Northern Cape Provincial Legislature
17 May 2010
It is a great honour and pleasure for me to present to you my second Budget Vote under the stewardship of President Jacob Zuma and custodianship of the Ruling Party, namely the African National Congress.
The past year was a period in which we assumed responsibilities based on our electoral mandate and service delivery priorities and programmes. During the State of the Province Address, we declared 2010 as “The Year for Action” – which was informed by the new administration’s quest to deliver services to the people better, faster, smarter and more cost effectively. We re-committed ourselves to make the government more caring, more responsive, and more interactive. We remain steadfast that the dreams, hopes and aspirations of our people are fulfilled.
It is also the responsibility of the Office of the Premier to provide strategic leadership that will ensure that the provincial government delivers on government priorities such as health, education, poverty eradication and sustainable livelihoods, safety and security as well as access to water and sanitation.
As we have clearly stated, the primary mandate is to improve the quality of the lives of our people. This means building a state that is democratic, people-driven and people-centred. This is a state that seeks to unite South Africans around a vision of sustainable development and mobilises them to act as midwives to the birth of a truly united, non-racial, non-sexist, democratic and prosperous society-in which the value of every citizen is based on our common humanity.
Specific focus will also be placed on all the vulnerable sectors of our society which include our youth, women and people with disabilities to ensure that they live fulfilling lives.
The Office of the Premier, as the apex of the provincial administration, has the onus of steering the provincial government in the right direction in order to satisfy the myriad needs of our people across the length and breadth of the Northern Cape Province.
As we steered the ship over the past year, priorities were fulfilled, challenges were overcome and many initiatives from our communities were supported. In crossing those bridges, we realised in the same breath that new priorities must evolve and as a result, a set of new challenges came about and our communities became more innovative and involved, as they placed more challenging initiatives before our doorsteps as the government of this beautiful Province.
In agreement with the national developments, the Office of the Premier will pay particular attention to strengthening the Administration’s capacity for planning as well as monitoring and evaluation. It will also be important that macro-policy planning and co-ordination provide an over-arching strategic framework to give effect to the implementation of these priorities. Equally, performance monitoring and evaluation should enable the evaluation of progress and the impact of government programmes in changing the lives of communities for the better.
As I speak today on the budget vote of my office and department, most, if not all sector departments will or have already responded to those challenges placed before us. Indeed, our earnest response to community initiatives is not about political mileage or expediency but rather about us being a government that has been elected to serve all the people of our province. Therefore our response to such initiatives is informed by the social contract we have with our people, a social contract to bring about sustainable change.
Honourable Speaker
In the nature of social transformation and the national democratic revolution such as ours, the radar that influences change remains our people and that needs to remain so if we want to succeed in what we are doing. In that context our budget priorities seek to put our people and their contesting needs first.
This conceptualisation of change and putting the needs of our people first was eloquently made clear by the first democratically elected President of South Africa, the great Nelson Mandela, when he said at the closing of the 50th National Conference of the ANC in December 1997 in Mafikeng, and I quote:
“We operate in a world which is searching for a better life without the imprisonment of dogma”
Honourable Speaker,
Indeed as we place our strategic plans, our annual performance plans and operational plans, we emphatically do so in search of providing a better life for our people. Consequently the question is, do we, as we prepare our base documents in search for a better life for our people become imprisoned by dogma? If that is so, then we are losing the plot.
Our base documents only seek to keep us in constant check and focus to deliver services to our people. Their intention is not that we should become imprisoned by them and treat them as dogma.
Honourable Speaker
Indulge me to preface this year’s Budget Vote speech by quoting from the declaration of the ANC 52ND National conference that took place at the University of Limpopo in December 2007, I quote:
“Conference celebrated the many achievements we have made in the years since 1994. The democratic freedom that we won became the cornerstone upon which we are advancing towards a better life for all ”. It further states and I quote
“Our work is far from complete. We are only at the beginning of a long journey to a truly united, democratic and prosperous society based on the principles contained in the Freedom Charter. Yet we are confident that the strategy and policies we have adopted will take us further towards the goal of a better life for all”
Honourable Speaker
With that central message echoing “Our work is far from complete”, let me take from what I said in last year’s budget speech, “Our budget speech which is reflective of our plans for the forthcoming year, also takes place in a context where we are conscious, more than ever, of the remaining needs of our people which need to be fulfilled urgently”.
To that end significant strides have been made. Last year all departments, including the Office of the Premier, had to endure significant budget cuts as a result of the economic recession. In that we had to commit everyone to absolute fiscal discipline and ensuring that “we do more with less”.
Allow me therefore, Honourable Speaker to put across a few of the achievements of the Office of the Premier before one gets on with what will transpire this fiscal year given what has been allocated to us.
The vision of the Office of the Premier is:
“Leading the Northern Cape Province to prosperity with quality life for all” .
The fundamental task therefore is to provide strategic leadership to the whole Provincial Administration.
In executing our tasks for 2009/2010 we have continued to perform and provide all secretarial related functions for all the Executive Council meetings, including the Cluster meetings. Consequently we have provided leadership through the 2010 Political and Technical Steering committees. As a result of the work of the abovementioned committees we have seen the development that Uruguay will set up base camp here in the Northern Cape in Kimberley for the duration of the 2010 FIFA World Cup.
There was also a great sense of optimism that was expressed by the people of the Northern Cape when we hosted the 50 days countdown before the FIFA World Cup kick off. This is indeed the year that the entire African continent will celebrate our rich diverse cultural heritage, including our dance and song. The World Cup spectacle will unite the country and ensure a lasting legacy for generations to come.
We also have, through the Premier’s Intergovernmental Forum meetings, managed to keep integrated planning as a central feature of our work through ensuring that the different spheres of government places emphasis on joint programmes to provide wholesale development to our people.
The strategic handover status reports that constituted the baseline information for the new political leadership ensured that the transition was not delayed and allowed for continuity on a number of activities that were in the pipeline. We also should hasten to say that the process of the reconfiguration of provincial departments in accordance with the new cabinet portfolios took – off with ease. That process helped to ensure that the new focus areas and mandates that came about as a result of Government’s Programme of Action got immediate attention and expression in the work and ethos of government. We are therefore on course with our work and the past year has made us confident that we, as a collective, are equal to the task of governing and serving our people.
The Northern Cape Province continues to be the torch – bearer of compliance with regard to financial disclosures by senior managers. This is a tangible tool that ensures that senior public servants do not compromise themselves in the process of performing their duties. We want to continue with the good work in the new fiscal year. If we want to serve our people their needs should take priority above any interest of self-aggrandisement.
Honourable Speaker
The skills development of both the Province and the Office of the Premier is a responsibility that we cannot shy away from. In doing our bit in marshalling skills for the Province we have ensured that 47 students get certified through the Ifihlile Project in the construction industry. As this project unfolds we will see students getting certified in electrification and refrigeration courses.
Building on our work from previous financial years, the Premier’s Bursary Fund granted bursaries to 299 students at a cost of R11million for the 2009/10 fiscal year.
The skills base of our Province should also be reflecting on our personnel, thus 95 officials in the Office of the Premier went through ten different skills development courses. We further provided 21 officials with bursaries for tertiary studies to the value of R142, 515 thousand. We therefore have the challenge of ensuring that we develop an effective placement and absorption strategy for such students after completion of their studies. I need to stress that the same needs to apply to government officials who acquire skills and competency levels through government bursaries, after completing their studies.
Efficiency Services submitted and completed the service delivery improvement plans for 2009/10 that were submitted to the Department of Public Service and Administration. In carrying out our transversal responsibilities we conducted a job analysis for NIHE. We also assisted seven small to medium sized municipalities by developing a generic functional structure for them to enhance their service delivery capabilities. The Premier’s Office provided support to seven departments on quality assurance as related to job evaluations for functional posts on their organisational structures.
The health and well-being of any work force is pivotal in ensuring that an institution meets its targets, priorities and strategic goals. Thus we will continue to invest in the well-being of our work force. In 2009/10 the Premier’s Office assisted 57 officials within the department to receive consultation on personal and work related difficulties. A total of 5 employee’s households were assisted with counselling around family related challenges. We extended our hand by assisting four departments with clinical psychological services. In partnership with other departments we ran a series of employee wellness activities. We also provided training interventions on HIV and AIDS and Occupational Health and Safety standards. Our intention is to ensure that as the country responds comprehensively to the HIV and AIDS pandemic our response is mainstreamed not only in the Office of the Premier but the entire Provincial Government.
In any institution including the state, information records and security management is a central tenet of ensuring that an institution is protected but well equipped to perform its functions. Thus in the 2009/2010 year we gave officials in the Office of the Premier security awareness training. To enhance that task further we developed a security policy and plan and both were approved. Our security officials that are on site in the Office of the Premier received training and we hope that it will become an ongoing exercise in improving the security around our physical infrastructure and office assets.
As the apex of the Provincial Administration, the Office of the Premier needs to set and maintain standards when it comes to financial management and accounting. In doing so, we had to ensure compliance relating to management and financial accounting and that was highlighted by the fact that our turnaround time with regards to payments was maintained and made within 30 days. We recorded a 95% achievement with regard to this.
Honourable Speaker
Furthermore we compiled and implemented a detailed Auditor General Action Plan in pursuance of obtaining better audit outcomes for the 2009/2010 financial year. In our endeavours to obtain clean audits we developed, reviewed and took fourteen financial policies through the approval stages.
Our financial Management and Accounting Unit further facilitated the smooth transfer of the Provincial Internal Audit Unit to Provincial Treasury and those of Traditional Affairs to the Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs.
Honourable Members
In pursuit of our strategic objectives we need to put shoulder to wheel and push to ensure that we are delivering services to our people. Equally therefore, we are aware that some will pull their weight and others not. Without bashing our civil servants, the tasks ahead need dynamic civil servants, who will be equal to the task not because he/she is getting paid or remunerated but rather a civil servant who has a passion in serving our people, because he/she believes in our collective objective to see our people prosper and enjoying the freedom brought about by the democracy ushered in by popular vote in April 1994.
In any employer and employee relationship there will always be challenges. It is a fluid relationship and we always strive for labour peace. Thus in 2009/10 we established the Provincial Labour Forum to ensure that employer and employee are in close proximity to discuss issues not only of mutual interest, but even those that places us poles apart from each other. Judging by the figures for the past fiscal year, we dealt successfully with 2 misconduct cases as well as handled 2 disputes successfully. Simultaneously we finalised fourteen labour grievances. It can only be work in progress for us as an employer to constantly engage labour in pursuance of the objectives of the national democratic revolution and creating a better life for all.
The legal services in the Office of the Premier provided the much-needed legal functions not only to the department but the whole Provincial Administration. This Unit, amongst its many other responsibilities, provided forty sound legal opinions to the Provincial Administration and drafted and interpreted 57 contracts.
In the nature of government, acts of its personnel are, by extension and law, the acts of government. Therefore as government officials exercise their responsibilities in pursuance of government objectives, such acts are challenges in some instances. In the 2009/10 financial year we defended 16 cases of which only two went to court and were successfully defended.
The work of government is guided by policies, legislation and its regulations. We drafted eleven pieces of legislation for the Provincial government in the previous fiscal year. We trust and hope going forward that this area of our work will receive much more attention.
In taking services to our people in 2009/10, the Thusong Service Centre programme was extended to the John Taole Gaetsewe District by launching such a service centre in Van Zylsrus. In setting the ICT platform in the Northern Cape Provincial Administration, two information communication technology transversal policies were developed and approved. We further hosted two foresight workshops. In the broader scheme of ICT we drafted inputs to the Northern Cape Information Society Strategy using Inspire donor funding to the value of R2.4million.
To date, through the work of the Office of the Premier, we have a first draft of a Provincial Communication Strategy and we will have to finalize and approve that strategy this fiscal year. To gain the trust of the people, the government is expected to constantly communicate with the people.
We also have a Provincial Public Liaison Forum that interfaces with the Presidential Hotline in an effort to expedite the response time to issues raised through the Presidential Hotline. In all our districts we need to have in place functional District Communicator’s Forums. To that end we have proceeded with ease in revitalizing the Siyanda District Communicators Forum in 2009/10. Such forums are important because they allow government at all levels to communicate its central messages both clearly and effectively.
Honourable Speaker
The disestablishment of the Provincial Youth Commission has been handled amidst the many challenges we inherited. We can safely report that, that part of our work has been executed satisfactorily. As we part ways with a critical function that we undertook with the enactment of the Northern Cape Provincial Youth Commission Act, we trust that this very important constituency will be properly taken care of by the activities and programmes of the National Youth Development Agency. We will take a keen interest in the work of the structures of the agency in the province. We will do so because up to this day we believe the youth is the future and the future belongs to them.
Honourable Speaker, despite having concluded the disestablishment process of the Youth Commission we have inherited personnel that we have transferred to various units and currently we are paying them through programme 3 at a total cost of R1.6 million this financial year.
The Office of the Premier has placed focus in the previous fiscal year to protect those vulnerable sectors of our society. The evils that continue to besiege our women and children cannot continue unabated. The functions to protect the rights of women and children have for a reason been placed in the Office of the Premier. We will therefore continue to marshal all government departments to ensure that the rights of women and children are not seen to be relevant only during celebratory months. We will have to challenge that mind set as we did in the past financial year.
Honourable Speaker
We live in an age of rights and responsibilities. It is through the work of the office on the rights of the child that we begin to challenge the thought process that says rights have no responsibilities. Given that we have facilitated six workshops with children between the ages of 12 – 17 to garner input from them on the review of the South African Children’s Charter. Furthermore we co–ordinated through our provincial platforms inputs into the Provincial and National Children’s Rights delivery mechanism of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.
Our programme on moral regeneration continues despite consistent challenges. The campaign to promote the Charter of Positive Values for the province rolled in full steam in 2009/10. That could be seen through be successful co – ordination of the moral regeneration month.
In transforming the public service and ensuring that the Batho Pele Principles constitute a daily phenomenon amongst our public servants, this office trained and deployed 116 middle and senior managers from all twelve provincial departments on Khaedu to improve on service delivery bottlenecks. We also hosted the Public Service Excellence Awards. The Awards seek to motivate our hard working personnel.
Honourable Speaker
The strategic functions in the Office of the Premier provided the much needed basic tools to ensure that our base documents contain the expected inputs in order for us to get the intended outputs. We managed to publish and launch our 15 year review that contains progress on achievements of the provincial government over a 5 to 15 year period based on certain indicators agreed upon by the Province. We also established the first statistical and research forum which was chaired by our Monitoring and Evaluation Unit to ensure that statistical information and research outputs are aligned with provincial outputs.
Honourable Members
Allow me to put to this house what we have been allocated in the 2010/11 budget year and sketch what we will endeavour to do with what we have. I still speak from the same page of “doing more with less”
In doing more, the less that have been allocated to us over the MTEF period of 2010/11 to 2012/13 is R414, 785 Million.
Annually this amount will reflect as follows, giving effect to the MTEF period allocations.
2010/11 R 130, 461 Million
2011/12 R 138, 633 Million
2012/13 R 145, 691 Million
The Office of the Premier is divided into three Programmes and out of the three major programmes there are 19 units. In 2009/10 the total number of units were 22 and with the disestablishment of the Youth Commission, the transfer of both Internal Audit to Provincial Treasury and Traditional Affairs to the Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs accounts for the reduction of the total number of units to 19.
In this fiscal year our allocation is R 130, 461 Million and that allocation translates into a 16.6% decrease compared to the previous financial year. The pattern of decrement is interrupted as reflected in the outer years as the pattern slides towards increment as follows: 2011/12, 6% increment and for 2012/13, 5% increment. Our budgetary cut in this fiscal year may be attributed to the transfer of the Provincial Internal Audit and Traditional Affairs to different sector departments. The transfer was a case of funds followed the functions. Furthermore a number of other transfer payments where discontinued in this fiscal period.
The allocated amount for the current financial year 2010/11 is budgeted as follows amongst the major programmes.
Administration R 50, 975 Million
Institutional Development R 35, 872 Million
Policy and Governance R 43, 614 Million
The budget reduction effect has run through like a cancer in all the 19 units that constitute the three major programmes.
Honourable Speaker
With what has been allocated to us, the percentage division is as follows:
Out of the total amount allocated, employee costs take up a total of 53% of the budget, 34% is for Goods and Services, 11.3% is for transfer payments and 7.6% is for Capital Expenditure thereby constituting the full 100%.
Generally, the Office of the Premier is positioned as the Nerve Centre of the Provincial Administration. Our budget is orientated more along the lines of strategic leadership, co-ordinated planning, policy development, monitoring and evaluation. This function constitutes what the mission of the Office of the Premier is and that is:
“To provide strategic leadership that will stimulate economic growth to its full potential and ensure high levels of social development”
Honourable Members
In executing those tasks our resources will be utilised to advance our core mandate as follows:
A total amount of R3.8 million is allocated to ensure that government follows and remains in constant contact with our people through “EXCO Meets the People” outreach programme. The active participation of communities in governance and service delivery programmes is central to our vision of a national democratic society.
In that total amount the Executive Council Secretariat will be in good stead to ensure that the Executive Council machinery is well oiled and result orientated. It will also ensure that MTSF priorities 8 & 9 are captured and properly dovetailed to the policy priorities of the current administration. To this end, the strategic coordinating functions of the secretariat will also spread its tentacles to strengthen cluster co–ordination, develop a system of tracking decisions and offer advice on the execution of the decisions of the Executive Council.
The current political trajectory strongly emphasises the critical matter of planning, co–ordination and monitoring and evaluation. It has become such an important aspect of government work that they are executed from the highest office in the land, namely the Presidency. It should by no means be seen as an anomaly that the Office of the Premier models itself along those lines. It should therefore be seen that a portion of our allocated funds will be utilised to further enhance our efforts of co–ordination through the Premier’s Intergovernmental Forum. It is through such a Forum that the sum total of development planning will find proper expression and execution.
In that context, the five year strategic agenda for local government will continue to receive critical attention through the Governance and Administration Cluster filtering into the flow of work with specific sector departments.
Honourable Speaker
Central to unpacking the many challenges of our administration there are people with different talents that are utilised for the benefit of our people. It should and only will be to our advantage that we continue to ensure 100% compliance with regard to the PMDS in the Office of the Premier. Standards are there to be maintained, or improved upon but should never be dropped. With the total of R8.5 million allocated to both our Human Resource Administration and Human Resource Development, we want to further enhance the Premiers Office capabilities in reaching greater heights through service excellence.
In further waging our war against the Northern Cape’s skills deficit we have made provision for transferring R11.5 Million to the Premier’s Bursary Fund to take forward what we regard as one of our urgent priorities.
It is our concerted desire that all of us should place our people on the highest pedestal. We will continue to narrow the journey that we started in an attempt to complete our work. In narrowing the journey it will further provide a concrete basis for evaluating our strategy and policies that have placed us on the journey we strive to complete.
Honourable Members
Indeed a public service is necessary, but what do we do if that public service is not meeting the required political reality of serving our people. It therefore becomes a necessary tool to look at the efficiency and efficacy of the public service.
As a consequence of that monumental realisation, the budget makes room for a total amount of R3.6 million to ensure that Efficiency Services in the Office of the Premier undertakes that very important task, the task that makes the public service tick and have a pulse that responds to what is important. To that end, the budget will assist Efficiency Services to conclude the provincial Job Evaluation database. Furthermore the support and leadership that the office provides to the Inter-Provincial Job Evaluation Forum will be further solidified. The constant work of organisational re-constitution in all government departments and the repositioning of our human resource capital are being propelled by the funds allocated to this function of our work.
Honourable Speaker
For any institution to respond effectively to challenges and becoming results orientated, that institution needs a motivated work force. With that consideration the Office of the Premier has allocated a total amount of R1.1 million to continue our efforts in securing a well and healthy work force to partner with us in achieving our strategic objectives.
A framework for Labour Relations is quite necessary to provide a platform for labour peace. The Office of the Premier apart, from its own matters, still gives attention to matters within and outside of the public service. This area of the work in the Premier’s Office received a budgeted amount of R1.9 million, and we firmly believe that that allocation will go a long way in facilitating labour relations that in no way stifles the rights of employees. Employees on the other hand, also need to realise that there will be corresponding responsibilities.
Honourable Speaker
As we mentioned earlier, the Legal Services in the Office has a defined responsibility that allows this Office to do everything it does within the confines of the Constitution of the Republic and the general laws of the land. As a democracy, upper most in our many tasks, the rule of law is critical. This Unit has a total budget of R5.3 million and with that we trust and believe that this amount will put this Unit in good stead to function well.
Moving on to Information Communication Technology, the ICT Unit has been allocated a budget amounting to R8.7 million. With that we will advance the development of a directory of services for the Northern Cape Provincial Government which we intend to post on the provincial website. Similarly we will continue with communications and marketing campaigns on behalf of the Northern Cape Provincial Government. In doing so we will endeavour to put the Northern Cape on the map with what we do, with what we will still have to do, and advance our provincial interests in order to sustain our constitutional gains as both a province and as a country.
Honourable Members
This year marks our 16th year of freedom and democracy. It is a year wherein we will celebrate the 55 th Anniversary of the Freedom Charter. More fulfilling was the celebration of the 20 th Anniversary of the release of South African’s humble icon, in the person of none other than Nelson Mandela.
Against that backdrop we had a fifteen year review that provided an honest review with regard to where we are in relation to meeting our strategic objectives. That report provided the following:
Midway in the 2nd Decade of Freedom, South Africa has been able to notch up a faster trajectory of growth and development. This is, however, not enough. Challenges have proved more deep-seated and success in some areas threw up additional challenges.
The Global environment has become less favourable than expected.
Given the review, we have moved in the direction of establishing a National Commission on Strategic Planning.
This development will ensure that the growth and development that we seek to bring about will leave a permanent footprint as it ensures that we impact positively on the lives of our people. It is with regard to the above that programme three in the Office of the Premier deals with Policy and Governance.
The objective of the programme is to:
“Co-ordinate and facilitate integrated planning for all spheres of government, as well as monitoring and evaluation of intergovernmental relations, policy and programme implementation”.
Honourable Speaker
It is for that precise reason we have committed ourselves to review the organogram to give meaningful technical support to the Executive Council, its Committees and the HOD’s Forum.
We therefore see Policy and Planning, Monitoring, Review and Evaluation as a giant step towards ensuring that the building blocks of a developmental state with the capacity to lead the process of national development is in reach. As we go through this learning curve of doing things differently, we will have to identify milestones as frame of reference on our journey to national development as advanced by our developmental state. Consequently we are aware that there is a feedback loop between policy, planning, performance monitoring and evaluation.
Honourable Speaker
Performance Monitoring and Evaluation will be critical to the process of policy formulation and/or implementation. Monitoring and evaluation would ensure, even if in mid-term or long term, that necessary adjustments may be effected without delay. The effect of this symbiotic relationship between policy, planning and monitoring and evaluation will propel a system of sequencing of programmes. Concretely therefore, the Unit that deals with Monitoring and Evaluation will establish provincial development indicators with a view to prioritise policy goals and trend analysis. Such provincial development indicators will provide us with accurate data on progress in human development, infrastructure development, local economic development and other areas of socio-economic advancement.
In pursuing this programme and policy synergy we have allocated a total amount of R7.2 million to Policy, Planning and Monitoring and Evaluation under programme three which comprises Policy and Strategic services to assist and advance the aim of provincial long term integrated planning, thereby allowing for proper programme review and evaluation on a more sustained level towards advancing our developmental state.
Honourable Members
Other urgent aspects of programme three include pertinent questions of national interest. Our budget makes provision for sustained mainstreaming of disability management strategy, gender mainstreaming and mainstreaming of children’s rights delivery strategy. These areas of special programmes actually highlight government’s commitment to these sectors of our society. In the Office of the Premier we have a Unit that focuses on this area of our work mainly to ensure that other sector departments do not forget to include and advance people with disabilities, women and children in their annual performance plans, other activities and policies that they might want and intend to develop.
Whilst there is a limitation to these Units because their primary function is really about monitoring and ensuring these special sectors are taken on board with regard to general service delivery by government departments, these Units have in the past and still continue to operate and function beyond that limitation. They have refused to be “imprisoned by dogma”. Such should the tenacity of a civil servant be when championing the rights of those that are the most vulnerable in our society. It is within those confines that the Special Programmes Unit has been given an amount of R9.6 million to pursue the programmes of the provincial sector departments when it comes to advancing the rights of women, people with disability and children.
The moral fibre of our society continues to be an element of major concern. The problem with society today is depicted by this quote:
“The problem with the school of parenting is that children are the teachers”.
Given this situation in view of the reversal of roles we will continue to have a problem around lack of positive values not only among children, but society in general. It can therefore never be strange why government has a keen interest in the promotion of positive values and morals campaign. Central to such a campaign are organs of civil society. An effort will thus be made to revive and encourage the establishment of civil society structures so that they become the active and actual drivers for the positive values and morals campaign.
Government support to such initiatives is necessitated by really seeing our communities becoming breeding centres for positive outcomes in our collective journey in the realm of human development and prosperity. To advance and discharge this responsibility, the Moral Regeneration Movement has been allocated an amount of R1.3 million to implement the said programmes.
Honourable Speaker
In no time people from all over the world will descend to our country. They will be coming here to witness the 2010 FIFA World Cup, the first to be staged on African soil and the Northern Cape we will be hosting Uruguay.
It goes without saying that there is a lot at stake. The whole country has to be prepared not to breach the codes of International Protocols and the simple rules of just being neighbourly. Let us welcome our visitors with the unique African experience and hospitality to make them feel safe and secure wherever they go.
In that context we will be making our contributions by providing language and Protocol training proving that we are already feeling the vibe and excitement of the World Cup. Indeed the feeling is overwhelming. The IGR Unit in the office of the Premier is key to ensuring that in the Northern Cape we, too, do our bit in projecting and protecting the correct image of our country whether we receive visitors or go abroad and become visitors. Observance of certain rules of culture, language and courtesy is important. To do our bit in showing the world that South Africa is the place to be, this Unit has been given a slice of R1.5 million to do a sterling job.
Honourable Members
In 1969 in Tanzania at the conclusion of the Morogoro Conference of the ANC which took place from 25th April to 1st May that same year, the then President of the ANC, the late Comrade Oliver Reginald Tambo said, and I quote:
“Close ranks! This is the order of our people, our youth, the army, to each Umkhonto we Sizwe Militant, to all our many supporters the world over. This is the order to our leaders, to all of us. The order that comes from this conference is, Close Ranks and intensify the armed struggle”.
If Cde O.R. was here today, how would he have articulated the above statement? Allow me therefore to re-incarnate the late Cde O.R’s words in today’s context:
“Close ranks: this is the clarion call to all our people, our Executive Council, our legislators, the judiciary and all our public servants. All of us who want to see the Northern Cape prosper must close ranks”
This is the clarion call to our leaders, to all of us. This call comes from the people, whom we represent. They make this call because they trust that through us they will overcome poverty, unemployment, degradation, crime and violence. They have made this call for they have faith in our collective political wisdom and trust that our political and ideological differences will not impede the seed of progress that was planted in 1994 to improve and create a better life for all.
They have made this call for they expect us to put South Africa first. They profess that they have placed us in this august house not to play politics but rather to serve them.
Close ranks and intensify the gains we have made thus far!
Honourable Speaker
In closing ranks and intensifying and consolidating the gains we have made thus far, we all have to be mindful of the Provincial Government’s vision of Khotso,Pula,Nala for the Northern Cape.Translated into English,Khotso,Pula,Nala means Peace,Rain,Prosperity.With this vision uppermost in our minds,our goal,as government is to create the conditions necessary for the improvement of the quality of life of all our people.
This goal imposes on us a responsibility to use the tool of government to create the conditions needed for the attainment of our goals.The machinery of government must become our tool to achieve a better live for all.Within this context our challenges require a deliberate but a concerted approach to review the structures of our administration but also re-examine our modus operandi for the deployment of strategic managers at all levels.In giving further effect to the vision of Khotso,Pula,Nala,the revitalization and renewal of our townships and the creation of integrated human settlement areas will inform the agenda of our government.The restoration of the dignity and pride of our people is paramount,and must be the thread that runs through the programmes of our government.
The observations we have made in this budget speech about the challenges we still face in our quest to achieve the greatest yearning of our people, which is poverty eradication and job creation, obliges us to summon the wise words of one of the greatest revolutionaries, comrade Che Guevara to call upon all our forces to action: “We must all be united, compañeros, firm in our faith, firmer than ever today, though perhaps not so firm as we shall be tomorrow, to go forward always with our eyes on the future, with our feet on the ground, building each step, and making sure of each step we take, so that we will never give up one inch of what we have won, of what we have built, of what is ours”
Let me take this opportunity to thank the Members of the Executive Council, Members of the Provincial Legislature, senior management as well as all the staff for their support.
I Thank You!!!!