Good morning ladies and gentlemen and members of the media.
The purpose of this media briefing is to outline concrete plans of the Gauteng Provincial Government on Social Transformation. I will be addressing some of the key priorities that were outlined by the Premier in his State of the Province Address on 27 June 2014 in Thokoza.
We are happy to announce that work is at an advanced stage for the declaration of Sam Ntuli’s grave site as a Provincial Heritage site. In September, which is Heritage Month, the Gauteng Provincial Government will erect a monument of Sam Ntuli who was a selfless leader of our liberation movement.
Access to Healthcare has improved significantly in terms of the quality and breadth of services offered, as well as the number of facilities providing healthcare services. The Gauteng Provincial Government has since 1994 constructed 14 new clinics in Tshwane; 9 in Johannesburg; 27 in the West Rand; and 7 in Sedibeng; notwithstanding those constructed and upgraded by municipalities.
We will build four new clinics, two Community Health Centres, two hospitals and the refurbishment of the following facilities: Chris Hani Baragwanath, Jubilee, Sebokeng, Kalafong, Dr Yusuf Dadoo and Tambo Memorial Hospitals.
We have made significant progress with the New Natalspruit Hospital which will be opened before the end of the year.
The number of people living in poverty has been reduced from 32.4% in 2001 to 22% in 2011. Through policy intervention, the ANC led government in Gauteng has provided 2.2 million social grants, of the 16 million South Africans benefitting nationally. Food parcels have been distributed to needy households and community nutrition and development programmes have been initiated.
There is still much to be done to eradicate poverty, improve food security and access to world-class and affordable healthcare for all citizens of Gauteng. We are all too aware that significant challenges remain:
- Many people are still trapped in poverty, unemployment and inequality and are excluded from the mainstream economy largely Africans, women and the youth being worst affected;
- Despite having commissioned so many new healthcare facilities, our facilities are overcrowded mainly due to the quadruple burden of disease (poverty related illness, chronic diseases of lifestyle, injuries, and HIV and AIDS) and migration to the economic hub.
The reality is that some of these endemic structural issues will require a considerable concerted effort in order for social gains to be realised. This therefore calls for a paradigm shift, a repositioning of government underpinned by the quest to ensure that existing and endemic inequalities coupled with the perceived service delivery failures are fully addressed.
A sense of urgency should prevail with visible delivery and a programmatic approach.
Our endeavours to expand comprehensive social security through reform of the social welfare sector, extending the War on Poverty to the poorest households across the province; and Welfare to Work approach to move towards sustainable livelihoods has gained significant momentum in the last 20 years. Assistant Community Development Practitioners will be deployed to the 50 poorest wards to profile and coordinate household interventions.
Door- to- door campaigns will be undertaken in priority wards to identify orphans and vulnerable children (OVC); and a single comprehensive database on social wage beneficiaries will be developed.
We will strive to build the capabilities of communities’ in particular young people, women, mothers on child support grants and enabling them to create sustainable livelihoods through establishment and incubation of cooperatives and SMEs providing goods and services to Government. This will contribute to the reduction of the number of young women dependent on social grants to provide for their children.
Through a multi-sectoral approach, training will be afforded to people registered on municipal ingredient registers, women, youth and people living with disabilities through such programmes as the Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP). In addition to this, we will support the Tshepo 500 000 initiative by ensuring that state procurement is directed at supporting entrepreneurs and boosting township economies.
We are in a process of identifying amongst others township farmers, bakeries etc. to bring them into our supply chain database so that we henceforth procure goods from them e.g. buying bread from a bakery in Alexandra to supply Edenvale hospital with bread or other neighbouring townships to supply our facilities.
The healthcare sector is a consumer of sizeable magnitude, be it of drugs and various clinical consumables, medical equipment, linen, food, detergents, vehicles, you name it; the bulk of which is imported from outside of Gauteng and outside the borders of South Africa. Last year alone our facilities saw between 23 and 24 million patients. Harnessing the business generated thus, to spur economic development in Gauteng is critical and various initiatives are being explored with the DTI and DED.
We will continue to ensure food security for all through existing and new initiatives. Food Banks and community nutrition and development centres will be expanded to have wider reach. Partnerships between Social development and GDARD, NGOs and Private Sector organisations will be fostered for purposes of nurturing food garden projects with the ultimate aim of ensuring that households become self-sustainable.
We will strive to ensure quality, equitable health care for all, through amongst others, initiatives such as:
- The National Health Insurance (NHI) roll-out; currently being piloted in Tshwane;
- Implementation the National Core Health Standards to ensure the frontline and back-office operations of our facilities are of the highest standards. The focus presently will be on the six priority areas (Waiting Times, Availability of Medicines, Infection Control, Cleanliness, Patient Safety, and Values and Attitudes of Staff) with intent to gradually progress towards adopting all facets of the core standards.
- Primary Health Care (PHC) re-engineering is to include ward based interventions. Ward-based teams will be in all 508 wards and Doctors will be available in all our clinics as a key priority to complement the work being done by the ward teams.
- There will be direct delivery of chronic medication to 250 000 patients.
- An intensified school health programme providing vaccinations, eye care, dental and general health care of learners will be roll-out.
- The reduction of maternal and child mortality is key in achieving the MDG goals in 2015 and in the remaining 500 days.
We have made significant progress to reduce under five mortality and in the remaining 500 days we need to do everything humanly possible to reduce the number of children who die before the age of five.
Currently Maternal Mortality is 147/100 and we need to bring this below 100/1000 in the remaining 500 days. The preventable causes of mothers giving birth are known and we must ensure that we prevent mothers from these preventable causes.
Achieving the MDG goals and having sufficient community health care workers that are well trained and resourced e.g. emergency health kits are key to reducing maternal and child mortality.
In support of our Family Planning initiatives for mothers and young women, we are rolling-out the long acting reversible contraceptives, improve the quality and choice of contraceptives and providing advice on a the full range of contraceptive choices available to them. We will ensure that nurses improve their attitude towards young women when they present themselves in our health facilities to enquire about Family Planning.
It is no secret that the majority of our healthcare facilities are characterised by prolonged waiting times be it at Out Patients Department (OPD), for drugs to be dispensed at Pharmacy or for a surgical procedure. A study undertaken by the Lean Institute Africa (LIA) at Kalafong Hospital demonstrated the negative impact waiting times have on patients, the productivity of the province and the nation at large, as a productive day lost in a queue can never be recovered – and there are thousands of such days being lost every day.
To build on the improvements made in reducing patient waiting times at Kalafong Hospital through the implementation of Lean Management we have as of today, in partnership with the Lean institute Africa and our Partner organisations initiated a programme to address waiting times in all facilities, starting with the 36 Hospitals and systematically expanding it to the PHC and CHC facilities throughout the province. We are also partnering with SARS to improve our document management system as well as EMS response times.
Community Policing
Over the past 20 years we have made significant progress in dealing with crime but we need to do more to ensure that women and children feel safe and secure. We will foster strong partnerships between the police and communities to ensure that policing needs are determined largely by communities in areas where they live. Smart policing is key going forward to ensure that crimes are reported as they happen and law enforcement response times are reduced. Social crime will be prioritised, with the additional resources that Metro Police bring working with SAPS and other law enforcement agencies.
Substance Abuse
The province has welcomed the amendment of the Drugs and Drug Trafficking Act 140 of 1992, which classifies “nyaope” as a potent drug. This specific amendment ensures decisive action in dealing with “nyaope” as it was difficult in the past for police to arrest those in possession and dealing with the drug.
Let me remind the media and the community that this Act provides for a 15 year sentence for any person found in possession of the drug as well as 25 years for dealing with the drug. This demonstrates that we are on course in winning the war against drugs in particular “nyaope” which has ravaged our communities.
We will continue to implement the integrated substance abuse strategy which includes, amongst others, reduction of demand, supply and harm. To achieve this, we will train 250 social workers to work with parents on the Effective Parenting Programme. We will extend the Bright Star Programme that has already qualified 120 young people. The programme will be extended to BOSASA to further empower children and young people with life skills to assist them to resist the pressure of taking drugs.
Over the next two years 30 young people on social assistance programme drawn from 50 poorest wards and rural nodes of Gauteng province will be enlisted on the programme.
The Department of Community Safety working with South African Police Service and sister departments will continue to conduct substance abuse and crime prevention initiatives which will include, amongst others, regular school searches; including testing so as to identify drug users, substance abuse awareness campaigns, establishment of school safety desks, prison tour programme which act as a deterrent to crime, training of learners as safety ambassadors, referrals to rehabilitation and an aftercare programme where former addicts are taken to skills development programmes.
Strengthening Community Policing (CPF)
Community policing is the backbone in the fight against crime. Our CPF members are working tirelessly to bring crime to rid our communities of crimes but more still needs to be done. Furthermore, to make a remarkable achievement in the fight against crime, we believe that CPFs should mobilise and work closely with community structures and as well as playing a strategic role in providing oversight function on police. We will work around the clock to ensure that we realise this goal.
Education
This administration will continue to pursue the provision of quality education to all. We will intensify the efforts to close the gap between the performance of township schools and former model C schools. Our matric results have shown a year -on- year improvement and we aim to maintain this trend. Through the Secondary Schools Improvement Programme, our UN recognised Intervention Programme, we will continue to support learners in Senior grades at more than 400 priority schools in the province. These are schools that have achieved less than 80% in their matric pass rate.
In the next 100 days, we will open nine new schools in Gauteng. These schools will be in the following areas; Fochville, Freedom Park, Slovoville, Mamelodi East, Phomolong, Buhle Park, Naturena, Oosrand and Doornkop.
We will also mainstream the Gauteng Primary Literacy and Mathematics Strategy to strengthen support for over 900 primary schools in the Province identified as being in need of support. The 2013 Annual National Assessments conducted by the Department of Basic Education have already indicated that there has been significant improvement in grades 3 to 6 across Gauteng schools. Whilst we are pleased about these results, we will strive for excellence.
We remain indebted to our educators for their daily effort of ensuring that we provide quality education in this province. We will continue support these educators through our districts to ensure closer monitoring and rapid response. We will also intensify educator recruitment and provisioning for our schools.
Quality learning and teaching cannot take place in environments where there is lawlessness. We will deal decisively with unruly behaviour in schools, such as gangsterism, bullying, violence, drugs and other anti-social behaviour. Working closely with law-enforcement agencies we have already identified and profiled the top 10 gangs operating in schools. Gauteng needs dedicated and hardworking educators that have integrity and carry themselves in a manner that goes with the decorum of the profession. Absenteeism and improper conduct will not be tolerated.
Through the school improvement programme we will ensure that the province complies with the norms and standards of basic infrastructure in line with national policy. Most importantly we will look at the issue of providing proper sanitation for the learners as we believe that this is important for their dignity.
In expanding ECD services within the non-centre based programmes, the department has converted two buses into mobile ECDs that will be rolled out into identified wards in the Province. Four ECDs prototype will be built in Bophelong, Boipatong, hammanskraal and Mohlakeng.
Modernisation
The Premier in the State of the Province Address spoke about the need for radical social transformation. He outlined the kind of province espoused by this 5th administration, that of “a smart, knowledge-based and innovation-driven Gauteng economy”. He also said that Education is the backbone of radical socio-economic transformation. It is also the cornerstone of radical economic transformation.
In this regard, the Gauteng Provincial Government has taken a bold and decisive step to move education into the 21st century by ensuring that ICT plays a vital role in the delivery of the Curriculum. There has been a global move towards integrated, interactive, and networked learning through technology. The future of classroom in Gauteng will also change radically to reflect this vision.
The Gauteng Provincial Government has selected 21 schools which will serve as pilot sites for the “classroom of the future”. These schools will be equipped with internet connectivity, mobile devices, smart boards, projectors and other relevant equipment. Teacher development will form a vital part of this process to enable our educators to deliver the curriculum in this new context.
The eMaintenance system was rolled out to all Health Facilities on the 12th of May 2014. The date coincided with the signing of a supply of maintenance materials agreement with Builders Warehouse and the commissioning of the maintenance term contractors panel. From the pilot at Baragwanath hospital we were able to develop the eMaintenance system utilising internal capacity and prove that artisans will be able to respond to defects received through their mobile phones.
The system has been a resounding success within the department of health. About 17,237 defects have been logged by staff in hospitals and clinics and the department of infrastructure has managed to fix and close 8,686 defects (50%).
Human Settlements
Modernising human settlements in post-apartheid South Africa is one of the imperatives we must implement without fail, particularly considering the erstwhile racial spatial planning of our towns and cities. In redesigning the new spatial landscape of our province, we will significantly and qualitatively improve the use of land and land management.
Following the directive from the Premier, we will now introduce advanced technologies to modernise the delivery of houses in the province. In this regard, we will apply and use biometric technology which is already in use by the department of Home Affairs and also widely used by many government departments as a security measure in offices. Through this modernisation of housing delivery, we will urgently deliver completed housing projects that are not subject of dispute based on corruption and manipulated waiting lists.
One of our interventions as the new administration is to work with the Deeds Office to change the turnaround time and fast-track the issuing of title deeds for our people.
In partnership with the City of Ekurhuleni, we will rebuild Thokoza hostel. It must be noted that the hostel redevelopment plan will find full expression across the entire province, as witnessed in Jabulani hostel for an example.
Unannounced visits to service delivery points
In line with the oversight mandate entrusted by the Gauteng Legislature on departments, there was a need to conduct several face-to-face engagements to gauge what attributes to some of the challenges communities are raising with respect to poor service delivery across the province. The unannounced visits will be the hallmark of our administration to ensure that at all times civil servants are at their work stations.
Fraud and corruption
The Gauteng Provincial Government has adopted a zero tolerance approach to Fraud and corruption. Working together with the South African Police and other law enforcement agencies, we will not hesitate to deal harshly with any official found to be involved in corrupt activities.
For more information:
Phumla Sekhonyane, Department of Education Spokesperson
Cell: 071 860 4496
Prince Hamnca
Department of Health Spokesperson
Cell: 076 744 8126
Sello Mokoena
Department of Social Development Head of Communication
Cell: 082 331 0786
Dumisani Ngema
Department of Community Safety Head of Communication
Cell: 082 801 0424
Victor Moreriane
Department of Human Settlements Head of Communication
Cell: 082 561 3768
Head of Communication
Department of Sport, Recreation, Arts and Culture
Cell: 083 507 8051
