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The Gauteng Executive Council on Wednesday 11 August 2010 held
its ordinary meeting at Emoyeni Conference Centre in Johannesburg.
Premier Nomvula Mokonyane and all 10 Members of the Executive
Council attended the meeting.

The Executive Council welcomed the suspension of the strike by
public servants and expressed hope that a settlement would be
reached to avoid further strike action.

The impact of the strike was severe in Gauteng and health and
education were severely affected. Almost 65% of public schools in
Gauteng did not function throughout the strike period and at the
height of the strike 80% of the schools were closed. In practical
terms four weeks of teaching time has been lost. We now have to
cover 10 weeks of work in six weeks to ensure that the matric
learners are ready for their examinations.

Despite health care services being classified as essential
services, our public health care institutions were severely
affected by the strike as administrative and nursing staff were
intimidated and harassed by their striking colleagues, leading to
disruption of services.

With the suspension of the strike, the Gauteng Provincial
Government will now focus on the post-strike recovery plan and
ensuring that services are back to normal.

While we have lost time in the education programme because of
the strike, we remain confident that we can use the remaining
period to help our learners, especially the grade 12 learners, to
prepare for their examinations. What is required now is for all of
us learners, parents, educators, school governing bodies, and
communities - to support and rally behind the matric class of 2010
with the single objective of helping them prepare for their
examinations.

We will ensure maximum time for syllabus completion and at the
same time allow learners the opportunity to write the preliminary
examination. We have scheduled preliminary examinations to be
written from 13 September to 23 September 2010. Learners will write
two examination papers a day -a three hour paper in the morning and
a two hour paper at noon. In the afternoons (from 4pm-7pm), they
will attend lessons to prepare them for the next day's examination
papers.

The condensed provincial timetable is for the schools that have
not been able to write their preliminary examination as yet and
will provide more time for classroom work to take place.

During the September holidays, we will run study camps for Grade
12s that will focus on completing the curriculum and revision. The
study groups that were formed during the strike will continue to
function and the Department of Education will continue to support
them by providing study guides, venues and other facilities that
are needed.

Despite initial challenges the study groups have been
established in a number of communities and are proving very
effective. By the first week of September, there were over 70
verified sites with between 100 and 300 learners each, operating
throughout Gauteng.

We are very encouraged by the fact that ordinary learners
themselves are taking responsibility for their own learning on a
large scale. We are also encouraged by the number of parents and
SGB members who have taken on the responsibility of supervising
these groups.

We will also be setting up walk-in camps, where learners can
just walk into any identified venue and collect study material.

With regards to healthcare, the integrated response involving
the Department of Health and Social Development, South African
Military Health Services and the private sector was vital in
ensuring ongoing provision of services during the strike.

The Executive Council expressed profound thanks to the
volunteers who offered their time, free of charge to perform
various tasks in hospitals to ensure that they continue to function
and provide vital services to the people. We also thank the
nursing staff who showed their commitment to the profession by
continuing to work under constant threats of violence and
intimidation.

The Executive Council also recognised the sterling work of
members of the South African Defence Force and the South Africa
Police Services.

Through their commitment, the negative effects of the strike
were mitigated.

The Gauteng Provincial Government also thanks all the people of
Gauteng for their understanding and co-operation during the strike.

The Executive council also approved the Heritage and Tourism
Month programme. During September, the Gauteng Provincial
Government has lined up a number of activities to showcase and
celebrate the Province's heritage and tourist attractions.

The department of Sport, Arts, Culture and Recreation (SACR), in
partnership with the Gauteng Tourism Authority, will be using
Heritage Month activities to promote tourism and attract more
visitors to the province, This year, the national theme for
Heritage Month is 'celebrating our living human heritage'. The
province has taken this theme a step further and has adopted the
theme "celebrating our living treasures". This, we believe, allows
us to broaden our activities to include more than just the living
"human" treasures. We will also be looking to keep the Fly the
Flag momentum going during this month by calling on residents to
fly their flags even at local sporting events.

Among the engaging activities which will be the highlight of our
Heritage Month programme are the following:

11 September 2010 - Thank You Gauteng Campaign
During the MTN-8 Semi-final match between the giants of our
South African football - Kaizer Chiefs and Orlando Pirates - on
Saturday, September 11, Premier Nomvula Mokonyane will thank the
people of Gauteng and government volunteers for their contribution
in making the 2010 FIFA World Cup a success.

24 September 2010- Heritage Day
Heritage Day celebrations will take place at the Cradle of
Humankind, Maropeng. The people of Gauteng have been invited and
will be bussed in to come and celebrate the origins of humanity The
celebration of Human Origin is aimed at encouraging the people of
Gauteng to return to the Cradle of Humankind to visit their
ancestors.

26 September- A day of Literature and Music
On the last Sunday of the month, a family day picnic will be
held at a venue still to be confirmed to celebrate literature and
music through performance. Diverse entertainment will be on offer
to appeal to different groups and promote attendance.

October - Celebrating the life of OR Tambo
A memorial Lecture is being organised in partnership with the
Ekurhuleni Municipality to launch the process of celebrating the
life of OR Tambo.

Plans are also underway to erect a monument to honour this icon
by 2012.