Policy speech for Vote 1, Office of the Premier, for 2009/10 delivered by Premier Noxolo Kiviet, Eastern Cape Provincial Legislature

Honourable Speaker
Honourable members of this house
Members of the Executive Council
Government officials
The people of the province of the Eastern Cape
Comrades
Compatriots and friends

Six days ago, in this house, I was honoured to present the State of the Province Address which outlined the provincial government strategic priorities for the next five years to change the lives of the people of this province for the better, in line with the national programme of action set out by the President of the Republic of South Africa during the State of the Nation Address.

Today it is a privilege to share with members of this house how the Office of the Premier will position itself during the 2009/10 financial year to play a pivotal role in providing two coherent, strategic leadership and co-ordination to provincial planning and policy formulation processes, whilst monitoring, evaluating and reporting on service delivery implementation, and building a renewed and transformed public service.

Honourable speaker, the policy priorities and the accompanying budget allocations being presented to this house today are centred on taking forward critical work from the previous term such as updating the provincial growth and development plan and institutionalisation of the service delivery acceleration plan recommendations.

Alongside this will be the re-engineering of the department to enable the establishment of a provincial planning commission to improve planning coordination within and across all spheres of government. The Office of the Premier has been allocated a budget of R400,9 million for the 2009/10 financial year, across the three departmental programmes, namely programme one: administration; programme two: institution building and transformation and programme three: policy and governance, through which we execute our mandate.

I will now speak to the strategic focus areas of each programme, demonstrating how each will contribute to the co-ordinated implementation of the provincial strategic framework announced in the State of the Province Address.

Programme 1: Administration has as its primary focus the provision of coordinated support to the executing authority, the Provincial Executive Council and the provincial administration. This programme is also charged with the task of internal departmental administration, and ensuring that the Office of the Premier functions efficiently and effectively as a learning and best practice organisation.

It is thus responsible for creating an enabling environment for internal organisational coherence within the regulatory compliance framework. For this critical mandate, this programme has been allocated a budget of R79,6 million. This budget will be utilised through four main sub-programmes, as follows:
The Premier’s core staff with a budget of R18,6 million provides support to the executing authority to facilitate and implement provincial and national policy imperatives.

This programme is also responsible for ensuring responsiveness to the needs of the poor and the marginalised communities through piloting novel and unique interventions. Such interventions, based on the Premier’s priority projects, particularly the discretionary fund, will be aligned to the government’s socio-economic objectives in the province. The second sub-programme is the Cabinet Secretariat with a budget of R4 million to support the work of the Provincial Executive Council, Cabinet Committees and the Top Management Forum. It is also responsible for monitoring the implementation of Executive Council Resolutions, and commitments arising from Executive Council outreach programmes.

Internal human resource management is the third sub-programme and has been allocated a budget of R26,2 million to provide appropriate expert support for effective human resources management practices in the Office of the Premier in line with organisational development and transformation policies.

This sub-programme will, during this financial year, focus on the finalisation of the re-engineering of the Office of the Premier including phased-in implementation; strengthening implementation of the performance management and development system within the department; finalisation and implementation of the Attraction and Retention Strategy of the department; as well as strengthening our labour relations in the spirit of maintaining labour peace in the department.

The last sub-programme in programme one is financial, supply chain and risk management with a budget of R24,2 million allocated to provide administrative support to the department as well as strengthening of the internal control environment.

The newly established risk management unit is charged with developing and implementing the risk management strategy as well as the departmental anti-corruption and fraud strategy which will ensure continued strengthening of corporate governance in the department.

Honourable speaker, I will now speak to programme two: institution building and transformation. The primary focus of this programme is to transform and build the institutional capacity of the provincial administration so as to realise organisational self-renewal capability in the pursuit of effective and efficient service delivery. With a budget of R200,8 million this branch is further expected to focus on strengthening provincial corporate governance through its five sub-programmes.

The first sub-programme is Transversal Organisational Development and Consultancy Services (TODCOS) which is mandated to facilitate and coordinate public sector transformation and institution building with a budget of R66 million.

Through its expert consultancy service, TODCOS is entrusted with the coordination and implementation of the provincial human resource development strategy to unlock optimal human capital development, aligned to the national skills development strategy three.

The coordination and institutionalisation of a performance culture, service excellence, knowledge management and innovation strategies is also a key to work of this component.

The priorities for the financial year are as follows:

• Putting into place a new human resource development model in partnership with institutions of higher learning in the province to develop and expand the competency levels of employees to perform at the expected levels. This integrated human resource development (HRD) model will provide public servants with opportunities to learn on the job, whilst simultaneously being exposed to the latest practices of improved service delivery in a highly technical knowledge economy

• Consolidation of the strategic skills project to create a pool of skilled youth with the required skills for the economy, by taking the youth enrolled in learnerships to a higher level so that they can qualify as artisans in their respective fields and by putting more than 200 unemployed youth through an accelerated programme to qualify as artisans in the construction industry

• Facilitating better talent management by supporting departments to develop and implement attraction and retention strategies. Special attention will be given to the roll out of the provincial attraction and retention strategy through focused human resource planning and speedy implementation of matters pertaining to terms and conditions of employment

• Evaluating human resources management capabilities and auditing of all human resource backlogs across departments. We need to ensure that our human resource units in departments display the highest level of competence, as a lack of performance in these units impacts negatively on the morale of all public servants

• Providing hands on support to departments to strengthen implementation of the performance management and development system and putting in place a consequence management framework for non-implementation of policy

• Creating a positive working environment by extending the implementation of the employee wellness framework to all departments. A baseline study will be conducted on the viability of implementing this model at local government level as part laying the foundation of a single public service

• Supporting departments to conduct self assessments in line with the provincial Balasela Service Delivery Excellence Model in order to develop their service delivery improvement plans that will be measured by a service delivery index

• Sharing best practice solutions to the service delivery challenges and promoting the web-based communities of practice portal as a platform for sharing these innovative ideas across government.

The second sub-programme is shared legal services with a budget allocation of R17,6 million. This sub-programme provides transversal internal legal support services to provincial government departments. Through its well coordinated and timely executed plans this unit has facilitated a continuous reduction in the incidence of litigation and of contempt of court cases across departments.

The following are the key priorities for this sub-programme:

• To co-ordinate the legislation programme for the fourth term of government

• To develop a litigation strategy to assist departments with the prevention management of litigation

• Training of officials in departments on responsibilities in relation to the Promotion of Administrative Justice Act and the Promotion of Access to Information Act

• The formulation of a contract management policy for the provincial administration, to assist departments to ensure compliance by service providers to contractual obligations, and to ensure better value for money.

A communication service is the third sub-programme, with the core business of providing leadership to and coordinating provincial government communication in a manner that deepens public and community participation. Guided by the lessons learnt from the 15 year review of the Government Communications System and with a budget of R34,2 million, this sub-programme will provide specialist assistance to provincial departments and the local sphere, as follows:

• Upscale the implementation of the provincial marketing and branding campaign, building on the “imagine a place” campaign which was implemented in the last financial year. This will include promotion of compliance with the provincial corporate identity framework

• Communicate the province’s readiness for the upcoming FIFA 2010 Soccer World Cup and its legacy

• Intensify our developmental and unmediated communications programme including coordination and mobilisation for Izimbizo; Executive Council Outreaches and support to district municipalities to coordinate district communications forums

• Building and maintaining solid relations with the mainstream media

• Expanding provincial government’s capacity to produce its own communication media, such as Masincokole and the production of multimedia products such as the educational drama series

• Finding a suitable funding model to ensure that the Thusong Service Centres programme meets the target of having one Thusong per local municipality by 2014

• Strengthening customer care services to give life to Batho Pele principles and to ensure that Government officials serve the people with humility and selflessness.

The next sub-programme is Information Communication Technology Management (ICTM) which has been allocated a budget of R76,8 million and is seized with providing and coordinating integrated and coherent information and communication technology services within the provincial government.

In the current financial year, this sub-programme will focus on the following priorities:

• Implementing an enterprise program management office, to track integrate, report and pro-actively manage the implementation of all provincial projects which have an economic value, including projects falling within the Provincial Strategic Framework

• Consolidating a provincial single number framework as a citizen centric convenience which will set up one telephone number to be used when people wish to contact the provincial administration. Calls will then be appropriately channelled from this central point to ensure that information flows in an integrated way in the province

• Exploring a funding model that will better-resource the implementation of the provincial information communication technology (ICT) strategy and will increase the effectiveness and efficiency of the provincial ICT spend.

The last sub-programme in programme two is anti-corruption and provincial security which leads the fight to combat fraud and corruption in the administration and co-ordinates security matters within provincial departments.

Building on the nucleus of ethics champions who have been trained in the administration, the anti corruption unit will continue to support departments to put in place sufficient capacity to deal with corruption and fraud.

The focus during the current financial year will be on supporting departments to mainstream ethics management and integrity building as well as to implement anti-corruption and anti fraud risk response plans.

To this end an amount of R4,3 million has been allocated. Honourable speaker, allow me to move to policy and governance, which is programme three. This programme leads and facilitates the development and implementation of sound, effective, appropriate and integrated provincial plans, policies, strategies, and practices and monitors evaluates and reports on the impact thereof. The programme’s second broad aim is to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of cooperative governance. With a budget of R120,5 million, the four main sub-programmes have been assigned the following key deliverables in the 2009/10 financial year:

Firstly, the provincial policy and planning, monitoring and evaluation sub-programme, with a budget of R99,1 million, inclusive of transfers to public entities, will ensure effective policy making and strategic planning, to improve the 14 performance of government in delivery of services particularly to the poor and vulnerable groups in the province.

The cornerstone of policy and planning processes in the year ahead will be the establishment of the Provincial planning machinery, which will then ensure that the priorities outlined in provincial strategic framework are integrated into the five year strategic plans and the annual performance plans of departments.

This will translate into a comprehensive programme of action for government. The integrated provincial planning and reporting cycle for the province will also be finalised.

Key policy work that will be undertaken in the year includes the updating of the Provincial Growth and Development Plan (PGDP) to ensure alignment to the new provincial strategic framework; and the finalization of the rural development and agrarian transformation strategy.

The monitoring and evaluation unit will lead and coordinate monitoring and reporting against agreed provincial and district service delivery objectives with a specific focus on the provincial strategic framework; the PGDP; the provincial programme of action; commitments outlined in the State of the Province and the State of district addresses and the South African human development report for the province.

The unit will also provide better support to provincial departments to improve their performance monitoring and reporting by providing training and finalising a new provincial monitoring, reporting and evaluation framework as well as a provincial compendium of key indicators.

The public entities of the Office of the Premier, namely the Eastern Cape Youth Commission, the Eastern Cape Socio-Economic Consultative Council (ECSECC) and the Eastern Cape Appropriate Technology Unit (ECATU), will play a key role in provincial policy, planning, monitoring and evaluation work though it will be dissolved in line with the formation of the National Youth Development Agency, the Eastern Cape Youth Commission has been allocated a budget of R11,1 million to do the following:

• To facilitate, monitor and coordinate youth access to bursaries, internship and learnership programmes offered by government

• To continue with programmes aimed at the integration of youth programmes by government departments at all levels, and related monitoring and evaluation thereof.

An amount of R38,7 million has been allocated to the Eastern Cape Socio-Economic Consultative Council (ECSECC). Honourable speaker, this entity contributes to provincial policy and research, and serves as a social compacting body that facilitates development partnerships around a defined government agenda. The following are the key priorities for ECSECC in the 2009/10 financial year:

• Supporting government to finalise and implement the provincial industrial strategy and related sector action plans

• Providing technical support to update and implement the PGDP 2009 to 2014

• Assisting in the development of the provincial rural development strategy and plan

• Developing a provincial HIV and AIDS strategy and implementation plan through the Eastern Cape Aids Council

• Assisting with the development and resourcing of the provincial HRD strategy and implementation plan.

A budget of R12,8 million has been allocated to the Eastern Cape Appropriate technology unit which is expected to deliver on the following key priorities this financial year:

• Developing and driving the implementation of the Eastern Cape indigenous knowledge management framework

• Finalising an adaptation plan in respect of various appropriate technologies developed by ECATU such as the fence wire making equipment and the soil cement brick

• Testing of technologies for appropriateness, relevance and functionality through pilot projects before implementation

• Strengthening community participation by training of community co-operatives and community based organisations using the European Union sponsored programme known as Sustainable Rural Development in the Eastern Cape (SURUDEC), efforts, aimed at reducing poverty in rural communities in the province will be intensified through the crafting and implementation of community development plans.
  
  These interventions will be done on a pilot basis so as to develop and promote appropriate mechanisms for helping communities to plan and take charge of their own development. R10,9 million has been allocated for this purpose, and the implementing agent is Promotion of Rural Livelihoods Programme (Ruliv). Key areas of focus prioritised for this financial year are the following:

• Continued creation of community based productive assets and businesses

• Support to home based care initiatives for HIV and AIDS

• Community resource mapping

• Providing organisational development support for community based organisations

Lessons from this initiative will be worthwhile for the rural development work, now located within the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development.
International and Intergovernmental Relations and Protocol mark the third sub-programme and have been allocated an amount of R5,7 million.

The sub-programme ensures that our international, continental, and provincial intergovernmental relations systems are geared towards the creation of a climate suitable for co-operative governance that enables maximum service delivery.

Strategic partnerships with the donor community through official development assistance and with international counterparts through twinning agreements will be fully utilised.

Through this sub-programme, the department will achieve the following priorities in the 2009/10 financial year:

• Finalise and implement the inter-government relations strategy to improve inter-sphere coordination in pursuit of improved service delivery

• Finalise and implement the international relations strategy, as a basis to leverage funding and in-kind support for provincial priorities

• Develop and implement a stakeholder engagement framework for the Office of the Premier

• Ensure better implementation of protocol manuals in the province

Honourable speaker, the fourth sub-programme is the special programmes unit that has been allocated an amount of R9 million for this financial year. The mandate of this sub-programme is to facilitate, monitor and evaluate the mainstreaming of gender, disability, children and elderly person’s rights and issues into departmental programmes.

The strategic intent of the special programmes unit is being reconfigured as part of the re-engineering process of the Office of the Premier.

Its envisaged role is to undertake analysis and design interventions to impact more profoundly on policy development and planning processes. The final sub-programme is the Premier’s Priority Projects which has been allocated an amount of R 4,6 million for this financial year.

Through this sub-programme, the department will be managing and funding various shorter term special projects linked to the broad developmental priorities of the Premier and the Provincial Executive Council.

In conclusion, honourable speaker, the Office of the Premier is focused on fulfilling its role as the centre of planning, co-ordination, monitoring and evaluation in the province, in collaboration with the national and local spheres of government.

We are committed to utilising the resources to be appropriated by this house to achieve the service delivery objectives set out in the annual performance plans of the Office of the Premier; ECATU; ECSECC and the Eastern Cape Youth Commission. I hereby therefore table the annual performance plans of the Office of the Premier and its entities as outlined above.

I thank you.

Source: Eastern Cape Provincial Government