Eastern Cape State of the Province Address by Honourable Premier, Noxolo Kiviet

Honourable Speaker and Deputy Speaker
Members of the Executive Council
Members of the Provincial Legislature and Delegates of the
National Council of Provinces
Ministers and Deputy Ministers
Members of the National Assembly
Speakers from our sister Legislatures
Chairperson of SALGA – Eastern Cape
Executive Mayors, Mayors and Councillors
IiKumkani zethu zonke
Chairperson of the Provincial House of Traditional Leaders
Iinkosi ezikhoyo phakathi kwethu
Vice Chancellors and leaders of our Tertiary Institutions
Religious leaders, business community and representatives of civil society
Members of the Judiciary, and Heads of the security services
Members of the diplomatic and consular corps
Director-General and senior members of our administration
Members of the media
Distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen

Honourable Speaker, allow me to take this opportunity to greet the masses of our people, who are listening to this address through a number of community radio stations. I am also aware that people have gathered at various venues across the province to listen to us today, including:

Sibi Community Hall in Matatiele, Alfred Nzo District;
Kathanga Community Hall in Adelaide, Amathole District;
Viedgesville Thusong Services Centre in Mthatha, OR Tambo District;
Hellenvale Community Centre in Port Elizabeth, Nelson Mandela Metro;
Dodrecht Thusong Centre in Dodrecht, Chris Hani District;
Venterstad Thusong Centre in Venterstad, Joe Gqabi District; as well as Waterford Community Hall in Jansenville, Cacadu District.

Molweni mawethu kuzo zonke ezondawo nikuzo!
Lumelang chaba sesitle sa Kapa Botjhabela le baeti, bana ba thari entsho !
Ek voel geëerd om weereens aan die mense van die Oos Kaap toe te spreek oor die toestand van ons geliefde provinsie.

Honourable Speaker, as we mark the 21st anniversary of his release from prison, we would also like to salute Isithwalandwe, former President Nelson Rholihlahla Mandela – uDalibhunga - a living legend of our revolution and a true father of our nation. We thank God for his improving state of health, so that he may be with us as we celebrate his 93rd birthday anniversary on 18 July this year.

Indeed we look forward to marking the third Nelson Mandela Day, which, as Honourable Members will recall, was declared by the United Nations as a day on which everybody in the whole world must do a good deed for 67 minutes. The masses of our people will also pray that Madiba sees his beloved African National Congress reach a century, and partake in its centenary celebrations in 2012.

Fellow compatriots, let us also take a moment to bow in honour of all our dearly departed fellow citizens and comrades, who have made sterling contributions in various walks of life in support of our agenda for development. While we may not be able to mention all of them here, we recall with sadness and with fond memories in particular the following: Thobile Sithili ”Phunya” Bam; Nomonde NoTuesday Bam; Ukumkani Zwelenkosi Matanzima; uNkosi T. Diko, uNkosi ET Lutuka, uNkosi GM Mabandla, uNkosi L Mditshwa, kunye noNkosi Gwadiso; umama uNokwanda Matanzima; Mme Ntoetsi Moshoeshoe; uNkosana Happyboy ”Magxelesha” Mgxaji; Mveleli Luzipho; Raymond Uren; Mthuthuzeli Tom; Jongilizwe James Ntlabathi; Wilberforce Mdoda; ubawo uSimon Silangwe; Akhona Geveza, and Dr Noluthando Mpola.

Honourable Speaker, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission is engaged in a process of retrieving the remains of all those comrades who fell in various battlefields during the course of our national liberation. Names of people who have already been exhumed include that of utata uTitus Terror Jobo, whose remains were exhumed from Lesotho and reburied in his place of birth at Middledrift; as well as those of the six veterans of Poqo: Zibongile Serious Dodo, Nontasi Albert Tshweni, Jim Mountain Ngantweni, Donker Ntsabo, Vuyisile Sharps Qoba, and Mqokeleli Gladstone Mqulwana, whose remains were buried with dignity in Lady Frere in December 2010. There are still more bodies of Eastern Cape activists who have been exhumed from Robben Island and are currently awaiting finalisation of DNA tests before they can be handed over to their families for dignified burial.

Honourable Speaker, ladies and gentlemen, fellow citizens of our beautiful province, in the face of what may seem to be insurmountable challenges, we are certain that we are making progress. This year marks the midpoint in our quest to complete the tasks instructed by our people to undertake in this term, which include dealing decisively with the scourge of crime; improving access to education, creating decent work, improving access to health, and developing rural areas.

Eighteen months after the resounding renewal of the African National Congress mandate by our people, slowly, and with a growing sureness of touch, we are certain that good progress is indeed being made. This reminds me of Karl Marx when he said in a letter to his father in 1837:“There are moments ... which are like frontier posts marking the completion of a period but at the same time clearly indicating a new direction. At such a moment ... we feel compelled to view the past and the present with the eagle eye of thought in order to become conscious of our real position.”

As we gather here today, we will reflect on the work we have done so far, and we identify the tasks that we have to undertake in advancing the mandate given to us as the ANC led government. We are emerging from a period characterised, among others, by the global recession with its attendant effect on the domestic economy; ever growing cost of service provision leading to pressures on health and education; growing demand for state intervention in the economic and social sectors; as well as declining public revenue.
Despite this environment, we are recording progress in many areas of our provincial priorities.

Honourable Speaker, with regards to the creation of decent work and growing the economy, we are inspired by the leadership demonstrated by our President in the State of the Nation Address where he highlighted: setting of job creation targets by various organs of government; the key sectors that must drive economic growth; the need for collaboration with other key players such as business and labour; the promotion of small business, as well as the expanded public works programme.

We have completed the Provincial Industrial Development Strategy and have identified the sectors that can create jobs and diversify the economy. These are aligned with the sectors that are being prioritised by national government. These include the automotive and components sector, in which we have had significant new investments in 2010; the renewables and the green industries, which are again showing good growth this year; agriculture and agro-processing; forestry and timber processing; pharmaceuticals; plastics and petro-chemicals; capital goods, and tourism.

We are greatly encouraged by the vision of the New Growth Path, and its target to create 5 million jobs in the country by 2020. In the province we will therefore work tirelessly with national government to ensure that we access our provincial share of the R9 billion Jobs Fund, the R10 billion that has been set aside by the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) for high jobs activities, and the R20 billion for tax breaks in the manufacturing sector.

Honourable members, commendable progress has been made.In spite of losing more than 100 000 jobs, we have seen unemployment start to decrease from 30 percent in 2009 to 27.2 percent at the end of 2010. Critical interventions that have enabled this decrease include the Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP), through which we created 72 339 job opportunities to date, far above our target of 68 591 jobs. Of these, 28 089 are jobs that benefitted young people, while women and people with disabilities benefitted with 28 336 and 424 respectively. This brings us to a total of over 180 000 jobs over the past two years against the target of 132 786 with the infrastructure and “non-state” being the top two performing sectors.

We will develop measures aimed at expanding the EPWP in the province. To this end, our target is to create 88 684 job opportunities in the coming financial year. We further call upon the private sector in particular to partner with us in this regard by leading a programme of job creation in the province as part of their contribution to the ideal of a better life for all.

Depending on global conditions, economic growth in the Province is forecast to reach 3.6 percent by 2012. This suggests that we will be able to sustain the trend of improving the employment figures in the province. Our programme to further accelerate job creation this year includes the development of the provincial chapter of the New Growth Path as a Provincial Economic Development Blue-print. This will be done in the context of the review of the Provincial Growth and Development Plan which will inform our medium to long-term development perspectives.

New investments, which will provide approximately 600 direct and more than 1 000 indirect jobs, were attracted to the East London Industrial Development Zone. These include R140 million in Sunningdale Dairy; R152 million in Matla Diamond Cutting & Polishing; and R137 million in Matla Solar Energy. Coega has also secured the Cape Concentrates Tomato Paste project, which will create 180 direct jobs and 3 000 jobs on farms.

Furthermore, significant new investments have also been made in the auto and components sector. Daimler AG has awarded sole rights to Daimler Benz to produce the new C-Class model, the W205. Such an investment of R2 billion will result in the creation of 2 000 jobs during the training and preparation phase. This will further position Daimler Benz to access the national incentives as announced by our President.

Between 2007 and 2010 VWSA invested R4,5 billion in the Uitenhage plant, thus ensuring that workers are not retrenched but instead created about a 1000 jobs in the production of the new Polo for world markets. Over the same period VWSA increased their local content to over 65%, resulting to about 700 new jobs being created by component supplier companies. This year, VWSA will spend R500 million on the new state of the art press shop. During the 3^rd quarter of 2010 General Motors commissioned Pan Africa Distribution Centre in the Coega Logistics cluster to the value of R250 million. This development safeguards about 120 jobs which would have been lost to Gauteng. Furthermore, an investment by Bentley Automotive of R178 million in the Nelson Mandela Bay Logistics Park in Uitenhage, will create 250 jobs.

We are also investing in the province’s future by partnering with our higher education institutions to develop two science and techno parks in East London and the Nelson Mandela Metro. These science parks will drive innovation and technology development to ensure that we have a globally competitive industry and sustainable jobs for generations to come.

As we move forward into the next financial year, in line with our President’s call, all Eastern Cape government departments have been instructed to fill all funded vacancies by the end of June 2011.

Furthermore, each department will submit quarterly reports to the Office of the Premier indicating levels of job creation taking place in their respective line function areas. In this exercise we will also pay special attention to the employment of young people, women and persons with disability.

Honourable Speaker, the task of building the economy of the province, such that we successfully defeat unemployment, also demands that we pay particular attention to infrastructure development. As the provincial government, we view and place infrastructure development at the centre of social and economic transformation. We remain determined to eradicate infrastructure backlogs in the shortest possible time taking into account the environment we operate within. Nonetheless, we are making progress.

The 2010 FIFA World Cup, which we successfully hosted, also enabled us to focus on tackling major infrastructural challenges. A state of the art stadium has been built in the Nelson Mandela Bay, which won the Consulting Engineers South Africa Glenrand MIB Engineering Excellence Award in 2010. The East London and Port Elizabeth airports have undergone major refurbishments. In addition, tourism infrastructure has been improved including the provision of quality training to 80 accommodation establishments as well as the training of 103 SMMEs in tourism enterprise development.

Honourable members, these days, passing through Mthatha has become difficult for good reasons, because of extensive road works on the N2 in and around town. This is as a result of the Presidential Intervention in the King Sabata Dalindyebo Municipality which is addressing issues of water and sanitation, energy and waste management, transport and mobility, as well as local economic and social development. Progress has been made in upgrading the Mthatha bulk water supply, which was completed and handed over to OR Tambo District in March 2010; as well as roads infrastructure upgrade from Viedgesville to Mthatha, including Madeira Road and Nelson Mandela Drive. A contract has been awarded for the construction of the new Mthatha River Bridge. Within two months, tenders will be issued for the renovation of the main building of the Mthatha Airport.

More unsurfaced roads in other parts of the province were upgraded to surfaced roads. This includes the 15,5 kilometres of surfaced road from Mqanduli past Zithulele Hospital to Lubanzi at a cost of R270 million, and 28km of the road from Mount Frere to Matatiele have been completed up to Cancele at a cost of R390 million. Working with South African National Roads Agency Limited (SANRAL), work has begun and plans are afoot to work on other national and provincial roads, including R61. We will also implement phase one, covering 10 km of surface road on T125 from KwaShinta to Siphethu Hospital this year.

We have built major health facilities such as a state-of-the-art Trauma Unit at Livingstone Hospital, as well as a science and technology complex in Uitenhage. Furthermore, a 40-bed Extreme Drug Resistance Unit is currently under construction at Jose Pearson TB Hospital, and is expected to be completed by the end of this financial year. Three hospital casualty areas were built and equipped with minimum medical equipment for treatment of casualties in three community hospitals at a cost of R2.9 million. These are the Cofimvaba Hospital, the Port St John’s Health Centre and the Taylor Bequest Hospital in Matatiele. As part of the Hospitals Revitalisation programme, about R1.5 billion has been set aside over a period of three years starting this year targeting the following hospitals: Cecilia Makiwane in Mdantsane, St. Patricks in Mbizana, St. Elizabeth in Lusikisiki and Frontier in Queenstown.

Ninety-one (91) libraries have been upgraded and are provided with ramps for easy access to people with disabilities. One hundred and nineteen (119) new schools as multi-year projects were completed in 2010, replacing mud and inappropriate structures. We welcome the announcement by the national Department of Basic Education to set aside an amount of R8 billion over a period of three years, the bulk of which will be directed to the Eastern Cape where the number of mud structures remains the highest. Regarding the provision of housing across the province, including mixed mode housing, 7 758 units were completed by January 2011.

There are currently about 14 000 housing units at various stages of construction throughout the province. We have introduced an Accelerated Delivery Plan which is intended to fast track the rate of delivery of housing projects in the province. In the coming financial year, we plan to deliver 15 419 housing units as well as services such as toilets and water tanks across the province. Over and above the normal conditional grant, the province will also be receiving an additional housing infrastructure funding of R500 million for Nelson Mandela Metro and R423 million for Buffalo City.

Honourable members, in response to the transport needs of our people, especially in rural areas, we have subsidised AB350 who in turn has provided 17 buses in the Lusikisiki area. This brings the number of buses provided in the Transkei to 111 and this concludes phases one and two of the AB 350 project. Furthermore, through state subsidy, buses of the Mayibuye Transport Corporation have increased from 48 to 62. We will also lobby national government and state-owned enterprises to support key strategic projects in the province which include the Umthombo PetroSA project in the Coega IDZ, the Emalahleni coal in Lady Frere, the Langa Solar PV park project which is to be established in Berlin, East London, as well as the Gehrlicher- Ikhwezi Pilot PV Park project in the East London IDZ.

We are also supporting the establishment of a plastics product manufacturing venture in Senqu (Lady Grey) through the provision of grant funding for capital equipment and business development support from ECDC. The venture has the potential to create 200 direct job opportunities targeting the youth over the next two years and supply the construction industry in the province with material thereby reducing leakages in the provincial economy through local procurement.

One of our flagship rural development programmes this year will be the Wild Coast Development Zone initiative. We will partner with United Nations agencies, national government, local government and private sector, to kick-start sustainable growth and development in the Wild Coast. Within three months a technical team will be deployed to package and fast-track implementation of projects in the areas of agriculture, forestry, agro-processing, and tourism, as well as infrastructure projects to revitalise small towns such as Port St Johns. We are confident that this initiative will leverage significant new public and private investment to the region, and create much needed jobs.

Honourable Speaker, rural development is a critical intervention for a province such as ours, as it calls for the establishment of meaningful economic development capacity in rural areas. As Honourable members will recall, at the beginning of this term, we made a commitment that, through our Rural Development Strategy, as a province which has suffered from a legacy of endemic rural poverty and underdevelopment, we would redouble our efforts to improve the quality of life of people in rural areas. The rationalisation of rural development entities into a single Eastern Cape rural development entity is at an advanced stage, with the new Rural Development Agency expected to come on stream in April 2011. Steps will also be taken to conclude, in the coming financial year, all technical processes towards the creation of a Rural Development Fund.

Lessons learnt from the Rural Development Pilot in Mhlontlo, whose success we reported to this House last year, are being applied in the rollout to a further site in Ward 11 at Ntabankulu in the OR Tambo District and in five other district municipalities, namely Dan Sandi village at Ikhwezi in Cacadu, Wards 1 and 8 at Ngcobo in Chris Hani, Ward 18 at Mbhashe in Amathole, Ward 6 at Elundini in Joe Gqabi, and Ward 14 at Mzimvubu in Alfred Nzo. Over 1 500 young people have also been recruited by the national Department of Rural Development and Agrarian Reform, for training and employment for a period of two years under the National Rural Youth Service Corps Programme.

With respect to our goal of revitalising agriculture in rural areas the total area allocated for maize production is 5 023 hectares, and the total area already under maize production is 4,441 hectares. Furthermore, government has committed an amount of more than R100m in revitalising agricultural schemes, including the Shiloh Irrigation Scheme which has now been completed. As part of this amount, R25 million has been allocated to the Ncora Irrigation Scheme, with a further R75 million from the national government. Moving forward, with increasing support from national government in the area of revitalisation of irrigation schemes, the province will spread the resources to cover a number of schemes in a financial year. We will also leverage on the pronouncements made by our President in the State of the Nation Address with respect to accessing funds set aside for provinces such as the Eastern Cape for the provision of water. With respect to agro processing, silos in Butterworth are being revived through cooperation between ASGISA-EC and the Eastern Cape Development Corporation. The construction of a silo to support the existing milling infrastructure at Mqanduli has been completed.

An amount of R7 million has been made available and is being used towards upgrading the silos in Butterworth. A total of R28.8 million has been spent on the fencing of 525 km that covers 6 125 hectares of arable land and a further 5 250 hectares of grazing land. By the end of December 2010, R34.8 million had been spent on farm infrastructure to support land reform beneficiaries in their farming operations with dipping tanks, small irrigation and internal fencing, and a further R25 million is committed for ongoing construction. Honourable Speaker, at the Congress of the People in Kliptown in 1955 our forbearers declared that the “doors of learning and culture shall be opened”. It is in pursuit of this historic undertaking that today strengthening education, and building a skills and human resources base remains one of our key strategic objectives.

In this regard I wish to, upfront, congratulate the matric class of 2010 for improved performance as evidenced by the increase in the pass rate from 51% in 2009 to 58,3%. In particular I wish to single out Andiswa Fandesi from St Johns College in Mthatha who obtained 100% pass in both mathematics and physical science. Andiswa is the first matriculant from the historically disadvantaged communities to obtain position two amongst the top achievers in the province. We have also observed slight improvements in the numeracy and literacy levels in lower grades after the introduction of the national assessment of grades 3, 6 and 9. We attribute this to the commitment of our educators, learners and the support of parents.

We accordingly commit ourselves and our partners to work together in ensuring the realisation of a 65% pass rate in matric for the 2011 class to be in line with national average. Batsoali ha re khuthatseng bana, thuto ke tshiya ea bophelo.

Over 3 322 students are being supported this financial year with bursaries to study at Higher Education and Further Education Institutions. We have also ensured that through the Human Resource Development Council initiatives, 90 Further Education and Training College lecturers are being trained in three universities, namely: Fort Hare, Walter Sisulu and Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University.

We welcome the Department of Higher Education and Training’s allocation to the province of R41 million for artisan development over a period of three years to continue with phase 2 of the Provincial Strategic Skills Project. We are also pleased to report on the successful implementation of the strategic skills project, which saw 2 669 unemployed youth across the province being placed in learnership, apprenticeship and internship programmes. Of these, 98 are reported to have found employment thus far. Honourable members, not withstanding these achievements, we should not fail to acknowledge the challenges facing education in our province, largely arising from very poor human resources planning and management; inefficiencies in supply chain and financial management systems; and weak controls. The practical manifestation of these has been the continued late delivery of stationery; the crisis brought about by the termination of contracts for thousands of temporary educators; and the glitches in the provision of school nutrition as well as scholar transport.

In response to these challenges we have implemented interventions in the form of the Education Turnaround Plan whose core elements are to ensure accuracy and credibility of information to support decision making through: Strengthening of internal controls with the intention to curb over-expenditure, eliminate and reduce accruals and litigations against the department, and curbing fraud and corruption, as well as Strengthening planning and monitoring functions, and improve the quality of reporting and accountability.

Through this plan, we will also ensure finalisation of various processes hindering the delivery of education support services, including proper costing and timely finalisation of post provisioning, procurement of LTSM for section 20 schools, provision of school nutrition programme and scholar transport. At the centre of our programme in this area is to bring about functionality and stability in our schools and the department. We are working with the National Department of Basic Education and mobilising other provincial departments to urgently deploy human resources to support the department in these areas.

As we move forward, we have determined that educators be appointed in schools with a 50–100% vacancy rate and to schools without maths and science educators with immediate effect.

However, it is imperative that we move with speed to deal with the issue of excess teachers hindering permanent placement of teachers in vacant posts, and this must be completed within six months. We urge the education stakeholders to handle and manage this task with optimal care and sense of extreme urgency so as to avoid any further disruptions in the schooling system. With regards to stationery, measures have been put in place to ensure that stationery is in schools by the end of this month. Scholar transport will be re-instated for all deserving learners in April 2011. As of now focus will be on providing scholar transport to deserving learners in farm schools. All the systemic issues hindering the provision of school nutrition have been overcome, and as such feeding in schools will resume immediately. Improving forward planning will ensure that recurrence of this experience is avoided.

As the Executive Council we have agreed on the “adopt a school campaign’, where each Member of the Executive Council will adopt schools for support. We make a call to all leaders including Members of the Legislature, traditional leaders, councillors, religious and business fraternity, and senior management to join us in this campaign to ensure there is proper monitoring of the activities in our schools.

Honourable Speaker and Honourable members, improving the health profile of the people of the province is one of our critical areas of focus in this term. Our aim, broadly stated, is to promote the general health and well-being of the people of the province, especially the promotion of equity, accessibility and utilisation of health services. Of critical importance in this regard is building the functionality of the health system at institutional level, notably at clinics and hospitals; the recruitment and retention of health professionals; as well as infrastructure development and maintenance. In this area too, we have made progress.

We would like to thank our international partners for the support they have given us in the training of our doctors and other professional staff in countries such as Cuba and Tanzania. The first cohort of 23 clinical associates graduated at Walter Sisulu University. This programme is the first of its kind in South Africa and is used as a model throughout the country. In response to the major killer diseases in the Eastern Cape, TB and HIV and AIDS, the number of patients on ART is now 123,552 supported by 147 facilities. More than 75 000 patients have access to Home Based Care. The Prevention of Mother to Child
Transmission programme is now rendered by all health care facilities in the Province, and the new-born baby Nevirapine uptake has now reached 83.3%. Through the HIV Counselling and Testing campaign more than 400 000 people have been tested.

Boipaballo bo molemo ho feta muriyana.

In addressing the increase in maternal and infant mortality rate, we are piloting the halfway house project for pregnant women from far flung areas at Taylor Bequest Hospital in Mt Fletcher. A turnaround plan has also been developed for the Department of Health and will focus on:

• Building of social compact and partnerships with communities and stakeholders to improve health outcomes Revitalisation of primary health care and district health system to prepare for the implementation of the national health insurance
• Overhaul of the supply chain management and financial management systems
• Increasing efficiencies in human resource planning and management, and
• Improving revenue generation in health institutions.

The people of the Eastern Cape are called upon to respond positively to the HCT Campaign and fight against TB. We will further continue to engage our development partners like Presidential Emergency Plan for Aids Relief, the Global Fund, UNAIDS and DFID for support in fighting the spread of HIV and AIDS.

Honourable Speaker, the fight against crime and corruption has been joined, and as former President Mandela once said when he opened Parliament in February 1999, “we have no doubts at all about who the victors will be.” Throughout the country, there is evidence that the criminal justice system has begun to function better, the evidence of which is indicated by a general decline in the incidence of crime.

The South African Police Service in the Eastern Cape has managed to curb the trio crimes, namely aggravated house and bank robberies, car hijacking, and cash in transit. Statistics indicate that from April to December 2010 the Province registered a reduction in contact crimes. The notable reductions were in car high-jacking, high-jacking of trucks, cash-in-transit, attempted murder and house robbery.

The prevalence of sexual crimes continues to be a concern and will be tackled with greater vigour by the Criminal Justice System in the Province. We have established 40 victim support centres which are operational in police stations, and 49 child protection organisations are being funded across the province. As part of the safer schools campaign, 282 safer schools committees across the province have also been established.

Above all else the fight against crime is a societal issue, therefore, together we must work hard to eliminate all forms of criminality in our society. We also believe that the proximity of taverns to schools as well as their opening and closing times, continues to create a serious social instability challenge in our society. In line with our President’s directive, the provincial government will ensure that the existing policies of no tavern within a 500 metre radius of schools and churches, as well as the by-laws on opening and closing times are enforced. We will further see to it that there is visible policing especially in areas which are known high crime hot spots and substance abuse in the province. We believe that through an all inclusive campaign we can defeat this problem.

Our resolve in eliminating corruption in the public service has started to yield results, as shown by a number of disciplinary cases that have been pursued in departments resulting in dismissals and other sanctions. For example in the Department of Health alone, up to 122 employees have been dismissed with 344 issued with written warnings.

Craythorne says: “Corruption is a cancer which eats away at the heart of a democracy and leaves the subjects of a state at the mercy of unscrupulous and mercenary leaders and their followers. Corruption can destroy the morals and integrity of a nation and open the way for the despotic rule of tyrants”.

Accordingly, as we move forward we will do everything possible, sparing neither strength nor effort, to ensure that the plague of corruption is removed from our society. To this end, we will continue to ensure that there is requisite capacity in departments to deal with fraud and corruption. Already being implemented are anti-corruption and ethics awareness programmes aimed at educating people on issues of corruption and these will be extended to communities.

Honourable Speaker, the task of building effective state capacity and of entrenching democratic governance requires that we focus on building a developmental state. It is only through a capacitated and caring state, imbued with a culture of selfless service, that we shall reach the goal of a people centred society.

Accordingly, as part of strengthening the provincial government capacity to effectively deliver services to our people, government departments have been reconfigured. With the establishment of a new Ministry for Social Development and Special Programmes, the cause of social protection for the most vulnerable sectors will be advanced, and these functions will now be coordinated at appropriate levels.

A further key outcome of the reconfiguration is the establishment of effective planning capacity within government. The new Ministry for Planning and Finance will conclude the work initiated by the Office of the Premier with respect to the institutional arrangements suitable for effective planning in the province. As part of the broad process of transforming the culture of the provincial public service, we are implementing our provincial public sector transformation strategy aimed at:

• changing the attitude and behaviour of public servants and build an ethos underlined by the spirit of service before self
• strengthening of human resources management and development as a necessary enabling platform for effective change and institution building
• addressing gender disparities at senior management level
• upgrading the standards of efficiency and effectiveness and improving the quality of service
• creating a sound employment relations environment
• promoting accountability and transparency.

We also plan to move swiftly towards the establishment of a Leadership Institute for training of public servants. Towards this end, the province is partnering with the private sector in hosting a leadership seminar next month featuring Dr. John Maxwell, an internationally acclaimed leadership expert. We encourage leaders in the public, private and civil society sectors to support and participate in this initiative.

Since the implementation of the Operation Clean Audit, there has been a marked improvement in the audit outcomes for the 2009/10 financial year. Out of the 13 provincial departments, 10 were unqualified, one qualified and two were disclaimed. For the same financial year, ten municipalities received unqualified audit opinions. However, the extent of irregular, wasteful, fruitless and unauthorised expenditure in departments and municipalities is still a matter of concern.

As we approach the beginning of the fourth term of democratic local government, we have paid sustained attention to supporting municipalities, in particular through the Local Government Turnaround Strategy, which is yielding good results. Consequently, 32 Municipalities are implementing an Anti-Corruption Strategy, and all 45 municipalities in the Province are implementing a supply chain management system. Similarly, 44 Municipalities have functional Audit Committees, with 32 municipalities having adopted a Revenue Enhancement Strategy. A total of 38 municipalities have implemented the Local Government Municipal Rate Property Act.

Honourable members, the Eastern Cape is prone to disasters, and this reporting period has been no exception. On behalf of provincial government I wish to convey our sincere and heartfelt condolences to those who lost their loved ones through disasters. For this reason, we will accelerate our efforts to improve the readiness of the provincial government to respond effectively and timeously to disasters. This includes the establishment and provision of support to disaster management and relief centres in all districts. There continues to be a need to strengthen our focus in the area of international relations. The province is the site of implementation of the South Africa-Southern Sudan capacitation programme, in particular the aviation programme for Southern Sudan students. We also appreciate our collaboration with Lower Saxony which has advanced the interests of the province particularly in the training of students in the hospitality sector, veterinary services training, sport development as well as other initiatives within the FET Colleges sector.

In the context of the evolving Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa collaboration, our province and municipalities such as the Nelson Mandela Metro and Buffalo City have begun to pursue partnerships with these countries. Through our intergovernmental relations platforms we will ensure that our interactions with Africa and the rest of the world advance the interests of the province.

As we move forward with the implementation of the Provincial Strategic Framework in the next financial year, we will pay particular attention to improving monitoring and evaluation. The implementation of the national outcomes approach, which calls for monitoring, reporting and accountability for performance, will be fully implemented.

In keeping with our commitment of being a government that is engaging, accessible and responsive, we have implemented a very successful executive council outreach programme in 2010. Through these engagements, interacting with the leadership of the municipalities, communities and stakeholders, we have attended to governance and service delivery challenges. For example, stakeholders in Joe Gqabi District reported that out of 43 issues raised with government in the previous year, 38 were addressed. Similarly, in Chris Hani District stakeholders reported that out of 49 issues raised with government, 47 were addressed. On behalf of the provincial government, I wish to express our appreciation for the support we continue to receive from the communities across the length and breadth of this province. Re ea leboha

Honourable Speaker, a key imperative in entrenching democratic governance is nation-building and the forging of a common national identity, such that the constitutional injunction that “South Africa belongs to all who live in it, black and white, united in diversity” is practically realised. Therefore there can be no gainsaying the significance of our strategic objective of building cohesive, caring and sustainable communities, of which good progress has been made.

We have made progress with respect to the promotion of preventative community-based and alternative care programmes to women and children in need of care and protection. The inhumane, brutal killings of poor women accused of witchcraft, together with the barbaric rape of young girls under the pretext of forced and arranged customary marriages continues to blight our society. Government has been working tirelessly, assisted by community members and leaders, to deal with those responsible for these despicable acts. Government has placed 5 738 children in need of care and protection in alternative care. Support was also provided to 127 Home Community Based Care initiatives offering care and support to Orphaned and Vulnerable Children as well as child-headed households and their families. In the coming year, 351 newly qualified social workers who were part of the Social Development Bursary Programme will be absorbed within the Department of Social Development.

We acknowledge the provincial leadership of the National Youth Development Agency, and working together, we will develop a comprehensive youth development strategy. Similarly, we will also intensify our efforts in integrating the rights and needs of people with disabilities in all our policy and implementation initiatives. Honourable members, the year 2010 will forever be etched in our memories as the year when Africa came of age; when we confounded the sceptics and naysayers by successfully hosting the greatest spectacle in the world, the 2010 FIFA World Cup! On behalf of the Executive Council I wish to take this opportunity to thank the people of the province, the hosting municipalities, the organisers and all sports bodies, and the volunteers who taught us the practical meaning of patriotism, and who exposed the indisputable fact that we do in fact have the requisite capacity to do great things! Kuni nonke mawethu sithi, namhlanje sinodumo nje kungenxa yemisebenzi yenu!

We salute our stars who have distinguished themselves in sport or in other fields of endeavour. In this regard we acknowledge: The provincial under 13 boys in softball and table tennis who both won gold medals and are now national champions; Sazikazi Mbalekwa who won three gold, five silver, one bronze and one double gold medals in the World Performing Arts Championships in Los Angeles.

Lesley Blignaut and Edward Johannisen who won two gold medals in Dubai; Nkosinathi Joyi who retained his International Boxing Federation flyweight title; Michael Lawrence and Mncedi Khanti who both won a Bronze medal in the IPC World Athletics Championships; Nkululeko Aplen for his Gold medal and two Bronze medals in Scotland in the Shotokan Japanese style of karate; Luvuyo Ncanywa who won a Silver medal in World Championships in Scotland;

We wish the Proteas well in the Cricket World Cup starting tomorrow in India. Amongst the boys are our own Lonwabo Tsotsobe, Wayne Parnell, Johan Botha, Jacques Kallis and Colin Ingram.

As I conclude, may I remind the people of the Eastern Cape that the independent Electoral Commission has set 5 to 6 March 2011 as dates for the second round of voter registration. I therefore call on all of us to love our South Africa, and register to vote! Furthermore, on the 9 to 30 October 2011 Statistics SA will be conducting Census 2011, and we call upon our people to participate fully in this process.

Honourable Speaker, members and fellow citizens of the Eastern Cape, let us work to ensure that, as envisaged by the leadership of the Province at the dawn of our democracy, we achieve “development through unity.” Let us work together to create jobs for our People!

I take this opportunity to thank the Executive Council, the Director-General and his team of senior managers in the provincial administration for their support. Let me also thank the Provincial Commissioner, General Landu, who is retiring at the end of April this year, for his sterling contribution to the fight against crime.

Nangamso Mpinga!

Honourable members, on behalf of the ANC led government, and indeed the entire population of the Eastern Cape, I ask you to join me in saluting Makhaya Ntini, the Mdingi Express, for a sterling job in cricket, whose career with the national team, the Proteas, started in 1998. Overall he took a total of 390 wickets in 101 test matches, including the 10 wicket haul at Lords in London, as well as 266 wickets in 173 One Day International matches. Let me on behalf of the Provincial Government wish Makhaya well in his new endeavour of setting up a cricket academy in the Eastern Cape.

I thank you.

Source: Eastern Cape Provincial Government