ADDRESS BY GAUTENG PREMIER DURING THE PRESENTATION OF
THE ANNUAL REPORT 2012/2013, GAUTENG PROVINCIAL
LEGISLATURE, JOHANNESBURG
06 September 2013
Madame Speaker
Honourable Members
Distinguished Guests
Ladies and Gentlemen
As we approach the end of term of office for the current government and on
the threshold of 20 years of democracy, the Gauteng Provincial Government
can reflect proudly on the hard earned achievements and the challenges
encountered in pursuit of a better life for all.
During the execution of our five year mandate we registered considerable
levels of success as a result of effective and efficient implementation of
government strategic policies that contribute to economic growth and
improvements in the social conditions of our people. Our accomplishments
were, nonetheless, realized under very difficult conditions characterized by
global economic slump, widening gap between the poor and the rich,
persistent structural inequalities and decreasing number of job opportunities.
We are now left with less than a year before the national elections take place.
It is therefore a very interesting period considering that the political space
becomes congested with contending messages aimed at winning the hearts
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and minds of the electorate. It is the season of political madness with those
who have neither tangible plan nor a will to transform our society clutching on
the straws for their political survival. The fact is they will sink as they always
have.
Madame Speaker
We are presenting our annual report at the time when recent research findings
by various bodies confirm that Gauteng is a better place to live in today than
19 years ago. In terms of the Census 2011 report, Gauteng is today home to
over 12 million people. It has become the province with the largest population
that accounts for almost one quarter of our country’s population. It accounts
for more than one third of the national economy, significantly higher than
KwaZulu-Natal (15.7%) and the Western Cape (14.2%) combined.
Our annual report for the 2012/13 financial year is substantially more than an
overview of the work done and objectives delivered by the department over
the twelve month reporting period. It is a detailed account of how we have
steered the government’s programme of transformation based on the will of
our people.
As the political nerve centre of government in Gauteng, the
Office of the Premier plays a strategic leadership role in coordinating and
improving the performance of government.
It is our responsibility to
continuously evaluate government work against the electoral mandate and
accurately report on achievements, challenges and interventions to correct
consistent non-performance.
As indicated earlier the annual report presented in this house captures the
detailed work that has been done, I will therefore present in my input the
highlights of the 2012/ 2013 financial year in relation to the strategic objectives
of the government.
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Since 2009, we have been successful in stabilising the financial situation in
the province. We were able to restructure the departments and rationalise
agencies so that they are efficient and geared for delivery. In addition, we
have reengineered and reposition the former GSSC by amongst others
revising procurement delegations so that departments can be empowered to
manage their own procurement.
Honourable Members
As the Gauteng Executive Council, we took a conscious decision to
collectively work towards the stabilization of the Department of Health in order
to prevent it from being taken over by national government through Section
100 of the Constitution. Through the implementation of the health turn-around
strategy, we have improved capacity, including the appointment of hospital
CEOs, senior management and filling of critical posts. We intervened to
restore the functioning of the Medical Supply Depot, improved the
effectiveness of health systems and stabilised the department’s finances.
Access to public health care centres has improved with more and more people
utilising our primary health care institutions. Today, we can confidently assert
that the department is on the road to success. Our interventions indeed have
yielded results.
In the period 2012/2013 we increased a number of children registered in our
schools, particularly Grade I. We also saw a satisfactory performance by our
Matriculants as a result of the investments and interventions we initiated.
A number of low cost housing and mixed income settlements built has
increased. More people are now enjoying security of tenure through the
issuing of title deeds, rental housing stock and subsidized housing scheme.
And the food security campaigns which were initiated are also beginning to
yield tangible results with more women benefiting in farming training and
support programs.
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Furthermore, we have made considerable improvements in the technical
capacity of the provincial government through our recruitment strategy,
particularly in the Departments of Infrastructure Development and Roads and
Transport. We are experiencing a steady surge in the number of professionals
who are applying and joining the civil service.
These are some of the good news we are happy to report on this year.
Madame Speaker
The Office of the Premier has performed among the best in empowering
targeted groups through preferential procurement and employment equity. In
2012/13, 84,3% of our contracts were awarded to historically disadvantaged
individuals, 36,6% to women, 27,1% to youth and 4,1% to people with
disabilities.
Consequently, we have set delivery targets to be achieved by all departments
by the end of our term of office to improve the lives of women, youth and
people with disabilities. We recognised that ending gender-based violence
requires a multi-sectoral approach. We will work with the police and the
criminal justice system to improve the conviction rates through addressing
detectives and forensics capacity in areas such as forensics social workers,
forensic pathologists and forensic officers and training of specialised units.
The Gauteng Planning Commission and Gauteng Advisory Council are now
fully operational and key in driving the people of Gauteng’s Vision 2055. We
regard partnerships with other spheres of government, private sector and
other meritorious organisations as significant for the development of Gauteng
as a Global City Region. Through the work of the Planning Commission we
are beginning to experience desired coordination and synergies in the work of
various departments. Above all, this has been strengthened by the
introduction of the centralised Monitoring and Evaluation mechanism in the
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office of the Premier which ensures that department adheres to their
commitments and delivers as required. It further assists in the detection of
poor performance in time for corrective and effective intervention.
Since the National Development Plan (NDP) was adopted and announced by
State President Jacob Zuma on 14 February 2013 during the State of the
Nation Address, our plans and priorities have been aligned accordingly. The
Gauteng Spatial Development Framework (GSDF) was presented to the
intergovernmental forum in February 2013 and was adopted by all parties for
implementation. The framework provides a broad long term spatial concept,
key spatial strategies and supporting policies for economic development,
urban growth and development and land use integration among others.
The Frontline Service Delivery Monitoring (FSDM), a project implemented
jointly with the Department of Performance Monitoring and Evaluation (DPME)
was rolled out with 161 frontline service delivery sites visits undertaken.
The roll out of the Management Performance Assessment Tool (MPAT) is now
in its third phase. To ensure continuous monitoring and evaluation, guidelines
and a template for the development of MPAT improvement plans were
prepared.
Gender coordination and mainstreaming of targeted groups was placed under
performance Monitoring and Evaluation to ensure proper coordination of
programmes.
Whilst
we
acknowledge
the
significant
milestones
in
employment equity, youth enterprises, employment of women and enterprises
owned by people with disabilities, the intensification of gender mainstreaming
remain a priority.
In combating fraud and corruption, we have strengthened controls to ensure
compliance with the PFMA and enforce financial accountability by both
Accounting Officers and Executive Authorities.
Systems and capacity to
detect and investigate cases have been fortified through the centralised
Forensic Services Unit. We are giving effect to our undertaking to implement
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consequence management. The rate of resolution of cases reported to the
National Anti-corruption Hotline has improved from twenty three percent to
forty eight percent since 2011.
Honourable Members
The budget compilation in the Office of the Premier is an integrated process
and is based on the outputs in terms of Outcome 8A at provincial level. The
budget for the 2012/13 financial year was R 249 810 in comparison to R 228
742 in 2011/12. The actual spend was R238 957 for the year under review.
The office has incurred under spending of R10 853 which is 4.34% of the
appropriation for the year. The under spending did not impact negatively on
service delivery in 2012/13. The Office of the Premier achieved a clean audit
for both financial performance and predetermined objectives. This is the third
clean audit in three years. The target to achieve clean audits in departments
and entities by 2014 is still on track.
Fundamental to clean audits is a good understanding of governance or the
application thereof supported by sound internal control environment. The
overall
control
environment
in
departments
and
entities
has
been
strengthened to avoid wasteful, fruitless, unauthorised and irregular
expenditure.
The payment of service providers in line with the prescripts of the National
Treasury is supported by all provincial government departments. Accounting
Officers are required to submit on monthly basis the exception reports on all
the invoices that were settled beyond 30 days and invoices that remain
outstanding after 30 days and the reasons thereof. Significant improvement
has been made with the payment of service providers within the required 30
day period.
We are also conscious of the fact that Government’s objective to build a
developmental state can only be achieved through a sound human resources
development strategy. The significant delays in the approval of organisational
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structures contributed negatively towards building a developmental state, staff
retention and the vacancy rate. In 2009/10 the vacancy rate was as high as
30%. Due to coordinated efforts, the vacancy rate has reduced to below 20%.
In April 2012, the organisational structure of the Office of the Premier was
finally approved. Our direct intervention with the Minister of Public Service and
Administration saw the approval of four organisational structures. Currently
four other departmental organisational structures are in the process of
approval and remaining departments will engage the DPSA shortly.
Through the Cabinet management system, the office provided effective
support to the Executive Council through agenda setting, coordination and
management of executive council meetings and decision tracking. The year
under review saw the implementation of the Litigation Management Approach,
a strategy to address the increasing cases of litigation against the provincial
government.
In line with the International relations programme, partnerships and sisterhood
agreements with various states and provinces across the regions of the world
have been established.
The office has double its efforts in promoting social cohesion in communities
by increasing a number of public participation events and economic
opportunity roadshows. The focus for the year was on promoting the good
work of government through various media platforms. Media has proliferated,
fragmented and faces significant change as consumers move from traditional
media to contemporary digital media. The office of the Premier and the
broader Gauteng Provincial Government has certainly embraced this form of
communication channels and effectively utilise it to inform our people about
government programmes.
Notwithstanding the strides we have made, the intricate issues of rapid
urbanisation and in-migration, poverty, inequality and unemployment, remain
a challenge. But we are certain that together with our partners we will
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effectively address them. We are committed and determined to transform the
socio-economic conditions of our people through a combination of strategies
and partnerships.
Madam Speaker
Let me take the liberty of reminding this augers house that in terms of the
outcomes the Office of the Premier is primarily responsible for the
implementation of Outcome 8A which deals with building “An effective,
efficient and development oriented public service”. The major outputs of this
outcome include quality service delivery and access, human resources
management and effective financial management to name a few.
To this end, the Extended Executive Council identified for the remainder of the
current term of office the following priorities:
1. Building capacity of legal services in line with litigation strategy
2. Strengthening of Management of Cabinet System
3. Financial management & HRM
which include the enforcement of
preferential procurement targets, achievement of unqualified and clean
audits, 30-day payments and improved revenue collection
4. Development planning which cover the finalisation of long-term vision – G
2055 and Infrastructure Master Plan in consultation with DID
5. Human Resources Management which will contribute to an effective
public service, filling of vacancies and stabilization of human resource as
well as achievement of minimum competency requirements in Supply
Chain Management
6. Performance Monitoring and Evaluation which cover the implementation
of Management Performance Assessment Tool (MPAT), Frontline Service
Delivery
Monitoring
(FSDM),
OBA,
evaluations
and
Information
management Systems amongst others, strengthen department and
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municipal monitoring for early warning systems, evaluation of service
delivery quality and access as well as Public Hotline.
7. Communications aimed at building public confidence in government
through sustained awareness on government progress and good work;
implement programmes to improve responsiveness of government and
promote sustained engagement with stakeholders. Enhance programme of
public participation linked to building public confidence in government and
improved access to information
8. Improve service delivery and effectiveness of Thusong Service Centres
instead of rolling out more centres
Honourable Members
Considering the achievements made during the period of 2012/2013 I am
confident that Gauteng is on the right course. We are not going to be
distracted from our course by the noisy rhetoric of those who are not
interested in improving the plight of our people. The groupings that is keen
and bent to protect and maintain the conditions that will continue to perpetuate
inequality, poverty and hunger. Their agenda is nothing but the preservation of
that which they regard as sacrosanct privileges to be exclusively enjoyed by
few in our midst.
Our march towards twenty years of democracy will see the dawn of
accelerated change in our society. Our people will benefit more from the
initiatives and programmes that we are planning to continue to pursue.
Madam Speaker
Allow me to take this opportunity to present the Office of the Premier’s Annual
Report as stipulated by the rules of the Legislature.
Dankie. Ngiyabonga.
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