Honourable Speaker;
Members of the Executive Council; Honourable Members;
Esteemed Guests;
DG and senior officials; Ladies and Gentlemen
I rise to present the Budget / Policy Speech of the Office of the Premier for the 2014/15 financial year. I stand here few days following the delivery of the first State of the Province Address of the 5th Administration. This Policy Speech articulates the strategic direction that the Office of the Premier will be taking this financial year and beyond.
Following the development of the Provincial Medium Term Strategic Framework for the fifth term of government, the Office of the Premier has finalized the 2014-19 Strategic Plan.
The strategic plan captures the constitutional mandate; presents the reviewed vision, mission and values; as well as articulates the strategy and programmes of the department. Over this term, the Office of the Premier will focus on five key programmatic areas, namely, strengthening integrated planning; building capability for implementation, monitoring and evaluation; improving the reputational standing of provincial government; building resilient and agile institutions for transformation; as well as citizen participation and empowerment.
As Honourable Members are aware, a strategic decision has already been taken to align planning and the co-ordination of programmes for the youth, women and people with disabilities within the Office of the Premier. To this end, the Office of the Premier has taken responsibility for these functions with effect from 1 July 2014. Furthermore, we have commissioned a study on the best suitable location for the functions on roads, environmental affairs and skills development for economic growth. This work will be completed by the end of this quarter.
As announced in the State of the Province Address (SoPA), the Office of the Premier has established a Technical Support Unit to provide implementation support and enhance execution capability of the targeted departments and municipalities. This is a strategic intervention measure set up to speed the turnaround of the departments of Education and Health as well as the targeted municipalities, namely, Nelson Mandela Bay Metro, Buffalo City Metro as well as King Sabatha Dalindyebo.
In the 2014/15 Annual Performance Plan, the department demonstrates the allocation of budget across the four Programmes in the Office of the Premier. This Policy Speech motivates for the approval of the R467.21 million budget allocated to the Office of the Premier, including its public entity, the Eastern Cape Socio-Economic Consultative Council, for the 2014/15 financial year, as outlined below.
Programme 1: Administration, with a budget allocation of R114.581 million, is responsible for the provision of corporate services support to the Premier, the Director General and the Department as a whole. The programme will focus on strengthening internal operations of the Department by further
improving governance, procurement systems and effectiveness of human resource management. The department will, in enhancement of systems, focus on business process reengineering and development of standard operating procedures to ensure the sustenance of clean administration. In improving the well-being of employees and increasing productivity, we will implement a well-defined Wellness Programme supported by the Department’s Culture Change initiative. The aim is to have a balanced workforce that can produce the desired results.
Programme 2: Institutional Development & Organizational Support, with a budget allocation of R200.680 million, is responsible for the provision of institutional development and organisational support services to ensure that the Provincial Government has sufficient capacity to effectively and efficiently deliver on its mandate. To this effect, a targeted approach to build the requisite capability has been designed, and will be implemented starting this financial year. We will also continue partnering with SETAs to develop skills needed to grow the economy. We will also intensify the implementation of the internship programme in departments and to provide other avenues for experiential training of young people in preparation for employment.
The Office of the Premier will provide support to departments in various areas including ensuring compliance with relevant policies and legislation; development and coordinating implementation of institutional policies and strategies; facilitating service delivery improvement; leadership development with a specific focus on women and improving corporate governance. Going forward, compliance with laws and regulations on human resource management practices will be monitored at the level of the Executive Council.
The need to leverage ICT to enhance service delivery cannot be over emphasised. In this regard, the province will accelerate the implementation of the ICT governance framework. Critical in this is ensuring connectivity and business continuity for the Provincial Government, aligning of ICT goals to business goals and reducing the costs of business operations through introduction of e-governance systems.
The fight against fraud and corruption in the Provincial Government will be taken to new heights as we continue with the enforcement of the Policy to prohibit trade between public servants and government. As articulated in SoPA, the Office of the Premier will soon be initiating anti-corruption legislation. Attention will also be paid to fast tracking the investigation of backlog cases of corruption allegations in departments. Capacity to screen employees entering the government system will also be enhanced with the establishment of the Vetting Field Unit within the Office of the Premier.
Programme 3: Policy and Governance, with a budget allocation of R86.975 million, is responsible for facilitating integrated implementation of the electoral mandate of this Government. The shifting of the planning function to the Office of the Premier better positions the department to facilitate integrated planning in the province. Accordingly, the oversight of the Eastern Cape Planning Commission now vests in the Premier. As announced in SoPA, the Provincial Development Plan will soon be presented to the Executive Council for approval. Planning in departments is already being informed by this Plan.
The Office of the Premier has also established capacity to facilitate the resolution of service delivery blockages in the Province. In 2014/15, the department will beef up its monitoring and evaluation capacity to ensure the realization of the national outcomes. This will include extending our monitoring systems to district level.
Of the budget allocated to the Programme 3: Policy and Governance, R44.818 million has been allocated to the Eastern Cape Socio Economic Consultative Council (ECSECC) to support the socio-economic agenda of Provincial Government. This includes provision of support to economic policy and strategy development, infrastructure development, Human Resources Development (HRD) Council and the HIV and AIDS Council. ECSECC also co-ordinates the implementation of the Presidential Infrastructure Co-ordinating Commission Projects in the province.
Programme 4: Executive Support Services, with a budget allocation of R64.967 million, is responsible for rendering support to the political structures and systems of Provincial Government. This is done through the provision of sound of inter-governmental relations, provincial communications, cabinet support and protocol and legal support services. With effect from this financial year, the mainstreaming of programmes of youth, women, people with disabilities to improve access to quality services will be coordinated within this Programme.
We will improve our interactions with local government to ensure integrated planning and coordination of efforts towards improved service delivery. As part of building an active citizenry, public participation will be enhanced through various outreach programmes. The Office of the Premier (OTP) will also promote partnerships with provincial, national and international stakeholders in an endeavour to advance our programme of radical socio-economic transformation. The branding, marketing and communication strategies will be reviewed and their implementation intensified.
In conclusion, Honourable Speaker, with this budget, the Office of the Premier will enhance its capacity to provide strategic direction to the Provincial Government. Guided by our vision, “leading development with excellence and integrity”, and, with the support of this House, we can and will succeed in injecting urgency and accountability in the Provincial Government.
Through the partnerships that we announced during the SoPA we will mobilise society behind the government programmes and, together we will work to take the Eastern Cape forward.
I now table the Policy Speech, the Strategic Plans, Annual Performance Plans and Service Delivery Improvement Plan of the OTP and its public entity, ECSECC.
I thank you.
