Honourable Speaker and Deputy Speaker
Honourable Chief Whip
Members of the Executive Council
Members of the Legislature
Distinguished Guests
The People of Gauteng:

Madame Speaker, I would like to start by conveying my condolences to the family of the DA Leader, Hon Moodey, on the passing of his sister. I also want to convey my condolences to the family of departed ANC Cllr, Nonhlanhla Mthembu, on her passing. We extend our words of comfort to the bereaved families.  May the souls of the departed rest in peace!

It is with a tremendous sense of duty that I stand here today to table for consideration by this House, the 2015/2016 Annual Report of the Office of the Premier. As you are aware, Departmental Annual Reports are among the instruments being used to ensure that government accounts to the legislature and the people of Gauteng.  Public accountability and probity are important principles of democratic governance.

We table our Annual Reports at the close of Women’s Month. On August 9th, we commemorated the 60th anniversary of the 1956 women’s march and highlighted the progress and plight of women in the ongoing struggle for women’s emancipation and gender equality.

Speaking during the 60th Anniversary of the 1956 Women’s March to the Union Buildings, former Deputy Speaker of our Legislature, Mrs Sophie Williams-De Bruyn had this to say: “The march to the Union Building in 1956 by 20 000 women was not only against the carrying of passes by African women but also the challenges and the oppressive system that sought to deepen inequalities in terms of race and gender which resulted in the current triple challenges of poverty, unemployment and inequalities which burden women the most.”        

She went on to say: “It is for the youth to take the baton that we have already handed to them and to fight the ills and injustices in our country right now, which are the increase in the abuse of women, violence against women and children, inequality, unemployment and  poverty.”

We are already witnessing young women taking the baton and standing up against injustice.  Young women played a key role in the fees must fall campaign in order to broaden access to higher education, particular among the poor. Young women have also been confronting the scourge of gender-based violence and crime perpetrated against female students in our campuses.

This week, Girl learners from Pretoria High School for Girls challenged discrimination and drew the attention of the entire nation to possible acts of racism in one of our province’s top performing schools.  They need the support of this House in their fight against injustice.  There is no place for racists in our country.

Honourable Speaker, last week, we held Ntirhisano Dialogue with Young Women of Gauteng to discuss with them all the challenges facing young women from different sectors - those in school, universities and TVET colleges, trade unions and workplaces, churches, business, professions and unemployed.

We emerged from the Dialogue with a comprehensive programme of action that will be implemented by all provincial government departments in order to meet the aspirations of the young women in our province.

On 12th August, we had an opportunity to visit Ikhaya LeThemba, a place of safety for survivors of gender-based violence. We interacted with and listened to stories of how government agencies, NGOs and private partners are working together to assist victims and survivors of abuse to rebuild their lives. 

We have more than thirty houses of safety in Gauteng and these have indeed become Houses of Hope.  We are strengthening the fight against gender-based violence through a combination of efforts such as specialized police units, community campaigns, enhanced collaboration and integrated approach among the agencies of the criminal justice system.
I would like to thank the committed government officials, volunteers from NGOs, police officers and private sector Organisations who are helping to give hope to survivors of abuse and gender-based violence. There is no room for rapists, abusers and women beaters in our society. 

Honourable Speaker, during this year’s State of the Province Address, I made a commitment that we will unveil the Women’s Living Heritage Monument. I am pleased to report that we have delivered on this commitment and that the Women’s Living Heritage Monument is now operational.

Malibongwe igama lamakhosikazi! Wa thinta abafazi, wa thint’imbokodo!
Honourable Speaker, on the 3rd of August, the people of South Africa took part in our country’s forth democratic local government elections.

As we meet here today new councillors have been sworn in and new councils have been constituted across the Republic. As the Head of the provincial government, I wish to take this opportunity to congratulate all our newly elected councillors. I welcome all Executive Mayors and hope they will serve the people with humility, honour and distinction. The people have spoken and we must now work together with all municipalities in order to ensure service delivery, community development and local economic transformation in line with our Gauteng City Region’s vision for transformation, modernisation and re-industrialisation.

We remain steely and resolute in our determination to serve the people of Gauteng in their entirety. We shall promote stability and ensure uninterrupted service delivery, tackle uneven development and drive spatial and socio-economic transformation across our province. We will promote responsive, accountable and clean governance in the entire province and collaborate with all municipalities in order to help them fulfill their constitutional obligations.

We will not hesitate to intervene, in accordance with the law, in the event of administrative paralysis that threatens the well-being of citizens. The Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs is already working closely with all the municipalities to ensure a smooth transition to the new term of local government. In the coming month, I will meet all the newly-elected Mayors to share perspectives on how we can work together, in the best interest of our citizens, to build a transformed, modernised and re-industrialised Gauteng City Region. We will also advise Mayors to avoid making public announcements or commitments on matters on which they have no constitutional or legal authority.

Honourable Speaker, on numerous occasions we have stated that we place a high premium on evidence-based governance and policy making. We have also said that we are a government that is concerned about the impact of our policy interventions – our interventions need to result in visible and measurable improvement in the conditions of the people of Gauteng. We are therefore delighted that evidence now indicates that despite some major challenges in areas such as the economy and safety, things are working better in Gauteng.

Only last week, the Auditor General handed over the Audit Reports of the provincial government’s departments and agencies. I am happy to report that all departments and agencies obtained unqualified audit outcomes. We are even more delighted that seven provincial departments and fourteen agencies achieved clean audits (which is 60% of the auditees). A further seven provincial departments and six entities achieved unqualified audit outcomes.

Honourable members, we are also glad to report that we now have 11 out of 14 departments which pay service 95% of their service providers in 30 Days, while 9 out of 14 departments have progressed to paying 70% of their service providers in 15 Days.
Honourable members, you'll recall that during this year's State of the Province Address, I have announced the 15 Days payment of service providers as the goal of the fifth administration. We are succeeding in meeting Herculean task we have voluntarily set for ourselves.

I also take this opportunity to congratulate the Gauteng Provincial Legislature for obtaining a clean audit. This augurs well for a body whose responsibility is to hold government accountable through robust oversight. The Legislature, Office of the Premier and Gauteng Treasury are leading by example. Well done.

This year's audit outcomes represent the best outcomes recorded in 13 years and serves as an indication that as this ANC-led provincial government we are well on track towards achieving our goal of realising 100% clean audits.

I am elated that the Department of Health and G-fleet, both of whom, have for some time, been experiencing difficulties in terms of their financial management, have finally joined the ranks of unqualified audit outcomes. The Department of Health improved from a qualified to an unqualified audit results, while G-fleet this year managed to achieve an unqualified audit outcome, from an adverse opinion and a disclaimer in the past two years.

I hereby congratulate all MECs whose departments obtained clean audits. In particular, I commend MEC Mahlangu and MEC Vadi the progress to unqualified audits. Now you must move to clean audits. There is no turning back. I wish to reiterate that there shall be consequences for poor performance and unethical conduct!  We are determined to run a clean, accountable, efficient, responsive and corruption free administration. We are determined to serve the people honestly and diligently.

Despite the good progress made, I remain concerned about irregular expenditure and failure by officials to comply with supply chain procedures. We will crack the whip. We will also provide support where necessary.  There should be no place for irregular expenditure in our Gauteng City Region. In line with our commitment to running a clean and transparent administration, we are pleased to report that the Open Tender System is now being implemented in all our departments.

Honourable members, as we pointed out before in this House, the Gauteng provincial government is a pioneer and only government in the world which is implementing the open tender system. We are also pleased that the City of Ekurhuleni was already implementing the Open Tender System and that the City of Johannesburg was in the process of implementing the System.

We trust that this system will be implemented in all our municipalities without fail.  MEC Barbara Creecy and her team in Treasury are readily available to train municipal leaders on the Open Tender System. Honourable Speaker, over the past few months a number of research reports and surveys have been released providing important insights into the progress we are making as the ANC government in improving the quality of life of the citizens of the Gauteng City Region.

These reports include the State of the South African Cities Report, the Gauteng City Region Observatory’s Quality of Life Survey and StatsSA’s General Household Survey. 
All reports confirm the irrefutable and indisputable fact that Gauteng cities especially our Metro municipalities, are key drivers of growth, employment as well as spatial and socio-economic transformation. Our metros have been well-governed and resilient institutionally. 

In my engagements with the Mayors, we will seek ways for us to work together so that we can build on these achievements. This we must do within the context of the Gauteng City Region. The citizens of Gauteng demand that we work together towards improving the quality of their lives. We must push service delivery simultaneously with thoroughgoing socio-economic and spatial transformation to build a more inclusive and equal society.
Honourable Speaker, there is evidence that through our Ntirhisano Community Outreach Programme and Service delivery War Room, we are changing the way government works as well as our people’s experience of  government.

Through Ntirhisano we have interacted with more than 50 communities across Gauteng. Each community meeting we have was attended by 800 and 8000 community members.
Pointing to the effectiveness of our service delivery interventions is that 99% of citizens who report cases on our Hotline receive feedback within 3 working days and that 98% of escalated cases are resolved within 60 working days.

In June we convened Ntirhisano with young people as part of commemorating Youth Month. We have also taken Ntirhisano to individual firms, starting with firms in the automotive sector and later firms in the capital equipment manufacturing sector.
We are pleased to also report that in June we convened a successful Ntirhisano with the Taxi Industry followed shortly before the elections by an Indaba with the Industry.

At the Indaba, we signed a Memorandum of Understanding committing ourselves to working together in implementing the 8-point plan for the taxi industry within the City Region. Honourable Speaker, our goal is to ensure that the taxi industry is fully incorporated into the modern, integrated, intermodal public transport system we are building in Gauteng.

We have now started Ntirhisano engagements with various sectors of our economy on the implementation of the Provincial Economic Development Plan adopted at Economic Indaba held in June this year. We are doing this In order to re-ignite our provincial economy and place it on a sustainable and inclusive growth path. The Economic Plan emphasises partnerships across all sectors.  We remain humbled by the enthusiasm and support from all economic stakeholders who have made a commitment to work with us to ensure the success of our Provincial Economic Plan.

Honourable Speaker, as we continue to pay attention to the important task of nation-building and promoting social cohesion, we draw comfort from indications especially from the GCRO quality of life survey that citizens of Gauteng tend to more progressive in attitudes. On racial attitudes, the Survey indicated that 79% of all respondents agreed that life in Gauteng would be better if people lived together and 77% said it would be better with more open green spaces for social mixing and recreation.    

This can only bode well for our drive towards a national democratic society that is united, non-racial, non-sexist, democratic and prosperous.  We will continue  to work with our Eminent Group of  Social Cohesion Champions as well as civil society to rid Gauteng of racism and xenophobia.

Honourable Speaker, this ANC-led government is serious about delivering on its commitments. What we commit on is flowed up by action and result. The results of our work as indicated in the 2015/16 Annual Report of the Office of the Premier speak for themselves. We are delivering on our commitments. 

We are not only delivering but also transforming space and the economy. Our goal is a transformed, modernised and re-industrialised Gauteng City Region. Our goal is to revitalize and mainstream the township economy. Our goal is an inclusive, growing and job-creating economy. Our goal is to transform society, not just to deliver services. We are revolutionary democrats, not liberal democrats who want to leave the structural injustices of our past in tact.  We want fundamental change which will result in social equity and economic justice. We must  to structural inequality and institutionalized racism.

I wish to thank the MECs, Director General, Special Advisors, HoDs and all senior managers for their professional commitment and hard work in ensuring that our government and the Office of the Premier adequately discharges its functions of being the principal driver of our radical programme for Transformation, Modernization and Re-industrialisation.    

I hereby table the Annual Report of the Office of the Premier for consideration by this House.

Thank you.