North West Premier Supra Mahumapelo has called on public servants in Bokone Bophirima to embrace and commit to the approach of the fifth administration which he says is distinctly different from that of previous administrations.
Speaking at the Provincial Risk Indaba here, Mahumapelo said while the public service constituted the state, it was the government which was charged (at least for the five years in between elections) with seeing to the achievements of the aspirations of the people of the province and that the present administration had come up with a vision that is aimed at bringing change for the better.
“As the fifth administration in the people’s province of Bokone Bophirima, we have come up with revolutionary changes in policies as we try and reposition, renew and rebrand our province. It is against this background that we have decided to deal with the risk of the disjuncture which comes with the acceptance or otherwise of change and which, if not dealt with, can results in a catastrophy,” he said.
Mahumapelo said that, unemployment, poverty and inequality were the order of the day in townships, small dorpies and villages and that his administration had decided to address these issues in these areas in a radical and revolutionary manner as a way of mitigating against the risk of an uprising from the affected communities.
“When the people in these parts of the province overwhelmingly voted the present government into power, they did so with the expectation that their lives would change for the better. So that when, as government, we do not address their issues as expected, we would have failed them and they would then be within their right to turn against us.
“That is why as the fifth administration, we have decided to do things differently from other administrations before us in trying to ensure that the unemployed in the townships, the farmworkers in the small dorpies and those residing in the villages also get their share of government resources,” he said.
To this effect, government has adopted the programme of Setsokotsane where public servants, as never before, go out into the villages and small dorpies where they bring government services close to the people.
Speaking at the same occasion, MEC for Finance, Economy and Enterprise Development Wendy Nelson said in order to realise the provincial strategies and achieve the targeted 6 per cent economic growth by 2019, risk must be identified and managed.
“The situation in municipalities and public entities is not what it is supposed to be as far as the management of risk is concerned. We still find ourselves with lack of risk management units in most of these institutions, particularly public entities and municipalities and are unable to systematically manage the challenges that hinder the achievement of service delivery in these areas,” she said.
She said that this was a task that should not be taken likely.
“Having emerged from a divided past, we are constantly reminded that the work ahead is significant. We know that redress must remain at the top of our priority list as we seek to give dignity and opportunity to the people of our province,” she said.
Picture captions:
- Bokone Bophirima Premier Supra Mahumapelo
- Finance MEC Wendy Nelson
- Some of the government officials at the Indaba
