Chairperson
Speaker
Deputy Speaker
Members of the Provincial Legislature
Mayors and Councillors of Local Government
Amakhosi Present
Director-General and Heads of Departments
Excellences, Members of the Diplomatic Corps
Distinguished guests
Ladies and gentlemen
Introduction
Madam Speaker
We wish to start by thanking this opportunity to present the Vote 1 Budget, The Office of the Premier.
Chairperson
Let me first express my condolences to the Mathaba Family following the untimely death of Inkosi Khayelihle Mathaba. Sithi akwehlanga olungehli kumndeni nesizwe sonke saseMacambini.
Before tabling my budget, allow me Honourable Speaker to take this opportunity and wish all our women in KZN a Happy Women’s month. We further take this opportunity to thank all those who participated and contributed in ensuring that our province hosts a successful National Women’s Day, which took place at King Zwelithini Stadium on Saturday the 9th of August.
Madam Speaker
Our budget speeches and debates this year coincide with the women’s month. It is important to observe this month not only for its relevance in the current dispensation in terms of the continuing struggle for women empowerment and emancipation but also of importance as an acknowledgement of the contribution by all our heroines in the long struggle for freedom, liberation and women’s rights in our country.
We would like to express our commitment to the cause for a better life for our women in our province by dealing with a range of issues affecting women. Amongst others, we will continue to strengthen Campaigns against Social Ills, Promote women empowerment programmes in areas such as Community Development, Leadership and cooperatives and as well as supporting Small Micro and Medium Enterprises, in general but particularly those led by women. It is my firm belief that these programmes should start with a concerted and targeted focus on the holistic development of a girl-child, in and out of school.
Such a focus should be able to mitigate on incidents such as the one reported that regrettably befell a young girl (21) *Nomandla Ndlanzi, from iSiphingo who was raped at her residence and was consequently taken in by relatives at iNkandla, where she got raped again in the bushy forest nearby, while looking for an alternative shelter as her relatives had disowned her following reported family scuffles. When she finally found a “good Samaritan” who lived with a boyfriend and they took this young Lady in, the boyfriend allegedly raped her again. Nomandla was admitted to a place of safety on the 7 August 2014, we commend the relevant departments for the relief interventions provided on the matter.
On a positive note though, the targeted approach, we herein refer, on a girl-child could help propel and unleash their potential as well as broaden their horizons on heights imaginable, like it happened with Nonhlanhla Radebe (29) who is not only a Black Female Pilot who hails from KZN and is currently employed by the SA Express but has now opened a Black Owned Aviation Academy known as Vukani Flying and Aviation Academy. We congratulate her and many more in her league. Through our Gilrl-Child Focus we do hope to reach and help girls in the similar situation as Nomandla, in the same breath we hope our efforts should produce more of young girls like Nonhlanhla Radebe.
*not real name*
Honourable Members
The current term of Government in the whole country is about intensifying efforts at improving the socio-economic conditions of the majority of our people and providing good governance that delivers on our people’s heartfelt and pressing needs.
The budget of the Office of the Premier is basically dedicated to pursuing courses such as the one indicated above but most importantly to ensure and strengthen coordination, monitoring, support and evaluation of Provincial Government Programmes, providing leadership as well as coordination and facilitation of transversal programmes.
Our budget, in the main, is guided by the following three provisions:
1. National Priorities
a. Education
b. Health
c. Rural Development
d. Job Creation
e. Fighting Crime and Corruption
2. Provincial Priorities
a. Eradication of the scourge of HIV & AIDS
b. Eradication of Slums and Informal Settlements
c. Sustainable Development and Livelihoods for Vulnerable groups and Communities
3. NDP and PGDP
Through the above, we seek to ensure that our communities get empowered and capacitated to assume a more involved role in their own development and to be active participants in the opportunities that our democratic dispensation have to offer.
In the State of the Province Address, I stated, amongst other things, that we will heighten our focus on Job Creation, Rural Development, Youth Development and Good Governance to improve service delivery. With the Office of the Premier as the centre of governance, the budget that we present today empowers us to drive the province, mobilise all Provincial resources and gear the public service to delivering with speed on the above priorities.
This is no longer the time to theorise but to implement, to this end we have demonstrated our resolve and commitment to Economic Growth, Food Security and Job Creation by commissioning two Labs through an Operation Phakisa Approach, which will focus on Makhathini Flats and Poverty Eradication respectively. Both these labs will start their work during this very month of August 2014 are tasked with coming out with a practical impact and out-comes based implementation plans, which will not only touch people’s lives but change them for the better.
Organisational Structure
Madam Speaker, as I now move to the present the Budget of the Office of the Premier for the 2014/15 Financial Year, I must emphasise and preface this section by indicating that I have been confronted with a set generic Budget Programme structure which is not aligned to the new Organisational Structure of the Department. We have already engaged with National Treasury to revise the Budget Programme Structure, but for the purpose of this Budget Speech, I will still have to report on the existing Budget Structure.
The new Organogram for the Office of the Premier provides for four main Branches, namely:
- Executive Support and Stakeholder Management
- Institutional Development and Integrity Management
- Macro Policy and Strategic Planning
- Corporate Services
Chairperson
Office of the Premier, as centre of Governance is also responsible for the Coordination of Transversal Mandates which we coordinate through the following Forums.
Provincial Councils and programmes:
- Provincial Council on HIV & AIDS
- Human Resource Development Council
- Provincial Planning Commission
- Climate Change Council
- KZN Poverty Eradication Programme & Operation Sukuma Sakhe (OSS)
- Inkululeleko Development Projects
Public Participation and awareness about the above programmes, particularly at community level will be done through the integrated approach and machinery of OSS. Hence it is important to continue to ensure that War-Rooms are not only community driven and coordinated but are supported to be functional and open platforms for communities and civil society structures to engage and actively participate in their development, with the ultimate objective or speeding and expanding the reach and surface of service delivery programmes.
Madam Speaker
As qualified above, for the purposes of this Budget Presentation I will now focus on the generic Budget Structure Programmes namely:
- Administration
- Institutional Development
- Policy and Governance
The total budget for the Office of the Premier for the 2014/15 financial year is R 697, 159 million.
Programme 1: Administration (R 205, 990 Million)
The purpose of this Programme is to provide administrative support to the Premier, Executive Council (Cabinet) and the Director-General in fulfilling their executive functions and promoting co-operative governance and ensuring sound financial management support and advisory services within the Office of the Premier. There are four Sub-Programmes supporting this programme, namely Premier Support, Executive Council Support, Director-General Support and Financial Management.
The Premier Support Sub-Programme has been allocated a budget of R 29, 786 million to provide technical, administrative and advisory support to the Premier in executing his constitutional mandate.
The Executive Council Support Sub-Programme has been allocated a budget of R 9, 618 million to render secretariat support services to the Executive Council, Executive Council Izindaba, Clusters and key provincial committees.
The Director-General Support Sub-Programme has been allocated a budget of R26, 651 million to provide administrative support to the Director-General in strategically managing the province.
The Financial Management Sub-Programme has been allocated a budget of R139, 935 million to provide sound financial management support and advisory services for the entire department.
Included in this Sub-Programme is the Integrity Management unit with its primary priority, to mitigate and eliminate incidences of unethical conduct by government officials with a view to improving good governance. This unit therefore has as its strategic goal, instilling an organisational culture of integrity in the provincial administration through the coordination and facilitation of the implementation and management of the KwaZulu-Natal Anti-Fraud and Anti-corruption Strategy.
Also included in this Sub-Programme is the funding for the Ntambanana Project, these funds will be used for the provision of piped water and proper roads.
Programme 2: Institutional Development (R 194, 158 Million)
The purpose of this programme is to improve service delivery through institutional capacity building and transformation management in the province.
This programme comprises of the following sub-programmes: Strategic Human Resources, Legal Services, Information Communications Technology and Communication Services.
Sub-Programme: Strategic Human Resources (R102, 035 million)
This Sub-Programme’s functions is to coordinate and monitor the customisation, development and implementation of human resources policies, systems, programmes and plans for the province.
The Training Academy will focus on ensuring that provincial departments comply with human resource and skills development legislation and prescripts. One of the key priorities will be to train 7 000 public servants on generic transversal courses, as well as leadership and management courses. The Training Academy will continue with the roll-out of mandatory programmes, namely Promotion of Administrative Justice Act (PAJA), Promotion of Access to Information Act (PAIA) and the Compulsory Induction Programme (CIP).
While continuing to support departments with the normal Adult Education and Training Programme, the AET unit will expand its role in ensuring continuous development through short skills programmes in financial literacy, computer literacy and trade. The training of tradesman aides to become artisans will be expanded to include more departments.
Work will continue on all the learnership, internship and apprenticeship programmes/projects targeting youth not in employment, education and training. Existing projects will be managed and new projects implemented based on funding from SETAs and the National Skills Fund (NSF).
In 2013, Executive Council pronounced the centralisation of the bursaries budget under OTP. This process commenced with the transfer of funds in 2013/14 from various departments to OTP. The centralisation will assist the province in regulating the Provincial Bursary programme and will ensure that the public and private sector are fed with adequate, relevant and critical skills.
Sub-Programme: Information Communication Technology (ICT) (R25, 366 million)
The Programme was established to coordinate Provincial Government Information and Communication Technology in the Province as well as manage Information Technology in the Office of the Premier. The Information Technology Sub-Programme derives its mandate from the Public Service Act and Regulations. All ICT goods and services are procured via SITA in terms of the SITA Act and Regulations.
This Sub-Programme has various interesting projects to be implemented in the 2014/15 including the full migration to Microsoft and later in the year the introduction to Microsoft Lync which will provide for better innovative communication within the department. The Enterprise Content Management (ECM) for the Executive Council will be rolled out in 2014/15 and shows the adoption of technologies in the department aligned to the business of the department.
The optimisation process of the Provincial Nerve Centre is at a crucial stage, having taken all users through change management and business re-engineering processes in performance management.
During 2014/15, more advanced analytics in respect of shaping the Provincial Growth Development Plans and its implementation, costing of targets, establishing demand for services, and forecasting will be given more attention. The second generation performance management system will be developed further to be used by departments for self-assessment and to develop corrective measures. The HODs’ Assessment Tool will consolidate all departmental assessments into a consolidated report. Service delivery optimisation at district level is a key component of this iteration, with an expanded data warehouse serving all war-rooms.
Sub-Programme: Legal Services (R12,156 million)
This Sub-Programme has the function of rendering a comprehensive and professional internal legal advisory service to the Office of the Premier and a comprehensive, professional, inter-departmental, transversal state law advisory service to the respective provincial line function departments protecting the interests of the entire province.
A critical priority for this Government and its Departments, within the framework of the Constitution and national legislation and policy, is to establish the most appropriate legal framework and legal basis for service delivery in the Province.
Since 2009, over 40 Bills (initiated largely by the Provincial Executive) have been certified by the State Law Advisors for introduction in the Provincial Legislature. In terms of subordinate legislation, over 22 sets of Regulations were certified since 2009. Since 2009, 5 Proclamations by the Premier have been certified.
The Office of the Premier has embarked on the Audit of, and Compliance with, Laws Project which provides for the co-ordination and facilitation of the audit of, and compliance with, all laws administered by the respective Provincial Departments. The Project began in April 2011 and is linked to Strategic Goal 5 of the Office of the Premier: To oversee the development and implementation of legislation. The Project is important to the province of KwaZulu-Natal because it continues the process of ensuring alignment of provincial legislation to the Constitution and ensuring that, in compliance with the principles of Constitutionalism and Rule of Law, there must be a legal basis and legal authority for every good governance measure, programme or structure in the Province.
The KwaZulu-Natal Public Sector Lawyers’ Forum (KZN PSLF) functions as an intra-governmental structure within the administration of the KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Government to coordinate the provision of legal services across provincial departments given the decentralised system of legal services currently obtaining in the administration of the Provincial Government.
The KZN PSLF also plays and important role in the Audit of, and Compliance with, Laws Project as the primary reports and inputs in relation to the Project must be made to the KZN PSLF by Managers: Legal Services attached to the various provincial departments.
MECs and HODs are, accordingly, requested to ensure that their legal personnel regularly attend, and contribute to, meetings of the KZN PSLF. Where the Manager: Legal Services of a legal component is, for justifiable reasons not able to attend, he or she must ensure that they send a representative (duly and properly informed and briefed) to attend and participate and report as may be required, on behalf of the relevant Manager: Legal Services.
I strongly recommend incorporating the responsibilities of attendance of, participation in, and reporting to, the KZN PSLF in the Performance Agreements of the Managers: Legal Services on which they are to be assessed.
Where there is non-attendance with no apology, I would expect HoDs to take the necessary action (including disciplinary measures).
Given the decentralised system of legal services in the administration of the Provincial Government, we are also on the eve of implementing an Electronic Legislation and Litigation Management System (ELLMS) which will assist in obtaining up to date information in respect of legislation and litigation and critical information in respect of the implementation of the Promotion of Access to Information Act (PAIA) and the Promotion of Administrative Justice Act (PAJA) in the Province.
Accessing information, especially in respect of the state of litigation in the respective provincial departments, has proven to be a challenge and it is hoped that this new system will provide the mechanism to facilitate the desired change. The cooperation of all provincial departments is crucial to ensure the usefulness and success of the new system. The Managers: Legal Services in the respective departments will be provided with user identification and passwords to access the system. They will be responsible for inputting the required and relevant data onto the system and for updating this information regularly and I expect the relevant Heads of Department to hold their Managers: Legal Services accountable for their responsibilities in this regard. Where there is non-compliance, HODs would be expected to take the necessary action (including disciplinary measures).
The new Electronic Legislation and Litigation Management System will integrate fully with the Provincial Nerve Centre and authorised users will be able to access the system and draw reports from the database which will, amongst others, incorporate detailed information on the status of litigation in the Province, including costs, trends and briefing patterns.
In expanding the functionality and relevance of the Provincial Nerve Centre, the database of the Nerve Centre will ultimately form an integrated Electronic Content Management System which will, initially, be implemented in the Executive Council Office and subsequently rolled out to all departments within the administration of the Province.
Sub-Programme: Communication Services (R54, 601 million)
This comprises of Government Communication Services. I have instructed that this Chief Directorate be linked directly to the Premier Support Component. Government Communication Services aims to provide an integrated and co-ordinated Government Communication Service in KwaZulu-Natal and to create a vibrant dialogue between the Office of the Premier and the community by promoting a citizenship with positive moral values and enhance synergy with other Government Departments in service delivery.
Through various communication platforms, both traditional as in izimbizo, and more modern as in electronic, print, digital and social media, Provincial Government Communication Services has enhanced visibility in the community as a Government that remains firmly rooted among the people of KwaZulu-Natal. In addition to our Provincial Government Newspaper, Simama KZN, Communication Services will embark on initiatives in broadcasting in recognition of the power of radio to spread our message to the remotest parts of KwaZulu-Natal at relatively low cost.
Programme 3: Policy and Governance (R297, 011 million)
The purpose of this Programme is to initiate provincial-wide development and implementation of strategies and policies to achieve a coordinated approach towards sustainable provincial growth and development.
Governance and policy issues have been identified as key priorities in both the National Development Plan (NDP) and Provincial Growth and Development Plan. There is growing discontent with poor governance factors giving rise to poor service delivery. The need to ensure that not only Provincial Government but also Municipalities perform better is of critical importance. The Office of the Premier convenes Action Work Group 17, which is focussed on improving alignment, strengthening IGR and elevating understanding and importance of integrity issues.
This is also the Programme tasked to ensure that there is effective coordination of Strategic Management processes related to the development, implementation, reporting and analysing the impact of Strategic Plans, Annual Performance Plans, as well as Quarterly Performance Reports and Annual Reports of Departments. In this coordination special attention will be given to guide and monitor progress in respect of high level key priorities for the Province such as the ward based approach to the eradication of poverty through Operation Sukuma Sakhe, Youth Development, as well as human rights and the interest of the vulnerable sections of our community.
There are five Sub-Programmes supporting this programme, namely Special Programmes, Inter-Governmental Relations, Provincial Policy Management, Premier’s Priority Programmes and Heritage.
The department had undergone a strategic process which yielded a refined Vision and Mission statement aligned to the Provincial Government’s vision for 2030; as well as the Constitutional, legal and policy mandates relevant to the Office of the Premier. The goals and objectives have been aligned to the draft Medium Term Strategic framework, as per the instructions from the National and Provincial Treasury and Department of Monitoring and Evaluation. These are also aligned to the Provincial Growth and Development Plan of the Province. The Provincial Growth and Development Plan has been adopted as the blueprint for delivery in the Province and sets goals and objectives to be achieved.
The Office of the Premier as the centre of governance in the Province is responsible to coordinate, monitor and evaluate and advise on matters relating to the implementation of the PGDP.
Sub-Programme: Special Programmes (R40, 686 million)
This Sub-Programme’s function is to inculcate a culture of human rights, and promotion and protection of human and legal rights of the vulnerable populations, namely, women, children, older persons and people with disabilities and HIV and Aids.
The Office of the Premier will continue to drive a campaign to protect and generate respect for human rights, by facilitating an education campaign, coordinating human rights issues and ensuring compliance with constitutional mandates and the process of forming partnerships with municipalities in this regard will continue.
The establishment of gender forums at district and local municipalities and wards to isigodi (village) level will continue. Women’s Empowerment projects will be coordinated and critical stakeholders will be capacitated on gender mainstreaming.
The Active Ageing campaign will continue to be promoted throughout KZN and inter-generational programmes will be held. Human rights capacity building among local leadership and communities will be enhanced. The human rights education campaign will be driven among community structures.
Sub-Programme: Inter-governmental Relations (R10, 936 million)
Effective delivery of government services can only be achieved through a well-coordinated machinery involving all the spheres of government. Our constitution enjoins the different spheres of government to work together in terms of the principle of cooperative governance. It is therefore incumbent on all the spheres of government to work together to ensure cooperative good governance. In this regard, we will work at strengthening coordination between the provincial government and local government through, amongst others, the inter-governmental institutions such as the Executive Council Clusters, the Premier’s Coordinating Forum and the Inter-Governmental Relations Forum. We also aim at developing protocols of engagement with National Government departments to ensure a well-structured and seamless delivery of services by all the spheres of government.
I am pleased to announce that we have already made great strides in fostering coherence between the national and provincial government strategic policy imperatives. In this regard, our Provincial Growth and Development Plan is now fully aligned to the National Development Plan. Efforts are underway to ensure that this coherence and alignment cascades down even to ward level. This alignment will ensure that there is a focused strategic content and engagement in terms of our inter-governmental relations. This will also ensure that there is effective provision of service to our people by one government, effective implementation of government policy and effective realisation of national priorities.
We will also strengthen the provincial protocol unit which is now a fully-fledged directorate in the Office of the Premier. This unit has an important role to play to ensure that our government protocol service is of a high standard.
KwaZulu-Natal’s (KZN) commitment to the African Agenda includes assisting in the post conflict reconstruction and development of African states. African states can be a source of economic growth for KZN in international forums. It is of strategic importance that the province forges well developed relations and links with African nations.
For 2014/15, bi-lateral relations with KwaZulu-Natal’s partners both in the developing and developed world will continue to be utilised by KwaZulu-Natal to identify opportunities for political cooperation, climate change initiatives, as well as promoting socio-economic development of our province.
KwaZulu-Natal will focus on the strengthening of economic diplomacy for the promotion of its trade, investment and tourism potential. The main focus of KwaZulu-Natal’s bi-lateral diplomacy will be to maintain and enhance sound bi-lateral political relations, promote trade and investment, intensify cooperation and capacity building in various fields, implement infrastructure development and promote peace and development.
The years ahead would therefore see our international strategy oriented towards not only ensuring KwaZulu-Natal’s domestic success but also internationally, as a geopolitical and economic player at the global level.
Sub-Programme: Provincial Policy Management (R57, 588 million)
This Sub-Programme consists of the Policy Development and Co-ordination unit, Monitoring and Evaluation unit and the Provincial Planning unit. The strategic objective of this sub-programme is to initiate provincial wide development and implementation of policies and strategies to achieve a co-ordinated approach towards sustainable growth and development, achieving coordinated policies, strategies and programmes and ensuring successful implementation through monitoring and evaluation.
Macro Policy Development & Coordination
The purpose of this Unit is to improve the Public Policy Management capacity and policy responsiveness of the Provincial Government, as well as to manage and coordinate macro policy, research, strategy and Planning in KwaZulu-Natal. As of the current financial year this Unit will now also responsible for guiding the Strategic Planning processes of all Provincial Departments and State Owned Entities, by receiving and assessing their Strategic Plans and Annual Performance Plans. This Unit is also to become the core of the Secretariat for the Provincial Planning Commission.
Monitoring and Evaluation
The Monitoring and Evaluation Unit tracks the accomplishment of the Provincial sector targets set on the Provincial Programme of Action. This is done under the auspices of the Government Wide Monitoring and Evaluation System.
The strategic objective of this unit is to establish and implement a fully functional, integrated, automated Province wide-Government monitoring and evaluation system.
The Provincial Monitoring & Evaluation system in the Office of the Premier has been automated through the Provincial Nerve Centre. The Provincial Nerve Centre is an integrated enterprise system bringing Government and the people together in the context of growth and development through information communication technology.
In intensifying service delivery as the new term of the administration is realised, it is necessary to have timely and accurate data to reliably inform the Provincial Executive Council of an accurate picture of the Province. The Provincial Nerve Centre is fast developing to be the Provincial repository of both administrative and secondary data.
Creating an integrated view for the citizen also pushes government to act as one front and information clearing house for the citizens using local information for planning.
The Office of the Premier holds an oversight role in the governmental structure of the provincial government and as such is mandated to be reliably informed of the status of government.
Furthermore coordination and integration driven by monitoring & evaluation strategy contributes to effective Service Delivery. It is therefore critical that a centre be strengthened and requires that all arms of government to work together. Such is the function of the Provincial Nerve Centre.
The Provincial Nerve Centre has been developed in stages driving immediate, medium and long term performance solutions creating a single enterprise so that citizens feel a sense of belonging and identify with the household framework and interventions thereof as well as 12 outcome results solution, all of which demonstrates governments services to the citizenry through extensive use of administrative and secondary data. Each outcome which represents a myriad of development activities can be viewed through dashboards providing high level performance with the added provision to also disaggregate to district, local and ward level.
All of the Provincial Government Departments performance data against key performance indicators is monitored on a quarterly basis using an automated performance measurement system. This comprehensive twelve outcome reporting system with early warnings is being finalised with dashboards data.
In line with Medium Term Strategic Framework, the twelve outcomes based approach has been systematically designed into the KZN Integrated Program of Action. All Provincial Departments routine data has been reporting working closely with the cluster system as vital coordinating mechanisms.
The Outcome based approach is being mainstreamed ensuring all Provincial Governments’ Departments plans and performance measures are aligned to the Medium Term Strategic Framework and Millennium Development Goals and other such policy obligations. New reporting measures that are results based, that offer a value ads have been introduced in the Province.
Provincial Planning Commission
The Provincial Planning Commission (PPC) was established by a resolution of the Executive Council in February 2011 and was fully functional in 2011/12. The functions of the PPC are similar to those of the National Planning Commission and are to advise and make recommendations to the Premier and the Provincial Executive on:
- A long-term strategic development perspective and vision of the province.
- Ensuring coherence in policy development and planning across the provincial government.
- Strengthening performance monitoring and evaluation to enable assessment of the pace required to deliver on the desired outcomes.
The work of the KZN PPC has shifted focus from developing the Plan to oversee implementation and building capacity to enable sound and responsible monitoring, evaluation and reporting.
Largely as a result of the work undertaken and managed by the KZN PPC, this Province is now in a position where we have not only mapped out our own growth path to 2030, with clear targets and interventions to guide us along the way, but we also know exactly what our contribution has to be to ensure the successful implementation of the National Development Plan. A further important achievement is that this was developed through an elaborate process of consultation and is fully endorsed by organised business, labour and civil society in the Province.
Since 2013 the focus has been driving the implementation of the PGDP. An extensive institutional framework has been adopted and government, business, labour and civil society is working together in 18 PGDP Action Work Groups who are reporting progress with implementation to the Executive Council Clusters on a monthly basis. The monitoring and evaluation of the PGDP process is therefore now fully in place. The immediate focus will be to expand on the momentum that has been achieved thus far and to ensure that the Plan remains aligned to the National Medium Term Strategic Framework (MTSF).
The primary focus of the KZN PPC in the 2014/15 Financial Year will be to strengthen mechanisms to support the implementation, monitoring, evaluation and reporting of the PGDP. The PGDP will be assessed against the newly adopted 14 Outcomes of the MTSF and adjustments will be made in time to present the 2014 Version of the PGDP to the Executive Council Lekgotla.
The KZN PPC will also work closely with other departments to pursue key provincial priorities, such as with the:
- Department of Economic Development, Tourism and Environmental Affairs on growing the KZN Economy and promoting the Maritime Sector and the development of the KZN Aerotropolis;
- Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs on the formalisation of rural settlements and community service centres;
- Agriculture and Rural Development on the resolution of blockages in promoting commercial agriculture and fast tracking resolution of land reform initiatives; and
- Department of Transport and the Department of Public Works on strategic infrastructure development in the Province
Sub-Programme: Heritage (R67, 571 million)
The strategic goal governing the Heritage Sub-Programme is to highlight, conserve, manage and promote awareness of the cultural resources of the province.
In keeping with the strategic goal of the unit, various initiatives to be embarked upon will range from the strengthening of the institutional infrastructure which will enable local community participation in Provincial Heritage Management in the form of District Heritage Forums while the profiling of marginalised heritage resources will have to continue in the form of various events planned for the year. The Provincial Heritage Resources Authority in the form of Amafa will also receive funding to deliver on its mandate, while a fair amount of activity will also focus on the operationalisation of the newly enacted provincial heritage legislation.
The overarching strategic goal of the Sub-Programme: Heritage is to coordinate the transformation and management of heritage resources in the province. This objective is achieved by:
- Coordinating the profiling of previously marginalised heritage resources in the province.
- Erecting monuments which represent the sentiments of people whose living heritage is embodied in the memorial.
- Conducting heritage related research
- Developing relevant heritage policies and regulations
- Monitor the implementation of heritage prescripts
- Providing effective oversight to the operations of a Provincial Heritage Authority
In the 2014/15 financial year the department will among other things seek to strengthen the District Heritage Forum structures in the province and continue with its phased approach in terms of their establishment. The department will continue conducting cutting edge research on specific areas of heritage. The department will also continue with the identification, profiling and preservation of critical tangible and living heritage resources previously marginalised and threatened with extinction.
Sub-Programme: Premier’s Priority Programmes (R120, 230 million)
Under this Sub-Programme the focus is inter alia on Stakeholder Coordination, Strategic Partnerships, Community Outreach and Special Projects, Operation Sukuma Sakhe, and the new Chief Directorate responsible for Youth.
Youth Chief Directorate
As per pronouncement in the State of the Province address, a Chief Directorate will be established for Youth. I must emphasize that radical economic transformation is not possible if our people and our youth in particular, are not schooled, trained and skilled to take up their space in this economy. In line with this, the KZN Human Resource Development Council will establish dedicated Task Teams for the implementation of the Youth Employment Strategy. The Office of the Premier will focus on hosting youth development initiatives to create an opportunity for youth dialogue, focusing on issues affecting the youth namely, poverty, economic and financial issues, health issues, career opportunities, teenage pregnancies, crime and violence, substance abuse, amongst other things.
Chairperson
As part of the reconfiguration of the Youth Directorate I am convening a Youth Summit on the 22nd of August 2014. It is hoped that Summit will bring together all youth formations in the Province to work out a concrete programme action for youth development in the Province. I take this opportunity to invite all the youth in the Province to participate for together we can take this Province forward.
Revenue
It is noted that the revenue collected has decreased substantially because the bulk of the revenue collected by the Office of the Premier was mainly in respect of Tax receipts, which consists of Casino taxes and Horse racing taxes, and this revenue is now reflected against Vote 6: Provincial Treasury as a result of the function shift.
Included in revenue is the introduction of parking fees, as well as fees for tender documents, which were not charged in previous years. Also included is interest on staff debts.
The department is very conservative in terms of budgeting over the MTEF for the sale of capital assets. This is due to the difficulty of anticipating revenue from this category as it depends on the age of the department’s assets, as well as price attained at the auction.
Conclusion
Chairperson as I table vote 1 let me exhort this government to hard work to improve the quality of life of our people. They deserve nothing less. While we may face seemingly insurmountable challenges we need to steel ourselves and focus on the tasks ahead. Victory will not depend on whether our challenges are tough or not but whether we have the will to overcome them or not. This is what Mahatma Gandhi meant when he stated, “Strength does not come from physical capacity. It comes from an indomitable will.”
This Chairperson is our recipe to success – ‘an indomitable will’ to overcome all our challenges.
I now take this opportunity Chairperson to thank the Director-General, Mr NVE Ngidi and the staff of the Office of the Premier for their commitment and dedication but also to say I expect more from them. I also wish to thank my family for supporting me all the time as I go about my duties.
With peace, democracy and development having been achieved, KwaZulu-Natal can now only grow further, economically and socially, to achieve a better life for all.
I now formally wish to table Vote 1 with a budget of R697, 159 million before the Legislature.
Let us embrace a Hope for a Better Future!
