In our State of the Province Address (SOPA) delivered on 20 February 2012, I announced that as part of our intervention to turn around the Department of Health and Social Development and ensure the effective functioning of the department, we will, with effect from April 2012, have a dedicated MEC and HOD (Head of Department) solely for the Department of Health.
MEC Mekgwe will cease to be responsible for Social Development and instead, it will now be ceded over to MEC Nandi-Mayathula of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (GDARD). Both the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, and the Department of Social Development will have separate HODs who will be answerable to MEC Nandi-Mayathula.
Our contention is that there is a strong synergy between the Department of Social Development and that of Agriculture and Rural Development since both play a strategic role in poverty alleviation and food security.
Still in pursuit of finding more synergies in the way government works; we are today announcing that the Creative Industries and the Gauteng Film Commission will shift from the Department of Economic Development (DED) to its more suited position within the Department of Sport, Arts, Culture and Recreation under MEC Lebogang Maile.
The DED will now play a more robust role in attracting Information and Communication Technology (ICT) investments into the province and facilitation of norms and standards, including the setting up of the Smart City.
In our quest to reposition the Gauteng Shared Services Centre (GSSC), the Treasury will be a stand-alone department while Gauteng Shared Service Centre (GSSC) will be more active in the roll-out of ICT infrastructure, focusing on projects such as the G-Link and e-government. Furthermore, we will appoint the Gauteng Provincial Government (GPG) Chief Information Officer to oversee ICT work at the provincial level, including linkages with the private sector.
The MEC for Finance will ensure that the necessary funds are allocated to all the functions transferred from one department to another.
For more information, please contact:
Matlakala Motloung
Cell: 082 787 9472
