Executive Council (EXCO) Lekgotla, 31 July -2 August 2006, Letsatsi Lodge
Smithfield.
3 August 2006
The Extended EXCO Lekgotla was attended by the Executive Council of the Free
State Provincial Government, Executive Mayors and Mayors, Chairpersons and
Chief Executive Officer (CEO)s of government Boards and Parastsalas as well as
senior managers of government.
The purpose of the Lekgotla, was to among others:
* review the performance of government in relation to the key objectives of the
Free State Growth and Development Strategy
* identify priorities for the government programme of action up to 2009
* assess the performance of municipalities in relation to their five Key
Performance Areas.
In its deliberations the Extended Lekgotla noted and acknowledged the high
levels of optimism and a sense of positiveness among the people of the Free
State. This is a reaffirmation of the development trajectory of our government
and is represented broadly through political stability, enthusiastic
participation and partnerships in all government programme as well as own
initiatives by communities to support government programmes.
The Extended Lekgotla reaffirmed the four key strategic objectives of our
Growth and Development Strategy namely:
1. Effective Governance and Administration
2. Social and Human Development
3. Justice, Crime Prevention, Safety and Security
4. Economic Development, Employment Creation and Investment Promotion.
Progress of municipalities was reviewed extensively and the commitment of
government is to work very hard to attend to the challenges of financial
management skills, Local economic development, project management skills and
community participation with the intention of improving their overall
performance in the areas of job creation and economic development in the areas
infrastructure delivery especially housing.
A joint task team comprising the National and Provincial Departments of
Local Government and Housing, Water Affairs and Forestry as well as South
African Local Government Association (SALGA) will be established as a matter of
urgency to look in to the implementation strategy for the bucket eradication
project and to ensure that we meet our targets in this regard.
The reports of EXCO Clusters were also thoroughly discussed and there is a
general sense of acknowledgement that as the Provincial government, we are very
much on track in the fulfilment of our mandate.
The following key strategic priorities were identified as key programmes of
government to create employment, fight poverty and empower our people:
1. economic development through massification projects and the implantation of
the human resource development strategy of the province
2. strengthening of intergovernmental relations
3. infrastructure delivery through the implementation of the Infrastructure
Delivery Plan
4. 2010 Soccer world Cup through the finalisation of the business plan and the
establishment of the requisite infrastructure and the mobilisation of human as
well as other resources.
5. implementation of our Accelerated and Shared Growth Initiative for South
Africa (AsgiSA) Provincial Action plan.
The Executive Council remains confident that the successful implementation
of these key programmes will place us in a better position to meet our
developmental targets.
The report of the African Peer Review Mechanism and the Macro Social Report
were discussed and acknowledged as the basis for acknowledgement of progress
and outstanding challenges.
The Extended EXCO Lekgotla also noted the commencement of the Womenâs Month
and the programmes identified to mark the National Womenâs Day. Later today we
will officially launch and unveil the full programme of the August Womenâs
Month.
Issued by: Free State Provincial Government
3 August 2006
Source: Free State Provincial Government (http://www.fs.gov.za)
