F Cachalia: Annual Report of Premier's Office

6 December 2007

Honourable Premier
Speaker and Deputy Speaker
Members of the Executive Council
Members of the House
Ladies and gentlemen

Thank you for the opportunity to present the 2006/2007 Annual Report of the
Office of the Premier.

The annual report presents a snapshot of the work done in one year in
pursuit of our long-term vision to reduce unemployment, poverty and
underdevelopment.

The Office of the Premier has achieved considerable success in the year
under review and the unqualified audit by the Auditor General, the fourth since
the 2003/04 financial year, is evidence of this.

We have taken note of matters raised by the Standing Committee of Public
Accounts (Scopa) and the Oversight Committee on the Office of the Premier and
the Legislature (OCPOL) and, as the committees may have already heard from the
Director General, the office will attend to the relevant issues. We have taken
note of requested reports and these will be complied with where feasible or
necessary.

The 2006/07 financial year will be remembered for the strides taken to
stimulate economic growth, create jobs, and build the skills base and to
co-ordinate and integrate planning to improve service delivery.

The perspective on building Gauteng as a Globally Competitive City Region
was introduced during the year under review. Engagements with various
stakeholders were undertaken and the perspective was well received.

Speaker, the Soccerex convention, which was awarded to us in the year under
review, was held last month and was an overwhelming success. The convention
attracted representatives from more 100 countries and was double in size
compared to the one held in Dubai in 2006. It was a big boost for our economy
and our efforts to position our province in the global community. Its
overwhelming success has certainly helped in marketing our province
internationally as a place capable of hosting major events.

Our readiness to host the 2010 Fifa World Cup Work was highlighted by the
excellent manner in which this event was organised and managed. The absence of
major incidents has provided assurance that we are capable of ensuring high
standards of safety and security to visitors in our province. The challenge is
how these translate to more security plans for Gauteng residents.

We now have to work with extra effort to meet all the deadlines for the
upgrading of stadia, broadband connectivity, public transport – including
improved access to our airports, the introduction of intelligent transport
systems and the provision of improved passenger information and road
signage.

The OCPOL report has risen what the committee considers to be delays on some
of the Global City Region (GCR) projects namely urban observatory, review of
the Gauteng Development Agencies, benchmarking of the City Region, economic
Footprint of the City Region and the provincial New Partnership for Africa's
Development (Nepad) Framework.

It is possible that the report may have been written prior to the briefing
by the Premier to chairpersons of committees. It would appear too that some of
the issues relate to the period beyond the financial year ended March 2007.

The house should bear in mind that we launched the perspective on the GCR
here in the house in August last year. This was followed by the adoption of the
road map by the PCF in November 2006.

The work required for this is extensive and research was conducted:

* to develop indicators to benchmark the GCR and track its growth and
development through continuous assessment to outputs and outcomes of strategies
and initiatives that are being undertaken,
* to map economic inter-linkages between regions, locally, regionally and
internationally to understand how economic performance of different places is
inter-related and understand the extent to which regions and cities or other
places within the GCR are in competition or complement each other,
* to assess the current and planned development agencies in the province to se
how they can be harnessed to promote city region objectives,
* to design structured collaboration between the Gauteng government, industry
and relevant higher education institutions to establish a Gauteng City-Region
Observatory. It is important to note here that the University of Johannesburg
and Wits have already agreed to lead the establishment of the observatory and
therefore there has been progress on this issue.

It is also important to remember that we are pursuing the GCR strategy from
a developmental perspective, not as a quick fix, to increase our ability to
effectively confront our socio-economic ills such as unemployment,
underdevelopment and poverty and to increase Gauteng's contribution to the
national economy.

Speaker, the clearest commitment of our government to stimulating economic
growth and reducing underdevelopment, was seen in the launch of construction of
the Gautrain rail link and the 20 priority township upgrading programme.

We also supported the development of Growth and Development Strategies in
each metro and district in the province. These will be aligned with and further
strengthen the implementation of the provincial Growth and Development
Strategy.

The construction of the Guatrain has allowed us to bring critical skills in
engineering back into the country and in job creation. It may please the house
to note that the tunnel boring machine, which will allow the project to move
faster, has arrived and will be commissioned at a public event next
Thursday.

The launch of 20 priority township upgrading programme marked our
determination to decisively break the back of apartheid planning and
underdevelopment and continue to transform our townships into vibrant, dynamic
and sustainable communities where people live with decent social amenities and
access to economic opportunities.

Our primary aim is to change the lives of our people for the better by
beautifying our townships, providing decent schools, clinics, sport and
recreational facilities, lighting, storm water drains, Multipurpose Community
Centres (MPCCs), libraries, taxi and bus ranks. We want to ensure that all
roads in these townships are tarred by 2009 and that each area has a vibrant
commercial and transport hub.

Our commitment to make Gauteng a better place to live has highlighted the
need for improved governance and institutional interventions to improve service
delivery.

In line with a similar initiative at a national level, we have undertaken a
review on building the capacity and organisation of the state to determine the
gaps and means to enhance capacity. The study highlighted, among other things,
the need to strengthen our capacity to analyse and respond to the changing
social, economic and political environment and the importance of innovation and
strengthening our knowledge base, including in the area of social services
delivery.

We have developed an integrated Human Resources Strategy for the provincial
government to position the Gauteng government as an employer of choice and
attract, develop and retain quality human resources.

Speaker, these initiatives will help us to build the capacity and skills
required if we are to comprehensively respond to the issues giving rise to
concern by Scopa and OCPOL. Plans that the department has put in place, to deal
with Information systems, asset management and skills in monitoring and
evaluation, will in the long run become sustainable if we succeed in
implementing the Human Resources strategy for the province.

We have continued to pursue our strategic objective of promoting public
participation and direct interactive communication with communities.

Through the Imbizo outreach programme, we reached 34 communities in our
province where Members for the Executive Council listened and responded to the
concerns of our people.

We also launched the Economic Opportunities Roadshow aimed at improving the
lives of the poor by giving people better access to information, opportunities
and services which they can use to more effectively participate in and benefit
from the economy.

We would like to thank all the people of Gauteng for working together with
this government to bring about the realisation of their aspirations. I also
thank the Mayors and all municipalities for their contributions in making
Gauteng a successful city region that is internationally recognised.

We also thank the members of Scopa and OCPOL for the vital oversight role
they exercise over the department. The Office of the Premier is committed to
continuing to drive the Gauteng government's agenda of stimulating economic
growth, creating jobs and addressing the social needs of the people of our
province.

As we have come to the end of the year, it is appropriate to wish all of you
a happy, peaceful and festive summer holidays. To our Christian members, have a
Merry Christmas.

To all of us let us remember to spread the message of safety in our homes,
no violence to our women and children and use condoms to reduce the spread of
HIV and AIDS.

Thank you

Issued by: Gauteng Provincial Government
6 December 2007