Mashamba
16 March 2006
Honourable Speaker Deputy Speaker
Deputy Speaker
Comrade Premier
Honourable Members of the House
Honourable Members of the Provincial Cabinet
Comrades
Ladies and gentlemen
Comrades and Honourable Members of the House, in this Age of Hope, let us
remember that the one common national objective is to improve and transform the
conditions and quality of life of our people. Let us remember too that this
improvement and this transformation have to be people-centered, people-driven
and people-led. In other words, we must not forget the fundamentals of the
Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP) that delivery, which is of both
goods and services, cannot and must not, be a passive process in which people
are objects of charity and government does it all; rather delivery must be a
process in which all our people are empowered to jointly, collectively, in the
spirit of Masakhane and Tirisano, meet their own needs, using their own
energies, through their own knowledge and their own skills.
Let us remember therefore, that, as politicians, managers and
administrators, right from our respective departments and offices, we must,
first and foremost, be agents of empowerment starting with the empowerment of
our own staff in our own offices, from the humblest member of the cleaning
staff and security personnel to Senior Managers, GMs, SGMs and DGs.
Comrades and Honourable Members, we must be serious, show deep commitment,
political will, that is, the will to organise society and run it differently,
more effectively and more efficiently. We must be systematic and scientific in
our approach, which means that we should be able, each one of us, to come to
understand our different tasks and roles in this endeavour; to appreciate that
it is a collaborative effort, in which the weakness of one department is the
weakness of all other departments, and the improvement and strength of one
department is the improvement and strength of all.
In this Age of Hope, all of us must come to understand that political
leaders, managers and administrators must be nurtured and moulded from much
earlier on. The career guidance process must start at the community, at the
primary and high school levels, in the processes of participating, of
involvement in the development of solutions to community problems. Community
structures must link up with the schools and colleges, and the latter with
tertiary institutions in the process of identifying, nurturing, guiding and
developing new political leaders, new managers and new administrators for the
new Age of Hope.
Comrades and Honourable Members, it is in the processes of community
involvement that identity with the people and their problems, ownership of
solutions to people's problems and commitment to the well being of the people
is developed; that a high moral sense of social responsibility is engendered;
that values of accountability and transparency are instilled. It is here that
the ground for any elitist notions and bureaucratic tendencies are nipped in
the bud. It is this ethos that is generally lacking in our midst; it is this
patriotism, this sense of social responsibility and accountability that is
lacking.
Colonialism and apartheid had for far too long silenced our people,
transforming them into objects of history, into the governed, the managed and
the administered, and never saw them as subjects of their own history, never
recognised them as governors, managers and administrators. However, it has been
and still is the mainstay of the new democratic regime's strategic objective
that this state of affairs comes to an end.
To that end, and especially in this new Age of Hope, let us cut through all
the red tape and unwieldy protocols in our departments and offices, and try not
just to be more accessible to the people, but to be with the people where they
encounter their problems and sort out solutions to those problems. Let us stop
the culture of endless bureaucratic circulars, memoranda and staff meetings to
plan and plan and plan! Let us gather around issues and problems to be tackled
in our departments. Let us also meet more frequently at the communities where
problems are to be solved together with the communities themselves.
Let us call the professor, the researcher, the social worker, the
psychologist, the sociologist, the businessperson, the politician, the student,
the traditional leader and the traditional subject to an indaba to tackle
concrete practical problems together and, thereby, learn to work together, to
team together, to grow together into one nation. Comrades and Honourable
Members, let us in this way unleash the great potential of our people and, in
this new Age of Hope, let them unite in action to liberate themselves from the
scourges of unemployment, poverty, ignorance and disease.
Comrades and Members of the House, politicians, managers and administrators
must be leaders; and a leader must have a vision and not just a strategic plan
for implementation. Besides scientific and technical knowledge necessary for
the efficient performance of their respective tasks, politicians, managers and
administrators must have a vision rooted in the needs and aspirations of their
people, and the political will to ensure that this vision is fully realised.
The political will here refers to the commitment that society is changed and
reorganised in such a way that all benefit, and to the ability and enthusiasm
to inspire and lead those under their leadership; to the ability to share with
great passion and vigour this vision with all members of our departments. with
cleaners, drivers, security, senior managers, the lot! This will ensure that
the theoretical scientific knowledge of politicians, managers and
administrators assist all staff members in our departments to understand and
value their own work, to enhance their commitment and to increase their
productivity.
In turn, the problems, difficulties, fears, aspirations and ambitions of all
staff members will make politicians, managers and administrators understand
better the complexities of the work situation and thus to rethink, revise and
sharpen their theoretical knowledge and understanding. Our departments would
thus become veritable centres of mutual teaching and learning, of collective
growth and harmonious development of all parties concerned.
However, Comrades and Honourable Members, as we enter this new Era of Hope,
let us not forget that we have not yet created the new society of
non-racialism, non-sexism, democracy and national unity. Let us not shy away
from the fact that memories of the past, of apartheid and of the struggle
against apartheid, memories of a terrible past for the majority of our people,
have not yet been erased from our social life and our social consciousness.
After all, it is just a mere eleven years since then...these memories are still
much fresher than those of the Anglo-Boer War, the South African War at the
turn of the last century, and still much fresher than those of the Holocaust
amongst the Jewish people
Therefore, Comrades and Honourable Members, equally let us not forget that
the people who constitute the public service still carry along with them a
whole baggage of bad habits inherited from our terrible past. Many have not,
for instance, outgrown the negative and uncaring attitude towards anything that
has to do with government. Many have not yet begun to look upon work as a moral
necessity; many still look upon it as a material necessity to earn a salary or
wage for themselves, their families and relatives.
Indeed, over and above the question of lack of skills and knowledge in
government departments, there is the whole negative work ethos of individualism
and elitism that is bureaucratic, oppressive, exploitative and self-seeking:
there is the pervasive fear of authority, lack of self-confidence and
self-esteem, as well as lack of initiative and creativity, and an alarming
passivity and docility amongst junior members of staff on the one hand; and a
highhanded dogmatism and opportunism, an authoritarian bureaucratic
insensitivity amongst senior staff on the other. Further, right across the
whole spectrum of civil servants, there is also a small layer of those who are
always critical of almost anything that the new government does. This small
layer is critical to a point of paralysis, hence it is always complaining,
always whining, but never doing anything to improve or change things. It is a
disease pathetically and tragically characteristic of the upper echelons of the
public service, unfortunately!
Comrades and Honourable Members, we have, indeed, in the past eleven years,
been trying to create in our public service unity and cohesion, and an
understanding of the dynamics of social reconstruction and development, of
state and government, of democracy in the context of our social-economic and
politico- ideological transition; we have since translated the policies of the
Freedom Charter and the Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP) into law
so that public servants may act from an informed position regarding their
country, continent and world; we have been trying to transform the public
service into a contingent of servants of the people rather than masters of the
people by instilling in them the values and principles of Ubuntu and Batho
Pele, of transparency and accountability.
But we must admit here today that the Auditor-General's audit statements
leave much to be desired. There is still the perennial question of unauthorised
expenditure and failure by some departments to spend the funding requested for
and allocated. There is also still the suggestion that some might be using
their power and authority for private profit. All that notwithstanding,
Comrades and Honourable Members, we must on our part remain committed to
exposing and denouncing embezzlements, thefts and other immoralities in our
management and administrative systems.
Be that as it may, Honourable Speaker and Honourable Members, Comrades and
Compatriots; allow me to table the budget of the Department of Finance for the
2006/2007 financial year as follows:
Honourable Speaker, the Provincial Treasury has made significant
improvements through the implementation of proper accounting systems.
Our human resource component is being trained and developed to keep pace
with new technology and other developments. The number of professionals is to
be increased to enhance capacity within the department. Emphasis will not only
be on the improvement of skills and professional levels. of employees, but also
on ensuring that there is a high level of commitment and dedication to their
work, that there is high motivation and job satisfaction across the board.
To promote and enforce transparency, to inculcate, effective and efficient
management in respect of revenue collection and expenditure, and therefore'
ensure excellent delivery to the people of our province, we are currently
revamping our supply-chain management; diligently implementing the national and
provincial treasury norms and standards; and also jerking up our corporate
governance systems and policies in line with our national macro-economic policy
and in pursuance of our provincial growth and development strategy.
Honourable Speaker, the R286,652 million allocated, to our department will
be used appropriately to achieve the objectives that we have set ourselves in
our Annual Performance Plan.
Comrades and Honourable Members, hereunder we accordingly present to you the
programmes of the Provincial Treasury.
Corporate (Administration) Governance
Mr Speaker and Honourable Members, the main objective of Corporate
Governance is the continuous improvement of management and administrative
support functions, which comprise:
* Human Resource Management and Development as stipulated in the White Paper on
Human Resource Management
* Strategic Operations responsible for strategy policy formulation.
* Knowledge and Information Management to support each core function to ensure
effective and efficient service delivery; and
* management of Legal Services.
Comrades and Honourable Members, Corporate Services was inadequately
resourced in the previous financial years, that is, 2003/04 and 2004/05. This
situation has since been rectified, and the delivery of services has improved
significantly.
We have also taken several measures to equip our human resource personnel
with the necessary knowledge and skills. Whilst we do not intend to do away
with private public partnerships in our work, we, however aim, to achieve a
respectable level of self-sufficiency in carrying out the core duties of our
department in the immediate future.
Our investment in the education of our youth in the province is paying good
dividends. Many of our youth are progressing well with their studies and a
number of them have now completed their B.Com degrees and are very grateful for
the financial assistance accorded them for their studies.
Honourable Speaker and Members of the Housel we have budgeted an amount of
R77,035 million for this programme, under which we have the following
subprogrammes:
* Financial Management;
* Corporate Services;
* Information Management;
* Strategic Operations; and
* Security and Risk Management Services.
Sustainable Resource Management
Honourable Speaker and Honourable Members of the House, a budget of R41,576
million is proposed for the Sustainable Resource Management programme. This
will enable us to discharge our responsibility of managing the provincial
budget as a whole in accordance with the Public Finance Management Act and the
Municipal Finance Management Act.
This will make it possible for us to promote and enforce transparency and
effective management in respect of revenue expenditure, assets and liabilities
of the government departments and provincial public entities.
We will also be able to provide fiscal policy advice, and to develop the
requisite provincial revenue framework.
Comrades and Honourable Members of the House, Sustainable Resource
Management consists of six sub-programmes, which are:
* Economic Analysis
* Budget Management
* Fiscal Policy
* Public Finance
* Intergovernmental Fiscal Relations
* Programme Support.
Indeed, some of these sub-programmes must be put into operation as a matter
of extreme urgency. For instance, the coming into effect of the MFMA demands of
us to monitor and assist in the development of municipal revenue policies and
resource distribution.
Although a few of these sub-programmes are not yet in operation, those that
are operational are making a positive impact on the resource management of our
government systems. For instance, in the past there has been inconsistency in
the tariffs charged by different departments on similar items; this has been
rectified. Now we are also able to detect beforehand if there is a likelihood
of under or over expenditure and to take the necessary corrective measures in
time. As a result, there has been a timely reallocation of the infrastructure
reserves of R196 million and budget pressures of R209 million which was
distributed in May 2005. This was done in line with the priorities of the
Provincial Government.
Comrades and Honourable Members of the House, as far as Intergovernmental
Fiscal Relations is concerned, although some of our municipalities did not
reconcile their budget alignments with their Integrated Development Plans
(IDP's) for the 2005/06 financial year, we managed, through this programme, to
review their IDP's and use them to inform their budget inputs.
We shall continue to work hand in hand with our municipalities to assist
them to prepare the multi-year budgets as required by the MFMA. We shall
continue to conduct workshops to assist the municipalities to develop effective
supply chain management systems to improve the standard of their service
delivery and to ensure transparency and good governance.
Honourable Members of the House, the Provincial Treasury will continue to
increase the reliability of the in-year-monitoring (IYM) mechanism, and we
promise that the projection of expenditure and revenue by the departments will
be of high standard and quality. We are going to regularly require from
accounting officers to adhere stringently to reporting norms and standards.
Where technical assistance is required the Provincial Treasury will provide
such assistance. If there are any delays in giving this technical assistance,
the accounting officers will be free to contact the office of the Provincial
Director-General and/or the MEC in the Provincial Treasury.
Comrades and Honourable Members of the House, last year we said that
people's power is best realised at the local sphere of government and
accordingly, that our focus will be at the local level. Consequently, through
our assistance, five municipalities which had a backlog were able to submit
their outstanding financial statements at the end of July 2005, and the high
capacity municipalities were able to adopt their supply chain management
policies with effect from 1 October 2005. Through our assistance and
progressive interventions, all the thirty-two (32) municipalities in the
province managed to complete and submit their MFMA checklists to the National
Treasury by 7 September 2005.
Comrades and Members of the House, we shall continue to ensure that
professional advice and support on economic, fiscal, and technical support to
all our municipalities are readily available. Sixty-two (62%) percent of our
municipalities confirmed that their annual financial statements for 2004/05
were prepared in-house. This tremendous improvement gives us hope that our
resolve to ensure that democratic and developmental local government is,
indeed, empowering our people. Further, in this financial year, we shall
continue to increase the reliability of the IYM projection of expenditure and
revenue by all provincial departments. We shall fully implement the Debt
Management Strategy and interest generating measures in Departments.
We shall continuously follow up on municipalities whose budget schedules are
outstanding to ensure that their budget process plans comply with proper budget
cycles. We shall assist them to align the IDP and budgets. We shall also
develop capacity within the Provincial Asset Restructuring Unit for it to be in
a position to approve Public Private Partnership transactions. If necessary, we
shall second officials to National Treasury to beef up their knowledge and
expertise on PPP transactions and the approval process.
Assets and Liabilities Management
Comrades and Honourable Members of the House, we have budgeted R24,S04
million for this programme. The programmeâs primary focus is on the management
of assets and liabilities, supply chain management, and on providing assistance
in capacity building within municipalities.
The Assets and Liabilities Management programme is divided into the
following four (4) sub-programmes:
* Assets Management
* Liabilities Management
* Supply Chain Management
* Programme Support.
Comrade Speaker, in the previous financial year we submitted that we shall
improve the collection of revenue and the appropriate management of debtors.
Due to improvement in cash flow management, interest generated has increased
tremendously. From April to December 2005 we generated an amount of R73,8
million.
On the Supply Chain Management side, we managed to establish a system which
is in compliance with the PFMA and the guidelines provided by the National
Treasury.
This financial year, Honourable Speaker, Comrades and Honourable Members of
the House, we shall complete the verification of the properties which are still
outstanding. We are also faced with the challenge of retraining Supply Chain
Managers and officials and thereby moving them away from the tender board
system which they were accustomed to. We need to train the historically
disadvantaged individuals (HDIs), small, medium and macro enterprises (SMMEs),
people with disabilities, youth, and women so that they too are empowered to
participate in the procuring of goods and services in the province. In terms of
quality improvement measures, we shall improve on the deviation between the"
monthly request for asset reports and the actual cash flow. This will enable us
to acquire more reliable estimates of implementation, income and interest
regarding investment management.
Financial Governance
Comrades and Honourable Members of the House, the Financial Governance
Programme administers the accounting services and the development of systems
for the province. The norms, standards and. procedures are monitored within
this programme to ensure efficient and effective utilisation of state
finances.
We propose for this programme a budget of R143,537 million in order to
accomplish our responsibilities in relation to monitoring in the two spheres of
government, that is, provincial and local spheres. To that end, we want to
increase the monitoring of the provincial departments and public entities. We
also need to improve our Risk Management Sub-Programme so that early warning
signs are detected before the challenges and problems escalate.
This programme, Honourable Speaker, has the: following sub-programmes:
* Accounting Services
* Interlinked Financial Systems
* Internal Control And Risk Management
* Financial Management
* Programme Support.
Comrades and Honourable Members of the House, there is still an acute
shortage of financial management skills in the municipalities. We hope to
address this challenge as a matter of urgency. We shall also keep on upgrading
the financial and management skills of officials in all the provincial
departments.
Conclusion
Comrades and Honourable Members, we accordingly present our 2006/07
departmental budget for consideration and adoption by the House. We are
committing ourselves to do everything within our means to ensure that the
objectives of our province are achieved.
We shall at all times ensure that the people of Limpopo continuously reap
the fruits of their freedom and democracy. We shall ensure that their
contribution is part and parcel of the activities of government. We dedicate
this budget to the realisation of our PGDS. And we are confident that all of us
will roll up our sleeves to ensure that the needs and aspirations of our people
are met, and the Age of Hope becomes reality! We rest our case, and thank
you!
Annexure 1
Summary of 2006/07 MTEF budget
(a) Budget by Programmes
Administration
2006/07: R77 035 000
2007/08: R82 930 000
2008/09: R339 232 000
Sustainable Resource Management
2006/07: R41 576 000
2007/08: R51 013 000
2008/09: R54 074 000
Assets and liabilities management
2006/07: R24 504 000
2007/08: R40 160 000
2008/09: R42 569 000
Financial Governance
2006/07: R143 537 000
2007/08: R122 355 000
2008/09: R129 695 000
(b) Budget by economic classification
Compensation of employees
2006/07: R106 268 000
2007/08: R111 161 000
2008/09: R117 831 000
Goods and Services
2006/07: R172 206 000
2007/08: R178 127 000
2008/09: R440 139 000
Transfers and Subsidies
2006/07: R314 000
2007/08: R366 000
2008/09: R388 000
Payment of capital assets
2006/07: R7 864 000
2007/08: R6 804 000
2008/09: R7 212 000
Total
2006/07: R286 652 000
2007/08: R296 458 000
2008/09: R565 570 000
Issued by: Limpopo Provincial Government
16 March 2006
