Premier Job Mokgoro: North West Office of the Premier Prov Budget Vote 2021/22

03 Jun 2021

Office of the Premier - 2021/2022 Budget Vote speech by North West Premier, Prof Tebogo Job Mokgoro, delivered at the North West Provincial Legislature on Thursday, 03 June 2021

Speaker of the North West Provincial Legislature, Honourable Basetsana Dantje,
Deputy Speaker of the North West Provincial Legislature, Honourable Ntsetsao Motsumi,
Honourable Members of the Executive Council,
Honourable Members of the North West Provincial Legislature,
The Chief Whip of the Majority Party, Honourable Paul Sebegoe
Executive Mayors, Mayors and Speakers of our 22 municipalities
Kgosi Moshe Mabe and Members of the North West House of Traditional Leaders,
The Director General, Rre Mosweu Mogotlhe,
The Administrator in the Office of the Premier, Rre Sibusiso Mpanza,
Executive and Senior Managers in the Office of the Premier,
Representatives of the Labour movement and civil society structures,
Members of the media,
Comrades and friends,

Baagi ka kakaretso,
Bagaetsho Dumelang.

Honourable Speaker, in less than two months from today, it will be two years since I last stood before this august house to deliver a Budget Vote speech of the Office of the Premier; our absence from this podium in the last financial year was as a result of the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic on our shores at the beginning of last year.

Honourable Members, the past 18 months have been the most challenging of periods because just as we were gaining full steam in our quest to ensure that the Office of the Premier is, once again, the nerve -centre of policy development and co-ordination, we were brought to temporary but grinding halt by COVID-19.

This meant that we had to adopt new means and ways of doing things without abdicating our core function as the Office of the Premier, to provide the necessary leadership in evidence-based policy formulation and implementation, in a coherent and cohesive manner as well as take up our rightful role as an oversight department in the Provincial Government.

The functions and activities of the OOP comprise of three programmes: Administration, Institutional Development Support, and Policy Planning, Monitoring and Evaluations and Interventions

Administration

Honourable Speaker, COVID-19 remains one of the deadliest threats in the workplace, in this day and age.

To date, the Office of the Premier has had 52 employees testing positive to COVID-19, with three losing their lives and 49 recoveries have been registered to date.

May the souls of our dearly departed colleagues, Lorraine Dichaba, Keolebogile Mogamisi and Martha Mothusi, all of whom lost their lives to COVID-19, continue to rest in eternal peace.

Addressing the nation this past Sunday, President Cyril Ramaphosa stated that the North West, Gauteng, Free State and the Northern Cape Provinces are already experiencing the third wave of the pandemic.

Honourable Speaker, as a result of that reality, we have begun to decongest the workplace and implement stringent measures in order to minimize the risk of cross infection in the work environment.

The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic brought to the fore the significant role of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) in the work environment.

Through the implementation of ICT interventions, government employees were able to telecommute, and this ensured seamless provision of services.

Similarly, all the governance structures were able to have virtual meetings to assist in the coordination and monitoring of the performance of government during these difficult times.

Furthermore, we spearheaded the establishment of technical and political coronavirus committees which remain functional to monitor and assess the implementation of the Provincial COVD-19 Risk Adjusted Strategy.

Honourable Speaker, we will continue to upgrade the existing ICT system to support the work of these governance structures going forward.

Honourable Speaker, in the past we have appeared in this house and made commitments to implement interventions to ensure that we attain a favourable state of financial management in the office.

I am ecstatic to announce that for the first time in five consecutive financial years, the Office of the Premier registered an unqualified audit opinion in the 2019/2020 financial year with no new matters.

The office has in the same year managed to resolve all qualifying areas raised during the 2018/19 financial year, such as limitation of scope and completeness of irregular expenditure.

The total amount of R868,390 million, as at end of the 2020/2021 financial year, is recognized in the financial records of the Office of the Premier. This is the irregular expenditure which has accumulated over many past years.

Honourable Speaker, it also worth mentioning that, during 2020/21 financial year, no new transgression have been registered in the books of the Office of the Premier.

Honourable Speaker, we wish to inform the House that in our endeavour to resolve these cases, we have further referred five categories of irregular cases to the centralized investigators, appointed to assist the Provincial Government in dealing with reduction of irregular expenditure book value in Departments.

In the implementation of this approach, we are intensifying our internal capacity to conduct investigations of reported cases per financial year. This approach is adopted as a strategy to contribute to cost reduction as well as an effective means to transfer knowledge and skills to officials.

As part of strengthening our capacity as at 30th April 2021, the Office of the Premier had a total of 125 vacant positions, of which 22 are unfunded whilst 103 are funded.

The Office of the Premier has, therefore, commenced in earnest with the recruitment of qualified and competent staff to fill these vacant positions.

The Office of the Premier will review the organizational structure necessitated by the following key factors:

(a) Transfer of the Community Development Worker function to the Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (GOGTA) effective from the 1st of April 2020, which saw 317 positions transferred accordingly,

(b) The receipt of the Special Programme function from Department of Social Development, and

As part of the review process, the Office of the Premier will be addressing the gaps which have been identified in its staff establishment and some of these relate to the Internal Control, Demand Management and the Contract Management Units.

Honourable Speaker, I know that many members of the public are interested in knowing the progress with regard to the invocation of Section 100 in the North West. The Office has been informed that the progress report will be tabled before Cabinet in due course.

Cabinet will then, having considered the report, determine whether Section 100 is uplifted or continued with.

Institutional Development

Honourable Speaker, in support of the seven National Government priorities for this current electoral term, the Office of the Premier has committed itself towards building an ethical, capable and developmental state, amongst others, through the Institutional Development Support Programme;

To promote harmonious working relations between employer and employees
To enable ICT infrastructure and network for the efficiency of Government
To provide security in our facilities and protection of information of government
To curb elements of corruption, fraud and misconduct at work place
To provide sound legal services to the provincial administration
To promote healthy and competent work force, within occupationally safe facilities and;
To ensure citizens empowerment.

We have a responsibility to ensure that Provincial Government Departments comply with relevant public prescripts in delivering effective, efficient and economic quality public services.

Honourable Speaker, the most critical area will be around strengthening monitoring in the implementation of concluded investigations, effective management of precautionary suspensions, and completing the cases for investigation in our database, in relation to alleged corruption and fraud. In the previous financial year, we managed to conclude 10 cases of forensic investigations internally.

The Office of the Premier will continue to partner with local municipalities to facilitate the implementation of the National Anti-Corruption Strategy in the 2021/2022 financial year.

Honourable Speaker, in the past financial year, in preparation for SMS members financial disclosure for financial year 2020/2021, we raised awareness to all SMS members within the Office of the Premier.

As a result, we obtained a 100% compliance rate for SMS members financial disclosure for financial period 01 April 2020 to 31 March 2021.

Honourable Speaker, as part of our obligation to other Provincial Government Departments, the Office of the Premier has managed to provide support to, and monitor, the implementation of regulations and related circulars, to ensure that we have a coordinated fight against the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Provincial Departments were monitored to ensure compliance and effective implementation of protocols.

All government employees, who tested positive for COVID-19 at the workplace, were and are still being put on self-isolation for the period required and contacts are traced and advised accordingly.

To this end, our Employee Health and Wellness Unit, working in collaboration with the Department of Health, will redouble its efforts to ensure that all public servants are empowered with the requisite knowledge to exercise the strictest observance to COVID-19 protocols, resulting in the protection of their colleagues, loved ones and family members.

Honourable Speaker, I must say that we have been consistent in communicating and informing citizens of this province on all matters related to our services, including providing leadership in communicating decisions, directives and our Provincial Response to the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, using various available communication platforms.

As part of our coordination role, the Office of the Premier has also publicised names and contact details of managers across all provincial departments, who are responsible for various service delivery programmes, this to ensure that members of the public know who to contact for any service delivery query.

We encourage members of the public to feel free and keep close contact with those identified managers, as together we must build a responsible and accountable state.

Our toll-free Provincial Batho Pele Call Centre is also still active and accessible on 0800 111 700.

Honourable Speaker, Youth Development and Empowerment remains a critical programme for implementation across all spheres of government, for this current electoral term and beyond.

We are therefore tasked with ensuring that there is a coordinated effort to make sure that each and every Provincial Government Department commits to youth development and each has dedicated as well as funded youth projects for implementation in the current financial year and beyond.

The Office of the Premier will continue to coordinate, monitor and advocate for youth development and empowerment programmes across the province.

Honourable Speaker, the Office of the Premier has developed a policy position to ensure Youth Development and Empowerment that is aligned to the National Youth Policy towards 2030. In the process, the Office of the Premier adopted a theme and pillars to prioritise youth programmes and empower youth during the COVID-19 and beyond.

The theme is driven under the four pillars as identified, here under;

Food Security
Talent Development and Management
Entrepreneurship Support
Cultural Edutainment

The approach and details of how the programme is coordinated, will be contained or thrashed out in the operational plan unit. We are vigorously engaging the SETAs to come on board with their resources to assist the much-needed effort in developing and empowering our youth in the province.

However, allow me to state that youth projects currently being coordinated by the Office of the Premier include MeRSETA projects on beef-production, apprenticeship on motor and diesel mechanic, as well as the Construction, Education and Training SETA providing bursaries for construction and engineering related courses with various Universities and the Artisanship programme, on the following four trades; Welding, Fit and Turner, Electrician and Aircraft Mechanic.

Let me take this opportunity to address a false perception that the Office of the Premier has cancelled the Premier’s Bursary Fund, Kgetsi Ya Tsie. The Bursary Fund has not been cancelled. What we have done, given the budgetary constraints imposed by COVID-19, we had to reduce the overall budget of the Office. This was the case with all Departments nationally and provincially.

In our case, several programmes were reduced, amongst them the Premier’s Bursary Fund. In this regard, and in order to ensure the sustainability and continuity of this programme, we decided to defer the allocation of bursaries for the 2021 academic year.

However, funding is still continuing for all students and young people who were previously allocated bursaries. To show our commitment to this programme, and to demystify the false perception about the Bursary Fund, we will in July 2021 advertise for bursary allocations in the academic year 2022.

We have also rolled out Youth graduate development programme, intended to prepare the youth for workplace, across the four districts.

To date, we are sponsoring 133 bursary beneficiaries for 2021 academic year admitted in different Universities in the country. All the above efforts are coordinated through our unit responsible for Provincial Human Resource Development (Ikatisong School of Governance).

In relation to the ISOG, we are considering viable funding options and model of operation. There are several options in this regard, which when finalised will be communicated with the Legislature.

Honourable Speaker, the Office of the Premier will, in the 2021/2022 financial year, purposefully position all its Human Resource Development initiatives under a central institution for much better coordination and desired outcome to create a competent workforce which is able to respond to the challenges of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR).

This also compels us to improve on our ICT infrastructure and network programmes, to enable efficient and easy access of government information and to this end, we have acquired a new mainframe for the Provincial Government; replacing the old mainframe which was acquired in the 2007/2008 financial year.

For the 2021/2022 financial year, the key focus is on improving our network capacity across the province.

To this end, the Office of the Premier has engaged with SITA to provide improved bandwidth capacity to 103 sites and 8 Data Centres across the province; this will be in line with the SA Connect policy of the government.

In the process, the internet connectivity of the North West Provincial Government (NWPG) will be improved.

In collaboration with the Department of Arts Culture Sport and Recreation, 123 libraries will be connected to the NWPG network and will also provide internet access to the citizens.

Honourable Speaker, the Office of the Premier is closely monitoring litigation cases across the Provincial Government with a view to collaborate with the State Attorney for the management of these cases.

To this effect the State Law Advisory Services has developed a pro forma Litigation Management Quarterly Reporting template which is used by Departments and ensures that reporting takes place timeously, for continuous support and monitoring. The Accounting Authorities will be supported by the Accounting Officer in the effective management of litigations, as per table herein.

Contingent liability of litigation cases in the province

FOR 2020/21

The total litigation bill for the provincial government totals R6 674 673 748.96 (over R6,6bn) with the following top three departments in leading: Health, Public Works and Roads, Education.

The table hereunder shows a mark of increase in contingent liability in litigation case during the 2020/21 financial year, for Honourable Members’ perusal.

DEPARTMENT	OPENING BALANCE	CLOSING BALANCE
ARTS & CULTURE	R9 489	R8 474
COMMUNITY SAFETY	R90 863 033.95	R108 654 004.78
SOCIAL DEV.	R5 651 561.83	R5 651 561.83
COGTA	R16 269 766.09	R16 269 766.09
HUMAN SETTL.	R137 618 614.91	R121 312 286.13
AGRICULTURE	R22 283 915.59	R33 372 966.75
TREASURY	R17 100 571.76	R17 100 571.76
HEALTH	R5 721 315 604.58	R5 476 766 528.07
PUBLIC WORKS	R487 595 053	R520 106 427
DEDECT	R2 159 958.86	R3 571 176.68
EDUCATION	R210 695 054. 00	R189 545 923. 87
OOP	R329 226943	R182 314 062

All the efforts are put transversally to ensure sustainable and quality delivering of public services. The Office of the Premier is equally tasked to ensure Policy, Planning, Monitoring, Evaluation and Intervention, as far as government policy priorities are concerned.

Planning, Performance Monitoring and Evaluation & Special Programmes

Planning

Honourable Speaker, in the 2020/2021 financial year, the Office of the Premier, in collaboration with the National Department of Planning Monitoring and Evaluation (DPME), undertook a structured annual assessment of the Strategic Plans and Annual Performance Plans to ensure that all sector departments’ plans and budgets are aligned to the national and provincial priories of government.

Furthermore, our EXCO Planning Lekgotla brought all spheres of government under one roof to take stock of previous years’ performance against the priorities of government as well as to map out priorities for the new year which responds to the needs of communities.

The resolutions of the EXCO Planning Lekgotla is what guides Departments and Municipalities on what priorities to pursue in the new year and the Office of the Premier monitors the implementation of these resolutions.

Honourable speaker, in the 2021/2022 financial year, in an effort to improve our implementation of programmes and projects within the Provincial Government, we intend to roll-out a training programme called “planning for implementation programme” targeting all senior managers across the departments to build capacity and accelerate service delivery.

Not only will these collaborative efforts sharpen the planning skills of programme managers but will further accelerate the realisation of the District Development Model (DDM) to maximise the impact of government’s interventions through integrated planning.

As part of our function to coordinate and support Provincial Government Departments in their service delivery efforts with respect to project planning, implementation and monitoring of rural roads, which is one of the major priorities of government, a need has been identified to set up a dedicated unit which deals with rural road infrastructure.

The Office of the Premier in collaboration with Provincial Treasury will provide guidance and support on how this unit will operate and coordinated.

However, I should hasten to say that the implementation of this function will be undertaken through Department of Public Works and Roads.

During 2021/2022 financial year, the Office of the Premier will conclude the finalisation of the Provincial Growth and Development Strategy which will guide and inform planning across the province.

A draft strategy document has been produced through internal capacity; however, we intend to finalise this process by engaging the services of external experts to perform economic modelling and determine sector targets for the PGDS in line with the economic recovery and job creation initiative launched by the President.

Further, the Office of the Premier in collaboration with the Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs is currently institutionalising the District Development Model in the Province.

Honourable Speaker, the Office of the Premier will ensure that the implementation of District Development Model (DDM) is coordinated through North West Premier Coordinating Council (NWPCC) in order to accelerate, align and integrate service delivery within the province.

The Office of the Premier together with COGTA, sector Departments, district and local municipalities, including the private sector, is in the process to finalise the One District Plans.

Performance Monitoring and Evaluation

The Office of the Premier will continue to coordinate and strengthen monitoring and evaluation to ensure that Provincial and national priorities are implemented by Departments and public entities in particular to ensure service delivery.

During the 2020/2021 financial year, the Office of the Premier undertook to monitor the implementation of the provincial priorities through the annual performance plans on a quarterly basis.

Furthermore, we have continued to monitor the implementation of COVID-19 efforts as well as the State of the Province Address (SOPA) commitments. Through this effort we have noted improvement in the achievement of SOPA commitments by departments despite the impact of COVID-19 on implementation.

Honourable Speaker, the Office of the Premier has designed a Provincial Geographic Information system (web application) in an effort to improve service delivery. This system will capture, store, integrate, analyse, present and disseminate spatial or geographical data.

This GIS web application is triggered by the District Development Model DDM as it will be able to collect and store demographic and district profiles.

Citizens will be able to raise and report service delivery challenges through this web application among other channels at our disposal.

During the 2021/2022 financial year, we will be concluding the Performance Agreements between MECs and the Premier to ensure the alignment of all departmental priorities.

This will ensure that the Office of the Premier holds MECs accountable for the implementation of their delegated mandates.

These Performance Agreements will be concluded before the end of this quarter and will be aligned to both commitments made in line with the 6th Administration Medium Term Strategic Framework (MTSF) priorities, Departmental Strategic Plans and Annual Performance Plans.

One-on-one engagements will be held annually with MECs to discuss progress registered against such commitments.

Service Delivery and Monitoring

Honourable Speaker, through our service delivery support programmes since the last budget speech in July 2019, the Office of the Premier has managed to achieve the following:

More than 30 communities across the four districts were profiled in order to determine service delivery needs in these communities and in collaboration with relevant stakeholder we are working to address the identified needs, and
More than 1200 were reached through the social cohesion and moral regeneration programme which were coordinated with relevant stakeholders to address the social ills which are prevalent in our schools and impacting effective learning and education,

Honourable Speaker, there is no doubt that local government in the North West is in a state of paralysis; our municipalities have invariably been bedevilled by immense capacity challenges.

These challenges include but are not limited to the following:

Failure and collapse of governance and administrative systems in

municipalities;

Flouting of legislative provisions & prescripts, in particular SCM processes and procedures;
Declining Audit Outcomes with increasing trend of unauthorised, irregular, fruitless and wasteful expenditure (UIF&W);
Non-compliance with MFMA and other legislative conditions that led to loss and or withholding of Equitable Share and Conditional Grants such as MIG over the years;
Inability to provide sustainable, uninterrupted and quality services; and
Weak Public Participation and accountability systems.

As a form of intervention to address these challenges, the Provincial Executive Council (EXCO) invoked Section 139 (1) (b) which placed some municipalities under administration.

These invocations followed reports of systematic failures by the Municipal Councils to carry out their Executive and Legislative Mandates as articulated in Section 152(1), 152(2) and 153 of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, including the supporting legislative mandates.

In the previous financial year, I, as Premier and as part of my oversight role and responsibilities, led the Rapid Response Team (RRT) programme to engage with those municipalities and various stakeholders; which comprised of the council, management, organised labour and community representatives.

We engaged with all stakeholders and role players in the municipalities; using a problem analysis and resolving approach process regarding the governance and service delivery issues faced by the municipalities, with the sole intent to seek and find lasting and sustainable resolutions to these challenges.

The process for the re-establishment of the Provincial Aids Council within the Government Integrated Model is ongoing. All Local and District Aids Councils have been established. The induction of this councils is being concluded.

We will further intensify our social and moral regeneration programmes to deal with social ills in our communities especially dealing with impacts of gangsterism, violence against women and children in society which is a major challenge at the moment.

As part of social collaboration for the 2021/2022 financial year, the Office of the Premier has partnered with the Moses Kotane Foundation and we have since agreed we will commemorate the Moses Mauwane Kotane month in August 2021 and Mme Rebecca Morwa Kotane in February 2022.

These will be undertaken in collaboration with the Department of Arts Culture, Sports and Recreation in order to strengthen the heritage precinct in Madikwe.

Special Programmes

Honourable Speaker, the outbreak of the COVID-19 did have a negative impact on the implementation of our Special Programmes for the 2021/2022 financial year.

Most of the outreach activities could not be undertaken as the country was under lockdown and human movement was restricted for the better part of the year.

The Office on the Status of Persons with Disabilities (OSPD) ensured that whilst under COVID-19 restrictions, we continued to implement the programme aimed at achieving the targets set for 2030 as per the provisions of the White Paper on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (WPRPD).

In addition, the OSPD working with the Department of Health, co-ordinated the registration of five Cooperatives for Persons with Disabilities.

These cooperatives have been established in line with the commitments made in the 2020 State of the Province Address in which we committed to empower and ensure the participation of Persons with Disabilities in the Health Service Value Chain.

Unfortunately, we are told that two of the leaders of these cooperatives have since passed on and we hope the remaining members will continue with the work they had started to do with us.

In the 2021/2022 financial year, we will take forward the work of increasing economic participation for Persons with Disabilities.

We will further give focussed attention to the improvement in Employment Equity for Persons with Disabilities across the Provincial Administration.

The Office of the Premier will also continue to co-ordinate programs for the participation of Persons with Disabilities in efforts to contain the spread of COVID-19, including the vaccination program for this vulnerable group.

Honourable Speaker, since the term of office of Municipal Disability Forums is linked to that of Municipal Council, this financial year we will be reconstituting all these participatory structures due to the local government elections scheduled for October this year.

The Office on the Rights of Older Persons (OROP) could not escape the impact of COVID-19 since most of its beneficiaries are older persons, who have been identified as the most vulnerable group.

We were able to continue with the implementation of programs despite the limitations imposed by the Lockdown.

However, some of the programs like Active Ageing for Older Persons were significantly affected and working with relevant Departments we are looking at how they can systematically be revived.

Our Older Persons Forums will also be reconstituted during this financial year to ensure that they have a voice on governance matters especially at a local level.

We will also proceed to implement the Inter-Generational Programmes so that future generations benefit from the wisdom of their parents and grand-parents.

We once again convey our condolences to all our older persons who departed mostly due to COVID-19 throughout our Province and the country at large.

May their souls continue to Rest in Peace

Honourable Speaker, the Office of the Premier re-affirms our commitment to, and will continue to advocate for, gender responsive planning and budgeting.

To that effect we will continue to monitor that women and young people access 30% of the procurement spent in the province.

Critically, we will ensure that the empowerment of women is taken seriously towards achieving 50% representation of women in Senior Management System (SMS) positions in government.

We will continue to coordinate the celebration of women month to advocate for the rights of women. We will also be instrumental in the observance of 16 days of Activism on No Violence against women and children.

The scourge of gender violence has continued to rear its ugly head, even when the country was fighting the spread of COVID-19, leading to the President to declared it a second pandemic.

Together, with relevant stakeholders will continue to implement and support GBV programmes in the province. We have established the Provincial Steering Committee to oversee and implement and GBV programmes together with relevant stakeholders.

The Office of the Premier will also continue through the Office of the Rights of Children to advocate for programmes which address the rights of children.

Honourable Speaker, some of the programmes which will be coordinated in collaboration with the Department of Education include the sanitary dignity and school sanitation programmes.

Honourable Speaker,

The Office continues to focus on financing direct operational costs and overheads such as audit fees (R5.5 million), skills and development costs for officials within the Office (R2.7 million), fleet services (VMS) costs for the entire office (R4.2 million), operating lease costs for office accommodation (R2.5 million), finance lease for labour saving devices (R1.4 million), employee health and wellness (R1.3 million), Consumables, traveling subsistence and airtime and data allowance in the 2021/22 financial year.

Reprioritisation

The Office embarked on a reprioritisation exercise to find ways to control costs and directing funds towards priorities. These priorities and pressures are listed below:

An amount of R5 million is internally identified and is set aside to address all unforeseen costs related to COVID -19 as the future is not clearly known, this amount is evenly shared across the 3 programs in the Office. The reduction was mainly effected under travel and subsistence, venues, catering and rental and hiring standard items.
An amount of R 4 million is reprioritized to ISOG to cater for the payment of Artisans students in four fields: Electricity, Fitting and Turning, Welding and Aircraft Mechanics.
An amount of R4.5 million in 2021/22 is prioritised for Provincial macro–Policy Development. The Office has the mandate to provide the overall vision and policy direction for growth and development in the province. To this end, the Office is reviewing the Provincial Growth and Development Strategy (PGDS) which aims to stimulate economic growth and development, create an environment for eradication of poverty, and reduce inequality and unemployment in the province.
An amount of R2 million is availed for consultants to perform compliance investigation services on irregular expenditure for the Office of the Premier in the 2021/2022 financial year.
An amount of R 400 thousand is reprioritised to cater for establishment of Premier’s Economic Advisory Council.

Financing the shortfall

After taking into account programmes inputs, the office projected a shortfall of R15 million which was funded by reducing budget across several divisions and programmes to ensure that we remain within the total budget allocated for Vote 1.

Conclusion

Maloko ao a tlotlegang, re santse re ipetsa sehuba gore re ikana go tlhabolola le go tokafatsa matshelo a basha, ebile ga go na se se tla re emang pele kgotsa go re itsa go fitlhelela maikaelelo ao. Re ikana gore tswelelo pele ya basha ba rona e mo dikgatlegelong tsa puso ka dinako tsotlhe.

MmusaKgotla yo o tlotlegang, re tsere tshwaetso ya go tsholetsa lenaane la rona la go tlhabolola ditsela tsa metsemagae; ebile re le puso, re dira ka natla go netefatsa fa lenaane leo le fetoge boammaruri.

Ka se sebaka, re dirisana le Lefapha le Diterelo tsa Sechaba le Ditsela gammogo le Lefapha la Matlotlo, re ikaelela go tsenya tirisong lenaane leno re lebile go tlhama ditiro le go netefatsa natlafatso ya basha le basadi.

Re tsenya gape tirisong lenaane leno la tlhabolola ya ditsela tsa metsemagae gore re ba kgontsha go golagana ka tlhamalalo le mafelo a bojanala go leka go tsosolosa kgolo ya ikonomi mo North West.

Mmusa Kgotla yo o tlotlegang, re setse re dirile go ka tlala seatla go tlhoma Lephata le Dipatlisiso la Forensiki, go tsweletsa dipatlisiso mo magatweng a bosenyi, bogwene-gwene, tsamaiso eo e sokameng le bogodu mo mafapheng a puso, ditheo tsa bosechaba, bommasepala le makgotla a merafe a a eteletsweng pele ke Magosi.

This forensic unit will be established within the Provincial Treasury and will be functionally reporting directly to the Premier.

As committed during the State of the Province Address, we have already appointed a reputable service provider to conduct lifestyle audits for Members of the Executive Council, including the Premier and work has begun in earnest.

Honourable Speaker, the Office of the Premier has a dual role to play in the execution of its mandate; one being that of a strategic oversight role in the Provincial Government while on the other hand, we also are a Department of the Premier with its delegated functions – and this tends to be a very delicate balancing act to maintain.

However, as a leader of government, we are inherently expected to lead by example and we would not expect any one to do anything that we would not be prepared to do.

To emphasize that, allow me to refer to American author and speaker, John C Maxwell when he says “we cannot lead anyone farther than we have been ourselves”

Honourable Speaker, allow me to table to this august House the 2021/2022 budget for the Office of the Premier, for consideration of the House, in line with the final allocation letter issued.

The allocation per programme is tabulated as follows:

R’000

Amount in words