Honourable Speaker
Honourable Premier, Mme Thandi Modise Honourable
Members of the Executive Council Honourable
Members of the Provincial Legislature
Honourable Executive Mayors, Mayors and Speakers Heads of Department and Officials
Chairperson and Members of the Boards of Public State owned entities
Leaders in the Business Sector Leaders of Civic-based organisations Leaders of Faith based organisations Dikgosi tsa rona, Maapara-nkwe a gaetsho Distinguished Guests
Members of Media Comrades and Friends All protocol observed
Honourable Speaker, it is an honour to present the department's 2012/13 budget speech to this August House.
As we mark this occasion, we wish to remind ourselves of the commitments government has made to change the lives of many South Africans for the better. The commitments made by government find concrete expression in the State of the Nation Address, delivered by the President of the Republic, Mr President Jacob Zuma, in which he said, I quote, "The triple challenge of unemployment, poverty and inequality persists, despite the progress made. Africans, Women and Youth continue to suffer most from this challenge".
At the heart of government's interventions through the plans and budget that we are tabling to this house for appropriation, should be the common goal amongst all of us to play meaningful role and make significant contributions towards the creation of jobs and reduction of poverty for the benefit of our people.
We are ready to confront this tremendous challenge ahead of us and we must put concerted efforts to direct our energies and time to improve the lives of our people, particularly those in rural areas who are without access to various opportunities and basic services and most of whom still live in appalling conditions.
2011/12 Achievements
Honourable Speaker, the programme of the previous financial year as we all know was carried out during the time and reign of my Colleague, MEC Louisa Mabe, who is now with the department of education as the political head.
We are glad to report on the successes made by the department then in which it had successfully managed to spend 93% of its allocated budget.
Honourable Speaker, the 93% Expenditure of the previous financial remains an important yardstick to determine good financial performance on the part of the department, yet this has been achieved despite the personnel constraints at its disposal.
However, of greater significance, is the fact that the department has raised the bar in assisting provincial departments to close their books but most critically, it upheld the provincial flag as it surpassed all other provincial and national departments country-wide and became the first department nationally to have successfully dosed its books for the
2011/12 financial year.
This achievement puts the department in its rightful position as the leading department entrusted with the responsibility to ensure sound financial practice and the provincial resources as stipulated in the Public Finance Management Act, (PFMA), moreover that the province is in its second year of the use of Basic Accounting System, (BAS), notwithstanding the fact that other departments in other provinces and nationally have been using this system over many years.
Honourable Speaker, I am singling out this resounding achievement as a befitting tribute to my Colleague for her ster1ing job and leadership that she provided to the department during the previous financial year. It is also befitting that I should seize this moment to applaud the managers and employees of the department for the job well done for they haveshown character and commitment in the diligent manner that they execute their duties and responsibilities and I can only appeal to them to continue to work tirelessly to raise the bar, for together we can improve the lives of our people and we should know that we are all 'servant of the people'.
Honourable Speaker, all of these things I have just mentioned, are an important barometer, especially that the department has an obligation and overriding responsibility to ensure that spending of the provincial resources is done in a cost-effective and efficient manner.
We have an obligation politically and morally to lead by example so that we can inspire other departments, including municipalities and state-owned institutiors to share our vision as we declare that the theme for our budget speech is 'Towards effective utilisation of public resources for better service delivery' and we want all of us to appreciate that the global economic instability has far-reaching implications for our economies in developing countries and we need to be geared up for the serious challenges ahead.
Honourable Speaker, an Economist and Nobel Prize winner Milton Friedman said, "Nobody spends somebody else's money as carefully as he spends his own. Nobody uses somebody else's resources as carefully as he uses his own."
We cannot afford to be oblivious about our own economic environment and its effects and therefore, given the huge resource gap, we have no choice, but it is now time to treat public money as if it is our own, because it is in fact our "own" money.
However, we can only spend the taxpayer's money wisely if we have a collective culture of accountability and ownership when it comes to quality spending in our provincial and local government levels.
Honourable Speaker, it cannot be business as usual precisely because we have a serious task bestowed upon us to provide leadership to the populace of this province and must strive to master the art of using our limited resources in a much, more effective and integrated manner to create maximise impact.
To this regard, the department presented the document on 'Cost Containment Measures' to EXCO for discussion and approval, needless to say that, we all have an obligation to see to it that we observe and adhere to this important policy directive once it is approved.
Honourable Speaker and Honourable Members present in this August House, the moral of the story is that we must spend scarce resources effectively, efficiently and economically. Value for money is paramount. Doing more with less must be our new buzz word.
Honourable Speaker, the department has successfully managed to put into place Financial Management Capacity Building initiative, through facilitation of the Financial Management Capability Maturity Model, to assess the control levels and Financial Management capabilities of the departments.
The consolidated control level of the North West Province is at an average level of 2.61, which is still below the anticipated level of 3.00, where statutory and regulatory reporting requirements are met, Internal control framework is fully developed, implemented and adhered to, adequate resources (human, physical, technical and financial) are available, assets are safeguarded, data is reliable and its integrity supports operational planning and monitoring.
In addition, with regards to Financial Systems Training, the department has managed to facilitate a number of technical skills training and most notably:
- The BAS Walker Systems Users were trained and this account to 936 departmental officials.
- Similarly, Budget Formulation and Analysis training facilitated amongst 51 departmental officials.
- Training has also been facilitated on the Standard Chart of Accounts (SCOA) for 124 Officials, induding Review, updating and Development of BAS Training materials.
In so far as Asset Management is concerned, we have succeeded in implementing the Asset Management Improvement Project, through the appointment of 4 Asset Management Project Managers to assist in the Implementation of Asset Management in terms of:
- Reconciliation of Asset Register
- Asset Management Structures, Job Descriptions and Skills Training
Implementation of the Asset Management Framework, procedural Manual and Policies, and inculcate the Asset Management life Cycle Approach within provincial departments.
Lastly, in terms of Risk Management, the department has successfully facilitated training on Enterprise Risk Management Framework for 54 Risk Management Committee members. The Risk Management Forum meeting has been facilitated as anticipated, as an oversight function on Risk Management implementation, and Quarterly Management Progress reports on status of Risk Management in the Departments to Internal Audit and Audit Committees were presented.
Infrastructure coordination
We have again in the context of oversight in terms of budget spending generated Eighteen site visit reports, which identified the challenges in terms of planning and implementation to enable both the political and administrative leadership of affected departments to act on these reports
In this regard, departmental Infrastructure plans were assessed and evaluation reports were communicated to guide on outstanding matters in terms of the Infrastructure Delivery Alignment model for improved planning.
We therefore wish to report to this August House that whilst we carry out oversight and monitoring of budget spending by departments, it is equally our responsibility (All of us) that strategic interventions are put into place to mitigate against shortcomings and limitations that departments might be experiencing in the course of implementation of infrastructure projects and during the previous financial year:
- Training sessions in collaboration with the Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB) were held with provincial departments to address problems in terms of the procurement of service providers for the construction of infrastructure as well as the procurement of professional services.
- Training and support were provided to municipalities on matters related to the procurement of consultants as well as contractors for infrastructure; support and advice were provided during municipal site visits.
- Four(4) additional Technical Advisors were appointed to assist with the planning and implementation of infrastructure within four departments/institutions which includes Sport, Arts and Culture, Social Development, Women, Children and people with Disabilities, Provincial Treasury (Municipalities) and this bring to total eight Technical Advisors (TA) appointed in the Province to assist eight departments all in all.
We remain committed in our resolve to ensure value for money and as such, these oversights and monitoring initiatives will be carried out every financial year and we wish to commend the role that other players continue to carry out in this regard and in particular, Portfolio Committees, National Treasury, and Provincial Public Accounts Committee etc.
Honourable Speaker, we have during the previous financial year, committed ourselves to repeal North West Tender Board Act and I am glad to announce that we have interacted with the Provincial Legislature in this regard and we can say with confidence that the Act will be repealed during the current financial year.
Honourable Speaker, consistent with our previous commitments, the filling of vacant posts remains key to the agenda of the department and now that we have completed the review of our organisational structure, we will move with a faster pace and we will over the upcoming few weeks issue newspaper advertisements in respect of critical posts as a matter of prioritisation.
We are mindful of the fact that the employment equity within the department's Senior Management Services stands at 38% in terms of women representation and the challenge we must confront immediately is to change the status for better representation of women within the department's SMS level.
Honourable Speaker, during the previous financial year, the honourable Premier, Thandi Modise made clarion call to the department when she said and I quote, "we need to ensure that supply chain management processes are reliable and accessible." Consequently, we are at the final stage of the development and implementation of provincial supply chain management policy. We are glad to announce that we have successfully reviewed the provincial supply chain policy and all what remains is approval by EXCO for its implementation.
2012/13 Programme
Honourable Speaker, some of the Flagship Programme for this current financial year includes the following:
- Financial Management Training (Phase 3) -targeting 1000 none core financial managers.
- CFO Skills Assessments for Public Entities - 50 officials targeted.
- Training Intervention for 114 officials (out of 211) from Departmental CFO Units in line with CFO Skills Assessments {2012) findings and recommendations.
- Increased Training on Budgeting and SCOAAND Economic Reporting and Format for Managers and Practitioners.
The department will focus on the Telephone Management System (TMS) and most specifically, the development of a Telephone Management System Policy in line with the Provincial Cost Containment Policy.
Again, the department will continue with its Asset Management Improvement Plan particularly, the implementation of asset management programmes within the provincial departments, in order to achieve Clean Audit by 2014.
Honourable Speaker, of greater significance is the development of Provincial and Departmental Risk Management Strategic Support Plans, in line with the findings and recommendation of the Financial Management Capability Maturity Model of 2011.
Honourable Speaker, as it relates to the department's Auditing Oversight functions, the implementation of the Cluster Audit Committee system continues to mature and has contributed to the oversight function on governance. As agreed to in the approved Audit Committee Charter, the Committee will on a quarterly basis provide reports to MEC's on the state of governance, risk management and controls in their respective Departments. This will improve the ability of MEC's to monitor and track progress on audit matters.
In line with its mandate, the department will continue to implement dynamics to ensure that provincial departments avert irregular, fruitless and wasteful expenditure, inaccurate reporting and unfavourable audit outcomes.
In this regard the Internal Audit activity will promote through planned risk and compliance based audit services, the adoption and implementation of an internal control framework to address challenges, and advise and monitor Departments on the implementation of commitments to address audit outcomes. The emphasis will be on a practical integrated approach that will address best the needs of the Departments and prescribed requirements such as the Public Finance Management Act (PFMA).
The 2014 Clean Audit Project
Honourable Speaker, the 2014 Clean Audit Project is an OA going project and work is being done and monitored on constant basis throughout the financialyear to make important determinations of the extend we would be able to meet the target we have set ourselves.
I therefore, wish to report to this house that Action Plans were developed per department and reviewed by the Treasury and individual reports issued, The process of implementation will be monitored and reported to the Provincial Audit Committee and EXCO on quarterly basis.
The compiling of quarterly and half-yearly financial statements (including full disclosure notes) are enforced. At this stage, only 7 out of 13 Votes submitted Interim Financial Statements, (IFS).
Most importantly, coordination of "Planning for the audit process" is currently going on to improve a free flow of information and documentation when it is required.
FinancialSupport and oversight to municipalities
The department in collaboration with the department of local government and traditional affairs will strengthen its oversight and monitoring role to ensure that Conditional Grants allocated to municipalities serve the good intended purpose.
It could no longer be business as usual that Conditional Grants allocated for service delivery are redirected for operational purposes such as payment of employee salaries etc.
We will ensure that there is continuous assessment of municipal council’s technical capacity to spend on the infrastructure grants and where necessary see to it that assistance is provided but redirecting funds earmarked for service delivery for something else is not acceptable and must just be a thing of the past.
Together with the department of local government and traditional affairs we will ensure that compliance to conditional infrastructure grants is observed at all material times and we will further strengthen our monitoring mechanisms in this regard.
Honourable Speaker, of grave concern to us as the department is the poor state of financial management in most municipalities in the province. The Auditor General's Report in the previous 2010/11 financial year, painted a gloomy picture of the state of finance in municipalities.
The audit outcomes then revealed that only nine municipalities out of 24 and two municipal entities out of four had submitted their annual financial statements for auditing, yet the national government had set the target for all municipalities to achieve clean audit records and the current financial situation in the province is not even nearer and the prospects of achieving the objectives of the 2014 Clean Audit Project are far from reach.
We will heed to the clarion call that was made by the head of the provincial government, the honourable Premier, Mme Thandi Modise during the state of the province address, where she said, I quote 'I committed MEC for Finance and Local Government and Traditional Affairs to a programme with the municipalities to improve and eradicate challenges experienced in management of services and capacities. This work is being done. We hope to see better results in the coming Auditor General's Report'
Indeed, the two departments have already signed Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) and will continue to collaborate on various aspects of governance to ensure that municipalities carry out their constitutional mandates to the best interest of the public.
In this regard, we will assess the municipal council's administrative capacity through the SKILLS AUDIT of its financial personnel in order to ensure that our interventions in terms of Financial Support and Oversight functions directed to municipalities are output oriented, well-focused to create maximise impact.
However, it is also my stubborn political conviction honour able speaker, that challenges facing our municipalities in the province are not divine and we cannot be oblivious of the fact that all of these owes mainly to politics of craft materialism, manifest mainly through patronage, factionalism and seN-enrichment by some.
The general perception in the public domain is that Corruption and Fraud is rampant at municipal level and to us it is not how far accurate or inaccurate are these perception, but the fact of the matter is that, unless we do something, these perceptions may translate into reality and the consequences may be far-reaching.
In the same breadth, there is growing perception that appointed officials in strategic positions within the financial management stream often are reduced to Agents of Corruption and Fraud and have no regard for legislation that governs procurement and supply chain processes. We cannot disregard the governing laws of this country and this unbecoming behaviour must end now.
We must however, acknowledge the fact that the department's support to municipalities is mandatory and in this regard focus will be on the implementation of the MFMA and GRAP 17,during this financial year, however, this important task ahead of all of us, is inextricably depended on the extent to which municipalities appoint the right people for the right positions to run their financial business processes with diligence.
The question we must ask ourselves is 'what should be done to curb the scourge of this epidemic called Corruption which is eating our municipalities like Cancer. We must do so with a clear conscience that if this scourge is left unabated it will destroy the society and obliterate our vision towards building a prosperous, non -sexist democratic South Africa.
Once more, the statements made by the honourable Premier, on her resolve to see improved performance of struggling municipalities, particularly as it relates to financial performance were further elaborated in the Business day publication issued on the 19th of March, and indeed it is not only inspiring and re-assuring to many people who might have begun to despair but it is a commitment that we ourselves as responsible departments must carry out with great vigour and courage for those who benefit out of chaos in the financial administration of municipalities will seek to oppose us.
The challenge to improve financial situations in municipalities remains key in the agenda of the department and will find concrete expression in many of the initiatives that the department will put into place in collaboration with the department of local government and traditional affairs.
I am glad to announce that as a department we view this challenge very seriously and we have not only finalised plans to support these municipalities in terms of building the required financial administrative capacity to enable them to carry out their functions with diligence but we have set aside R5 million for this financial year for this purpose.
The R5 million Budget allocation will mainly focus on building capacity in the area of financial management and administration in municipalities by empowering municipal council officials to comply with both Municipal Finance Management Act (MFMA) and Generally Recognised Accounting Practice (GRAP17), such that Municipal Council's takes ownership of the implementation of these mandatory, governing pieces of legislations and prescripts to fulfil their constitutional mandate
Honourable Speaker, this important initiative compliments various efforts that the department has put into place to ensure that indeed municipalities are empowered to deal with their day-to-day financial management and administration. As a department we have sourced financial and professional expertise from renowned and reputable corporate sector institutions to assist capacitate municipalities in the area of financial management for purpose of good governance and administration.
In adding zest to all these efforts, we have also deployed young graduates who have completed learnership course in financial management to various municipalities to assist with day to day financial business processes of these municipalities whilst at the same time present them as young professional with the necessary experience required to be absorbed by the mainstream economy-and we will continue to explore such avenues as we find these win win situation beneficial to all of us and will go a long way in reducing the shortages of skills in financial management in the province and it is in our view a form of long-term investment that will yield positive results for the province in the near future.
Honourable Speakers, the Department of Finance is entrusted with support and oversight functions to other departments and state owned institutions, including municipalities yet it must be acknowledged that it execute such functions within the context of Cooperative Governance and its success depends heavily on therelationship it is able to forge with these institutions.
However, one finds solace from the fact EXCO has conducted its business as a collective and therefore one is assured and guaranteed of the necessary support he needs to fulfil functions bestowed upon the department in which one is the political head. I also find it befitting to caution my Colleagues in Exco about the financial loss that often accrue due to prolonged suspension of SeniorManagers and can only hope that as a province we will improve substantively in this regard.
The announcement by the department of Public Service and Administration that it will soon introduce guideline that seeks to ensure that cases of suspended managers and or employees are concluded in 60 days is re-assuring and welcomed, for we view it as an important redress measure and intervention from a financial perspective to permanently address this challenge.
Improving Infrastructure and conditional grants spending
Honourable Speaker, we are in constant engagement with departments on issues of financial management of budgets allocated to them and I think it is important that we first relate to departments that deals with Infrastructure Development due to the huge budget allocations that they receive but equally the responsibility entrusted to them towards ensuring that infrastructure, which is the- life wire for successful economic activity does improve in this province.
This situation present serious challenges in terms of Planning and Management and inevitably imposes serious negations on service delivery.
Forward Planning, espedally in the Infrastructure Departments to avoid delays in the completion of projects and unnecessary carry-overs of budget allocations.
The department of Public Works, Roads and Transport is faced with the mammoth task ahead of the financial year, especially in the light of the pronouncement made by the President of the Republic of South Africa, President Jacob Zuma, wherein he stated, I quote,' "In the North West, we will expand the roll-out of water, roads, rail and electridty infrastructure. Ten priority roads will be upgraded".
The major responsibility before all of us is that we must be able to spend on infrastructure, because infrastructure development remains the life- wire of our economy and it will have greater spin-offs for our local economy and GOP of the province in general.
Consistent with the mandate of the department, we will continue with our constant interactions with other departments to ensure that first and foremost they have demonstrable capacity to manage state financial resources effectively and efficiently.
We will continue to carry out our mandatory task through regularly assessment of the financial and non-financial resource management skills department's senior managers to determine requisite capacity needed to meet the challenges of delivering services and managing public service resources in a cost-effective manner.
There is also a dire need on the part of departments to seriously improve on the accuracy and timeliness of the in- year reports on financial and operational performances and this is but one of the critical areas in which further engagements with departments will soon take place
I submit that if departments know exactly what has been spent on what programmes and to what effect, they will be better able to assess whether they are achieving value for money and engage areas of underperformance more rigorously.
This strategic information is critical for proper planning and management otherwise there would not be early-warning signs for under-expenditure and under-performance which in itself is a manifestation of poor planning and management which often leads to roll-overs of allocated budgets a situation which often cannot be justified and remains undesirable.
In a nutshell, poor forecasting often leads to departments exceeding their Departmental budgets and unfortunately, where unanticipated under - spending are not identified earlier, the opportunity for unspent funds to be reallocated to other key priorities can be lost and it is for that reason that we call upon departments to change their planning mode and start to do things better, and it is not impossible.
Improving Supply Chain Management and Procurement System in the province.
Honourable Speaker, supply chain and procurement is an important catalyst in the value chain for service delivery.
I therefore wish to inform this August House that there is an on-going transformation in the regulatory framework of the supply chain management of government aimed at improving the efficiency of the system and combating fraud and corruption.
However, our observation as the leading department in this regard is that most departments are struggling with the proper application of the Preferential Procurement Policy Framework Act (PPPFA), and the Preferential Procurement Regulations, the Public Finance Management Act, and the Supply Chain Management Regulations In particular, this relates to aspects like the incorrect evaluation and adjudication of bids.
We therefore commit to assist departments with the implementation of procurement plans with the aim of improving the overall quality of procurement that enhances, the quality of goods, services and works procured, suppliers contracted, and the utilisation of the budget and meeting the object of the preferential policy framework
We will during the 2012/13 financial year, intensify training , including the initiation of a programme to professionalise supply chain management by requiring that supply chain professional body, The chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply (CIPS).
Most importantly, we will move faster with the implementation of the provincial supply chain management policy, which will provide for uniform supply chain management standards and norms for all government departments.
We have also observed that departments often pay different prices for the same commodities, goods and services of the same quantity and quality from service providers and this can only spelt out colluding amongst certain government officials with service providers to loot government resources in return for kickbacks and we will do everything possible to halt this ill-practice which is basically fraud and corruption.
Honourable Speaker, we have little options but to introduce Commodity Price Index to benchmark prices for goods and services rendered to government. We will first and foremost develop guidelines that will be presented to EXCO and subsequently embark on extensive stakeholder consultation to ensure that we engender Good Business Practice and Return-on-Investment in the course of government's interaction with suppliers of goods and services.
In the similar vein, the department will during this financial year establish a special unit that will deal with problems surrounding the 30 days turnaround time to improve payment services to suppliers within the stipulated 30 days period.
We will do everything in our power to enhance relations between government and suppliers and minimise ill-practices that seeks to corrupt the system.
We are fully aware that in some instances suppliers are compelled to pay what others call 'appeasement fflfl, as a guarantor for speeding up of payments, yet the demand by some unscrupulous government officials for kickbacks to do what they are paid to do, it's not the form of worst discrimination and criminality that can be committed against suppliers and SMME's but must not be allowed space in government and must end now.
The non-payment of suppliers and delays thereto have far-reaching implications in many forms but more seriously it defeats the government's own initiative to empower emerging entrepreneurs and often leads to these small business enterprises going bankrupt for reasons that are not of their own design and this form of discrimination must not be allowed to continue.
We hope that this unit will bring us important lessons in terms of what needs to be done to out-root this ill-practice going forward.
Similarly, the Provincial Administration through EXCO has long resolved on the decentralisation of the Centralised Creditor's Payment (CCP) system and the fundamental objective is to ensure that departments can at their disposal meet the objectives of 30 days turnaround time for payment of service providers for goods and services offered to government.
We are fully aware of the implementation challenges and we will continue to engage departments to determine their state of readiness to take up with this new responsibility and where the need arise we will be able to provide technical support to ensure smooth transition of the payment system.
Honourable Speaker, the Provincial Administration remains steadfast in its resolve to restrict and blacklist unscrupulous contractors and companies and already there are companies we have restricted during the previous financial year. All what we are saying as government is that we must see value for money and companies that do not perform will be taken to task no doubt about it.
Budget oversight and monitoring
Honourable Speaker, in line with its mandate, Provincial Treasury will continue to drive value for money initiatives as well as shifting resources from non-performing programmes, from non-core to core operations.
The sole object of this initiative is to ensure that we contribute to the reprioritisation of government resources to maintain and/or increase expenditure on key priorities in spite of the tight fiscal space.
We have over the previous financial years managed to raise an amount of R104 million from non-core recurrent items which were redirected without negatively impacting on service delivery, all owing to the reprioritisation and budget oversight initiative.
Plans for 2012/13 - budget management
Honourable Speaker, the department will during the current financial year, focus on the following key budget management activities:
- Monitor and assess virements and shifting trends within the department including overseeing the implementation of the APP by different departments in line with budget
- Monitor the implementation of cost containment measures with the view of shifting savings realised from this exercise to key government programmes
- Strengthen monitoring with regard to public entities and assessment the quarterly reports of public entities
- Conduct site visits and assessment of transfer payments to municipalities with the view of establishing alignment between transfers to municipalities with project status
- Put focus more on management of performance information of department programmes in line with Annual Performance Plans (APP) target and budgets for improved audit report in respect of performance information
- To strengthen capacity of Treasury by appointing an economist in order to influence the development of budgets in line with government policies and programmes in support of enhanced economic growth and development within the province.
Infrastructure coordination
Honourable Speaker, the Infrastructure departments often have challenges in dealing with procurement issues in this sector and therefore as a department we will carry out more training in the field of the procurement of professional services as well as contractual services for the implementation of infrastructure in collaboration with the CIDB and the National Treasury to improve capacity of departments
Key to the departmental challenges in terms of human resource capital in the area of infrastructure, the department will during this current financial year roll- out of the Human Resource Framework within the Departments of Health; Education and Training as well as the Public Works, Roads and Trasnport and the Provincial Treasury will enhance structures that will ensure skilled human resources on the areas of Infrastructure including the following:
- Strengthen oversight and monitoring of project implementation in terms of planned projects to eliminate or avoid the implementation of "white elephants".
- More training on areas of planning as prescribed in the IDIP toolkit of the Infrastructure Delivery Improvement Programme (IDIP).
- Conduct more site visits in order to assess progress made with regard to implementation of projects, advice departments about corrective measures and influence planning processes of the 2013/2014 based on the assessment reports
- To focus the oversight role more on project implementation and the challenges that impede on the delivery of infrastructure.
- To align the operations of the Infrastructure Coordination Directorate with the Supply Chain Directorate in terms of the procurement of service providers for the implementation of Infrastructure within provincial departments as well as municipalities.
Growth Fund
Honourable Speaker, we have conducted a thorough assessment on the prospect of establishing the Growth Fund in the province and consideration was also made on the basis of the review of the public entities by the Presidential Review and we have since found the option on establishment of the fund not viable.
The department is therefore finalising the establishment of the Project Management Unit (PMU) to fulfil responsibilities that would have been assigned to the Growth Fund.
In the main, the PMU will be seized with the responsibility to develop business plans and feasibility studies and steer the implementation of projects and source funding for project and the proposal for such an establishment will be presented to the Executive Council for consideration and approval before the end of this quarter.
Revenue Enhancement Strategy
Honourable Speaker, within the very context of prudent spending, I am glad to inform the house that the Revenue Enhancement Policy have been completed and we will soon table it to EXCO for approval. The department will subsequently develop a plan to implement the "Use it or lose it principle" in order to enforce overall fiscal discipline during MTEF period.
Honourable Speaker, again I must emphasise that key to the agenda of the department is the revenue enhancement strategy in order to ensure that we increase the provincial own revenue which currently stands at 3% on the basis of provincial budget allocation.
Outreach programme to increase SMME capacity and skills in the province
Honourable Speaker, as a department we have during the previous financial year embarked on a programme to empower emerging entrepreneurs in the province.
It is common knowledge that small scale economic activity will go a long way to stimulate the province's economy through creation of jobs which in itself will have positive effects on the province's GOP.
To this end, we will engage the department of economic development, tourism and conservation in an endeavour to ensure that as we seek to empower emerging suppliers, particularly the SMMEs from disadvantaged background, we complement each other and use government's limited resources in a much more coordinated manner to maximise impact and avert unnecessary duplications.
We will do all of this through various forms of contacts with the SMME's ranging from workshops, seminars and if needs be the Summit to empower them with aR in depth understanding of how government tendering system works.
We will also mobilise relevant stakeholders to play a meaningful role in assisting SMME's and therefore wish to call upon business, government agencies and SMME's sector to join hands with the department in its vision to create vibrancy in the local economy.
IT Network Infrastructure Upgrade Plan
Honorable Speaker, part of the mandate of the department is to oversee the IT Network Infrastructure of the provincial administration. It is my contention that we have as a province not improved our IT Network Infrastructure to the latter and thus we would want to pay more attention to this very technical area to ensure that our systems can cope with the IT demands that the province is experiencing at this stage.
Honourable Speaker, I wish to report to this August House that as a department responsible for the Provincial IT Network and Infrastructure development, we have over the past financial year, upgraded our core network in preparation of the significant revamp of our Wide Area Network in 2012/13
Again, we have continued to modernise the network connectivity between buildings by replacing copper infrastructure with Radio connectivity.
In the past years, 10 building sites were converted and the aging environmental equipment were replaced to further protect the investment in the mainframe environment.
We have improved the Governance in the IT unit by implementing several new processes to contend with the ever-increasing and faster development within the IT Sector.
Honorable Speaker, it must be appreciated that personnel growth in the provincial administration consequentially result in the increase in the users and so far, the number of NWPG network users have grown from 1,500 to 11,000 over the last 10 years.
However, as part of the Fifa 2010 World Cup IT Infrastructure demands; Telkom had to upgrade the infrastructure from copper which is slow to optical fibre which is quite fast to meet the FIFA demands.
It is therefore strategic and imperative that the province leverage from the 2010 Fifa World Cup Legacy, the department is currently steering processes to use the same optical fibre network for the Provincial network infrastructure in order to have high speed response and better IT Infrastructure.
It is estimated that the shift from Copper to Fibre will increase connectivity speeds Ten Fold (x10) than the current speed.
Towns that will benefit in 2012 are Mrnabatho, Klerksdorp, Potchefstroom, Rustenburg and Brits.
However, other towns and most specifically (Vryburg and Lichtenburg) will be converted during the 2013/14 Financial Year, whereas, smaller towns and villages will not benefit from this upgrade and this continues to be a challenge as no service providers (incl Telkom) are interested in providing better connectivity in these areas due to the fact that they do not see prospection for expansion of profits.
At the same time, we remain committed towards empowering local communities in rural areas to allow them access to government services and IT Infrastructure becomes an indispensable tool that must be applied to widen access of rural communities.
To this regard, we are in constant discussions with Broadband lnfraco (state-owned) and Dept of Communications to assist in the rural areas because rural communities are the ones who should be the primary beneficiaries as most remains in the periphery of technological developments but we cannot afford not to empower rural communities and we will explore all avenues to ensure that they too benefit from the services of government
Honourable Speaker, all said and done, we must be judged by what we would have done in line with our constitutional mandate. We are fully aware of the huge responsibility that has been entrusted upon us.
We will continue to work tirelessly and endlessly to live up to expectation and will strengthen, consolidate and promote good governance and administration for the is the thrust of our responsibility as a department to ensure that we transform the financial management use of our own public resources towards effective, efficient and accountable standards.
The road ahead of us is a mammoth task not only to the Department of Finance but the entire provincial government and it is only through the support of the Executive Council, Legislature and the Public at large that we can achieve the goals we have set for ourselves. I have no doubt that indeed our collective strengths and wisdom will see us through and it is only through working together that we can do more.
I therefore wish to appeal to everybody in this August House that much as change may appear to be difficult and brining about a lot of anxiety we have no reason to fear or despair, for we must all assume our role and responsibilities as ‘Agent of Change' in society and only history will judge us correctly and we shall be Symbol of Pride’ to the posterity to come,
Mmonakgotla, mokgwa wa go tsibogelo dikgwetlo tse re lebaganeng le tsona ke maikarabelo a rona rotlhe, mme ke rata go dira boikuelo jaaka mogolo a ne a bue mo malobeng fa ane are 'Mogala Nko ya Kgomo tshwara ka thata, e sere o ultwa sebodu wa kgaoga'.
Honourable Speaker, allow me to table the department's budget vote for the financial year 2012/13 as follows:
Departmental Budget Vote 2012/13
Programme
R'000
Programme 1 Administration
78437
Programme2 Sustainable Resource
44740
Programme3 Asset Liabilities & Management
21626
Programme4 Financial Governance
114 015
Programme 5 Municipality Financial Management
21608
Programme 6 Information Technology
91498
Total
R371, 924 million
Conclusion
Honourable Speaker, let me take this opportunity to send special thanks to the honourable Premier, MmeThandi Modise for her visionary leadership and support, my Colleagues in the Executive Council ,the Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee and
the Public Accounts Committee respectively and Honourable Members of the Provincial Legislature.
Special thanks to the Acting Head of the Department together with his Management Team As well as all employees for their dedication and diligence.
I further wish to acknowledge the important role of various political parties in the Legislature and Special thanks to the ANC, my political home and its leadership for the trust you have bestowed upon me.
To various stakeholders and people of the Platinum Province we say thank you very for the support that you are giving us, it has not gone unnoticed.
To my beloved family thank you very much, and to the pillar of my strength, my Wife Lucia who celebrate her birthday today, thank you very much for the warmth and support you have always given me. I really appreciate.
I wish you happy birthday, and wish tosay '0 gole o tlhogole, Modimo a go okeletse matsatsi gore o tswelle o ntshegetse'
I thank you all.
Ke le Leboga llotlhe.
Pula........Pula................Pula.
