January to 1 February 2006
2 February 2006
Premier Sello Moloto, the province's Executive Council (EXCO),
Director-General Dr Nelly Manzini, Heads of Departments (HoDs) and the Chief
Executive Officers (CEOs) of parastatals congregated at the Ranch Hotel,
outside Polokwane, from Monday, 30 January, to yesterday Wednesday, 1 February,
for this yearâs first EXCO Lekgotla.
Some of the CEOs of the parastatals that attended included Messrs Joe
Mathebula, CEO of the Trade and Investment Limpopo (TIL); Stan Mathabathe, CEO
of Limpopo Enterprise Development (Limdev); Benny Boshielo, CEO of Limpopo
Tourism and Parks Board; Bohani Shibambu, CEO of Roads Agency Limpopo; Serobe
Maja, CEO of the Limpopo Gambling Board; and Ben Mehale, Managing Director of
Gateway Airports Authority Limited. Also in attendance were the district
executive mayors and municipal managers. The executive mayor of the host
district, Capricornâs Motalane Monakedi, and his municipal manager, Tracy
Malatji, were joined by their counterparts from the other five districts.
Purpose of EXCO Lekgotla
In her overview of Socio-Economic Developments in the province, Dr Manzini
tabulated the purpose of the EXCO Lekgotla as to:
* Review the 2005/06 performance of both government departments and
parastatals
* Adopt of the 2006/07 strategic and operational plans of both governments and
parastatals
* Guide the resource allocation to both government departments and parastatals
for 2006/07
* Identify strategic issues for the Medium Term Expenditure Framework
* Adopt the implementation framework for the 2006/07 strategic plans
* Inform the State of the Province Address (SOPA) by Premier Sello Moloto, on 9
February 2006 at the opening of the provincial legislature, through alignment
with President Thabo Mbekiâs State of the Nation Address (SONA), which will be
made on 3 February 2006 at the national parliament in Cape Town. Also to draw
inspiration from this Lekgotla will be the subsequent State of the District
Addresses by executive mayors of district councils, State of Municipal
Addresses by executive mayors and mayors of local municipalities through
alignment with the SOPA.
EXCO stated that it was in the interest of integrated service delivery for
the betterment of every citizenâs life that government (at both local and
provincial levels) and its parastatals converged under one roof to review and
assess their performance and integrate their future plans.
National context
The provincial EXCO makgotla always follow the national makgotla â a forum
chaired by President Mbeki, attended by National Cabinet Ministers and Deputy
Ministers and Directors-General. Each province is represented by the premier
and Director-General. The national Lekgotla for 2006 was held last week in
Tshwane. To ensure strategic alignment between Limpopoâs EXCO Lekgotla and the
national, the premier â through the Director-General â gave feedback to those
who congregated to inform the input they were to make over the three days.
Setting the tone for discussions over the next three days, Dr Manzini
identified the following as issues for consideration:
*Implementation of the Provincial Growth and Development Strategy (PGDS) with
special focus on Local Economic Development and the Accelerated Shared Growth
Initiative of South Africa.
* The provinceâs capacity to implement governmentâs programmes
* Spatial alignment and Integrated Planning for outer years (beyond the
three-year MTEF period)
* Strengthening delivery within local government (in line with governmentâs
intergovernmental relations programme)
* Monitoring and evaluation of performance of government departments and
parastatals against the PGDS targets.
Even though the Executive Council was generally satisfied with the progress
made by both government departments and parastatals during the April to
December 2005 period, it encouraged HODs and CEOs to double their efforts in
ensuring that all service delivery obligations are met by the end of this
financial year. EXCO identified challenges, bottlenecks and obstacles to
quality service delivery that needed to be dealt with urgently. These included
finding mechanisms to fast-track the procurement processes and systems;
capacity building; conducting a skills audit (over and above the qualifications
audit that the province has just completed); addressing all audit queries
raised by the Office of the Auditor-General and the Standing Committee on
Public Accounts (SCOPA).
Highlights of the agencyâs performance
The parastatals, which are the delivery channels of government, have
reported major successes that indicate that unemployment in the province might
have gone down at a higher rate than 2004âs 2% reduction rate. In their own
humble way, the agencies have given both financial and non-financial business
support services to enterprises and businesses in the province, attracted
foreign direct investment into the province, and created market opportunities
throughout the world for products and services from Limpopo.
The following, though not exhaustive, are some of the highlights of the
successes of the parastatals:
* Trade and Investment Limpopo (TIL)
The premier trade and investment agency for the province, TIL, has continued to
attract foreign and capital investment into the province and creating market
opportunities for Limpopoâs products. The agency has established the Limpopo
Exportersâ Advisory Council (LEAC) whose members include key economic players
in the province such as the Citrus South Africa, South African Mango Growersâ
Association, South Africa Avocado Growers Association, Organic South Africa and
Letaba Organic Farmersâ Association. It has also forged strategic alliances
with African and international investment agencies by singing Memoranda of
Understanding (MoUâs) with the SANEC of Netherlands and CPI of Mozambique. It
has also signed a service level agreement (SLA) with The Manly Group of the
United States of America (USA).
* Limpopo Enterprise Development Agency (Limdev)
Some of the most successful operating arms of Limdev, in terms of increasing
the provinceâs employment opportunities, are the Rural Housing Finance (RHF)
and its mining associate companies. The RHF has created over 651 jobs and
maintained over 1626 (with the multiplier effects being 1 953 and 4 878
respectively) after assisting over 221 households. In its mining interests, Asa
Metals has invested over R800 million into the provincial economy yielding 1000
permanent jobs in the Sekhukhune district â thus resulting in a spin multiplier
effect of 3000 jobs having been created. Another associate company, Tameng
Mining operating in Ga-Mphahlele, has created over 1500 permanent jobs with a
multiplier effect of 4500. The agency has also applied for 8 new licences,
which will attract an overall investment of R200 million.
* Limpopo Business Advisory Agency (LIBSA)
Although LIBSA provides non-financial services to enterprises in the province,
it has managed to help create 10 cooperatives in the province â which
subsequently created over 378 jobs in the province. If one was to consider the
multiplier effect, then there are over 1 134 jobs in the province.
* Limpopo Manufacturing Advisory Council (LIMAC)
This service delivery agency, that provides non-financial services like LIBSA,
will be integrated into the Small Enterprise Development Agency (SEDA) with
effect from 1 April 2006, in line with national guidelines as pronounced by
President Thabo Mbeki in his 2004 State of the Nation Address. The move is
intended to streamline government professional service delivery agents. As a
result, SEDA was established following the merger of Ntsika Enterprise
Development Agency and the National Manufacturing Advisory Councils (of which
LIMAC was its provincial branch). Some of its highlights included reaching a
number of SMMEâs in the province which created over 4252 jobs.
* Gateway Airports Authority Limited (GAAL)
Testifying to correctness of the centrality of public sector investment in
driving economic growth, as argued in the Accelerated Shared Growth Initiative
of South Africa (ASGI-SA), the provincial government has made a significant
investment in the construction work that is currently underway at the Polokwane
International Airport. The total infrastructure investment budgeted for PIA is
about R45 million and will create over a greater number of jobs in the
province.
* Roads Agency Limpopo (RAL)
In addition to what the National Roads Agency (BRA) and municipalities have
budgeted for roads construction in the province, Roads Agency Limpopo has
already spent almost 50% of their over R800 million budget on tarring, road
rehabilitation, repair and resealing, re-gravelling and bridge repairs. Since
roads construction is a labour-intensive exercise, this figure leaves no doubt
that the agency will cause a dent to unemployment rate in the province.
* Limpopo Tourism and Parks Board (LTPB)
The LTPB, the custodian of tourism and parks in the province, has continued in
attracting foreign tourists into the province through a number of national and
international initiatives â such as the annual `Tourism Indabaâ. With a budget
of R37 million, the agency has endeavoured to bring emerging tourism
enterprises into the industry in an attempt to redress the imbalances of the
past. It has raised R10 million for the provincial coffers from selling excess
game at an annual auction in the Waterberg district.
A call to action: The premierâs concluding remarks
In his closing remarks, Premier Sello Moloto emphasised the value of an
integrated approach to strategic planning, implementation, monitoring,
evaluation and review.
âThe indigenous assets, located within different communities, have to be
harnessed for local economic development purposes. We need to enhance the
capacity of our communities and direct them to initiatives that will empower
them,â the premier said, âthese should include agricultural projects that could
intensity our effort in alleviating poverty among our people.â
The premier also focused on the role of clusters and EXCO in ensuring that
all the resolutions taken are implemented. âEXCO has to monitor progress that
the administration is making â including monitoring and receiving timeous
reports on the progress made on such big projects such as the building of the
Polokwane International Convention Centre and the renovation of the Peter
Mokaba Stadium. It does not help to generate good ideas without having the
resolve to implement them,â he emphasised.
âLet me emphasise the point that when these resolutions are taken to the
clusters for processing,â asserted the premier, âEXCO has to ensure that there
are delivery plans developed by each line department to actualise them. Our
people have been patiently waiting for us to provide them with services, and we
canât afford to betray their loyalty and patience.â
âWe need to go back to our departments and agencies and ensure that we do
not just deliver services to our people, but we also accelerate the pace at
which we deliver these services. We have to improve our institutional
efficiencies and effectiveness, as we say in our PGDS, to ensure that we
provide a better life for all.
âWhat we have realised over the past three days is that the provinceâs
leadership â both political and administrative â are beginning to speak in one
voice. There is convergence of thoughts if we look at some of the broad issues
that we reached consensus on. We need to also revise our marketing and
promotional materials, as a collective, and begin to identify all our
provincial icons â and maximise the trade, investment and tourism positioning
benefits accruing. The leadership has really forged a common vision, and now it
is time for us to deliver services to our people â thereâs no turning
back!â
For more information, please call:
Saul Molobi
Spokesperson for the Limpopo Provincial Government
Office of the Premier
Tel: (015) 287 6311
Fax: (015) 295 5831
Cell: 083 444 2822
Cell: 084 440 8379
E-mail: molobis@premier.norprov.gov.za
Issued by: Office of the Premier, Limpopo Provincial Government
2 February 2006
Source: Limpopo Provincial Government (http://www.limpopo.gov.za)
