Date: 24/08/2010
Source: Gauteng Province
Title: GP: Mokonyane: Address by the Premier, on the performance of the Gauteng Provincial Government, Gauteng Provincial Legislature, Johannesburg

Madame Speaker
Honourable Deputy Speaker
Honourable Members

We have requested this opportunity to speak to the legislature
about the performance of the Gauteng Provincial Government in the
first quarter of the financial year 2010 - 2011. This is in
keeping with the commitment we made to the people of Gauteng that
we would report regularly on the implementation of the government
Programme of Action.

During the State of the Province Address, we presented an
overview of the government Programme of Action and later the MECs
presented the details of the programme during the budget votes of
their respective departments. The government Programme of Action
has been developed within the context of Outcomes-based Performance
Management approach that has been adopted as a tool for improving
government performance.

The programme of action is structured according to eight
politically
agreed outcomes which are:

* Quality basic education;
* A long and healthy life for all South Africans;
* Decent employment through inclusive economic growth;
* All people in South Africa are and feel safe;
* Vibrant, equitable and sustainable rural communities
contributing towards food security;
* Sustainable human settlements and improved quality of
household life;
* Responsive, accountable, efficient and effective local
government system; and
* An efficient, effective and development oriented public
service and an empowered, fair and inclusive citizenship.

Education is our top priority and to this end we have placed
quality basic education at the top of our outcomes list.

We said that our interventions would start at the foundation
stage of education to ensure that our children are well-prepared to
develop and succeed in the later stages of their education. In
this regard, we have already made impressive progress in the first
quarter.

The Executive Council has approved the Early Childhood
Development (ECD) Framework together with its implementation plan.
Three hundred and eighty four (384) new ECD sites have been
registered to cater for more children since the beginning of the
year. Another 284 sites will be registered before the end of the
current financial year. More than 800 practitioners received
accredited training with 386 receiving level 1 training and 504
receiving level 4 training. As part of our efforts to achieve
universal access to Grade R by 2014 the government has granted
subsidies to 2 641 ECD institutions.

We have adopted the Gauteng Primary Literacy Strategy and it is
already being implemented with the Matthew Goniwe School of
Leadership, managing the Further Education level component.

The pre-feasibility study for residential facilities for
learners in Magaliesburg was done and the design models have been
developed. A public meeting was held in Magaliesburg on 24 April
2010 to consult with the residents and other stakeholders about the
project. The project has been approved and handed over to the
Department of Infrastructure Development for implementation.

The following 10 new schools are in various development stages
with all of them scheduled for completion before the end of 2010:
Thulasizwe Primary School, Simunye Primary School, Sikhulisile
Primary School, Sakhisizwe Secondary School, Rietvallei Primary
School, Polokong Primary School, Katlehong Primary School,
Diepsloot Secondary School, Bronkhortspruit Primary School and
Winnie Mandela Primary School.

Once completed, the new schools will increase capacity and
alleviate the problem of overcrowding currently experienced in some
of our schools.

In working towards achieving the outcome of a long and healthy
life for all, our efforts have focussed on improving the
effectiveness and efficiency of our healthcare system, providing
primary healthcare services in poor communities, reducing mortality
rates and stepping up the fight against HIV and AIDS and TB.

In February during the state of the Province Address, we
promised to implement measures to end long queues at our hospitals
and clinics and extend service hours.

We have extended service hours in seven (7) more clinics in the
Johannesburg district, bringing the total number of clinics with
extended service hours to 84. Johan Heyns Community Health Centre
started operating 24 hours from July 2010. Two more clinics -
Chiawelo and Zola are set to open for 24 hours during the second
quarter of the 2010 - 2011 financial year, while Sharpeville and
Eesterust Community Health Centres are expected to open for 24
hours in the last quarter.

The Executive Council approved a plan to reduce maternal and
infant mortality in Gauteng. The plan responds to key factors
responsible for maternal deaths such as non-pregnancy related
infections, including HIV and AIDS; obstetric haemorrhage,
hypertension and pre-existing medical conditions.

The programme for the prevention of Mother-To-Child Transmission
of AIDS through antiretroviral treatment is being expanded to
ensure that all pregnant women can access the service. All
antenatal facilities in Gauteng offer the prevention of
Mother-To-Child Transmission of HIV services.

We have implemented the Basic Ante-Natal Care (BANC) programme,
which enables early recognition of pre-existing medical conditions
and early treatment to save both the mother and the child.

More health workers are being trained in Peri-Natal care on an
ongoing basis to ensure that they have the skills to perform
deliveries and neonatal resuscitation. Emergency ambulance
services (obstetric ambulances) are in place for referral of
pregnant women with foetal distress to higher level of care.

Early booking and the initiation of regular ante-natal care is
encouraged to help prevent immaturity-related problems and pre-term
labour. Currently, only 25% of expectant mothers book before 20
weeks of pregnancy. This percentage has to improve if we are to
succeed in saving the lives of premature babies.

All our districts now provide immunization for children at age
one at all Primary Health Care facilities. Ninety one percent of
all children under the age of one have been immunised against
polio.

We have made impressive progress towards meeting our target to
improve TB cure rate to 80% in 2010 with the current level standing
at 79.6%. There is still a 5% default rate which we aim to address
by increasing public campaign through door-to-door programme and
other programmes.

The HIV and AIDS campaign continues to gain momentum with more
people responding to the call to test for HIV. Since the 1st of
April up to the beginning of August 2010, more than 500 000 people
had taken the HIV test. While we are very happy with this figure,
we will be stepping up the campaign to get more people test so that
we can meet our target of 3-million people by the end of June 2011.
Our campaign will be intensified at shopping malls, public events,
taxi ranks, hostels and other public places.

We have made significant progress in our efforts to ensure that
all people are and feel safe.

In addition, young people who start their own businesses are
given preferential status in the government procurement. Companies
owned by youth will also receive special support in business
development and management and access to markets.

We have made good progress towards vibrant, equitable and
sustainable rural communities contributing towards food security
for all.

The Gauteng Rural Development Strategy and the Gauteng
Agriculture Development Strategy have been approved by the
Executive Council and are now at various implementation stages.

As part of the Farmer Skill Development Plan, 12 farmers have
been trained on vegetable production; advisory services to enhance
on farm production were provided to 36 land reform beneficiaries;
17 land reform beneficiaries were trained on record keeping and 16
hydroponics farmers have been trained on hydroponics production.

The roll-out of food gardens with selected beneficiaries has
seen 3 new community food gardens being developed. Existing
community food garden beneficiaries continue to produce food from
their gardens for own consumption and where they produce surplus
they sell them in the markets. Two hundred and eleven (211) gardens
were maintained in June 2010 in all household food security regions
(90 in Randfontein, 74 in Germiston, 47 in Pretoria).

The Agriculture Co-operative Plan 2010-2014 has been developed
in support of the agricultural co-operatives with production
processes and marketing. So far 17 commodity based co-operatives
received training. Regarding matters of equitable land reform, the
Department of Agriculture and Rural Development in partnership with
the Department of Rural Development and Land Reform, has secured14
land parcels (farms) and these are currently being registered in
the names of the targeted recipients.

Efforts in support of land tenure review and sustainable land
reform have seen ongoing agricultural economic support for business
development, access to finance and economic viability studies
mainly for Land and Agrarian Reform beneficiaries. Support
measures provided to land reform recipients in this quarter include
extension and advisory services provided to 36 land reform
beneficiaries, visits to 54 farms and conducting commodity study
group sessions with 13 land reform beneficiaries.

Farmers and communities continue to receive training on animal
health for disease control. This quarter, eleven study group
meetings were held for farmers in Emfuleni, Ekurhuleni, Midvaal,
Nokeng tsa Taemane and Tshwane. More than 5 700 animals (cattle,
sheep, goats, poultry and pets) were vaccinated in the past
quarter.

As part of training opportunities for each of the agricultural
programmes, some progress has been made in areas that include the
policy on the Protection of High Potential Agricultural Land. A
summit was held between farmers and farm workers and a social
compact document on rural development imperatives, including
empowerment, advice and other support mechanisms, is currently
being drafted.

Last week Monday we launched the Lufhereng housing project - one
of the biggest integrated human settlement development projects in
Gauteng. The Lufhereng project will provide 24 000 housing units
which will benefit people from Greater Soweto including Protea
South and Doornkop.

In line with our new approach to human settlement development,
the project will comprise various types of units to cater for the
poor as well as those in the income bracket of R3500 - R10 000.
This income group had fallen through the cracks during the past 15
years and could not benefit from the government housing programmes.
They did not qualify for giveaway houses while at the same time
financial institutions refused to grant them home loans.

Lufhereng is one of the many projects we are implementing
towards the outcome of sustainable human settlements and improved
quality of household life.

Development of 37 more projects under the mixed housing
development programme has commenced in various parts of the
province. During the past quarter 153 serviced stands have been
allocated and 300 houses were completed. An additional 3 064
houses and 2 446 serviced stands have been allocated to
beneficiaries.

Support for Infrastructure Master Planning has seen plans for
Kungwini, Nokeng, and Metsweding being funded by DBSA while other
municipalities are currently revising their master plans.

A responsive, accountable, efficient and effective local
government system is of essential importance in our efforts to
develop our communities and improve the lives of the people.

The Department of Local Government and Housing has been working
with municipalities on the development of Integrated Development
Plans - IDPs - and their integration into the provincial Programme
of Action. As part of the IDP engagement process, sector
departments were further engaged on the support needed by
municipalities on the implementation of their programme.

Nine municipalities have submitted reports on the functioning of
their Ward Committees. The local government Skills Development and
Capacity-Building Strategy and Implementation Plan have been
approved by the Premier's Co-ordination Forum.

The second phase of the Revenue Enhancement and Debt Management
strategy is at various stages implementation within different
municipalities. Support is provided to municipalities to identify,
and where possible, recommend how to curb water and electricity
losses.

Following a commitment made by all municipalities in Gauteng to
improve delivery of basic services a draft document on minimum
basic service delivery standards across the province has been done
and it is now being discussed by municipalities. The document will
be presented to the next meeting of the Premier's Co-ordination for
consideration. Once adopted the minimum basic service delivery
standards will be published so that the public can monitor the
performance of government in the delivery of basic services.

The eighth outcome of our programme of action is an efficient,
effective and development-oriented public service and an empowered,
fair and inclusive citizenship.

We have concluded the reconfiguration of the Gauteng Provincial
Government - which was done to ensure that government is
appropriately organised to achieve its strategic objectives with
greater integration and alignment between different strategic focus
areas.

The reconfiguration has laid a solid structural foundation and
created an environment for the government to deliver on its
developmental mandate. The reconfigured Gauteng Government will
transform the Gauteng public service towards a more performance
oriented, outcomes driven and people focussed public service.

All vacancies of heads of department which were created as a
result of the reconfiguration have now been filled and departments
are now firmly focussed on the implementation of the government
Programme of Action. Good progress has been seen regarding
improvement of financial management in the province. Measures
introduced last year, including the withdrawal of financial
delegations from lower-ranked managers, remain in place. All
departments follow stricter procurement process which allows CFOs
to manage budgets more effectively.

Yesterday when I visited some of the hospitals that were
severely affected by the strike I was told shocking stories of 53
premature babies who were left unattended when striking workers
forced nursing staff to leave their posts. Some of the babies were
literally locked in the wards with no one bothering to make
alternative arrangements for their care.

We all respect the right for workers to strike but they must
also respect the Constitutional right for these babies to live.

Government is very heartened by the volunteers, including
professionals who selflessly offered their services to care for
those in need when the striking government workers abandoned their
posts. From the bottom of our hearts we say thank you for what you
are doing to help us through this difficult period. We also wish
to thank the workers who risked their lives to report for duty and
care for the public.

We also wish to express our gratitude to the Garden City Clinic
and other private hospitals for rescuing and accommodating the
babies and for continuing to look after them during this most
delicate stage of their lives.

As a responsible and caring government we had to take
appropriate steps to ensure continued operations in the hospitals
and other service points. We will continue to do everything within
our powers to ensure that our schools, hospitals and other service
delivery institutions continue to function.

Madame Speaker, the successful hosting of the World Cup has once
again proved to the world what we have all known that South Africa
has both the capacity and capability to host big global events. We
have used the opportunity created by the World Cup to display our
world class capabilities, skills and ability to deliver.

As we all know, Gauteng hosted 21 out of a total of 64 World Cup
matches - including the opening match and the final. Eighteen of
the 32 participating teams, including Bafana Bafana, Brazil,
Portugal, Germany, United States of America, Argentina, finalists
Netherlands among others had their base camps in Gauteng. Gauteng
had the highest number of attendance with 1 287 427 having attended
the matches at Gauteng's three match venues - Soccer City, Ellis
Park and Loftus Versfeld. Another half a million people watched
the matches at the fan parks and public viewing areas.

This placed a huge responsibility on the government to ensure
that everything goes well, especially with regards to traffic
management, public transport, health and emergency services. With
close co-operation between the three spheres of government and the
Organising Committee, we fulfilled all our responsibilities and
delivered a great World Cup. The volunteers who worked hard every
day of the World Cup also made a significant contribution to this
success.

For four weeks the world was enthralled by some of the most
exhilarating football. Throughout the tournament the stadiums, fan
parks, public viewing areas and every part of Gauteng were
characterised by a festival mood.

Never before has South Africa received such positive publicity.
Hundreds of thousands of visitors who came to our country for the
World Cup were exposed to the positive attributes of our country
which were always overshadowed by some of our problems and
shortcomings.

Even the millions of people who followed the World Cup through
the mass media were able to see the better side of our country
because of the positive media reports.

Many of the visitors who had the opportunity to spend time in
our townships and cities have publicly expressed great appreciation
of the warmth and hospitality of our people.

The success of hosting the World Cup will be measured not only
on the impact we made during the four weeks of the tournament, but
also on the legacy left behind and how that benefits the people.

The greatest legacy of the World Cup is the much needed-public
infrastructure. We now have modern stadia which compare with some
of the best in the world. We have upgraded our transport
infrastructure to meet the needs of Gauteng as the most urbanised
and industrialised province of South Africa. We have increased the
capacity of our healthcare facilities, including emergency medical
services.

The World Cup provided a unique opportunity for us to celebrate
our national Youth Day in a special way with the rest of the world.
On 16 June 2010 the football fraternity - including representatives
of SAFA, the World Cup Organising Committee, the South African and
foreign football legends - joined thousands of South Africans in
Soweto to pay tribute to the class of 1976 for their role in the
struggle for freedom and democracy.

The World Cup also helped to galvanise the masses of the people
to promote national unity and social cohesion. In Gauteng, the
Gateway 2010 campaign and the various initiatives we made to
encourage the people to Fly the Flag and act as good hosts
contributed to unprecedented levels of mass involvement in the
promotion of social cohesion and national unity. Government created
an enabling environment for the people to take creative initiatives
to promote patriotism. The challenge now is to sustain the
positive mood and encourage the people to continue promoting
patriotism.

I wish to pay special tribute to all the people who contributed
to the success of the World Cup: The ordinary people who received
the visitors with warm and loving arms and made them feel at home;
the volunteers who helped the visitors find their way around the
country; and the security officers who worked selflessly to ensure
the World Cup takes place in a safe and secure environment.

Madame Speaker, we are now in the last days of the Women's
Month. Since the beginning of the month we have held a number of
events to honour the women for the role they played in the struggle
and recognise those who continue to lead the struggle for the total
emancipation of women.

The main Gauteng event took place on 09 August 2010 in
Vosloorus, Ekurhuleni and highlighted service delivery issues and
various government programmes, including practical actions to
improve the lives of women. Government departments exhibited their
services and provided information on practical steps which women
could take to improve their own lives. There was an overwhelming
response by ordinary women of Gauteng. Many of them took various
medical tests to know their health status while others found
valuable information about starting their own businesses and
accessing various opportunities existing in government.

This new approach to the celebration of our commemorative days
helps to refocus society on issues that concern development and
service delivery.

As we celebrate Women's Month it is important to remind South
Africans about the heroic struggles waged by our fore-bearers who
fought against apartheid and gender discrimination. We must pay
tribute to the women who in 1956 flexed their muscles to challenge
the apartheid regime and at the same time teach the younger
generation of women about the importance of continuing the struggle
for the full emancipation of women.

Honourable members, while this report only deals with the
performance of government in just one quarter it gives us
confidence that we are on course to achieve all our outcomes.

As the Gauteng Provincial Government we reiterate our commitment
to account on our work and subject ourselves to public scrutiny.
We appeal to the Legislature to support us in our work as we
implement the Programme of Action. We will continue to deploy the
modest resources at our disposal to areas that contribute maximally
to the improvement of the lives of the people of Gauteng.

Dankie, Ngiyabonga

The improvement in the financial management and controls will be
more evident when departments table their annual reports to the
Legislature. Some departments which previously had adverse audit
findings or qualified audit opinions will show great improvement
when the reports are published.

The Department of Finance continues to prepare monthly and
quarterly expenditure reports to the Executive Council to flag
areas of concern and assist the Executive in monitoring
expenditure.

In ascertaining the institutional capacity of the Gauteng
Provincial Government, the GCRA conducted a Skills Audit and
feedback is currently being communicated to departments.

Madame Speaker, promoting effective communication and deepening
democracy are an important element towards the realisation of this
outcome an efficient, effective and development-oriented public
service and an empowered, fair and inclusive citizenship.

During the past quarter we have continued to engage in
programmes that help empower the people to participate in the work
of government and promote public participation in democratic
processes.

Honourable members, we have noted the ongoing strike by some of
our public servants who are in dispute with their employer. While
we recognise the right of workers to engage in labour action, we
find it very unfortunate that some of the striking workers have
intimidated and harassed their non-striking colleagues - including
those involved in essential services to join the strike. Some of
the strikers disrupted services in schools and hospitals, putting
lives in serious danger.

The Executive Council has approved the Gauteng Provincial
Policing Needs and Priority Plan which aims to improve the
effectiveness of the police in dealing with crime, especially
priority crimes. There has been improved co-ordination between all
the police forces - the SAPS, provincial traffic police and the
metropolitan police. The experience gained in the 2010 FIFA World
Cup which saw all the forces working together under the single
command of the SAPS will be carried forward to improve
effectiveness.

Good progress has been recorded in the fight against social
crime. Through the Victim Empowerment Centres we have continued to
provide support to survivors of sexual assault and domestic
violence. In measuring crime perception, a total of 110 survivors
of sexual offences have been interviewed as part of the study on
victim satisfaction.

Preliminary results indicate that 88% of the victims surveyed
were satisfied with the services offered by Ikhaya Lethemba.

Youth Crime Prevention Desks are being established in all police
stations to provide specialised services focussing on drug
awareness, child safety awareness, house numbering and street
surveillance. Madame Speaker, allow me to take this opportunity to
congratulate Lieutenant General Mzwandile Petros on his appointment
as the new Provincial head of the South African Police Service in
Gauteng. We welcome him to his new post with warm hands and assure
him of our full co-operation in the fight against crime.

On the outcome of decent employment through inclusive economic
growth, our intervention has focussed on creating an environment
that encourages growth in the mainstream economy while at the same
time taking steps to support the growth of small, medium and micro
enterprises and the co-operative sector.

We have adopted the Gauteng Employment Growth and Development
Strategy and a number of subsidiary strategies including the Maize
Triangle Strategy, Transport and Logistics Strategy, the
Co-operatives Strategy, as well as the broad-based economic
empowerment strategy.

Our continued support for the automotive industry has seen major
interventions which resulted in the retention of jobs and the
creation of new opportunities. We welcome an announcement in
December last year by the Ford Motor Company about a multi-billion
rand investment to expand capacity at its Silverton plant to
produce more vehicles for export markets.

This decision is a further expression of confidence in the
future of the South African economy, and Gauteng in particular.
More importantly, it confirms the correctness of our decision to
invest public money to support the growth of the automotive
industry in Gauteng. The Gauteng Provincial Government has
committed an amount of R105 million which will be spent on the
building of a supplier park in Silverton, skills development and
support to previously disadvantaged suppliers.

The Automotive Industry Development Centre (AIDC) has already
commenced with the skills development programme with 300 new
recruits of the Ford Motor Company having completed training.

On 8 June, the Gautrain started ferrying passengers between
Sandton and OR Tambo International Airport. On that day, I had the
honour to board a train that was driven by a very proud young
African woman, Nomzamo Zitha - the first woman Gautrain driver and
one of a number of women employed by Gautrain. There couldn't have
been a better timing for the commencement of service for Gautrain
than a few days before the start of
the World Cup when there were high volumes of passengers travelling
between the OR Tambo International Airport and Sandton.

Gautrain introduced quicker, safer and more convenient means of
transport to our public transport system. The high numbers of
passengers who are using Gautrain on a daily basis confirm the
strategic importance of this project to our province. Gautrain had
a total of 614 896 passengers during the first two months of its
operation - 283 552 in June and 331 344 in July. Construction on
the second phase of the project is progressing on schedule and we
are on course to operate a full service of Gautrain in 2011.

During the 2010 FIFA World Cup we had an opportunity to test our
public transport system and it proved to be very reliable, safe and
efficient.

The vast majority of the fans who attended the World Cup matches
in Gauteng used public transport in the form of trains, buses and
taxis to travel between their residences and stadiums, and they
arrived on time and safe.

From the World Cup experience; it is clear that while some of
the aspects of an integrated public transport system are still
being developed, the core building blocks of this system are in
place.

At a meeting of the Premier's Coordinating Forum it was agreed
that Gauteng must build on the success of the World Cup to
encourage more use of the existing public transport. The
Department of Roads and Transport will be working with
municipalities and the national government to find ways in which we
can maximise the use of the available public transport.

In some cases all we need to do is market the facilities more
aggressively and provide information to potential users.

Following successes in the previous year we have made further
advances in the development of co-operatives in Gauteng. Since
April this year an additional 12 co-operatives, all of them formed
by women, have been awarded contracts by the Department of Health
and Social Development to provide a range of goods and services in
public hospitals.

The Executive Council has approved a Gauteng Co-operative
Strategy which seeks to facilitate the growth of co-operatives in
the province by offering support in business development, marketing
and capacity building.

The Gauteng Provincial Government's procurement database has
been expanded to include co-operatives as preferred providers of
goods and services in terms of the government preferential
procurement policy.

The development of women entrepreneurs continues to receive
serious attention by the government. A total of 198 groups of
women have been awarded contracts to produce and supply 80 000 sets
of school uniform to deserving schools.

Our support for small, micro and medium enterprises has led to
the growth of more companies in the province. Through the Gauteng
Enterprise Propeller we have funded nine SMME companies to the
value of R5.9 million. A further 188 companies received tailored
business development support while 579 companies received general
business training.

Special programmes targeting youth employment and skills
development are being implemented in a number of departments.
Through the Expanded Public Works Programme, we have already
enrolled 549 young people who are working on a range of projects.
Many other young people benefit from learnership programmes,
internships and artisan development programmes.