Date: 14/04/2003
Source: North West Provincial Government
Title: Molefe: North West Premier's Office Prov Budget Vote 2003/2004
ADDRESS BY THE NORTH WEST PREMIER, POPO MOLEFE, ON THE DEBATE OF THE BUDGET VOTE FOR THE OFFICE OF THE PREMIER, 14 April 2003
Honourable Speaker,
Members of the Provincial Legislature.
INTRODUCTION
With each year that goes by, our country moves further away from its dark past of apartheid and colonialism. With each passing year, our people are assured that indeed the future looks qualitatively better than the past as the frontiers of poverty recede in the face of our collective and determined push.
This I can say without fear of contradiction that after almost nine years of democratic rule in our country, the masses of our people can attest to a gradual, step by step, replacement of the old with the new.
In our province of the North West, the Office of the Premier is at the centre of the process of transforming the old to the new. As the highest political office in the province, the Office of the Premier occupies the foremost trenches in the ongoing battle to expand service delivery to our people. Our efforts in this regard are guided by the spirit of Batho Pele - the spirit of putting our people first.
Honourable Members, the strategic plan for the Office of the Premier, for the three year Medium Term Expenditure Framework period tabled in this House on the 25th March of 2003 deals extensively with the strategic planning process of the Office. During this process the broad strategic goals of the Office of Premier were reconfirmed as contributing towards:
* Optimal cooperative governance locally, provincially, nationally and internationally
* Provincial governance systems through integrated planning, monitoring, evaluation and intervention
* Optimal governance information management and
* Optimal provincial governance resource management.
In my State of the Province Address to the Legislature on the 21st of February 2003, I made the point that as government we have acknowledged that the levels of poverty and underdevelopment in our country are unacceptable.
I told this House that in response to the challenges of poverty eradication and underdevelopment, we have put in place policies and are implementing programmes aimed at improving the quality of lives of our people. These include a range of social security interventions, assistance to small to medium enterprises and broadening access to basic services.
Consistent with this approach my Office will continue to be seized in the strategic task of coordinating, monitoring and evaluating all government interventions aimed at poverty alleviation in our province.
This includes the coordination, monitoring and evaluation of the integrated food security initiatives both in the short and long term to ensure its sustainability.
We have also established a humanitarian fund in the Private Office of the Premier whose purpose is to facilitate humanitarian interventions by my Office with a view to complimenting work done by other Departments in this regard.
The State of the Province Address also gave the context of our international and continental obligations. These obligations require the Office the Premier to become proactive in forging mutual interstate or inter-provincial relationships with our counterparts.
In pursuit of these imperatives the Office will, this year, intensify efforts aimed at forging mutual interstate and or inter-provincial relations with particular emphases on the African Continent.
Honourable Members will recall that during my Budget Vote last year, I reported that the functions of the former Department of Traditional and Corporate Affairs were transferred to the Office of the Premier. It is my pleasure to report to this House that the amalgamation of these Departments has been completed.
The funds requested by the Office of the Premier today will assist the Office to pursue a vigorous programme aimed at the achievement of our strategic goals within a strengthened Office.
Review of 2002/03
Honourable Members, I stand before you in this august House to give a report back on some of the key achievements of the various Chief Directorates within the Office. The Office will in due course submit to this House an annual report detailing all of our achievements as well as challenges.
The Office achieved the following milestones during the past year in line with the commitments we made in our 2002 Budget Vote.
* The Kgalagadi Integrated Sustainable Rural Development Programme is progressing well. In particular, the implementation of the identified ten anchor projects is on target. The first anniversary of the programme was held in December 2002. A separate report on the implementation of the Kgalagadi Rural Development Programme was finalised and distributed to all stakeholders
* My Office continues to mobilise external resources for the Kgalagadi programme. These include R7 million from Eskom towards water provision and R1.2 million towards the Goats project in the Kgalagadi node.
* We successfully coordinated R5 million water supply facility for the village of Makgabetlwane.
* We have finalised business plans to access funds for the training of public servants as part of the implementation of the Manitoba/North West Cooperation Work Plan. High-level visits between the two provinces were exchanged during the past financial year. It is expected that the Premier of Manitoba, Mr. Gary Doer, will visit the Province during this financial year.
* The Office assisted the Youth Commission in developing a strategic plan. This plan will go a long way in ensuring that the Commission delivers on its mandate.
* We made significant progress in resolving some of the major tribal disputes, notably, Batlhaping Ba Ga Phuduhucwana in Taung and the Barolong Boo Ratshidi to mention but a few.
* My Office convened a watershed Provincial Intergovernmental Review Conference in October 2002. This Conference was aimed at reviewing the implementation of programmes across all spheres of government. Our achievement in this regard was singled out for reference in the consolidated report on provinces to the President's Coordinating Council prepared by the Minister for Provincial and Local Government on the 27th of March 2003.
* A pre-World Summit on Sustainable Development Summit (WSSD) was held in the province in order to mobilise all key stakeholders around the national negotiation mandate. At this Summit a provincial declaration was signed committing all the stakeholders to supporting the WSSD process. Minister Zola Skweyiya and the Deputy United Nations Development Programme Ambassador to South Africa, Madam Naheed Haque, also attended the Summit. In addition, African women and global youth conferences were held at Phokeng and Mogwase respectively. These conferences made a phenomenal contribution to the continental as well as global discourse on sustainable development.
* With the launch of the African Union and the adoption of NEPAD, the Office identified a need to develop an outreach programme in order to mobilise communities around the objectives of the AU and NEPAD. A number of advocacy programmes were held in the province during the past financial year.
* The Office adopted a provincial International Relations Framework that will guide our engagements internationally both as provincial and local government.
* In line with the Department of Public Service and Administration's Minimum Standards on the Management of HIV/AIDS in the workplace, the Office:
-- Developed and approved an HIV/AIDS Policy
-- Established an HIV/AIDS Committee with representation and support from various Directorates and Unions. This Committee meets on a monthly basis to implement the HIV/AIDS Policy and Programme
-- Developed and secured funding for the HIV/AIDS Programme and Business Plan. Efforts are underway to train staff on the implementation of the programme during this financial year.
Furthermore the Office:
* Approved the first of three payments of R 400 000 towards the Kgalagadi Human Resource Development Trust. This payment demonstrates our commitment to the Urban Renewal and Rural Development Strategy.
* Successfully hosted the 6th National Public Service Trainers' Conference attended by 550 delegates at Sun City. Because of its outcome and quality of discussions, this conference was hailed as one of the most successful.
* Developed a financial management system aimed at increasing bursary revenue collection.
* Successfully took all Provincial Departments through a process of developing Skills Development and Employment Equity Plans. A strong feature of this project was the establishment of skills development and employment equity infrastructure within Departments, as well as skills transfer to all officials participating in such structures in order to ensure sustainability.
* Successfully completed the restructuring and realignment of the North West Communication Services and the Directorate of Communications in the Office of the Premier into a single Chief Directorate: Communications.
* My Office engaged the University of North West and the Potchefstroom University for Christian Higher Education to scrutinise, analyse and make recommendations on more than 150 laws for constitutional compliance.
* The Office has also undertaken an audit of all the laws passed by this House to check whether or not their coming into effect was contingent upon a suspensive condition. This audit, which required extensive consultation with all Departments and this very House, revealed that at least ten of the laws of this House had not been proclaimed and had therefore not come into effect. I accordingly issued the necessary proclamations and the laws are now in place.
* Though litigation is not our preferred method of settling disputes, we registered a success rate not less that 99% on all litigations undertaken.
* During the last financial year, all senior managers signed performance agreements as a basis for measuring their performance in respect of Departmental strategic goals and objectives.
* In pursuit of the strategic task of building project management capacity in the province, my Office signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the South African Management Development Institute (SAMDI) and the Independent Development Trust (IDT). The Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA) has also been part of efforts to build project management capacity in the province. This process has been beneficial in that it makes available to the provincial government some of the best project management expertise in the country mostly free of charge leading to substantial savings in consultancy fees.
* In April 2002 we successfully negotiated, with National Treasury, a conditional grant for the Provincial Infrastructure Programme worth R 1,45 billion over a period of three years.
* A Provincial Project Register became fully operational on the 1st of November 2002 and is widely consulted within the Public Service. The Register is accepted as the official record of provincial government projects and all Departments have been assigned accountability for the correctness and completeness of information entered on the Register. This Register will soon be accessible on Internet for scrutiny and comment by members of the public.
* Key appointments were made to enhance the work of Cluster Committees. These appointments have made it possible to dedicate a Cluster Secretary to a specific Cluster - a move that facilitated the coordination of submissions, communication of decisions and their general implementation.
* Proper systems were put in place for the keeping of official records.
* The Office undertook a review of the rate of implementation of directives from the Executive Council. This review enhanced the process aimed at identifying areas where problems with regard to the implementation of Exco directives were experienced. These problems were brought to the attention of Members of the Executive Council and Departmental Heads for corrective measures to be taken.
* My Office participated in the SA/Commonwealth study tour of Australia, Papua New Guinea and Singapore. The aim of this tour was to expose national and provincial cabinet secretariats to different cabinet systems and to isolate best practices that could be adapted to our systems.
Honourable Members will note that our achievements in the past financial year are more than what we said we would do. In this regard I would like to thank managers and staff in my Office for a job well done.
Outlook for 2003/04
In our ongoing endeavour to eradicate the many years of colonialism and apartheid in our country, it is not the path we have travelled that matters but the road that lies ahead.
Allow me at this point to highlight some of the challenges facing the Office of the Premier and indeed the entire province as we move towards the end of the first decade of liberation in this country.
In line with our strategic objectives and priorities, the Office of the Premier has identified the following challenges for the 2003/04 fiscal year:
* The finalisation of the White Paper on Traditional Leadership and Institutions.
* The identification of new rural and urban development nodes.
* Further implementation of the Kgalagadi rural development programme.
* The review of the Provincial Integrated Disability Strategy.
* The development of the Provincial Gender Strategy and implementation matrix.
* The finalisation of the process aimed at restructuring the North West Youth Commission to ensure its efficiency.
* The consolidation of capacity building programmes in Departments to facilitate the implementation, monitoring and evaluation of provincial services.
* The redefinition of the Provincial Human Resource Management Forum and its sub-structures to ensure that all Strategic Human Resources Management interventions are implemented and monitored.
* Assisting Departments to develop their internal Employee Assistance and Organizational Development Programmes and Standards.
* Strengthening the implementation of the HIV/AIDS programme. Part of this will include undertaking a systematic monitoring and evaluation approach to measure the impact of the programme on employee attitudes and behaviour.
* Alignment of the Provincial Performance Management Development Systems (PMDS) policy within the new Public Service Incentive Policy Framework in order to ensure correct and effective implementation by Departments.
* The monitoring of compliance with national Human Resource Development Legislation will be extended to include all sectors through the establishment of a multi sector forum. This forum will align the Draft Provincial Human Resource Development Strategy with the North West Economic Development and Infrastructure Strategy as well as North West 2012.
* Monitoring of Departments to ensure training and development, which includes ensuring that the allocation of bursaries is done within the context of the Provincial Skills Plan, Sector Skills Plans, Workplace Skills as well as Employment Equity Plans.
* Coordination of processes aimed at implementing the Public Service Bargaining Council Resolution 7 of 2002. This resolution entails the transformation and restructuring of the Public Service.
* Further realignment of communications structures within the province.
* The completion of phase two of the programme aimed at strengthening capacity for project management both within and across Departments.
* The finalisation of negotiations with the DBSA to assist the Directorate Monitoring and Evaluation with technical support and training of new appointees.
* Strengthening research capacity within the province by consolidating the work of the North West Research Coordinating Committee.
* Commissioning of the provincial Batho Pele service delivery research study.
* Commissioning of a research project on a holistic approach to the development of rural communities within the context of spatial distribution of small villages and settlements such as the Mayaeyane village.
* Implementation of the service delivery schedule as articulated in our strategic business plan.
* The development of a litigation policy in order to prevent all litigation losses on behalf of the provincial government.
* Compilation of an information manual in accordance with the requirements of the Promotion of Access to Information Act and the Promotion of Administrative Justice Act.
* Developing a framework for the establishment of a humanitarian fund in the Private Office of the Premier.
* The completion and publication of the Directory of Services of the Office.
* The launching of two more Multi Purpose Community Centres - in Morokweng and Tshidilamolomo. These Centres will go a long way in deepening democracy in our country and empowering communities to manage their own development.
Honourable Speaker, the strategic plan submitted and tabled by the Office of the Premier in this House on the 25th of March gave comprehensive information on the vision and mission, the strategic goals, objectives as well as outputs of the various components of the Office. I will therefore give a summary of the programmes that we have put in place in order to implement our strategic plans and achieve our goals.
Programme 1: Provincial Management and Support
This programme is aimed at supporting the Premier and the Director General in the following roles:
* Management of the Premier's political programme through administrative, appointments, parliamentary, protocol and secretariat services within the Private Office
* Preparations of annual and monthly schedules of the Premier's work as well as the formulation of plans and preparations of the Premier's activities
* The professional management of the Office of the Director General to achieve the efficient and effective administrative leadership of the Province
* Strategic planning and management
* The Director General's functions in compliance with the requirements of the Public Finance Management Act (PFMA)
* Streamlining the process of decision-making, implementation, monitoring and evaluation
* Ensuring efficient communication and dissemination of information
* Supporting the Premier in the President's Coordinating Council
* Facilitating the implementation of the Minimum Information Security Standards
* Providing Secretarial and support services to the Executive Council, Executive Council Committees, Extech, and Extech Committees.
To ensure that these functions are executed efficiently and effectively, I would like to request this august House to approve an amount of R 29,740,000 distributed to the following sub programmes.
Director General Support: 6 653 000
Premier Support: 7 742 000
Executive Council Support: 2 369 000
Security: 2 551 000
Investigations: 2 294 000
Finance and Administration: 7 972 000
HIV/AIDS: 159 000
Total: 29 740 000
Programme 2: Corporate Support Services
This programme seeks to provide efficient provincial corporate human resource services aimed at achieving the following:
* The promotion of human resource development as a priority and adherence to the Skills Development Act
* Facilitating the drafting and implementation of new human resources policies
* Ensuring that all approved Provincial Human Resource Management policies are evaluated and reviewed if necessary
* Advising and ensuring the implementation of Employee Assistance Programmes, policies, procedures and strategies
* Coordinating labour relations programmes
* Developing a framework that regulates the proper management of disputes
* Managing and proposing Organisational Development interventions to ensure more effective service delivery.
For this programme, I request that an amount of R 30 878 000 be approved for allocation to the sub-programmes indicated below.
Management Support: 877 000
Employee Assistance Programme: 4 084 000
Labour Relations: 1 803 000
Human Resource Management: 472 000
Human Resource Development: 15 795 000
Organisational Development: 2 847 000
Total: 30 878 000
Programme 3: Legal Services
This programme ensures the coordination of legal services in the province through the provision of a comprehensive legal advisory service to all Departments within the Provincial government.
Specifically through this programme the following is intended to be achieved
* Amendments to existing Acts
* Assistance to Legislature Committees
* Legally sustainable suspensions and dismissals
* Legal opinions, agreements drafted or perused
For this programme I request this august House to approve an amount of R 3 504 000 for allocation to the following sub-programmes.
Management Support: 839 000
Legislation: 1 027 000
Litigation: 880 000
Legal Services: 758 000
Total: 3 504 000
Programme 4: Communications
Effective dialogue between government and the people is central to ensuring that ours continues to be a truly participatory democracy. This is the broad mandate of the Communications programme.
In carrying out its mandate, this programme is tasked with the achievement of the following strategic objectives:
* Ensuring that the provincial government has capacity to communicate both internally and externally
* Coordinating provincial events
* Establishing Multi-purpose Community Centres in the Province
* Undertaking communication audits
For this programme, I request Honourable Members to approve an amount of R11 880 000 to for the sub-programmes indicated below.
Management Support: 839 000
Publications: 3 709 000
Regional Liaison: 3 723 000
Media Liaison: 3 559 000
Total: 11 880 000
Programmes 5: Governance and Special Programmes
This programme is one of the newly established units after the recent restructuring of the Office of the Premier. Through this programme the Office executes the following responsibilities:
* Coordinates all intergovernmental processes
* Coordinates and manages urban and rural development initiatives
* Coordinates gender, youth and disability programmes
* Provides support to the institutions of traditional affairs and ensures the implementation of the relevant legislation.
For this Programme, I request this House to approve an amount of R39 513 000 for allocation into the following sub-programmes.
Management Support: 1 129 000
Urban and Rural Development: 1 219 000
Research: 3 541 000
Intergovernmental Relations: 2 488 000
Special programmes: 13 567 000
Traditional Leadership: 17 569 000
Total: 39 513 000
Programme 6: Provincial Policy Management
This is another new programme that emerged out of a resolution by the Executive Council to strengthen the Office of the Premier. Through this programme the Office intends to achieve the following:
* To review and coordinate provincial policy and planning
* To monitor and evaluate provincial achievements and performance
* Establish provincial project management oversight and capacity building
* To collate and disseminate provincial geographic and spatial information and knowledge
* Coordination of provincial research programmes through the North West Research Coordinating Committee (NWRCC).
For this programme, I ask this House to approve an amount of R14 850 000 to be allocated as reflected below.
Management Support: 2 259 000
Project Management: 4 249 000
Provincial Policy and Planning: 3 633 000
Monitoring and Evaluation: 2 420 000
Information Management: 2 289 000
Total: 14 850 000
CONCLUSION
Honourable Members, as I conclude I would like to leave you with the wise words of President Thabo Mbeki which correctly point out the key challenge we all face: "The central question we will have to answer at the end of the day is whether what we are doing as the legislature, the executive and the judiciary, as well as civil society, is helping to lift from the shoulders of our people, the intolerable burden of poverty and underdevelopment."
As we are gathered in this House we must not loose sight of the strategic objective of our national liberation which is to free our people from the painful grip of poverty, underdevelopment, disease and ignorance. Ours is the noble task of continuing to build for our people a future that is qualitatively better than the past.
As we complete the first decade of liberation in our country, we can take pride in the progress we have made in the ongoing process to achieve our strategic objective. What is left is for us to advance, defend and consolidate our gains.
Honourable Speaker, I hereby place before this House for approval the estimates of revenue and expenditure for the Office of the Premier, totalling R130 365 000 for the year ending 31 March 2004.
I thank you.
Programme 1: Provincial Management Support and Administration: 29 740 000
Programme 2: Corporate Support Services: 30 878 000
Programme 3: Legal Services: 3 504 000
Programme 4: Communications: 11 880 000
Programme 5: Governance and Special Projects: 39 513 000
Programme 6: Policy Management: 14 850 000
Total: 130 365 000
Issued by Office of the Premier, North West
14 April 2003
Source: North West Provincial Government
Title: Molefe: North West Premier's Office Prov Budget Vote 2003/2004
ADDRESS BY THE NORTH WEST PREMIER, POPO MOLEFE, ON THE DEBATE OF THE BUDGET VOTE FOR THE OFFICE OF THE PREMIER, 14 April 2003
Honourable Speaker,
Members of the Provincial Legislature.
INTRODUCTION
With each year that goes by, our country moves further away from its dark past of apartheid and colonialism. With each passing year, our people are assured that indeed the future looks qualitatively better than the past as the frontiers of poverty recede in the face of our collective and determined push.
This I can say without fear of contradiction that after almost nine years of democratic rule in our country, the masses of our people can attest to a gradual, step by step, replacement of the old with the new.
In our province of the North West, the Office of the Premier is at the centre of the process of transforming the old to the new. As the highest political office in the province, the Office of the Premier occupies the foremost trenches in the ongoing battle to expand service delivery to our people. Our efforts in this regard are guided by the spirit of Batho Pele - the spirit of putting our people first.
Honourable Members, the strategic plan for the Office of the Premier, for the three year Medium Term Expenditure Framework period tabled in this House on the 25th March of 2003 deals extensively with the strategic planning process of the Office. During this process the broad strategic goals of the Office of Premier were reconfirmed as contributing towards:
* Optimal cooperative governance locally, provincially, nationally and internationally
* Provincial governance systems through integrated planning, monitoring, evaluation and intervention
* Optimal governance information management and
* Optimal provincial governance resource management.
In my State of the Province Address to the Legislature on the 21st of February 2003, I made the point that as government we have acknowledged that the levels of poverty and underdevelopment in our country are unacceptable.
I told this House that in response to the challenges of poverty eradication and underdevelopment, we have put in place policies and are implementing programmes aimed at improving the quality of lives of our people. These include a range of social security interventions, assistance to small to medium enterprises and broadening access to basic services.
Consistent with this approach my Office will continue to be seized in the strategic task of coordinating, monitoring and evaluating all government interventions aimed at poverty alleviation in our province.
This includes the coordination, monitoring and evaluation of the integrated food security initiatives both in the short and long term to ensure its sustainability.
We have also established a humanitarian fund in the Private Office of the Premier whose purpose is to facilitate humanitarian interventions by my Office with a view to complimenting work done by other Departments in this regard.
The State of the Province Address also gave the context of our international and continental obligations. These obligations require the Office the Premier to become proactive in forging mutual interstate or inter-provincial relationships with our counterparts.
In pursuit of these imperatives the Office will, this year, intensify efforts aimed at forging mutual interstate and or inter-provincial relations with particular emphases on the African Continent.
Honourable Members will recall that during my Budget Vote last year, I reported that the functions of the former Department of Traditional and Corporate Affairs were transferred to the Office of the Premier. It is my pleasure to report to this House that the amalgamation of these Departments has been completed.
The funds requested by the Office of the Premier today will assist the Office to pursue a vigorous programme aimed at the achievement of our strategic goals within a strengthened Office.
Review of 2002/03
Honourable Members, I stand before you in this august House to give a report back on some of the key achievements of the various Chief Directorates within the Office. The Office will in due course submit to this House an annual report detailing all of our achievements as well as challenges.
The Office achieved the following milestones during the past year in line with the commitments we made in our 2002 Budget Vote.
* The Kgalagadi Integrated Sustainable Rural Development Programme is progressing well. In particular, the implementation of the identified ten anchor projects is on target. The first anniversary of the programme was held in December 2002. A separate report on the implementation of the Kgalagadi Rural Development Programme was finalised and distributed to all stakeholders
* My Office continues to mobilise external resources for the Kgalagadi programme. These include R7 million from Eskom towards water provision and R1.2 million towards the Goats project in the Kgalagadi node.
* We successfully coordinated R5 million water supply facility for the village of Makgabetlwane.
* We have finalised business plans to access funds for the training of public servants as part of the implementation of the Manitoba/North West Cooperation Work Plan. High-level visits between the two provinces were exchanged during the past financial year. It is expected that the Premier of Manitoba, Mr. Gary Doer, will visit the Province during this financial year.
* The Office assisted the Youth Commission in developing a strategic plan. This plan will go a long way in ensuring that the Commission delivers on its mandate.
* We made significant progress in resolving some of the major tribal disputes, notably, Batlhaping Ba Ga Phuduhucwana in Taung and the Barolong Boo Ratshidi to mention but a few.
* My Office convened a watershed Provincial Intergovernmental Review Conference in October 2002. This Conference was aimed at reviewing the implementation of programmes across all spheres of government. Our achievement in this regard was singled out for reference in the consolidated report on provinces to the President's Coordinating Council prepared by the Minister for Provincial and Local Government on the 27th of March 2003.
* A pre-World Summit on Sustainable Development Summit (WSSD) was held in the province in order to mobilise all key stakeholders around the national negotiation mandate. At this Summit a provincial declaration was signed committing all the stakeholders to supporting the WSSD process. Minister Zola Skweyiya and the Deputy United Nations Development Programme Ambassador to South Africa, Madam Naheed Haque, also attended the Summit. In addition, African women and global youth conferences were held at Phokeng and Mogwase respectively. These conferences made a phenomenal contribution to the continental as well as global discourse on sustainable development.
* With the launch of the African Union and the adoption of NEPAD, the Office identified a need to develop an outreach programme in order to mobilise communities around the objectives of the AU and NEPAD. A number of advocacy programmes were held in the province during the past financial year.
* The Office adopted a provincial International Relations Framework that will guide our engagements internationally both as provincial and local government.
* In line with the Department of Public Service and Administration's Minimum Standards on the Management of HIV/AIDS in the workplace, the Office:
-- Developed and approved an HIV/AIDS Policy
-- Established an HIV/AIDS Committee with representation and support from various Directorates and Unions. This Committee meets on a monthly basis to implement the HIV/AIDS Policy and Programme
-- Developed and secured funding for the HIV/AIDS Programme and Business Plan. Efforts are underway to train staff on the implementation of the programme during this financial year.
Furthermore the Office:
* Approved the first of three payments of R 400 000 towards the Kgalagadi Human Resource Development Trust. This payment demonstrates our commitment to the Urban Renewal and Rural Development Strategy.
* Successfully hosted the 6th National Public Service Trainers' Conference attended by 550 delegates at Sun City. Because of its outcome and quality of discussions, this conference was hailed as one of the most successful.
* Developed a financial management system aimed at increasing bursary revenue collection.
* Successfully took all Provincial Departments through a process of developing Skills Development and Employment Equity Plans. A strong feature of this project was the establishment of skills development and employment equity infrastructure within Departments, as well as skills transfer to all officials participating in such structures in order to ensure sustainability.
* Successfully completed the restructuring and realignment of the North West Communication Services and the Directorate of Communications in the Office of the Premier into a single Chief Directorate: Communications.
* My Office engaged the University of North West and the Potchefstroom University for Christian Higher Education to scrutinise, analyse and make recommendations on more than 150 laws for constitutional compliance.
* The Office has also undertaken an audit of all the laws passed by this House to check whether or not their coming into effect was contingent upon a suspensive condition. This audit, which required extensive consultation with all Departments and this very House, revealed that at least ten of the laws of this House had not been proclaimed and had therefore not come into effect. I accordingly issued the necessary proclamations and the laws are now in place.
* Though litigation is not our preferred method of settling disputes, we registered a success rate not less that 99% on all litigations undertaken.
* During the last financial year, all senior managers signed performance agreements as a basis for measuring their performance in respect of Departmental strategic goals and objectives.
* In pursuit of the strategic task of building project management capacity in the province, my Office signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the South African Management Development Institute (SAMDI) and the Independent Development Trust (IDT). The Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA) has also been part of efforts to build project management capacity in the province. This process has been beneficial in that it makes available to the provincial government some of the best project management expertise in the country mostly free of charge leading to substantial savings in consultancy fees.
* In April 2002 we successfully negotiated, with National Treasury, a conditional grant for the Provincial Infrastructure Programme worth R 1,45 billion over a period of three years.
* A Provincial Project Register became fully operational on the 1st of November 2002 and is widely consulted within the Public Service. The Register is accepted as the official record of provincial government projects and all Departments have been assigned accountability for the correctness and completeness of information entered on the Register. This Register will soon be accessible on Internet for scrutiny and comment by members of the public.
* Key appointments were made to enhance the work of Cluster Committees. These appointments have made it possible to dedicate a Cluster Secretary to a specific Cluster - a move that facilitated the coordination of submissions, communication of decisions and their general implementation.
* Proper systems were put in place for the keeping of official records.
* The Office undertook a review of the rate of implementation of directives from the Executive Council. This review enhanced the process aimed at identifying areas where problems with regard to the implementation of Exco directives were experienced. These problems were brought to the attention of Members of the Executive Council and Departmental Heads for corrective measures to be taken.
* My Office participated in the SA/Commonwealth study tour of Australia, Papua New Guinea and Singapore. The aim of this tour was to expose national and provincial cabinet secretariats to different cabinet systems and to isolate best practices that could be adapted to our systems.
Honourable Members will note that our achievements in the past financial year are more than what we said we would do. In this regard I would like to thank managers and staff in my Office for a job well done.
Outlook for 2003/04
In our ongoing endeavour to eradicate the many years of colonialism and apartheid in our country, it is not the path we have travelled that matters but the road that lies ahead.
Allow me at this point to highlight some of the challenges facing the Office of the Premier and indeed the entire province as we move towards the end of the first decade of liberation in this country.
In line with our strategic objectives and priorities, the Office of the Premier has identified the following challenges for the 2003/04 fiscal year:
* The finalisation of the White Paper on Traditional Leadership and Institutions.
* The identification of new rural and urban development nodes.
* Further implementation of the Kgalagadi rural development programme.
* The review of the Provincial Integrated Disability Strategy.
* The development of the Provincial Gender Strategy and implementation matrix.
* The finalisation of the process aimed at restructuring the North West Youth Commission to ensure its efficiency.
* The consolidation of capacity building programmes in Departments to facilitate the implementation, monitoring and evaluation of provincial services.
* The redefinition of the Provincial Human Resource Management Forum and its sub-structures to ensure that all Strategic Human Resources Management interventions are implemented and monitored.
* Assisting Departments to develop their internal Employee Assistance and Organizational Development Programmes and Standards.
* Strengthening the implementation of the HIV/AIDS programme. Part of this will include undertaking a systematic monitoring and evaluation approach to measure the impact of the programme on employee attitudes and behaviour.
* Alignment of the Provincial Performance Management Development Systems (PMDS) policy within the new Public Service Incentive Policy Framework in order to ensure correct and effective implementation by Departments.
* The monitoring of compliance with national Human Resource Development Legislation will be extended to include all sectors through the establishment of a multi sector forum. This forum will align the Draft Provincial Human Resource Development Strategy with the North West Economic Development and Infrastructure Strategy as well as North West 2012.
* Monitoring of Departments to ensure training and development, which includes ensuring that the allocation of bursaries is done within the context of the Provincial Skills Plan, Sector Skills Plans, Workplace Skills as well as Employment Equity Plans.
* Coordination of processes aimed at implementing the Public Service Bargaining Council Resolution 7 of 2002. This resolution entails the transformation and restructuring of the Public Service.
* Further realignment of communications structures within the province.
* The completion of phase two of the programme aimed at strengthening capacity for project management both within and across Departments.
* The finalisation of negotiations with the DBSA to assist the Directorate Monitoring and Evaluation with technical support and training of new appointees.
* Strengthening research capacity within the province by consolidating the work of the North West Research Coordinating Committee.
* Commissioning of the provincial Batho Pele service delivery research study.
* Commissioning of a research project on a holistic approach to the development of rural communities within the context of spatial distribution of small villages and settlements such as the Mayaeyane village.
* Implementation of the service delivery schedule as articulated in our strategic business plan.
* The development of a litigation policy in order to prevent all litigation losses on behalf of the provincial government.
* Compilation of an information manual in accordance with the requirements of the Promotion of Access to Information Act and the Promotion of Administrative Justice Act.
* Developing a framework for the establishment of a humanitarian fund in the Private Office of the Premier.
* The completion and publication of the Directory of Services of the Office.
* The launching of two more Multi Purpose Community Centres - in Morokweng and Tshidilamolomo. These Centres will go a long way in deepening democracy in our country and empowering communities to manage their own development.
Honourable Speaker, the strategic plan submitted and tabled by the Office of the Premier in this House on the 25th of March gave comprehensive information on the vision and mission, the strategic goals, objectives as well as outputs of the various components of the Office. I will therefore give a summary of the programmes that we have put in place in order to implement our strategic plans and achieve our goals.
Programme 1: Provincial Management and Support
This programme is aimed at supporting the Premier and the Director General in the following roles:
* Management of the Premier's political programme through administrative, appointments, parliamentary, protocol and secretariat services within the Private Office
* Preparations of annual and monthly schedules of the Premier's work as well as the formulation of plans and preparations of the Premier's activities
* The professional management of the Office of the Director General to achieve the efficient and effective administrative leadership of the Province
* Strategic planning and management
* The Director General's functions in compliance with the requirements of the Public Finance Management Act (PFMA)
* Streamlining the process of decision-making, implementation, monitoring and evaluation
* Ensuring efficient communication and dissemination of information
* Supporting the Premier in the President's Coordinating Council
* Facilitating the implementation of the Minimum Information Security Standards
* Providing Secretarial and support services to the Executive Council, Executive Council Committees, Extech, and Extech Committees.
To ensure that these functions are executed efficiently and effectively, I would like to request this august House to approve an amount of R 29,740,000 distributed to the following sub programmes.
Director General Support: 6 653 000
Premier Support: 7 742 000
Executive Council Support: 2 369 000
Security: 2 551 000
Investigations: 2 294 000
Finance and Administration: 7 972 000
HIV/AIDS: 159 000
Total: 29 740 000
Programme 2: Corporate Support Services
This programme seeks to provide efficient provincial corporate human resource services aimed at achieving the following:
* The promotion of human resource development as a priority and adherence to the Skills Development Act
* Facilitating the drafting and implementation of new human resources policies
* Ensuring that all approved Provincial Human Resource Management policies are evaluated and reviewed if necessary
* Advising and ensuring the implementation of Employee Assistance Programmes, policies, procedures and strategies
* Coordinating labour relations programmes
* Developing a framework that regulates the proper management of disputes
* Managing and proposing Organisational Development interventions to ensure more effective service delivery.
For this programme, I request that an amount of R 30 878 000 be approved for allocation to the sub-programmes indicated below.
Management Support: 877 000
Employee Assistance Programme: 4 084 000
Labour Relations: 1 803 000
Human Resource Management: 472 000
Human Resource Development: 15 795 000
Organisational Development: 2 847 000
Total: 30 878 000
Programme 3: Legal Services
This programme ensures the coordination of legal services in the province through the provision of a comprehensive legal advisory service to all Departments within the Provincial government.
Specifically through this programme the following is intended to be achieved
* Amendments to existing Acts
* Assistance to Legislature Committees
* Legally sustainable suspensions and dismissals
* Legal opinions, agreements drafted or perused
For this programme I request this august House to approve an amount of R 3 504 000 for allocation to the following sub-programmes.
Management Support: 839 000
Legislation: 1 027 000
Litigation: 880 000
Legal Services: 758 000
Total: 3 504 000
Programme 4: Communications
Effective dialogue between government and the people is central to ensuring that ours continues to be a truly participatory democracy. This is the broad mandate of the Communications programme.
In carrying out its mandate, this programme is tasked with the achievement of the following strategic objectives:
* Ensuring that the provincial government has capacity to communicate both internally and externally
* Coordinating provincial events
* Establishing Multi-purpose Community Centres in the Province
* Undertaking communication audits
For this programme, I request Honourable Members to approve an amount of R11 880 000 to for the sub-programmes indicated below.
Management Support: 839 000
Publications: 3 709 000
Regional Liaison: 3 723 000
Media Liaison: 3 559 000
Total: 11 880 000
Programmes 5: Governance and Special Programmes
This programme is one of the newly established units after the recent restructuring of the Office of the Premier. Through this programme the Office executes the following responsibilities:
* Coordinates all intergovernmental processes
* Coordinates and manages urban and rural development initiatives
* Coordinates gender, youth and disability programmes
* Provides support to the institutions of traditional affairs and ensures the implementation of the relevant legislation.
For this Programme, I request this House to approve an amount of R39 513 000 for allocation into the following sub-programmes.
Management Support: 1 129 000
Urban and Rural Development: 1 219 000
Research: 3 541 000
Intergovernmental Relations: 2 488 000
Special programmes: 13 567 000
Traditional Leadership: 17 569 000
Total: 39 513 000
Programme 6: Provincial Policy Management
This is another new programme that emerged out of a resolution by the Executive Council to strengthen the Office of the Premier. Through this programme the Office intends to achieve the following:
* To review and coordinate provincial policy and planning
* To monitor and evaluate provincial achievements and performance
* Establish provincial project management oversight and capacity building
* To collate and disseminate provincial geographic and spatial information and knowledge
* Coordination of provincial research programmes through the North West Research Coordinating Committee (NWRCC).
For this programme, I ask this House to approve an amount of R14 850 000 to be allocated as reflected below.
Management Support: 2 259 000
Project Management: 4 249 000
Provincial Policy and Planning: 3 633 000
Monitoring and Evaluation: 2 420 000
Information Management: 2 289 000
Total: 14 850 000
CONCLUSION
Honourable Members, as I conclude I would like to leave you with the wise words of President Thabo Mbeki which correctly point out the key challenge we all face: "The central question we will have to answer at the end of the day is whether what we are doing as the legislature, the executive and the judiciary, as well as civil society, is helping to lift from the shoulders of our people, the intolerable burden of poverty and underdevelopment."
As we are gathered in this House we must not loose sight of the strategic objective of our national liberation which is to free our people from the painful grip of poverty, underdevelopment, disease and ignorance. Ours is the noble task of continuing to build for our people a future that is qualitatively better than the past.
As we complete the first decade of liberation in our country, we can take pride in the progress we have made in the ongoing process to achieve our strategic objective. What is left is for us to advance, defend and consolidate our gains.
Honourable Speaker, I hereby place before this House for approval the estimates of revenue and expenditure for the Office of the Premier, totalling R130 365 000 for the year ending 31 March 2004.
I thank you.
Programme 1: Provincial Management Support and Administration: 29 740 000
Programme 2: Corporate Support Services: 30 878 000
Programme 3: Legal Services: 3 504 000
Programme 4: Communications: 11 880 000
Programme 5: Governance and Special Projects: 39 513 000
Programme 6: Policy Management: 14 850 000
Total: 130 365 000
Issued by Office of the Premier, North West
14 April 2003
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