honourable Sibusiso Ndebele, Premier of KwaZuluâNatal
16 April 2007
Speaker
Deputy Speaker
Members of the Provincial Legislature
Mayors and councillors of local government
Amakhosi
Present DirectorâGeneral and heads of departments
Excellencies, members of the diplomatic corps
Distinguished guests
Ladies and gentlemen
Introduction
It gives me pleasure to stand in front of this House and present the 2007/08
budget vote for the Office of the Premier.
As we are all aware, the budget is one of the most important vehicles for
the realisation of our mandate to improve the lives of our people as it links
the developmental needs of our people to the resources of government as
allocated.
As a centrally placed Department, the Office of the Premier has the
responsibility to provide strategic leadership and direction and also to
co-ordinate programmes, legislation and transversal issues in the provincial
administration. It is therefore the duty of this Department to harness the
activities of all the provincial departments and to link these activities with
national and provincial goals and to connect them with local government.
Admittedly therefore, the function of the Premier's office is not to usurp
line function responsibilities of departments but to co-ordinate the
functioning of the entire provincial government.
In a nutshell the office plays a leading role in bringing government closer
to the people. This is one of the objectives of good governance.
The success of the provincial government programmes hinges very much on us
adhering to the principles of good governance which are inter alia, service
delivery the Batho Pele way, responsiveness, citizen empowerment, public
participation, communication and accountability. Indeed one cannot doubt the
nexus between good governance and achievement of the paramount goal of
improving the lives of the people of KwaZulu-Natal. This paramount goal is
achievable within specific programmes which are defined below.
Programmes
It is important to state that the programme structure of the Premier's
office has been re-configured in line with National Treasury directive to all
offices of the Premiers in all provinces. The new structure has three
programmes which are:
* administration
* institutional development
* policy and governance
Accordingly, the Department has amended its budget structure to conform to
the generic structures.
In presenting the budget of the Premier's office it is vital that I make
reference to the following flagship projects:
* We commemorated the 1906 Bhambatha/Poll Tax uprisings, through a programme
that stretched through the whole year. We also commemorated 130 years of
martyrdom of Maqhamusela Khanyile, who was killed for his religious
convictions. We also successfully repatriated the remains of Moses Mabhida from
Mozambique to his final resting place in Slangspruit.
* On 27 February 2007 we launched in honour of his legacy the commemoration
programme of Inkosi Albert Luthuli a deeply religious man and committed
Christian. He was a farmer, a peacemaker, a human rights activist, a teacher
and a committed family man. The programme is unfolding and is aligned with the
specific milestones in his life.
* Three provincial and one presidential izimbizo were held, making it
possible for the majority of our people to engage government and enquire about
services. Through izimbizo we have been able to understand the needs of the
people on the ground. The interaction with the various communities has indeed
influenced positively our response to service delivery, hence from this year
onwards we will be accelerating the implementation of service delivery
programmes.
* The African Renaissance and African Intellectuality Summit in May 2006
served as a platform to promote our partnerships with the intellectual and
academic community of KwaZulu-Natal in particular, even extending to the
African Diaspora. Another summit is scheduled for May 2007.
* In 2006 we participated in the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) as
part of New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD). This related well to
the African Renaissance initiative and our desire to establish linkages with
the continent of Africa and the African Diaspora.
* The Older Persons Summit, held in November 2006, provided an opportunity
to meet with and bring the older persons and their daily challenges to the
mainstream. This was the first for the province and is set to continue. The
KwaZulu-Natal Senior Citizens Forum was officially launched at the summit.
* We continue to play a leading role in the co-ordination of the 2010 FIFA
World Cup and beyond. In this regard we are pursuing a province wide soccer
development programme premised on the following pillars, Schools League,
Premier's Cup, a Soccer Talent Search and Improvement Programme as well as the
Soccer School of Excellence.
* Traditional Horse Racing (umtelebhelo) initiated in Dundee in 2005, has
now become an annual event and is growing.
* The construction of the Dube Trade Port and the King Shaka Airport is now
on track.
* The Moral Regeneration Movement (MRM) is also co-ordinated by the Premier'
office. We have launched the MRM in six districts in the province. Also as part
of the MRM we have commenced with the preparations for the launch of the
Scouting and Girl Guiding Movements. In conjunction with the Department of
Education a target is set at 200 000 members shared by both movements.
* The KwaZulu-Natal in dialogue programme has commenced. It consists of
three legs, Premier's Schools Debate, Opinion Makers Forum and the State of the
Village programme. The objective of this programme is to bring back the culture
of incisive debate.
* We have identified the religious sector as a key stakeholder and partner
in the moral regeneration campaign. As such we have assigned through religious
forums, dedicated capacity to engage and interface with this sector more
effectively than we have done before.
* The re-opening and reconnection of KwaZulu-Natal with the international
community since 2004 has included the establishment of strategic alliances with
Belgium, Brazil, China, France, India, Queensland (Australia) and Reunion.
Indeed KwaZulu-Natal has become a preferred international partner for leading
countries in the world as well as a leading international destination for world
class events such as the Formula A1 Grand Prix.
* One of our very bold outreach and partnership building programmes is the
KwaZulu-Natal Alumni through which we are engaging successful former
KwaZulu-Natal Alumni to join us in our growth and development campaign. This
province has produced some very talented and distinctive people of
international stature and we want to partner with them to nourish and develop
our province.
* Our government communication systems have been consolidated. As part of
this we successfully launched EzaKwaZulu-Natali Magazine as a corporate
communication magazine for provincial government.
* The Masifundisane Literacy Campaign has commenced. This project a
collaborative effort between the Department of Education and the Office of the
Premier will not only liberate a major portion of our citizens from illiteracy
and innumeracy, it will also restore their dignity.
* The Premier's Co-ordinating Forum is now fully functional. This allows the
Premier, the Provincial Executive Council (Cabinet), district mayors and the
metro mayor to meet on a regular basis.
* We held an Awareness Campaign at Besters Farms, Ladysmith, on the national
Human Rights Day (21 March 2007). This is an area where the farmers, farm
workers and farm dwellers co-exist peacefully. This is a success story that we
would like to spread throughout the province where such communities exist. Our
focus in this financial year is on the farming community.
* The incorporation of Umzimkhulu into KwaZulu-Natal has been achieved.
Departmental budget
The total budget for the Premier's office for 2007/08 financial year is
R342,659 million. I will now give an overview of the programme structure and
thereafter discuss each programme incisively.
Programme 1: Administration
The purpose of this programme with a budget allocation of R60,243 million is
to provide administrative support to the Premier, Provincial Executive Council
and the Director-General (DG) in fulfilling their executive functions and
promoting co-operative governance.
* Premier's Support sub-programme has been allocated a budget of R16,083
million to provide technical, administrative and advisory support to the
Premier in executing the Premier's constitutional mandate.
* Executive Council support sub-programme has been allocated a budget of
R6,064 million to render secretariat support services to the Executive Council,
Cabinet izindaba, clusters and key provincial committees.
* DG Support sub-programme has been allocated a budget of R4,836 million to
provide administrative support to the DG in his role as accounting officer.
* Financial Management and Corporate Services sub-programme has been
allocated a budget of R33,260 million to provide financial management support,
financial accounting advisory services and corporate services for the entire
Department.
Programme 2: Institutional Development
As mentioned earlier due to the reconfiguration of the sub-programmes in the
office of the Premier, Programme 2 now comprises the following sub-programmes:
strategic human resources, State law advisory services, information
communications technology (ICT) and government communication services.
This programme has been allocated an amount of R88,146 million. Its purpose
is to transform the public service through institutional capacity building and
transformation management. Its objectives are:
* to provide strategic direction on human resource management and service
delivery,
* to provide strategic information technology management, leadership and
support,
* to provide legal and advisory support services,
* to provide strategic communication leadership and support.
The Strategic Human Resources sub-programme has been allocated a budget of
R41,661 million to co-ordinate and monitor the customisation, development and
implementation of human resources policies, systems, programmes and plans for
the province.
This sub-programme provides transversal strategic direction, co-ordination
and advisory services on human resource matters (as indicated above) in the
province. These include human resource development, service delivery
improvement, Persal management, labour relations, human resource policy and
practice as well as organisational efficiency.
With regard to human resource development, the training of the public
servants will now be housed in the erstwhile Durban's Teachers College which is
in Durban's Nicholson Road. This facility will be named the Provincial Public
Service Training Academy and will be launched during the second week of May
2007. These premises are presently undergoing refurbishing in four phases by
the time the launch takes place only phase one of the refurbishment would have
been completed, phases two to four will continue after the launch.
The statements just made are by no means suggesting that training of public
servants is at a standstill. Programmes such as the Khaedu leadership and
management development programmes as well as learning networks continue.
The further strategic objective informing the priorities of the
sub-programme is "to monitor and co-ordinate service delivery" by the
provincial government as a whole.
The service delivery improvement sub-programme has since been included with
the strategic human resources sub-programme. This sub-programme is tasked with
promoting the transformation and improvement of service delivery in the
province, guided by the Provincial Citizens' Charter as well as departmental
service commitment Charters:
* Phase one of the cascade of Batho Pele, the Citizens' Charter and change
engagement programme to all districts has been completed.
* During the 2006/07 financial year, the training of the trainers on
cascading the Batho Pele belief set was undertaken in 44 local municipalities.
This is an on-going process, the next phase of which will include impact
studies.
* The service delivery improvement sub-programme has both co-ordinated for
the entire provincial government as well as conducted several unannounced
visits on its own. Pictures have been taken in some areas showing both
substandard and commendable work. During this financial year this team is
intent on intensifying unannounced visits as well as Public Service Weeks.
* Working in collaboration with the human resource development
sub-programme, the output includes development, maintenance and co-ordination
of good governance and human resources best practices in the province. This
requires re-orientation of the public servants in the province towards optimal
customer care. The establishment of the KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Public Service
Training Academy bears testimony to this determination.
* As will be observed this year the Service Excellence Awards event has been
moved to the end of the financial year, if only to monitor for and avoid
rewarding such bad practices as fiscal dumping, among others, that normally
occur in the latter part of the financial year.
* The second equally important task is to ensure integration of service
delivery which translates into increasing access to service delivery. In this
financial year this team will be co-ordinating the establishment of "one stop"
shops, variously referred to as citizens' assistance centres in the
municipalities. This is aimed at bringing government services closer to the
people.
* This service delivery improvement team will be coordinating the fraud and
corruption management campaign in the province. The goal is to revitalise the
work ethic in the Province by entrenching the provincial fraud and corruption
management campaign in all departments and public entities of
KwaZulu-Natal.
The State Law Advisory Services sub-programme has been allocated a budget of
R7,930 million to provide transversal legal advisory services to capacitate
Cabinet, Cabinet Clusters, Ministries and departments in legal and policy
formulation and implementation. During 20006/07, ten pieces of legislation were
certified notably:
Bills
* KwaZulu-Natal uMsekeli Municipal Support Services Ordinance Repeal Bill,
2006
* KwaZulu-Natal Gaming and Betting Bill, 2006
* KwaZulu-Natal Commissions Amendment Bill, 2006
* KwaZulu-Natal Rationalisation of Planning and Development Laws Bill,
2006
* KwaZulu-Natal Town Planning Ordinance Amendment Bill, 2006
* KwaZulu-Natal Town Planning Ordinance Amendment Bill, 2006
* KwaZulu-Natal Elimination and Prevention of Re-emergence of Slums Bill,
2006
Regulations
* KwaZulu-Natal Cemeteries and Crematoria Amendment Regulations, 2006
* KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Roads Regulations, 2006
* KwaZulu-Natal Gambling Third Amendment Regulations, 2006
* Horse Racing and Betting Control Amendment Regulations, 2006
It is envisaged that the Heritage Bill will be effective by the month of
October 2007. The Gaming and Betting Bill which is also expected to be
effective by the month of October 2007 will replace the existing Gambling Act,
thus effectively merging the regulation of the horseracing and casino
industries. Then only shall this functional area be moved to the relevant
department.
Other legislation promoted by the office of the Premier which will soon be
enacted by the Provincial Legislature in 2007, are the KwaZulu-Natal Royal
Household Trust Bill, 2007 and the KwaZulu-Natal Public Protector Act Repeal
Bill, 2007. Legislation in the pipeline from the office of the Premier for
2007/08 are amongst others the KwaZulu-Natal Heritage Bill, 2007 and the
KwaZulu-Natal Museums Bill, 2007. The KwaZulu-Natal Delegation of Powers Bill,
2007 and the KwaZulu-Natal Transversal Appeals and Reviews Bill, 2007, are also
in the process of formulation.
The formal Rationalisation of Laws Project is co-ordinated through the
KwaZulu-Natal Public Sector Lawyers' Forum progressed well and ran to a close
at the end of March 2007. Over 40 pieces of provincial legislation were
identified for possible enactment. The Final Project Report will be released in
May 2007.
Provincial government communication and izimbizo sub-programme/s have been
allocated a budget of R14,134 million to co-ordinate government communication
services and provide strategic direction. This sub-programme will focus on
improving and sustaining a positive provincial image as well as implementing a
provincial communication strategy. In respect of izimbizo, the sub-programme
will focus on enhancing community participation in matters that affect
them.
ICT sub-programme has been allocated a budget of R24,421 million to
facilitate and promote the acquisition and application of scientific knowledge
and to co-ordinate government information technology in the province.
Particular objectives will be:
* co-ordinating and promoting ICT for the acceleration of economic growth and
poverty eradication in the province,
* developing the business intelligence system,
* establishing a Provincial Geographic Information System (GIS) database (Nerve
Centre).
Programme 3: Policy and Governance
The purpose of this programme with a budget allocation of R194,270 million
is to initiate, develop and monitor implementation of strategies and policy, to
achieve a co-ordinated approach towards sustainable provincial growth and
development (PGD). Its objectives are:
* to facilitate the implementation of Premier's priority programmes
* to co-ordinate and promote a human rights culture
* to promote and manage intergovernmental relations
* to monitor and evaluate policy development and implementation.
Premier's priority programmes have been allocated a budget of R160,062
million, the bulk of which constitutes transfer funds to the following
institutions:
* Amafa aKwaZulu Natali (R66,326 million)
* KwaZulu-Natal Gambling Board (R23,293 million)
* Zululand District Municipality for Air Transport Services (R4,331
million)
* Museum services (R6,819 million).
In reclaiming our heritage this government has taken a commemorative route.
In 2006 KwaZulu-Natal held events to commemorate the 1906 Bhambatha Uprising
and Mahatma Gandhi's Satyagraha. This year we will commemorate Inkosi Albert
Luthuli and Izintombi Zengcugce.
A sum of R6,819 million has been allocated to museum services sub-programme
to enable it to manage the conservation, research, documentation and exhibition
of our multi-cultural heritage.
We have commenced with research to identify the various clans such as
abakwaMthethwa played in the shaping of Zulu society during the pre-colonial
era. Further research is conducted to establish the roles played by some of the
most powerful women in the pre-colonial era, namely Queens Mthaniya and Nandi
and Princess Mkabayi ka Jama.
The Amafa AkwaZulu-Natali Council has hitherto not been functioning
effectively. In order to address this challenge, two additional members will in
due course be appointed to the council. As a statutory body functioning under
the office of the Premier, the priority for this council is the transformation
of Amafa to be in alignment with national imperatives as well as respond to the
heritage needs of a democratic society. Careful thought and consultation had to
be undertaken to make this body truly representative. This process is now close
to completion. In the interim period two members are being added to make it
functional until the passing of the new legislation later this year.
In 2006, we moved boldly to give proper recognition and integration of those
veterans involved in the liberation struggle during the apartheid era. We
therefore established the Monument of Peace Project. These war veterans are
from former non-statutory military formations. They are currently involved in a
R20 million ablution blocks at schools around the province.
Other projects are on the pipeline.
Since the inception of the project, 100 veterans have been trained in
Edendale in the trade of building and construction. A hundred more have started
undergoing training.
The Premier's other specific initiatives include the Provincial Soccer
Development Programme with an allocation of R59,293 million.
Special projects has been allocated a budget of R19,735 million for the
promotion of a human rights culture encompassing gender, youth, children,
women, older persons and HIV and AIDS co-ordination.
In our drive to inculcate a culture of human rights in KwaZulu-Natal, the
office of the Premier working with Provincial Human Rights Forum, has developed
the KwaZulu-Natal Human Rights Framework. This framework will assist in
monitoring the realisation of human rights for the people of KwaZulu-Natal. All
relevant departments will submit status quo reports to the Provincial Human
Rights Forum based on the indicators identified in the framework. Monitoring
would be the responsibility of the Provincial Human Rights Forum. We shall
continue with human rights education and awareness campaigns until such time
that our people are in a position to claim their rights and report human rights
violations to relevant authorities.
The office on the rights of the child has established the advisory council
on children's rights. This has led to the establishment of the inter-sectoral
technical teams which are assisting in the fast tracking of service delivery of
the children's rights issues.
The office on the Status of Disabled Persons (OSDP) and the provincial
disability forum has embarked on the accessibility and awareness campaign with
district municipalities. The following are the oncoming activities to be
undertaken:
* Reviewing the integrated national disability strategy in collaboration with
the national office within the Presidency.
* OSDP and human resource policy development sub-programme in the office of the
Premier is developing a provincial framework on the management of the
employment, development and career progression of people with disabilities.
This will include an audit of compliance with the Employment Equity Act in the
province.
* OSDP in partnership with national OSDP will embark on the session of economic
empowerment, which will be held on 18 to 20 April 2007. The purpose of this
session is to come up with a KwaZulu-Natal strategy on economic empowerment for
people with disabilities.
The KwaZulu-Natal senior citizens forum held its first strategic planning
session on 25 to 27 March 2007 at San Lameer in the South Coast. This strategic
planning session came up with a plan of action to be implemented by all
government departments and municipalities. It is based on the following
critical areas:
* creating an enabling and supportive environment
* community based care and support services
* residential care facilities
* protection for older persons
The office on the status of women continues to intervene in cases of women
abuse and refer those cases to relevant authorities and organisations. We will
be embarking on a 365 Days of Activism against Gender Based Violence Bus
Campaign that will travel throughout the province. KwaZulu-Natal is proud to
host the fourth World Congress of Rural Women on 23 to 26 April 2007 at the
Chief Albert Luthuli International Convention Centre. The main aim of the
congress is to discuss the wide-ranging issues that are currently confronting
rural women.
In recognition of the transversal and over-arching nature of government
effort in combating HIV and AIDS, in 2005 we announced the housing of the Chief
Directorate: HIV and AIDS in ice of the Premier which became operational in
2006.
The province has to date established 636 public health facilities and 60
non-public health facilities for voluntary counselling and testing. The
Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission programme has now been expanded to
495 facilities. A total of 300 clinics are involved in the provision of
antiretroviral treatment (ART).
The provincial HIV and AIDS strategy will be a tool to implement a
comprehensive, co-ordinated and integrated response to HIV and AIDS in
KwaZulu-Natal in line with recently announced national AIDS policy.
In the 2007/08 financial year, we will announce members of the provincial
AIDS council. The provincial AIDS council shall ensure that the voice of civil
society is heard and strengthen public and private partnerships in the area of
HIV and AIDS.
We have also focused on the Provincial Employee Wellness Programme to
address the health and wellness needs of employees, because healthy employees
are valuable assets to the provincial administration.
Inter-governmental Relations (IGR) sub-programme has been allocated a budget
of R7,113 million to achieve the following strategic objectives:
* to promote and strengthen IDR between spheres of government
* to promote integrated planning and implementation of strategic programmes
across provincial departments and other spheres of government
* to strengthen inter-departmental co-ordination in the province through
MexCo
* to co-ordinate provincial international relations.
The IGR therefore plays a supportive role to the Premier and DG in the
execution of the intergovernmental relations function, for example,
representation of the province in the President's Co-ordinating Council (PCC),
Forum of the South African Director-General's (FOSAD) and national clusters. In
line with the IGR Framework Act the Premier's Co-ordinating Forum (PCF) was
established and is operational.
As the official liaison point for international relations, the IGR unit
plays a fundamental role in co-ordinating international relations through the
development of policies, interaction with foreign affairs, co-ordination of
visits to and from the province, marketing the province in conjunction with key
stakeholders such as trade and investment KwaZulu-Natal and Tourism
KwaZulu-Natal and in facilitating Memoranda of Understanding (MoU) with
partnership countries. In 2007/08 the IGR unit will focus on the follow up
exercise of these MoUs.
Provincial policy management sub-programme has been allocated a budget of
R7,360 million for strengthening governance and service delivery through macro
policy co-ordination, monitoring and evaluation.
An amount of R4,398 million has been allocated to finance activities that
are aimed at improving public policy management in the KwaZuluâNatal province.
The sub-programme shall continue with the finalisation of the Sustainable
Development Framework 2014 plan ensuring the integration of the national
spatial development perspective (NSDP), provincial growth and development
strategy (PGDS) and integrated development plans (IDPs).
The fostering of partnership among business, labour and communities is
integral to PGDS processes. Furthermore, this sub-programme has provided
support to the districts and the metropolitan areas in their growth and
development challenges.
The monitoring and evaluation sub-programme has been allocated a budget of
R2,7 million. The main thrust of this programme is to measure the impact of
performance and progress on provincial governments' objectives within the
democratic order.
Revenue
The increase in the tax receipts in the 2006/07 adjusted budget is in line
with actual trends in revenue collection from the gambling industry. The
projected revenue for the 2007/08 medium term expenditure framework (MTEF)
period is as follows, 2007/08 (R233,479 million), 2008/09 (R249,815 million)
and 2009/10 (R268,551 million). The revenue estimates for the MTEF period
relate to bookmakers and turf clubs' licence renewals and tempo receipts, in
terms of the KwaZulu-Natal Gambling Act of 1996, as amended casino levies and
taxes is revenue received. This revenue is collected on a monthly basis.
In 2005/06 a dedicated unit was established within the KwaZulu-Natal
Gambling Board to address the issue of illegal gambling operators. This
resulted in significant increase in revenue collection in respect of casino
taxes. The projected average increase over the 2007/08 MTEF is slightly higher
than inflation, indicative of anticipated growth in the industry.
Tax receipts: Horseracing and gaming revenue is collected in terms of the
Racing and Betting Ordinance Act, 1957. An increasing trend in revenue
estimates for the period 2006/07 to 2009/10 is anticipated, mainly due to the
following initiatives which will potentially stimulate demand:
* consolidation of the national tote, resulting in larger pools and increasing
the loyalty of local punters
* improved programming and scheduling of racing events
* inclusion of sports betting
* increased betting on overseas racing
* increased exporting of racing products.
Conclusion
Our transversal and transformational programmes which I have listed will
give hope that as today is better than yesterday, tomorrow will be better than
today.
We will leave no stone unturned to unlock our capacity to co-ordinate,
monitor and evaluate the activities of government and strengthen our
relationship with our partners in governance. The Office of the Premier will
position all provincial government structures to effectively engage their
partners these being business, labour, civil society and the villages to
mention a few. Our partnerships, both locally and internationally, will yield
tangible results to enable this government to deliver on our socio-economic
goals.
I have no doubt that with unequivocal support and co-operation from all
stakeholders and partners, KwaZulu-Natal will be able to translate the ideal of
a better life for all into a tangible reality.
Masisukume sakhe!
Issued by: Office of the Premier, KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Government
16 April 2007
