Madam Speaker
Honourable members
Distinguished guests
Ladies and gentlemen
I would like to pay tribute the late Mr Chris Dlamini, an outstanding trade unionist and former Ambassador to China. May his soul rest in peace! I would also like to express heartfelt condolences to the families of those who perished last night resulting from a bus accident on Moloto Road. I have requested the MEC for Roads and Transport and the MEC for Community Safety to investigate this accident and take appropriate steps to prevent such accidents from occurring in future. Let me also make use of this platform to wish all our Muslim brothers and sisters a happy Eid today.
In June this year we presented the government Programme of Action anchored on seven strategic priorities. Our Programme of Action, as we indicated then, marked a moment of renewal for our society. This renewal requires us, as public representatives and servants of the people, to approach our work differently. Whatever we do, at every moment, we have to ask ourselves how we are contributing towards improving the lives of the people, especially the poor. If our policies and programmes do not contribute in any way towards the improvement of the lives of the people; we have to pause and review them.
Our people have endured pain, suffering and indignity caused by many years of apartheid neglect. But the elections have brought new hope that things will improve and they expect better and faster service delivery. We made a commitment to this house and the people of Gauteng that we will report regularly on the implementation of the government Programme of Action. This commitment is not simply to comply with legislation and the rules of the legislature. We have to report regularly on the implementation of the Programme of Action so as to create the possibility for the people to monitor and evaluate our programme.
In this regard, we have decided that we will not wait until the end of the financial year to report to the people on the implementation of the Programme of Action. This is why we have requested this special sitting of the legislature so that we can report on what we have done so far in pursuit of our objectives to improve the lives of the people of Gauteng.
Madam Speaker, the honourable members are aware that in August departments embarked on a reprioritisation process to align their programmes to the new government Programme of Action. Last week the MEC for Finance, Honourable Mandla Nkomfe, presented the adjustment budget, which confirmed the reprioritised government Programme of Action. We are all aware that the current global economic crisis which has resulted in a recession in a number of economies, including ours. The impact of this is that there is less money available to implement some of our programmes.
On 12 November 2009 we held a successful summit on the Gauteng Economic Recovery. The summit brought together representatives of various sectors including among others government, political parties, labour, business, women groups and youth organisations. The summit agreed that the development of social and economic infrastructure remains at the centre of our strategy for recovery and laying the foundation for sustainable accelerated growth. While infrastructure is important for its own sake as an enabler of development and access to communities, in this period it is also important in creating much needed jobs.
Our policy of maximising job creation by ensuring that all our infrastructure projects utilise the most labour intensive methodologies possible remains most appropriate. The Expanded Public Works Programme is the best example of creating employment opportunities by employing labour intensive methods in the building and maintenance of public infrastructure.
In June this year we started rolling out phase two of the EPWP. This phase is intended to incorporate all projects within the Department of Infrastructure Development, all Gauteng provincial government departments and municipalities. It includes, but not limited to, new roads, new schools, hospitals, clinics and community centres, waste management and creating craft hubs. In this phase more emphasis has been placed on skills development and the creation of work opportunities.
With the delivery of all planned infrastructure programmes within Gauteng, I am confident that we can make a very significant contribution towards the creation of decent work. Over the next three years the Gauteng provincial government will spend R40 billion. This is not enough to meet all our infrastructure needs, including the provision of bulk infrastructure and other social infrastructure. But with the current economic situation we are not going to get any additional funding from National Treasury. We therefore need to find creative alternative means to fund infrastructure projects in Gauteng.
In this regard, the executive council has taken a decision to explore various funding models for alternative funding. These models would be tested and implemented to leverage private sector capital to provide funding for strategic and key infrastructure projects. The process is underway to integrate various funding entities or agencies of the province into a single funding agency. The proposed Gauteng Funding Agency (GFA) would provide a much needed and single point through which the Gauteng provincial government and municipalities could raise capital from a diverse number of funding sources. The GFA would built on the existing competencies and become the centre of excellence on which the Gauteng provincial government, sector departments and municipalities can rely for their total funding needs outside of their own revenue sources.
Madam Speaker, I am sure that honourable members have noticed the great progress being made in terms of transport infrastructure. I am saying this because the constructions are so visible making the whole of Gauteng a construction site. The Gauteng Highway Improvement programme is proceeding at full steam. All the identified freeways in the first phase have been declared as toll roads. Contracts to the value of R20 billion have been issued by South African National Road Agency (SANRA) and construction is progressing well.
All construction work on Gautrain is proceeding well and we are confident that the project will be completed within the agreed timeframes. In terms of the contract we have signed with Bombela the first phase, which is the link between OR Tambo International Airport and Sandton, will be completed by 27 June 2010, and the rest will be completed in 2011. Gautrain will become the backbone of a modern, integrated and intermodal transport system for Gauteng. When it is completed it will link up with all other modes of transport to provide safe, reliable and convenient public transport.
The issue of reducing the backlog in the application for learners and drivers licence continues to receive priority attention. Booking systems have been improved and more people are now able to make their bookings through the call centre with ease. New drivers licence testing stations have been opened at Three Rivers and Xavier. We are aware that there are still a large number of people who cannot find convenient space for their learners and drivers testing. We are planning to build more testing stations in the next financial year when more funding will be available and we are confident that this will substantially reduce the backlog and allow more people to find convenient space to take their tests.
One of our new priorities is stimulating rural development and providing food security. In the short time since the start of our term of office we have recorded impressive progress in this area. Key strategies and programmes have been developed and are being implemented namely; the Gauteng rural development strategy, the Gauteng Integrated Food Security programme, the Gauteng agricultural development strategy and the Gauteng bio-technology strategy. Plans to revive the agricultural expositions in Gauteng are also at an advanced stage.
Agricultural co-operatives continue to thrive with the support they are receiving support from the Gauteng provincial government. After the Agricultural Co-operatives’ launch in August this year, 1 320 poverty alleviation projects received food packaging materials, including vegetable lug boxes and vegetable wrapping machines to enhance the marketing of their agricultural produce. Eighteen co-operatives were awarded contracts to supply food to hospital and social development institutions. These co-operatives will obtain financial support from state institutions such as Micro-Agricultural Finance initiative of South Africa (MAFISA).
In support of emerging farmers the government has identified the Bekker Agricultural High School as an institution to initiate and sustain the West Rand Agricultural programme. This programme will, amongst others, render agricultural training and capacity building to small and emerging farmers and provide continued support to settled farmers and facilitate the establishment of economically viable, environmentally friendly and sustainable production units. It will be launched early next year.
Homesteads and community food gardens continue to receive support from government. More than 480 individual homestead food gardens have been developed and nine new community food production units have recently been recently completed. Agriculture is also about caring for our environment. We have adopted the strategy for “Clean and Green Gauteng” which was launched in Tembisa in August. The strategy involves collaborative and participatory campaign to clean Gauteng and free it of litter. Some of the activities involve clearing of illegal dumping sites as well as sorting and recycling re-usable waste.
The implementation of the strategy, in conjunction with municipalities, is now in full swing. Part of the strategy includes the beautification of the Albertina Sisulu Highway, plans of which have been completed and the project is expected to be implemented early in 2010. The campaign will also see the planting one million indigenous trees.
Honourable members, the provision sustainable human settlement remains a challenge but we are steadily but surely making progress towards overcoming it. Our approach in Gauteng is to ensure that the provision of human settlements should be used as a catalyst to break racial barriers and integrate communities whilst also dealing with the issues of poverty alleviation and job creation. Many poor people are still confined to residing on the urban edge of cities and towns, which deprives them the socio-economic opportunities available in the urban areas, resulting in the perpetuating of inefficient and dysfunctional human settlements.
To change this situation the executive council on Wednesday adopted the inclusionary housing Policy. The inclusionary housing policy will contribute to the development of economically and racially integrated communities. With this policy developers will have to build housing units for mixed income groups within one location. Studies have shown that mixed income developments can benefit communities in a number of ways.
The executive council will early next year bring to the legislature draft legislation for the introduction of Inclusionary Housing Policy in Gauteng. There will no longer be exclusive residential areas for the wealthy and rich while the rest of the people live in the periphery. Since the promulgation of Cross Boundary Municipality Repeal and Related Matters Amendment Act number eight of 2009 to give effect to the reincorporation of the Merafong city local municipality, sector departments of both the North West and Gauteng provinces have met through various structures, and bi-laterally, to ensure seamless re-incorporation.
The implementation protocol between the two premiers was signed in July 2009 and several departments initiated their service level agreements. It is envisaged that the transfers will be finalised by March 2010. Several initiatives have been undertaken such as the establishment of a sports hub, a schools sports programme which culminated in the hosting of a schools festival in September. Fixed assets are ready to be transferred to the Departments of Local Government and Housing, Roads and Transport, Agriculture and Rural Development and Health and Social Development.
On education, we have finalised the five year improvement plan which aims to provide excellence and improve learner performance. The plan covers literacy and numeracy improvement in the foundation and intermediate phase of all public primary schools. The ultimate strategic objectives of this plan are ensuring that Gauteng has effective schools and learning institutions, enabling young people to make transition from school to further education and or work that provides further training opportunities; and ensuring, through partnership with all stakeholders, that education becomes a society priority.
A departmental turnaround strategy for schools is being implemented, ensuring that there is effective teaching and learning at all schools. The strategy is being implemented through a number of interventions including the delivery of learning support material and stationery on time, improving physical conditions of schools, filling vacancies and facilitation admission and placement of learners. More than 90 percent of schools in the province have completed and submitted their school improvement plan. All public schools have requisitioned and will receive their learning and teaching support material for the 2010 academic year before start of the season.
In terms of improving salaries for educators we are implementing the occupational specific dispensation. We hope that when our educators are happy with their salary raise they will improve their performance in terms of teaching and helping children in their studies. The Education Department has improved its recruitment process to ensure that vacancies for educators are filled promptly. All appointment backlogs in ordinary schools have been cleared.
As from 1 September 2009 Early Childhood Development (ECD) and Adult Basic Education (ABET) practitioners are being paid through the PERSAL system and the department is processing appointments for the 2010 academic year. With regards to the schools improvement programme 31 schools have been refurbished and received new facilities, including libraries, computer rooms, laboratories and administration offices. Fourteen more schools will be refurbished by January 2010 to complete the target of 45 schools that were identified for the improvement programme.
Further Education and Training (FET) institutions play an important role in providing skills. During the year 2009 more than 25 000 learners enrolled for national curriculum programmes in FET colleges in Gauteng. To encourage more enrolments in the FET colleges the Gauteng provincial government has availed resources to support needy students. The Department of Education has allocated 1 100 bursaries to students in FET colleges and higher education. More bursaries will be awarded to quintile one school learners in the academic year 2010.
Madam Speaker, we have made a commitment to the people of Gauteng that government will do everything within its means to ensure that all children of school going age are in school. We will increase the number of no fees schools to ensure that no child of school going age in Gauteng is denied the right to basic education. The Education Department has declared quintile one, two and three schools as no-fee schools in Gauteng.
Education is very much linked to youth development. By educating our youth and giving them skills we are laying a firm foundation for them to grow and become worthier citizens. The Gauteng City Region Academy is working with the National Youth Development Agency (NYDA) to implement programmes such as talent pipeline and matric empowerment.
We have made good progress in ensuring that government plays a key role in Early Childhood Development. Draft programmes for pre-school and grade R have been quality assured by the Departments of Education and Health and Social Development. Plans for infrastructure development in education and social development districts to support the ECD have been finalised. Provisions have also been made for the development of ECD in rural areas.
We are committed to reach a target of universal access to grade R by 2013. All participating departments have committed to capacity building project of ECD practitioners to ensure quality service delivery targeting 1 400 practitioners catering for zero to four years old, and five to six years old children as a start up. In addition, a specialised ECD institute was established and all participating departments are updating and cleaning up databases, including information from community-based centres, independent sites and grade R sites.
Madame Speaker, providing quality healthcare to the people remains one of our top priorities. The minimum service package for health institutions has been developed and is being phased in at institutions throughout the province. The plan will see the extension of services to various locations which previously did not have access to primary healthcare as well as the extension of service hours to ensure that more people can access primary healthcare. Meetings between the Gauteng Department of Health and Social Development and metropolitan councils were held to address issues related to the joint management of clinics, minimum service packages and extension of service hours for community health centres and clinics.
The Executive Council has approved the centralisation of all primary healthcare services in the three metropolitan areas and the finalisation of the process in the three district councils. This process will result in a single authority responsible for primary health care services thus enabling uniform systems and control so as to improve the quality of service. A single set of conditions of service will also apply to all health workers and duplication of management structures will be eliminated. In addition unfunded mandates in local government will be terminated and seamless service delivery and referrals to other levels of care will be improved.
The executive council has also approved the centralisation of emergency medical services so as to potentially save lives and reduce morbidity after injury. This process will also eliminate duplication of management and increase resources and services available for the public. The Gauteng strategic plan on HIV and AIDS was revised to give more impetus to the fight against HIV and AIDS. The plan aims to drastically reduce new HIV infections in Gauteng to achieve a target of 50 percent reduction in new infections by 2011 as well as prevent death from AIDS by extending treatment, care and support to 80 percent of people with HIV. The plan also seeks to support normal development of children affected by AIDS.
The plan will focus on promoting increased safe sex behaviour for key population groups, reducing vulnerability and gender inequality, further reduction of HIV in babies by fully implementing the prevention of mother to child transmission (PMTCT) policy and encouraging male circumcision for the youth. To achieve 80 percent antiretroviral treatment for people living with HIV, the plan will increase the number of specialised antiretroviral services and the percentage of local primary health care clinics which can follow up people who are well.
Success in the fight against AIDS requires brave leadership on the part of those of us whom the people look upon for inspiration and guidance. Yesterday I reported that the entire Gauteng executive council will on 1 December 2009, World AIDS Day; lead the campaign for voluntary counselling and testing. We will all take public HIV tests to encourage millions of the people of Gauteng to take their tests so that they can know their status. Knowing your HIV status will help the government to plan better on how to care for those infected and those affected by AIDS. It also helps those infected to take care of themselves and adjust their lifestyles so that they don’t fall ill.
We have also decided to revive the Gauteng AIDS Council to promote a multi-sectoral partnership approach to the fight against HIV and AIDS. The council will comprise members of the executive council involved in the AIDS programme and representatives of civil society organisations including labour among others, business, religious groups and arts and culture. The Premier will chair the council and will be assisted by the MEC for Health and Social Development.
Noble initiatives like Mandela Day were supported to launch and sustain the process of building a social compact with all partners within the medical fraternity. This resulted in significant donations towards various health facilities aimed at improving conditions of service. The Office of the Premier is inundated with calls from private sector companies and individuals who want to partner with government to improve health care services. Some have chosen specific projects such as the revitalisation of the Chris Hani Baragwanath hospital. We welcome such acts of goodwill and encourage more of our people to join hands with government to improve the public health care system.
Government’s efforts in the fight against crime are gaining momentum with good progress being made in the development of supporting strategies and building partnership with the private sector and the general public. These include the Gauteng social crime prevention strategy, Gauteng safety plan and Gauteng rural safety plan and the review of the aggravated robbery strategy.
Gauteng is a unique province which requires a unique approach to fighting crime. More than 50 percent of all reported crimes in South Africa are in Gauteng. Yet Gauteng has more and better resources to fight crime. There are three Metro Police departments which should be supporting the South African Police Service (SAPS) in fighting crime. Gauteng also has a high number of private security companies which should also be working with the police in fighting crime. Pooling of all these resources and improving co-ordination will contribute a great deal towards a solution to the crime problem.
The Gauteng provincial government has already had discussions with the national police commissioner about the need for co-ordination of all our efforts to fight crime. We agreed with the commissioner that we should work towards a mechanism that would allow for joint operations and a single line of command in Gauteng. This will ensure that all security forces work together on crime prevention operations led by the SAPS. We have also met with representatives of private security companies operating in Gauteng to discuss how we can work together in the fight against crime. The meeting reached agreement on the need to a mechanism to promote co-operation between state law enforcement agencies and private security providers. There will be follow-up discussions early next year to agree on concrete plans and formalise co-operation mechanisms.
The implementation of the aggravated robbery strategy was assessed by the Gauteng Aggravated Robbery Joint Steering Committee which met in October. The review revealed positive trends on trio crimes between April and September 2009. While it is still too early to make definite pronouncements on the success of the strategy there are signs that it is working and that it needs to be strengthened in some areas.
Madame Speaker, crime statistics have consistently shown a sharp increase in incidents of social crime. The statistics have also shown that most of this category of crime often involves people who know each other. A conceptual framework for the development of a social crime prevention strategy has been developed in conjunction with other key stakeholders. There have been broad consultations on the development of the strategy including with all Gauteng municipalities. The strategy will be finalised early in the next year.
As we prepare to take a deserved break from work and go on holiday, we need to think about the safety of everybody especially those who will spend their festive season in Gauteng. The Department of Community Safety, working together with all law enforcement agencies, has developed a festive season safety plan. The plan will include visible policing in all busy locations, including shopping malls, and increased patrols and roadblocks on the roads. As these are essentially police operations I will not reveal any more details about the strategy, but I can say with confidence that the plan will contribute towards drastic reduction of fatalities and serious injuries during the festive season.
The safety of children during the festive season is also of great concern to us. When schools close many of our children are often left at home alone with no one to care for them. Some fall victim to sexual and other abuses by who should be giving them love and care. The executive council has approved a comprehensive plan for caring for our children during the festive season. The plan includes organising sporting and cultural activities in various parts of the province as well as tours, youth camps and edutainment programmes in museums and other places of interest.
Government is spending public money on the children’s festive season programme because it cares for the children especially those children whose parents cannot afford to take them away on holiday. We want all our children to enjoy a fun filled and safe holiday season regardless of the financial status of their parents. As we all are well aware, government has limited resources, especially during this period of the global economic downturn. We, therefore, wish to appeal to everybody, companies and individuals, to dig deep into their pockets and support our children. This call is also directed at the honourable members. I am sure we can all afford a few cents to buy a present for one child who would otherwise spend a gloomy festive season.
Honourable members, the new mandate and the moment of renewal require a new and better way of conducting our business. This has also necessitated the reorganisation of government institutions, including political portfolios, departments and public entities. We have restructured departments, resulting in the merger of some and creation of new ones. We are also in the process of establishing the Gauteng planning commission to improve provincial planning.
As a result of the restructuring some heads of department were moved while vacancies were also created in others. We have begun the recruitment process to fill the vacancies and an announcement will soon be made in this regard. On Wednesday the executive council appointed a political task team led by the MEC for Finance, Mandla Nkomfe, to review the Gauteng Shared Services Centre. The other members of the task team are MEC for Health and Social Development Qedani Mahlangu, MEC for Education Barbara Creecy and MEC for Economic Development Firoz Cachalia. The team will make its recommendation to the executive council during the first quarter of 2010.
The process of reviewing all public entities is still continuing and we expect a report with recommendations early next year. In August we reported that the executive council had taken steps to speed up payment of all outstanding debts to service providers up to the end of June 2009. Operation Bhadala was launched in this regard. At the time of the launch of the operation the debt was estimated at R1,7 billion. By the end of October 2009 more than 90 percent of the identified debt had been paid and the remainder is being processed.
Operation Bhadala also uncovered some systemic problems which led to departments being unable to properly monitor their financial commitments and manage cash flow. It was also discovered the total outstanding debt was more than the R1,7 billion initially identified as some invoices were not on the Gauteng Shared Services Centre system. The systemic problems are being resolved and the Department of Finance is working with all departments to deal with any other outstanding debts.
The outstanding debts could not be cleared at the end of September as initially promised due to cash flow problems. As the outstanding debts relate to goods and services that were procured during the financial year 2008/09 financial year, departments have to find funds to service the debts from the current financial year’s allocations. This together with the current spending pressures means departments have to reprioritise some of their current programmes.
The Department of Finance and all other departments were instructed to monitor spending more robustly. No department will be allowed to overspend or implement projects for which no budgetary allocations have been made. Heads of department will have to ensure that their departments have effective, efficient and transparent systems for financial and risk management and internal controls.
The Department of Finance is meeting with departments to identify programmes that can be reprioritised and contracts that can be cancelled or rescheduled in line with an earlier executive council decision to reprioritise programmes and review all contracts within the Gauteng provincial government. The Finance Department will make recommendations to the executive council early next year on which programmes should be reprioritised and which contracts should be terminated or rescheduled.
The Department of Local Government and Housing has initiated a process with all municipalities to assist them in achieving clean audit reports by 2010. In the previous financial year, only six municipalities received unqualified audits opinions from the Auditor-General. The city of Johannesburg, Metsweding, Sedibeng, West Rand, Midvaal and Lesedi received unqualified audit opinions, while the West Rand received an unqualified opinion without any matter of emphasis. Four municipalities received qualified opinions and two received disclaimer and one adverse opinion and we are working with the South African chartered accountants to address this challenge.
We will assist municipalities to achieve clean audits by improving the functionality of audit committees and oversight committees in municipalities, through training and capacity building of municipal officials and public representatives, rolling out the implementation of and section 79 committees in other municipalities following the Jo’burg pilot project and strengthening the functionality of the municipal public accounts committees.
One of the challenges facing municipalities is uncollected debt. The current municipal debt is sitting at R22 billion. We want to reduce consumer debt by the year 2014, improve the integrity of all municipalities billing systems through data cleaning, achieve collectable target of 40 percent of the total book value of municipal debt and write off 60 percent of non collectable debt municipal debt. We will implement the debt structuring model and hope that by 2011 all municipalities would be on equal footing.
As part of the decision to pay our service providers on time the executive council has decided that all provincial departments must bring their municipality accounts up to date. The total amount owed to municipalities by the Gauteng provincial government is R41 225 912. This is about three percent of the total outstanding municipal debt.
As part of our efforts to strengthen the capacity of the state we have commenced with the process of conducting a province wide scarce skills audit. The audit will inform future training needs for all public servants within Gauteng. The training programmes executed so far to develop public officials and senior managers; 3 259 public servants trained in generic training programmes, 259 senior managers in executive leadership development programmes and 11 000 attended networking sessions, including a senior managers’ conference.
A database of unemployed youth has been created and presently 13 123 have been captured with their skill profile and qualifications. 2 107 of these have been referred to both government entities and the corporate sector for possible placements for internships, artisans and or workplace opportunities. In addition the Gauteng provincial government, under the leadership of the Gauteng City Region Academy (GCRA), is currently implementing the Ithutele Tiro project that focuses on the automotive, trade skills, BPO and information communication technology learnerships. These projects are focused on enhancing young people’s skills with the aim of helping them gain employment.
The GCRA has also established a Talent Pipeline programme that is focused on grades nine to 12 and is aimed at fast-tracking the development of young people in scarce and critical skills areas by offering targeted interventions such as life skills, mentoring and coaching, career expos and exhibitions. As we are all aware the 2010 FIFA World Cup will take place here in less than seven months. The World Cup has provided opportunities for South Africa to invest in public infrastructure and market itself to the millions of fans who will be at the world cup and those who will be following the events through television and other media.
Gauteng will be the most important centre of the world cup. Most games will be played in Gauteng including the opening and final matches. Most teams, including some of the most popular foot ball nations will set up base camps in Gauteng. The world cup, therefore, offers unique opportunities for Gauteng to market itself to the rest of the world and showcase the unique characteristics that make it the preferred destination for investment, trade, business tourism and competitive sport.
We have, therefore, decided to launch a major campaign aimed at mobilising the people of Gauteng to take ownership of the world cup as the true hosts and to promote our province internationally. This campaign will be known as the Gauteng 2010 Gateway. This afternoon, we will activate the Gauteng Football Friday at the Mary Fitzgerald Square. There are many other events planned as part of the Gauteng 2010 Gateway, including a mass rally in Soweto on 5 December 2009.
Madam Speaker, the report we have presented here today shows that we have made progress, even at this early stage towards fulfilling the commitments we made to the people.
I wish to thank all my colleagues in the executive council, the officials in the Office of the Premier and all other departments as and public entities for their efforts in the implementation of our Programme of Action. I wish all the honourable members a healthy, peaceful and restful festive season. Don’t drink and drive. Arrive alive.
Thank you
Issued by: Gauteng Provincial Government
27 November 2009
