driven by the Ten Priority Areas highlighted in this year's State of
Province address.
* human settlements
* climate change
* drugs, gangs and crime
* scarce skills
* World Cup 2010
* public transport
* property development
* expanded public works program
* a Home for All
* governance.
These priorities have been identified due to their potential multiplier
effect on the social, spatial, economic and environmental condition of the
Western Cape.
To deliver on these areas, our IGR forums would need to address critical
governance questions around oversight arrangements, funding, prioritisation
methodologies and more importantly how they reflect in the planning instruments
and budgets of municipalities Integrated Development Plans and Provincial
Departments (Annual Performance Plans).
Further work will go into streamlining the planning and budgeting processes
of Provincial and Local Government to ensure better co-ordination as well as
cascading these priority areas to the District Co-ordinating Forums (DCFs).
Good strides have been made around the Integrated Transport Agenda. The
Province, City of Cape Town, and national Department of Transport will soon be
signing an agreement to formulate a Public Transport Operating Entity. Province
and the City have developed a Public Transport Implementation Action Plan that
highlights priorities and funding requirements for key public transport
infrastructure, as well as the safety, security and enforcement
requirements.
We also look forward to the City approving conceptual designs for the
transport component of Klipfontein Corridor as one of the catalytic actions in
the Cape Flats Infrastructure Initiative.
Budget overview
Given that these, and others, constitute the work of the Department of the
Premier, it is necessary to indicate that we do our work with inadequate
funding. Our increases are only inflation related, and we rely absolutely on
the creativity and resourcefulness of our managers and staff to enable us to
play our leadership role.
The Department's budget for the 2007/08 financial year is R337 m which is a
5,2% increase on the revised budget for 2006/07.
The Department is experiencing budget pressures in respect of the Centre of
E-Innovation (CEI) and its quest to fill posts in a programmatic way, as it has
a number of unfunded vacancies.
The budget is broken down into three programmes:
Programme 1: Administration which is allocated R36 503 000 (thirty six and a
half million Rand)
Programme 2: Institutional Development received R249 459 000 (two hundred and
forty nine and a half million Rand)
Programme 3: Policy and Governance projected expenditure is R51 114 000 (fifty
one million Rand)
Transfers to the Provincial Development Council and the Western Cape Youth
Commission are to be found in Programme 3: Policy and Governance - sub
programme Special Programmes. The funding allocation to these entities is
R6,574 million and R8,5 million respectively.
The Department has also received R2,5 million as earmarked funding for the
co-ordination of World Cup 2010.
The Kromme Rhee Academy is the foundation of the Department's human capital
work and R10 million is allocated in the 2007/08 financial year for this
purpose. Kromme Rhee will undertake reform to lead the re-orientation of our 68
000 public officials towards driving our iKapa Elihlumayo development
agenda.
The key cost drivers of the Department are the following:
*Compensation of employees at R154 million
* CEI expenditure at R83 million
* Public entities at R15 million
* Service provider contractors at R28 million
These four cost drivers make up 83% (R280 million) of the Departmental
budget, but budgets notwithstanding, we have no choice but to make an impact.
The role of the Department of the Premier has therefore, to be to harness the
full potential of government to respond to the crisis points in our
society.
Delivery within the 15 areas
In the 2007 State of the Province Address we indicated our intention to
establish umbrella organizations in the 15 most vulnerable communities in the
province: Mitchell's Plain, Khayelitsha, Manenberg, Hanover Park, Nyanga,
Elsies River, Bishop Levis, Delft, Kleinvlei, Gugulethu, Philippi, Muizenberg,
and in the rural areas Vredenberg, Paarl, and Oudtshoorn. These communities,
already zones of poverty and unemployment, were identified based on high rate
of contact crime, gangsterism and substance abuse. In line with the "Proudly
Manenberg" model, we will embark on a community facilitation process to
establish similar partnerships between government and vulnerable communities in
the remaining 14 areas.
This set of interventions is more than fighting gangs and drugs, it's about
building social capital. Linking social capital provides the space for
individuals and communities to connect with the formal institutions of society.
It provides a voice for poor and vulnerable communities to link them up with
the resources and information of government, as well as, the networks of
government. It also provides for drawing all sectors of society together in a
network that strives towards the achievement of a common purpose in a
collective manner in line with the provincial vision of A Home for All, to
foster social cohesion in the 15 identified communities.
All Departments will have a footprint in the 15 areas and we have identified
a number of outputs for this financial year with which we believe we can lay
the foundation towards putting the first building blocks in place towards
social transformation in these communities.
In order to continue to punctuate our march towards our medium to long-term
objectives with short-term deliverables, we are today using the budget speech
to announce a number of deliverables. These deliverables are based on the state
of the province address, and the subject of our recent Imbizo week
consultations with our communities.
It is the intention of our government to start making an immediate and
visible impact in each one of our 15 areas (identified in State of the Province
Address) where poverty, unemployment, crime, drugs and gangs dominate. I have
invited representatives from each of these areas to be in the gallery today so
that they can hold us accountable for these undertakings. In October 2007, in
the next Imbizo week, we will return to these areas to check whether these
foundations have been laid, and to allow communities to hold us accountable.
The following will be delivered by October 2007:
Department of the Premier
My Department will disburse by October R50 000.00 for each of the 15
prioritised areas that a representative community umbrella organisation can be
set up, which will be a united voice of the community amongst themselves and
for networking with other institutions such as government.
We will also use the Khaedu project across our departments to deploy senior
managers into these areas so that they can enhance their own capacity for
service delivery in poor and vulnerable areas.
Department of Social Development
This Department together with the South African Social Security Agency will
hold Service Delivery Jamborees starting in June 2007 in Khayelitsha, Manenberg
and Paarl until they have visited each of the 15 areas by October. This is
meant to ensure that critical services such as home affairs, the police, health
and education bring basic services to the poor and the poor can understand what
they can expect from government.
This department will also ensure that local drug action committees are
operational in all 15 areas by October, so that networks of care and volunteer
training can take place. In collaboration with health this department, in line
with its social capital approach will ensure that each area will have drug
detoxification facilities. Their immediate priority is to fund the Sultan Bah
Centre both to expand the existing Mitchell's Plain facility and to open a new
one in Hanover Park.
Department of Health
This department together with the entire social development cluster will
intensify the war on substance abuse. They will show their delivery by October
2007 and will strive to have outpatient detoxification services in each of the
15 areas. However inpatient detoxification services will be provided at the
following hospitals: Stikland, Somerset, GF Jooste and Vredendal.
Stikland hospital will also by October provide telephonic drug counselling
services (telephone 021 940 4500) staffed by professionals, while the Saartjie
Baartman Centre will provide a multi disciplinary, integrated and holistic
response to substance abuse.
Transport and Public Works
The department has undertaken to identify four building or land sites by
October in order for us to commence with the development of four public sector
drug rehabilitation centres affordable to the people of our 15 priority areas.
These will be located in Kraaifontein (for the Northern Suburbs and Boland), in
the South East Metro (for the Cape Flats and the Overberg), in Vredenberg (for
Atlantis and the West Coast), and in Oudtshoorn (for Eden and Karoo).
This department has also set aside 3000 EPWP learnerships for successfully
rehabilitated drug addicts by October 2007 in the Saamstaan School maintenance
programme.
Department of Education
Given the increase in school violence and the fact that it is mostly drugs
and gang related, this department has undertaken by October to:
* ensure the recruitment and deployment of school safety offices to the 109
schools most vulnerable schools starting in Bishop Lavis, Elsies River,
Gugulethu, Delft, Kleinvlei, Philippi, Manenberg, Khayelitsha, Nyanga and
Mitchell's Plain
* connect the 109 schools to an alarm system and subsidise these schools so
that they are linked to an armed response system
* the establishment of a programme called: Schools as Nodes of Care, with a
budget of R700 000 (R200 000 from the Department and R500 000 from partner non
governmental organisations which will see to 70 staff from across the social
cluster trained for deployment in the 15 areas to intervene in situations of
dire poverty amongst children, trauma counselling, access to basic services
such as grants and birth certificates and career guidance.
Cultural Affairs
By October this Department will begin to provide alternatives to young
people to answer to the complaint that youth turn to drugs and gangs in the
absence of alternatives. The department will provide across the 15 areas a
variety of interventions:
* coaching and training in sport
* community sport festivals
* sports club development programmes
* school sport and community mass participation programmes
* revive competitive schools sport in all 15 areas
* school facilities for sport
On the cultural side the department will by October:
* through the Museum Service start oral history projects in Oudtshoorn and
Paarl
* interest the youth in projects to promote multilingualism
* ensure library material for all libraries in 15 areas
The Economic Development Cluster
These departments will by October have started to ensure an economic growth
and development foundation to our work in the 15 areas. We are working from the
basis that poverty is multifaceted, that crime, drugs and gangs are the
symptoms of a deeper problem which will need addressing over the medium term
but that we need now already to lay firm economic foundations to undercut these
causes. Therefore:
* towards World Cup 2010, to recruit and train tour guides from the 15
areas
* from the Eden district to take 80 SMMEs through a Tourism Business Management
programme, and provide bursaries to those from disadvantaged areas in tourism
studies at the South Cape College
* ensuring entrepreneurship through expanding the Red Door to more areas
amongst the 15 areas
* rolling out farmer support and development programmes particularly in those
areas, amongst the 15 with strong agricultural activity
* involving representatives from the 15 areas in the provincial conference on
climate change so that they can input into and learn about ensuring a
sustainable future starting with delegates from Philippi, Paarl and
Oudtshoorn
* workshops will be held for the 15 areas on enterprise and contractor
development specifically to ensure job creation under the EPWP.
Local Government and Housing
This Department will deploy community development workers in each of the 15
priority areas by October so that the next phase of our intervention can be
based on rigorous research, need assessments and ward profiles in the 15
areas.
Community Safety
This Department together with the police have the task of ensuring a screen
of safety, from behind which all other initiatives such as rehabilitation,
economic development, alternatives for the youth can be managed.
The last few have seen increased success nailing high flyers, tracking drug
factories, convicting gangsters and bringing down contact crime. During our
Imbizo week, communities attested to greater visibility and effectiveness by
the police and Bambanani volunteers.
Before October we need the department to ensure the following:
* Shifting the most talented police managers to the 15 areas. The shift of
Jeremy Veary to Mitchell's Plain is already making a difference.
* Dividing the 15 areas into sectors with dedicated leaders, dedicated cars and
equipment and sector specific policing.
* Police playing an active role in mobilising communities so that communities
do not feel the need to express their anger outside of the law
* Police follow up where communities have identified proven drug dealers (such
as in New Woodlands) as well as police action to enforce the law on illegal
shebeens
* Prioritising programmes in the 15 areas such as child protection, anti-rape
strategies, commuter safety, farm safety, domestic violence workshops and so
forth.
* Adoption of victim support charters in Manenberg, Kleinvlei, Delft, Elsies
River, Bishop Lavis and Hanover Park.
Conclusion
This past year has shown great advances, sometimes under difficult
conditions. What is very clear though, is that we have changed the face of the
Department of the Premier. This is so at the most obvious level-the demographic
representativity of the Department - but also, given the coherence of the
provincial government and the forceful impact of growth and development
strategies, it is clear that we are also beginning to play the leadership and
guiding role expected of us.
This means that we are well poised to make the transition in this financial
year to the implementation of our vision of a home for all and the growth and
development strategy of Ikapa Elihlumayo.
I thank Dr Lionel Louw and my entire office for putting up with me as well
as my advisors. I mention Edgar Pieterse particularly because his expertise has
been recognised by the London School of Economics who awarded him his PhD last
year.
I want to thank my entire Department for the obvious successes we have
enjoyed. The Director-General has had the right temperament to steer a
sensitive re-engineering process with minimal challenges. He has allowed the
existing and the new to find each other and has led with quiet dignity. I thank
him.
Mr Mphela has indeed been a blessing, bringing a wealth of experience and
insight and winning the respect of all, while Ms Peterson remains the perennial
"can do" person in government, with Dr Platzky providing the dogged
determination to ensure that policy, not expediency drives our efforts,
including World Cup 2010. Through all of you, I thank all the people in your
line functions and hope that the new people, having come through the furnace,
will continue to blossom.
Issued by: Department of the Premier, Western Cape Provincial
Government
21 May 2007
Source: Western Cape Provincial Government (http://www.capegateway.gov.za)
