The Head of the Department, Dr Vusanani Dlamini
CEO’s of State Owned Enterprises;
Officials from Department of Economic Development, Environment and Tourism (DEDET) and its entities
Ladies and gentlemen
Good Morning, Abusheni, Dimashironi, Goie More!
Welcome to this important meeting. I consider this meeting important for at least these two reasons:
- It is the first time we meet as we do since I joined the Department of Economic Development, Environment and Tourism (DEDET) family.
- Secondly we are meeting here to outline the newly configured vision of the department and the strategic direction and targets we have set for ourselves for the 2011/12 financial year.
The plans that we have put together should take the provincial economy to a different pedestal as the State of the Nation and Province Addresses as well as my budget speech have placed for the first time the “creation of decent work and sustainable livelihoods” at the centre of Government work.
This meeting takes place just a few days after the ruling party was overwhelmingly granted another mandate by the electorate based on its performance track record to be lead development trajectory of the country in the Local Government space as we are doing at national and provincial spheres of government. The ruling party is humbled by the confidence shown to it by the people of South Africa and we will leave no stone unturned in ensuring that the commitment and targets set to fight poverty, unemployment and inequality are met.
In a broader sense this meeting has been convened to re-focus and re-align all the business units, all employees to these development imperatives.
Since I joined the DEDET family in October 2010, I have consistently quoted President Jacob Zuma in his inaugural State of the Nation Address when he said “the creation of decent work will be at the centre of our economic policies and will influence our investment attraction and job creation initiatives. In line with this we have to forge ahead to promote an inclusive economy.”
At this point Head of Department, may we pause and state the vision and mission of the Department verbatim:
Vision: “An Inclusive Globally Competitive Economy”
Mission: Drive economic growth that creates decent employment and promote sustainable development through partnerships”.
Ladies and gentleman, I must hasten to remind you that this is a shared vision, both the vision and the mission statements are a product of a collective, and thus they articulate our desired provincial future in the global economic space.
Emanating from our departmental vision I have made critical pronouncements during my Policy and Budget Speech on 3 June 2011. I am further requesting that all officials familiarise themselves with the content thereof to ensure that all our 2011/12 plans are executed without fail.
You will note that the 2011/12 Policy and budget Speech, which I directed be circulated to all officials at this meeting outlines our plans on a number of focus areas which include, but are not limited to:
- The proposed Mpumalanga Economic Growth and Development Path (MEDGP), I am sure Mr Mosotho Kgaka will give a brief overview of what is entailed in the document.
- I also dealt with the core mandate of the department defined by outcomes four and 10 and the HOD will deal with the nuts and bolts of this outcome based approach.
Other areas of emphasis are:
- small medium and micro enterprises and cooperatives.
It should be noted that the survival and prosperity of our SMMEs and cooperatives depends on the extent to which government nurtures and supports them. Once again I want us to make sure that this area of work is prioritised including the SMME one stop service centres.
We have also prioritised the following sectors which have been identified as key in the creation of much needed job opportunities:
- agriculture, agro-processing and forestry
- tourism and cultural industries
- mineral beneficiation and
- the Energy sector.
In this regard we have made a clear policy determination that all our public entities will drive the implementation of our plans.
I have also made a special call to optimise our efforts towards sustainability and environmental impact management as you are aware that as a country we will host the 17th Congress of Parties on Climate Change towards the end of this year. I want us to plan together and embrace the Provincial build up of activities as the lead department.
Ladies and gentlemen, we should also register our collective commitment to the Comprehensive Rural Development Programme (CRDP).
As I indicated during the 2011 Policy and budget speech that, the roll-out of CRDP has presented new opportunities towards transforming rural economies, especially in the seven identified municipalities.
Our Department has packaged projects and opportunities for each of the CRDP Municipalities as per our Annual Performance Plan (APP).
I have given a clear injunction to the entire department, head office, regions and entities to prioritise this provincial flagship project above everything else. We are relying on the men and women in this meeting to take the lead in making a difference in the lives of those of us who are less fortunate through this project.
I want us to eat, live, and dream Comprehensive Rural Development Programme (CRDP) projects each and every second, hour and day. None of us should feel or behave as if he/she is not part of the CRDP agenda.
And thus my injunction is that, CRDP should be a standing item in all our departmental meetings including that of our entities.
We have to achieve these objectives amidst the hard questions which were raised in our strategic planning retreat which took place on 10 to 12 February 2011 at Floreat Riverside Lodge in Sabie.
I am well aware that we have not made substantive progress on a number of decisions which were taken during that planning session.
You will recall that inter-alia, I directed that an organisational structure which takes into account our newly re-configured mandate must be finalised by the end of March 2011. This will also help to synchronise the optimal operations of Regional offices. The business process re-engineering of our Department and all our agencies should have kicked in a month post strategic planning session.
I once again direct our new HOD Dr VD Dlamini to accelerate the finalisation of these two processes including the completion of all outstanding departmental strategies and the growth path consultation process.
I indicated earlier that we must keep reminding each other that our collective efforts must respond to the central and most pressing challenges we face which is unemployment, poverty and inequality.
This leads me to my next point of emphasis that, we must learn from our mistakes, acknowledges them and move forward, knowing that we will not repeat them. There is nothing as counter-productive as repeating the same mistakes over and over.
This brings into the fore our past failures to deal decisively with:
- The alignment between entities and the mother department with incoherent shareholders compacts.
- Non-execution of plans characterised by an organisational culture of poor discipline.
- Programmes and business units operating in silos.
- Enhancement of our research capacity and a need to capitalise on our economic strength and cease opportunities as they present themselves.
- Prioritising support to women and youth owned companies in the province. As we all know that our planning and strategy execution should be guided by the political posture we as a country are taking.
- Improving our project management capacity has been an elusive exercise, in this regard; I am directing that all employees should undergo basic training in project management over the next two years at least.
I have also called for a central database of all our projects including those ones from the agencies. I need them centralised so that we can track them, monitor them and provide adequate oversight. At the moment the office of the HOD should be the custodian of this information and I also expect Regional directors to have the same information in so far as it relates to their specific regions.
As I conclude, I will stress a need for a well-oiled machinery that is accountable, transparent and people centred as a pre-requisite for delivering on our mandate.
We need to spare no effort in changing the organisational culture and demand professionalism, excellence and accountability for results. We need to create a “high performance” culture, and for this to happen effectively we need to conduct proper performance management. We must reward those who are doing their duties with excellence and equally ensure that there are consequences for poor or non-performers.
As a Political Head I shall spare no effort in instilling a new "high performance culture" and creating a new set of value systems within the DEDET family of which our entities form part.
I will be championing the revival of the Batho Pele programme aimed at capacitating those individuals at the coalface of service delivery in the department and in our state owned enterprises.
I want to leave you with the words of Amilcor Cabral, a poet, revolutionary and a son of the African soil, who argues in his book, Materialist, theory and practice of culture and ethnicity, that “Always bear in mind that people are not fighting for ideas, for the things in anyone’s head, they are fighting.
To live better and in peace, to see their lives go forward, to guarantee the future of the children.” So the real work has just begun.
Finally I take the opportunity just to say a a big thank you to all those men and women who are working hard, who are always prepared to go an extra mile, your efforts have not gone unnoticed, keep up the good work.
I am looking forward to informative presentations.
I thank you!
Source: Mpumalanga Provincial Government
