North West Office of the Premier Budget Vote 2025/26 By Premier Lazarus Kagiso Mokgosi, North West Provincial Legislature, Mahikeng
Honourable speaker, Dr. Desbo Mohono
Honourable deputy speaker, Hon. Collen Maine
Members of the executive council present here today
Chief whip of the majority party, Hon. Motlalepula Rosho
Chairperson of portfolio committees, Hon. Tebogo Modise
Leaders of the opposition parties
Members of the provincial legislature
Chairperson of the North West House of Traditional and Khoi-San Leaders, Kgosi Thari Maotwe
Chairperson of SALGA North West, Cllr Khumalo Molefe
Executive mayors and mayors present here today
Director-general, heads of provincial government departments, municipal managers
Executive and senior managers in the public service
Invited guests
Ladies and gentlemen
Bagaetsho
Dumelang
Honourable members, the success of our democratic dispensation faces a serious credibility deficit if we fail to resolve the job crisis confronting our province. The voices of the marginalised and economically disenfranchised are missing in the celebratory chorus of the 31 years of the country’s democratic breakthrough. Many of our people, comprising largely the youth, are outside the economic system, locked out of opportunities to share the dividends of democracy. Therefore, the promises we make in changing the lives of our youth for the better must not ring hollow in improving their socio-economic conditions.
It is their actions which, among others, culminated in the creation of a non-racial, non-sexist, and prosperous country founded on democratic principles. The tenacity of young people is exemplified by the selflessness of a group of young men and women from Mahikeng who, throughout the start of this year, have been keeping our streets clean without any expectation of material benefit. Today we are joined by Mahalepa Tshwarelo, one of the young people instrumental in driving this initiative.
On this important occasion, which coincides with Mandela Month, we remember the words of the founding father of our nation when he said: “The future belongs to our youth. As some of us near the end of our political careers, younger people must take over. They must seek and cherish the most basic condition for peace, namely unity in our diversity and find lasting ways to that goal.”
Honourable speaker, we meet in this house today to complete the last round of the process to release public resources to implement objectives set out in the Medium-Term Development Plan (2024–2029) adopted by the 7th administration. The apex priorities are:
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to drive inclusive economic growth and create jobs
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to reduce poverty and tackle the high cost of living
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to build a capable, ethical and developmental state
Honourable members, addressing the National Assembly during the tabling of the Presidency Budget Vote a week ago, His Excellency President Cyril Ramaphosa made an impassioned plea to meet the aforementioned objectives in our Programme of Action. He maintained: “It is with these challenges in mind that we formed a Government of National Unity to place our country on a path of growth and transformation, a path of peace and prosperity.”
Bagaetsho, many of our people have been listening attentively to all our departmental budgets since the beginning of this week, hoping and praying for new interventions that could change the circumstances of their lives. There is a growing sense of despondency and hopelessness because more than half of our population is economically inactive. We accept that the North West has a low labour absorption rate, afflicting largely the youth. This rate has been declining over time, indicating worsening economic conditions for our people in the province.
It is not enough to restate the problem; the question is: what are we doing to change the situation? We wish to use the opportunity of this budget process to commit to continued institutional reforms to reorient government systems to be user-friendly, open and welcoming to young people. We are declaring war against all barriers to entry into the public service to make it attractive to young professionals.
Honourable speaker, research shows that if our efforts succeed in getting the age cohort of 15–34 working, we can reduce unemployment in the province by at least 25%. This employment profile shows that this age cohort is generally more active, although in our case they are mainly unproductive due to joblessness.
The Office of the Premier will issue directives to departments to institutionalise centralised job vacancy advertising as a policy intervention to reduce job search costs for the youth and to improve job matching for effective recruitment in the public service. In the current financial year, we have directed all departments to achieve a 100% recruitment intake for the EPWP programme.
Honourable members, the government in the province only employs 6% of all working people, with 94% employed in the private sector. For this reason, we cannot win the battle against youth unemployment without the role and contribution of the private sector.
We have established a Development Fund set at one hundred million rand as a seed fund to co-fund social and developmental initiatives aimed at addressing unemployment and infrastructure backlogs in the province. We are encouraged by interest displayed by various industries to play a more meaningful role in this regard. If the private sector matches this government commitment, more pathways could be opened for jobs and other social relief interventions.
Hon Members, the resuscitation of the Bojanala Special Economic Zone in Moses Kotane Local Municipality is in full swing and a team led by the Premier comprising Department of Trade, Industry and Competition, Department of Economic Development, Environment, Conservation and Tourism (DEDECT), Bojanala and Moses Kotane Municipalities has been assembled to strengthen the provincial government’s business case.
These intervention measure will culminate in the creation of nineteen thousand direct jobs once granted a license.
Plans are already underway to strengthen the investment pipeline which will include the development of other hubs in Mahikeng and Rustenburg.
Hon Speaker we take this opportunity to applaud Harmony Gold for yet another investment initiative of one-point five billion rand at their operations in Stilfontein in the City of Matlosana Local Municipality, preserving and creating over six thousand jobs through their diversification strategy which includes renewable energy.
Equally, the Impala West Limb Operations through their staff retention strategy has managed to save over one thousand five hundred jobs.
We further extend our gratitude to this mining company for their one hundred and four million rands commitment towards infrastructure projects inclusive of roads, a school, a community hall and walkway bridge in Phokeng and surrounding communities.
Hon Members, this infrastructure investment gives credence to the collaborative work we have started with the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy, South African Local Government Association and mining houses across the districts to coordinate the development and implementation of a province specific Social Labour Plan Framework.
This framework will provide guidelines on integration between the province, municipalities and mining houses to align interventions with government priorities in a seamless and coordinated manner.
SLPs will be deployed as tools to optimally and effectively respond to the service delivery needs of communities, focusing on skills development initiatives, infrastructure investments, and SMME development all aimed at improving the livelihoods of our people.
Hon Speakers, we are happy to report that following our participation during the Africa Mining Indaba in Cape Town, various stakeholders are keen to collaborate with us to launch a Provincial Mining Indaba Chapter for the North West.
Moreover, the province recently hosted various G20 working group meetings. These Conferences are part of the build-up programme for the G20 summit due to be held in our country later this year.
We accept that the format for these international forums does not always translate into immediate returns.
We have put our best foot forward in providing logistical and technical support to all G20 meetings held in our Province.
We are confident that we have shared enough information about our province to benefit from return trips to bolster our international arrivals and foreign exchange earnings.
South Africa’s presidency of the G20 came at an important time when the global community needed a moral voice and leadership from the South to reset the agenda for multilateral collaboration for the benefit of all humanity.
Our G20 Presidency marks a significant milestone in placing the country in a better position to play an influential role in geo-politics particularly in transformative policies that affords Global South countries to create jobs.
In relation to the latter the influx of local and international delegates has led to a surge in the hospitality sector preserving much needed jobs and boosting revenue for surrounding communities.
In July we signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with St. Petersburg Region of Russia, one of the dominant players in the realm of Global Political Economy and a partner to our beloved country, to facilitate
industrialization, entrepreneurship, technology transfer and a supply chain hub for machinery, mining technologies and innovation among others.
Bagaetsho, our participation in various G20 meetings in the province has been greatly beneficial to inform the content and approach of the Jobs Summit to be hosted later this year in November.
We have gained useful insight and access to a database of critical economic and development finance players we need to invest in the North West.
The Job Summit will be followed by the Economic Growth and Provincial Innovation Summit whose focus would be to unlock our economic potential to reignite our GDP growth.
The Economic Growth and Provincial Innovation Summit comes at an opportune time following the approval of the Provincial Growth & Development Strategy (PGDS) by EXCO on the 7th May 2025.
The PGDS report is now a public document and will be shared with all portfolio committees and the public.
We now have a blueprint to guide all our efforts to drive growth and development in the province. The PGDS implementation and monitoring will be coordinated through the Premier’s Economic & Investment Advisory Council.
This Council, which was established last year, is organized into three key work streams that are among others centered on driving the design of an industrialization and innovation programme for the province.
Hon Speaker, we have started implementing recommendations of the Panel of Experts on the review of provincial state-owned entities. We are addressing governance deficiencies, financial viability and reviewing mandates of some SOE’s to make them relevant to the developmental needs of the province.
The approved EXCO framework for the recruitment of State-Owned Entities (SOEs) Board members, CEOs and CFOs is now being implemented with a strict focus on merit-based system for ethical and capable state building.
Hon Members, the implementation of the Lanseria Smart City is well on course. A joint Technical Committee of both the North West and the Gauteng Provinces has been assembled and is functional. It is co-led by the Heads of Departments of Human Settlements in both provinces.
A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) has been developed and will be signed by the Political and Administrative leaderships of both provinces on various areas of mutual cooperation, which includes the Mekgareng Smart City project and cross border developmental initiatives.
Hon Members, the implementation of the fifth phase of Thuntsha Lerole is underway. One of the distinct features of this phase is to put emphasis on our monitoring and evaluation mechanisms to ensure that all commitments made are implemented particularly in municipalities that have been identified as priority areas.
Moreover, there is a glimmer of hope on Municipal Audit Outcomes and this is largely attributed to various intervention measures such as the deployment of Provincial EXCO Representatives to distressed municipalities.
Infrastructure development initiatives such as the provision of basic services such as water, sanitation, and electricity, as well as investing in roads, public transportation, and community facilities have been prioritized.
A case in point is the newly constructed water reticulation project at Stella in the Naledi Local Municipality worth ninety million rand as well as a twenty-three-million-rand water storage facility and borehole project at Mazista in the Kgetleng Rivier Local Municipality.
Bagaetsho, the construction of some of our road infrastructure projects in the Mahikeng and Kgetleng Rivier Local Municipalities, in collaboration with the Department of Public Works and Roads, are nearing completion.
Over 100 hundred million rand has been set aside for this exercise.
Hon Speaker, infrastructure delivery continues to be a key priority in our efforts to accelerate service delivery, economic growth and job creation.
In seeing to the full realization of these objectives we will continue to work with the Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs to coordinate the implementation of the District Development Model to foster integration and optimize resource use across the spheres.
To further give practical meaning to the implementation of the DDM, the Office will support the assessment of DDM plans for alignment to policy priorities as well as to ensure that that they respond to the actual needs of local communities.
The Office of the Premier has developed a Thuntsha Lerole Portal to improve provision of services to assist in the reporting of service delivery challenges.
This portal affords communities to capture a picture of their daily challenges for swift intervention.
Hon Speaker, it gives me great pleasure to reflect on a significant milestone in our journey towards a better, more capable and forward- looking North West Province.
At the end of April this year, we formalized a strategic partnership with the North West University through the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding which solidifies our bold steps towards harnessing academic excellence in support of government’s developmental agenda.
This five-year agreement, which will be reviewed after three years, sets out clear areas of collaboration between the Provincial Government and the University.
These include critical sectors such as infrastructure development, health, energy, ICT, artificial intelligence, water and sanitation, mining, tourism, and veterinary sciences.
It is centered on a shared commitment to work together to uplift our communities, build capacity within government, and develop innovative solutions to the challenges our province faces.
As part of this collaboration, we are proud to support flagship initiatives such as the Desmond Tutu School of Medicine, the planned Faculty of Mining Engineering in Rustenburg, as well as a School of Veterinary Sciences in Mahikeng.
Through this partnership, we reaffirm that development is not the responsibility of government alone.
It is through partnerships like this that we can realize our vision of a thriving, modern, and inclusive province.
As government, we cannot win this battle alone and soon we will be inviting our private sector and civil society to join hands with us to address youth challenges.
Hon Members, I am happy to announce that, as a Provincial Government, we have just entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the National Youth Development Agency.
This collaboration will culminate in the implementation of various programmes offered by the agency to create a conducive environment for access to markets in agriculture, tourism and mining sectors.
This will be through provision of scholarship opportunities to cultivate entrepreneurship among the youth of the province.
Hon Speaker, the Youth Empowerment Fund, which is overseen by the Department of Economic Development, Environment, Conservation and Tourism (DEDECT), is one of our most critical programmes aimed at addressing challenges of youth unemployment and entrepreneurship in the form of various business development initiatives.
For this financial year, a total of R15 million has been set aside towards this initiative.
Furthermore, the Office of the Premier, through the VT Sifora Bursary Fund, has already awarded one hundred and sixty-one (161) bursaries to poor and missing middle students as well as the province’s top achievers.
A total of sixty-three (63) students were also provided with financial assistance for the payments of their tertiary outstanding fees.
For the current Financial Year, an amount of R30million has been allocated to pay for all existing bursary beneficiaries including the new intakes.
The Office of the Premier in collaboration with Phila Jordan Academy has started with Phase 1 of the process to recruit one thousand young people into their artisanal programme.
This programme will formally be launched on 31 August 2025 in Klerksdorp.
Hon Speaker, the Office of the Premier is also facilitating and steering the Labour Activation Programme in the Province, that is spearheaded by Department of Employment and Labour.
The programme is targeting 27 000 youth in different trades of artisanal programmes.
To date, the appointed service providers by the aforementioned Department have completed their recruitment in different districts across the province.
They have also started with skills training and development at different levels of implementation of the programme.
Last month we successfully launched a ground breaking three thousand hectares dry beans farming initiative in Manthe village in the Greater Taung Local Municipality.
This project, which is going to benefit two thousand young people, will have an annual turnover of over fifty-seven million rand once implemented at its full capacity.
Since the launch of the youth portal various opportunities ranging from training and skills development, employment opportunities and entrepreneurship services were shared with young people.
We are in the process to improve the contents, marketing and maintenance of the portal so that we meet our young people’s expectations.
Bagaetsho, to ensure that all Provincial Departments work towards the inclusion of Persons with Disabilities in government procurement in line with Public Procurement Act, 2024, the Office of the Premier will coordinate the roll out of the capacity outreach session to companies owned by Persons with Disabilities across the province.
We will further strengthen the Forums and capacitate all their municipal structures so that they assist us in providing services for more people with disabilities.
Madam Speaker, the military veterans have contributed significantly in the liberation of our people and it is for this reason that the North West Provincial Government remains committed to providing support to military veterans in the province in pursuit of contributing towards service delivery imperatives of the Department of Military Veterans.
In 2024/25, the province benchmarked with Gauteng and Limpopo Provinces for best practices on the coordination and implementation of services for military veterans.
During this Financial Year we will finalize the Military Veterans Coordination Strategy of the Province.
This strategy seeks to ensure efficient planning, coordination and monitoring on military veterans’ service delivery priorities that are aligned to provincial policy directives as well as the relevant legal and policy frameworks, other strategies and plans.
Honorable Speaker, in 2023/24, through the coordination of the Provincial Council on AIDS Secretariat, the province conducted the End- term Review of the 2017/2022 Provincial Implementation Plan (PIP) of HIV and AIDS, STIs & TB.
The province was the first among the nine (9) provinces to use the outcomes of the end-term review to develop its 2023/28 Provincial Implementation Plan (PIP) of HIV and AIDS, STIs & TB.
In 2025/26, the province will roll out the process to develop the local and district-specific Multi Sectoral District Implementation Plans (MDIPs) and coordinate the dissemination and implementation of the PIP 2023 - 2028.
NWPCA have also committed to ensure the coordination of the 1.1 Million Close the Gap Campaign which was launched by the Minister of Health in February 2025 to ensure that those who tested HIV positive are initiated and retained on treatment.
The Office of the Premier has finalized the appointments of Heads of Departments for the departments of Education and DEDECT, while the recruitment process for the Head of the Department of Social Development is still underway.
While we acknowledge gender disparities in the appointment of senior management services across Provincial Government Departments, we are comforted by the fact that sixty seven percent of our total staff compliment in the Provincial Government is female.
We will prioritize female applicants for senior management vacancies to meet the over fifty percent threshold.
Bagaetsho, we successfully hosted the National 16 Days of Activism for No Violence Against Women and Children campaign which was commemorated in the North West Province, Rustenburg Local Municipality, on 25 November 2024 to recommit ourselves in the empowerment of women.
To this end, one point eight billion rand of procurement spend benefited enterprises and companies owned by Black women, in the province.
Hon Speaker, we commit to the professionalization of the public service to build a capable, ethical and developmental state as per Priority 3 of the Medium-Term Development Plan (MTDP).
In this regard all new senior management appointments will not be undertaken without the necessary vetting processes, which includes security clearance and verification of qualifications.
This decision will extend to all current senior managers in Provincial Government Departments and State-Owned Enterprises.
Furthermore, government will be coordinating the implementation of the National School of Government funded training programmes across departments as an intervention to upskills public servants during this financial year.
The Office will further enjoin Civil society, Business and other sectors of our society by establishing an Anti-Corruption forum which will serve as a basis for fighting various cases of malfeasance in the Public Service. This Forum will be strengthened by the recruitment of forensic professionals by end of September.
Hon Speaker we can report to this august house that all Members of the Executive Council have singed Performance Agreements with the Premier.
This is primarily aimed at enforcing accountability as it relates to meeting the objectives set out in their Departmental Annual Performance Plans, Exco Makgotla resolutions and State of the Province Injunctions.
Hon Members, the Office of the Premier launched the Provincial Skills Development Forum (PSDF) in November 2024. Its role is to ensure the alignment of all skills development initiatives with economic and social development strategies, provide advice on skills development for the unemployed and under-employed persons, job creation projects and strategic projects, particularly Learnership programmes.
The PSDF structure serves as a feeder into the Human Resources Development Council (HRDC) that oversees the implementation of the country’s Skills Development Strategy.
The HRDC structure will be launched by Deputy President Paul Mashatile on 2 August 2025 to enhance government’s efforts of implementing intervention measures aimed at developing a human resource that is essential for the development of our economy and job creation.
Hon Speaker, Government Information Technology Officer (GITO) oversees IT systems and digital services within provincial government, driving digital transformation, enhancing security, and improving service delivery.
The introduction of regulation 17.8 in the SETA General Regulations will afford the province an opportunity to reduce procurement delays and bureaucratic barriers to prioritize infrastructure projects in ICT.
In the current financial year, we will complete the Virtual Private Network(VPN) Phase 2 connectivity rollout, linking an additional 135 provincial sites, including 103 Health facilities and 11 Agricultural and Rural Development sites, ensuring reliable access to government systems.
The office of the GITO is allocated R79 million for Computer Services and R1 million for property payments to support this critical ICT infrastructure upgrade.
To bridge the digital divide and foster equitable access to online services, we have connected over 219 provincial sites and equipped more than 115 libraries with Wi-Fi and internet access, with the remaining few to be completed this year.
Hon Speaker the 7th Administration has embarked on a process to intensify communication with communities as part of ensuring that service delivery programmes take centre stage in our communication efforts.
The role of Community Media in enhancing participatory democracy cannot be overemphasized. In the last financial year over fifteen million rand was spent by government towards this noble course. We will continue to communicate with our people on a variety of platforms to ensure maximum reach of government programmes.
Bagaetsho, Bogosi kupe ga bo tlhakanelwe; ke ka moo, re le puso, re tsereng tshweetso ya go tlhama setlhopa sa dipatlisiso, seo maikaelelo a sona e leng go bona tharabololo mo dikgotlhang tsotlhe tseo di amanang le Bogosi.
Re tsaya tshono e gape go akgola setlhopa sa rona seo se lebeletseng go aloga ga bana ba rona mo go rebeng dikolo tseo di seng mo molaong tsa thupiso.
We appreciate the efforts of this team in combating illegal initiation which more often than not, leads to loss of life. Their efforts continue to preserve this important custom of our heritage and culture.
Hon Speaker, the Office of the Premier, proudly presents a high-level overview of its financial performance for the 2024/25 financial year. Key observations herein are that: Office of the Premier continued to register an unqualified audit opinion for the fifth consecutive year since the 2019/20 financial year.
Continuous implementation of ameliorative strategies has addressed the shortcomings which prevented the office from obtaining a clean audit in the previous years.
Furthermore, the matter of emphasis on underspending of the budget has also been adequately corrected. The Office has spent 99% of its allocated budget for the financial year 2024/25.
The Office incurred zero unauthorized expenditure in the 2024/25 financial year and this is quite commendable. An Internal Control function has been established in the Office which further provides assurance regarding the consistent application of controls to ensure good governance and compliance to prescripts, regulations and policies.
Hon Speaker, for the successful implementation of the Annual Performance Plan tabled in this August House, I request for the appropriation to vote 1, Office of the Premier, as outlined hereunder:
|
Programmes |
R’000 |
Amount in words |
|
Program 1: Administration
Program 2: Institutional Development
Program 3: Policyand Governance |
R 129,067
R 273,759
R 116,672 |
One hundred and twenty-nine million, and sixty-seven thousand rand.
Two hundred and seventy-three million, seven hundred andfifty- nine thousand rand
One hundred and sixteen million, six hundred and seventy- two thousand rand |
|
Total |
R 519,498 |
Five hundred and nineteen million, four hundred and ninety- eight thousand rand |
In conclusion I take this opportunity to thank; The Speaker and Deputy for their continued support and guidance. The Honourable Members of the Executive Council for their ever-ready support as well Honourable members of the portfolio committee and the Opposition for their robust and relevant engagements, advice and oversight role. The DG and the entire staff of the Office of the Premier, the Chief of Staff, Advisors and the entire Private Office Staff, Dikgosi tsa rona tse di tlotlegang, My beautiful wife and children for their encouragement and support.
And lastly ke leboga Lekgotla le legolo la ANC le le nkadimeleng tiro e.
#ServiceDeliveryZA
