The Executive Council of the Free State provincial government held its regular bi-weekly meeting on 6 October 2010, in Bloemfontein.
Local government
The Executive Council received a progress report on the intervention in terms of section 139 of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa in three municipalities, namely the: (i) Thabo Mofutshanyana district municipality, (ii) Masilonyana local municipality and (iii) Nala local municipality.
Based on the progress made thus far, the Executive Council decided to discontinue intervention at Thabo Mofutsanyana district municipality. Intervention will, however, continue at the Masilonyana local municipality and Nala local municipality. The Executive Council also agreed to continue to support the two municipalities still under administration.
Partnership programme with the Development Bank of South Africa (DBSA)
The Executive Council received a progress report on the partnership programme between the Free State provincial government and the DBSA on the development of bulk municipal infrastructure in the Free State.
The collaboration with DBSA was born out of an initiative by Premier Magashule to increase the footprint of the DBSA within the province around funding for both economic and social infrastructure.
The partnership will focus on improving the performance of municipalities on water and sanitation projects, given the acute challenges experienced by municipalities in this regard.
The overall objective of the Water and Sanitation programme is to reduce service delivery backlogs and to unlock the economic potential of municipalities.
The DBSA will provide a total debt facility with individual beneficiary municipality which will in turn pledge its municipal infrastructure Grant (MIG) allocation over the medium term expenditure framework (MTEF) period for repayment.
As part of the pilot phase, eight municipalities have been identified with a view to roll it out to other municipalities. A further consultative process will be undertaken with the identified local municipalities.
The Executive Council also approved the establishment of the Project Management unit (PMU) under the auspices of the Planning Commission in the Office of the Premier. The PMU will be funded and supported by the DBSA as part of the partnership programme and will be responsible to ensure the overall coordination and management of the partnership programme.
Review of the Free State growth and development strategy
A progress report was also considered in respect of the review of the Free State growth and development strategy. The Free State growth and development strategy addresses strategic social, economic, environmental and spatial imperatives in the province.
The Human Science Research Council (HSRC) has been contracted to lead the review process which will include strategic multi-stakeholders consultation.
A multi-sectoral steering committee will be established that will include representatives of all provincial government departments, identified state-owned enterprises, Statistics South Africa, academic institutions and district municipalities to oversee the review process. The Development Bank of South Africa has also agreed to offer both technical and financial support to the review process.
Education
The Executive Council took note of progress being made with the preparations for the imminent end of year grade 12 examinations as well as challenges faced by educators and learners emanating from the recent public service strike.
The premier and Members of the Executive Council will be undertaking motivational visits to 56 public schools in the Free State from 11 to 15 October 2010.
During the visits, matric tips booklets will also be distributed to help learners with their preparations for the examinations. The Executive Council calls on all stakeholders to rally behind the class of 2010. The full programme of the Executive Council visits to schools will be distributed to all stakeholders in due course.
Bursaries
During the current financial year, the Free State provincial government awarded more than 2 500 bursaries to deserving students at a total cost of R126 million.
The premier, Members of the Executive Council, heads of departments and other members of senior management of the provincial government undertook a new initiative this year by visiting bursary holders at tertiary institutions across the country.
A consolidated report on these visits, as well as the overall academic progress of bursary holders, was received by the Executive Council. The report was referred to the Governance and Human Settlement Cluster for further processing and advice to the Executive Council.
Skills development
A Provincial Skills Development Seminar will take place on 14 October 2010. The respective Sector Education and Training Authorities (SETAs) will outline their commitment in respect of provincial skills development programmes during this seminar.
Finance
The Executive Council also received reports on the status of expenditure of conditional grants for the first five months of the current financial year as well as the financial status of the municipal infrastructure grant as at 31 August 2010.
This is part of the Executive Council's commitment to the continuous monitoring of the utilisation of conditional grants and MIG-funding to ensure that the provincial and local government spheres derive maximum benefit from the utilisation of these sources of funding.
The Executive Council also confirmed that the provincial Budget Lekgotla will take place from 5 to 6 November 2010.
The Executive Council also noted the following announcements:
The appointment of Ms Elzabe Rockman, formerly Head of Monitoring and Evaluation in the Department of the Premier, as Director General of the Free State Provincial Government; the former Directopr-General Dr Muzamani Nwaila has taken up a new post as Director General of the national Department of Traditional Affairs.
Enquiries:
Wisani Ngobeni
Cell: 072 594 9099
E-mail: wisani.ngobeni@premier.fs.gov.za
William Bulwane
Cell: 072 592 2221
E-mail: william.bulwane@premier.fs.gov.za
