KZN Premier Dr Zweli Mkhize today led the provincial government in a critical process to review government's progress in the delivery of services during the Cabinet Lekgotla held in Durban.
The three-day Lekgotla comes after the delivery of the State of the Nation Address (SoNA) by President Jacob Gedleyihlekisa Zuma, which spells out the programmes to be followed by government in this financial year. The Lekgotla is attended by all Members of the Executive Council (MECs), the Director-General (DG), heads of departments (HoDs), district mayors and their municipal managers, heads of national government offices operating in the province and all heads of government-owned entities.
The gathering provides a platform for all key decision makers on issues of governing the province to engage and debate issues relating to how the province is being run.
“This Lekgotla comes at a very critical time where we are at the half-way mark of this government's term,” said Dr Mkhize.
He said the gathering will have to discuss how to align the province with objectives set by the President in his State of the Nation Address.
“The President's speech was very strong on infrastructure development as an objective, and we need to find ways of aligning ourselves with these objectives,” said Dr Mkhize.
Dr Mkhize said infrastructure investment and agriculture will play a key role in creating jobs for the Province.
Dr Mkhize also said the Lekgotla will have to discuss ways of combating fraud and corruption, and possibly even have a discussion on supply chain management practices and policies
“From the onset, this government had made it clear that corruption will not be tolerated, and we are going to continue implementing programs that will ensure good and clean governance,” said Dr Mkhize.
Dr Mkhize also paid tribute to municipalities that recently received clean audits from the Auditor-General's office, saying this was an indication of good political leadership.
Dr Mkhize said the main thing that all leaders in government need to understand was that “for a normal person who needs government service, there is no distinction between government departments”.
“We need to do away with the silo mentality and any traces left in the civil service where individuals of departments want to own certain programs. We need to move in a way where service delivery becomes all our concern, which is why we have introduced Operation Sukuma Sakhe, which is a platform where communities and government can interact at a local level, and deal with various issues affecting the community,” said Dr Mkhize.
He did not miss the opportunity to hope that everyone enjoyed their Valentine’s day, but was quick to point out that many of the officials at the Lekgotla did not get a chance to celebrate the day because they were preparing for the Lekgotla.
“You must tell your spouses and partners that this Cabinet has passed a resolution that everyday must be Valentine, and I'm sure that will go a long way in making up for the missed dinner last night.”
For more information:
Regi Khumalo
Media Liaison
Cell: 079 751 6108
Email: regi.khumalo@yahoo.com
Ndabezinhle Sibiya
Premier spokesperson
Cell: 082 3754 742
Email: sibiyand@premier.kzntl.gov.za
