The “transformation of the state and governance” is the fourth of the ten-pillar programme adopted by the new administration.
The Gauteng Provincial Government is committed to the development of sound governance, accountability, efficiency and service delivery. The hallmarks of the new government are that it will be a caring, service-oriented and responsive administration. It will listen to the views of its citizens and work together with communities and stakeholders in building and further developing the Gauteng city-region.
This implies that public servants must work in the genuine interests of all our people. The must imbibe a culture and work ethic that shows that they are the servants of the people, and not their masters. The new administration will require higher standards of efficiency and professionalism from the public service and improved cooperation and coordination across the different spheres of government and state-owned entities.
Our public administration will have to be further modernised to increase efficiencies in the operational environment so as to better provide services to the public. This is a complex undertaking that requires public service institutions to work across boundaries and to plan better in order to meet the ever growing demands of our people.
The provincial government is committed to building an integrated Gauteng city-region characterised by social cohesion and economic inclusion. The “connected governance” approach, both inside and outside of government institutions, allows us a meaningful way to deal with an era of flat or declining budgets.
In this regard the focus will be on promoting better planning and budgeting across all spheres of government, thereby establishing greater synergy between the Provincial Treasury, the Gauteng Planning Commission and counterparts in other spheres of government, particularly municipalities. The different spheres of government must co-operate so as to allow the broader administration to harness its energies and resources in a common direction. Particular attention will also be given to paying service providers on time and to improving on the collection of revenue for services rendered by government.
Connected governance can also be achieved by consolidating back-end systems and processes to bring about better front-end service delivery. This e-government approach is at the centre of our modernisation strategy and the transformation of the public sector. It aims to make government services more accessible to citizens in communities and on their doorsteps. In essence, innovation in the area of e-governance can only be meaningful to our citizens if it saves them time and money. Ultimately, it means they should access government services by visiting government offices less frequently.
Over the next five years, the Gauteng Provincial Government will invest strategically in the development of a broadband network that will connect all provincial government buildings, including Thusong Centres, hospitals and schools. This exciting project is a partnership between national, provincial and local government.
Gauteng’s broadband network project has three key objectives: firstly, to improve government efficiency, which should save both government and citizens money; secondly, to promote digital inclusion by connecting citizens to high speed broad- band using the Thusong Service Centres and other government institutions located across the province; and, finally to act as an economic enabler by ensuring that priority townships and economic regeneration zones have access to high speed broadband.
Furthermore, as part of the provincial government’s modernisation programme and integration across the various spheres of government, it will implement the “Identity Verification Solution” - a biometric system aimed at rooting out fraud and corruption in the payroll system. Through this project, more than 63 000 employees of the provincial government have already had their fingerprints and identity numbers verified against the national population register. The second phase of this process, which will also be introduced this year, is to verify bank account ownership of employees to ensure that salaries are paid into valid accounts in order to prevent fraud.
The transformation of local government into an effective and responsive people- centred system able to better serve the residents will be the focus of this new administration. As stated during Premier’s State of Province Address, our interventions are aimed at renewing local government. Such renewal will be premised on the need to enhance popular and participatory democracy to ensure that our people are not mere observers but active participants in the process of service delivery and socio-economic development.
To this end, the provincial government will convene a Ward Committee Conference with the aim of ‘hearing the voices’ of these structures and ensuring that Ward Councillors are at the centre of our service delivery model. Placing the Ward Councillor at the centre of a community’s interests is the first step in renewing local government.
The new administration will facilitate and support the merger and integration of local municipalities as part of the process towards creating a metro system of government in the Gauteng city-region. It will address the legal dispute related to the Sedibeng merger process and support the statutory processes in Randfontein and Westonaria.
The provincial government will support municipalities to ensure that they maintain and upgrade critical and key public infrastructure. It is clear from reports from the Office of the Auditor- General that infrastructure maintenance demands our collective attention.
Improving service delivery at the level of local communities and enhancing the quality of lives of our citizens largely depends on providing efficient and effective support to municipalities. The provincial government will provide such support to municipalities by ensuring that they have the required technical skills, capacity and capability to deliver and drive major infrastructure projects in line with the vision articulated by Premier Makhura. Programmes will also be developed to support municipalities and provincial departments to achieve clean audits and to enhance debt recovery measures. The provincial government recognises that local government is the frontline of service delivery and remains a catalyst for the provision of a basket of essential services, including bulk economic and social infrastructure, roads, water, sanitation, electricity and parks.
The new administration believes that Executive accountability of provincial and municipal government, as well as the accountability of Councillors to residents in communities, is of paramount importance. Effective accountability to and oversight over the use of public resources by the Legislature and other relevant structures at municipal level is supported. This will give concrete meaning to the principles of sound governance, accountability, efficiency and effective service delivery to our citizens.
For more information please call:
John Sukazi
Cell: 083 772 4885
Octavia Mamabolo
Cell: 082 316 8666
Motsamai Motlhaolwa
Cell: 083 259 5640
