Date: 11/03/2008
Source: Eastern Cape Provincial Government
Title: SA: Balindlela: Eastern Cape Office of the Premier Budget Vote, 2008/09

Premier of the Eastern Cape, Nosimo Balindlela, delivers policy speech of Vote 1 at the Eastern Cape legislature

Honourable speaker
Honourable members of this house
Members of the executive council
People of the Eastern Cape
Comrades and friends

I am privileged to stand before this honourable house and give account of the budget programmes allocated to the office of the premier in the financial year of 2008/09.

Madam speaker, it is important that we remind ourselves that this budget marks a penultimate allocation before the elections in 2009.

As an axis of both government political and administrative intentions, this department strives to distinguish itself as a model of excellence in governance for all other provincial departments. It follows a pro-poor transformative agenda based on the ideals and objectives of the Provincial Growth and Development Plan (PGDP) as the keystone for transformation and development in order that poverty and unemployment target be attained.

It is important to note that the functions of this Office contribute to at least three of the government Apex programmes which are:
• implementing an interim anti-poverty campaign
• implementing social cohesion campaigns, particularly in areas of deprivation and marginalisation such as Ilinge, Ikhwezi and Elliotdale
• ensuring integrated planning across all spheres, for example, through strengthening inter-sphere coordination, helping with organograms, utilising functional Intergovernmental Relations (IGR) structures such as the Premier's Co-ordinating Forum (PCF)

Furthermore, Madam Speaker, this Office has, as per its promise in 2007, conducted an assessment of the PGDP implementation. This process was necessary so that we could ascertain the impact of the budget on the pro-poor programmes with the intention to achieve the reduction of unemployment and the eradication of poverty. Some of the emerging issues from the eight working groups that assessed the PGDP are that the:
• budget allocated to us is showing an impact as this is shown by the fact that the economic growth rate continues to show an upward trend.
• we need to make available the PGDP in various languages so as to make it accessible to all our communities
• we have to cause alignment between the Integrated Development Plans, the Annual Performance Plans and Cluster Priorities.

Madam Speaker, this department has three programmes. The programmes of government earmarked at this time subscribe to the following principles:
• The largest number of beneficiaries must be from the vulnerable groups such as youth, women, children and disabled.
• There should be high visibility of participation by the vulnerable groups.
• The principle of high impact (80 to 20) should produce the maximum results in poor communities.
• Results should have short to medium term gains.
May I take time to address all the three programmes in my department. In the process I will also elaborate on their core functions and allocated budget.

Programme one: Administration

This programme has been established to ensure that my department functions as a learning and best practice organisation. The primary function is to provide co-ordinated support to the Executing Authority, the Provincial Executive Council and the Provincial Administration. The secondary function is to enable internal organisational coherence within the regulatory compliance framework. Utilising a budget of R69.631 million this programme will achieve its core mandate, inclusive of the following six sub programmes.

Sub-Programme 1.2: Premier's core staff

Madam Speaker, using a budget of R17.264 million this office is responsible for providing political and administrative support to the Premier. This Office has established a document management and information management system based on best practice that will be followed by other departments. It supports the premier in achieving the objectives of the PGDP through:
• being responsive to the correspondence directed to the premier
• managing the discretionary fund which seeks to respond to the issues of poor families, students and small economic enterprises
• ensuring that communication from the Premiers' Office is accurate and portrays a positive image.

Sub-Programme 1.3: Director General's Office

With a budget of R3.954 million this programme enables the successful co-ordination and strategic management of the Provincial Administration and of the office of the premier as a department. It is tasked with interpreting the political mandate for administrative implementation. Its success hinges on a proactive approach to crafting and sustaining cohesive inter-governmental relations. This sub-programme has consistently anchored inter-departmental coherence, and has worked solidly to pro-actively consolidate co-operative governance across the spheres of government. This is based firmly on unwavering commitment to servant-leadership, through which an enabling environment for delivery is created.

Sub-programme 1.4: Cabinet Secretariat

This sub-programme utilises R3.007 million to provide administrative and secretariat support to the Provincial Executive Council, Cabinet Committees and Top Management. The component also monitors the implementation of Executive Council Resolutions and manages the Executive Council Outreach Programme. The Cabinet Secretariat division has improved the executive decision making process in the provincial government through the implementation of the provisions of the cabinet handbook. The EXCO outreach programme has contributed to enhanced interactive governance and alignment of planning and budgeting. Such reprioritisation exercises are informed by issues raised by municipalities and communities during the outreach initiatives.

Sub-programme 1.5: Internal Human Resource Management

With a budget of R20.785 million the purpose of the directorate is the management of human resources and rendering of office support services to the department as a whole. It is the engine for professional, administrative and management programmes such as the attraction and retention strategy, staff wellness programme as well as the Performance Management and Development Systems (PMDS) at all levels in the Department. Various operational plans, namely, the human resources plan, employment equity plan and the workplace skills plan have been successfully developed for the department.

Sub programme 1.6: Financial, Supply Chain and Risk Management

With a budget of R22.204 million the main function of this unit is to provide financial management and financial administrative support to the key facilitating and implementing components of the office of the premier in order for them to fulfil their service delivery obligations in terms of their strategic plans. In this financial year we will concentrate on righting the weaknesses as pointed out on the audit report of the department as well as strengthening asset management. The critical posts within the programme were filled resulting in increased capacity and skills base in the financial environment. The re-organisation of the department has benefited the programme with the establishment of a risk and management unit which will focus on developing and implementing strategies to mitigate the risks the department is exposed to.

Programme 2: Institution Building and Transformation (IBT)

This branch is responsible for the effective and efficient management of the institutional capacity, organisational transformation of the province and corporate governance. In addition to that, it overseas certain specific projects which are supported mainly by donors. For 2008/09 this programme has been allocated a total amount of R189.226 million. It has a responsibility of providing overall strategic direction on upholding good governance principles within the provincial administration. An allocation of 10 million has been provided for the continuation of the establishment of ASGISA (EC) Pty Ltd including addressing community concerns through increased consultation and participation. Following are the sub-units under this programme:

Sub programme 2.2: Transversal Organisational Development and Consultancy Services (TODCOS)

This unit has been allocated a sum of R66.931million. The main purpose of this component is to enhance the administration's efficiency and effectiveness by co-ordinating the implementation of Human Resources Management and Development (HRMD) and Transformation policies and strategies; giving strategic direction and guidance through provision of consultancy and specialist support whilst monitoring and supporting departments in respect of Human Resources Management, Human Resources Development, and Labour Relations.

This unit will concentrate on the following projects:
• Human Resources Development which has been allocated R5 million for the establishment of Provincial Leadership training.
• training of 8 000 government employees at a cost of R13 million.
• recruitment and selection of unemployed graduates which has been allocated R200 thousand
• JIPSA - which has been allocated R3 million
• Batho Pele institutionalisation allocated a sum of R6 million
• R500 thousand has been allocated to needy students.

This Unit has successfully implemented the accelerated drive to facilitate filling of all funded vacancies with a roadmap designed to reduce turnaround times in recruiting and selecting appropriate staff. This strategy has strengthened recruitment planning in departments by ensuring that departments adopt a focused and integrated approach to recruitment that is aligned to achievement of objectives including equity targets. This has seen the introduction of recruitment plans, a roadmap for recruitment and clearly defined processes to ensure effective recruitment. This has resulted in the province reducing vacancies drastically by 90% and improving the provincial equity status to 34% from 28%.

In 2007 this unit trained 7 660 civil servants in line with provincial priorities. It has conducted a major study on the effects of HIV and AIDS known as the Knowledge Attitudes Behaviour and Practices (KABP) and HIV prevalence study which will provide the provincial administration with scientific evidence upon which to base further HIV and AIDS interventions. During the 2008/09 financial year we will also focus on the implementation of the roll out of service standards linked to Service Delivery Improvement Plans (SDIP) as well as the improvement of the implementation of the PMDS.

Sub programme 2.3: Shared Legal Services

This sub programme has been allocated a sum of R16, 767 million to provide a transversal internal legal consultancy service to the provincial government and its constituent departments. Through its well co-ordinated and timely executed plans this branch has seen a continuous reduction in the incidence of contempt of court cases and a dramatic reduction in litigation cases. This has resulted in cost saving as we put more efforts in cost analysis and trends. One of the plans of this branch is to provide a database of all provincial legislation at Thusong Centres to improve accessibility to the poor as well as reviewing legislation to determine which legislation is redundant or obstructs service delivery.

Sub programme 2.4: Communication Services

With a budget of R27.726 million this branch is mandated to provide strategic leadership, co-ordination, support and guidance to ensure coherence and efficiency of the provincial government information and communications system. It ensures a high level of public participation in government programmes such as Izimbizo, EXCO Outreach and institutionalised national days at all times. R10 million will be used for branding. It also ensures alignment and synergy of departments, districts and local municipalities' communications strategies with the provincial communications strategy in cooperation with the Government Communications and Information Systems (GCIS), Department of Housing, Local Government and Traditional Affairs and the South African Local Government Association (SALGA). During the 2008/09 financial year the Unit will also pursue the Customer Care Policy that was approved by EXCO. This will improve service delivery to our people as well.

Sub programme 2.5: Information Communication Technology Management (ICTM)

This sub programme has been allocated a sum of R71.940 million. Out of this sum R55 million is for connectivity in government buildings and R6 million is for application development. The main aim of this branch is to facilitate the creation of the Eastern Cape as an information society, through maximising Information Communication Technology (ICT) to improve the levels and quality of service delivery by the provincial administration and departments to the citizens of our province. The design of a new Provincial Common Core Network (PCCN) has been commenced by SITA in order to increase the capacity of ICT in the province. The province is emerging as a leader in the implementation and development of Free and Open Source systems with the development of 'e-Khaya', the provincial intranet portal. The Provincial Spatial Information Management Unit (PSIMU) is fully operational, with updated provincial spatial information now available through the internet.

Sub programme 2.6: Anti-corruption and Provincial Security

Madam Speaker, the main function of this Unit is to co-ordinate anti corruption work and oversees the implementation of the provincial anti corruption strategy. Security management services co-ordinate and counter threats to the provincial government and administration and monitor implementation of the National Information Security Policy. This unit has been allocated a sum of R3.202 million. During the last financial year significant achievements have been made by this unit. A separate Annual Report will be presented in due course by the Anti Corruption Forum.

Honourable Speaker, let me address Programme 3.

Programme 3: Policy and Governance

This Programme has two broad aims, which are, firstly, to lead and facilitate the development and full implementation of sound, effective, appropriate and integrated provincial plans, policies, strategies, and practices in the province and to report, monitor and evaluate the impact thereof. The second broad aim is to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of co-operative governance. It has been given a sum of R124.199 million. Through this programme we will ensure that the policy and governance matters are comprehensively and adequately addressed in the province through its five sub-units of Policy and Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation, International and Intergovernmental Relations, Special Programmes and the Premier's Priority Programmes units. The PGDP and its implementation will remain the blueprint to gauge success of the Programme and one of its key objectives is to ensure that it helps position the OTP as the centre of policy, planning, M&E and Reporting.

Some of the programme's main performance imperatives for the year 2008/09 are:
• complete the PGDP review to fine-tune our future implementation of the PGDP so that we reach the reporting targets by 2014.
• complete an end of term government review.
• participate as a pilot province and finalise a United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) National Human Development Report (NHDR) which is to be completed by September 2008.
• report on the implementation of rapid assessment of service delivery survey (2006) recommendations by July 2008.
• compile a compendium of front office and back office indicators for the province and provide quarterly progress reports.
• finalise an annual report on mainstreaming all designated groups by end of April 2008.
• establish a provincial advisory council for children by the end of July 2008.
• launch the provincial children's forum by the end of September.
• finalise a provincial policy framework for older persons by the end of March 2009.
• under the direction of the provincial executive council ensure the expansion of the integrated service delivery initiative in selected areas of the province.

The capability of the unit has been improved by the filling of critical positions of senior managers as well as the second and third layers of technical cadres. The focus in 2008/09 will be on preparing for and achieving the relevant targets set for the ‘end of term' of government.

This programme consists of the following sub programmes:

Sub-Programme 3.2: Provincial Policy and Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation

This sub programme consists of two Chief Directorates:
1) Provincial Policy and Planning and
2) Monitoring and Evaluation.
It has been given a sum of R95.414 million to improve the performance of government and its service delivery, particularly to the poor and vulnerable groups in the Eastern Cape province.

Sub-Programme 3.2.1: Provincial Policy Planning

Of the R95.414 million mentioned above, this unit has been given a sum of R84 211 million to lead, maintain and ensure the ongoing utilisation of effective policy and strategic planning, to improve the performance of government and its service delivery, particularly to the poor and vulnerable groups in the Eastern Cape directly and through its associated public entities of the Eastern Cape Youth Commission (ECYC), the Eastern Cape Socio Economic Consultative Council and the EC Appropriate Technology Unit. The key deliverable of the sub-programme will continue to be the deepening of the PGDP implementation, especially after the finalisation of a revised PGDP later this year, as well as establishing firm standards for the alignment and implementation of cluster priorities (including High Impact Priority Projects and Apex ‘Business Unusual' projects), departmental strategic, annual performance plans and sector policies, in line with the PGDP.

The policy and planning sub-programme is also charged to oversee a European Union sponsored programme known as Sustainable Rural Development in the Eastern Cape Programme (SURUDEC). The sub-programme has been allocated with an amount of R10.500 million whose objective is to reduce poverty in rural communities in the Eastern Cape through the development and implementation of community development plans. The basic idea is to promote, develop and test, on a pilot basis, a mechanism for helping communities to plan and to implement their own development projects. It will use the promotion of Rural Livelihoods Programme (RULIV) as the implementing agent for the SURUDEC programme. RULIV will also be additionally supported to achieve its objectives of economic development, including agriculture and natural resources management as well as promotion of SMMEs and local and regional economic development in the Eastern Cape Province.

Eastern Cape Youth Commission

With a budget allocation of R10.587 million the ECYC will develop a state of the youth report that will provide the government with up to date data on the socio-economic state of young people, covering numerous areas including education, skills audit, beneficiation, small, medium and micro enterprise (SMME) procurement, poverty levels and unemployment. It will also mobilise support for the intensification of the National Youth Service Programme (NYSP) as well as establish and train local and district youth councils.

Eastern Cape Socio Economic Consultative Council

With a budget of R36.902 million ECSECC is both an advisory body that provides decision support to provincial government as well as a social compacting body that facilitates development partnerships around a defined strategic agenda.

The Policy Research and Information Programme (PRIP) aims primarily at facilitating the development of sector strategies in support of PGDP growth and employment targets. The focus will be to finalise the provincial industrial strategy, and to facilitate sector summits to leverage public and private investment and address constraints in labour absorbing sectors where we have competitive advantage. The Developmental Local Government Support Programme (DLGSP) focuses primarily on strengthening Integrated Developmental Plans (IDPs) and enhancing their alignment to the PGDP. A key thrust for 2008/09 will be on integrating District Growth and Development Summits outcomes into IDPs and the PGDP.

The Strategic Planning and Development Facilitation Programme (SPDFP) aims to build the capacity of ECSECC's partners to implement the PGDP. Key initiatives planned for 2008/09 include post GDS stakeholder management in the various district municipalities, as well as long range capacity building initiatives such as Knowledge and Progress, aimed at the local sphere of government.

Eastern Cape Appropriate Technology Unit

The Eastern Cape Appropriate Technology Unit (ECATU) focus will be to support strategic frameworks such as the PGDP, IDPs, and Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP) and to improve operational efficiencies. In deploying its R12, 218 million budget allocations, focus will be on improving research intelligence to facilitate the links between the needs of the poor and the technology solutions proposed by (ECATU).

Sub-Programme 3.2.2: Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E)

This unit exists to lead, facilitate, maintain and ensure the ongoing utilisation of effective M&E to improve the performance of government and service delivery. This will assist to improve the EC government's performance and service delivery. It has been allocated a sum of R11.203 million.

A province wide network of M&E practitioners has been established to drive this work and an open source, electronic M&E system has been developed and departments will be reporting progress against the PGDP, national programme of action and their strategic and annual plans through the electronic M&E system.

Sub-Programme 3.3: International and Intergovernmental Relations and Protocol

Madam speaker with an allocation of R4.022 million, the unit ensures that our continental, international and provincial intergovernmental relations systems are geared to the creation of a climate suitable for co-operative governance to enable maximum service delivery. Strategic partnerships with the donor community through official development assistance and international counterparts must be fully utilised. As a recognised member of the diplomatic global community, this province has to have a world class international relations and protocol component. The component is gearing itself for full compliance with the IGR Framework Act.

Sub-Programme 3.4: Special Programmes

The special programmes unit has been allocated a sum of R8.482 million. The increase in the budget for this sub-programme will be used amongst others for the filling of a new post of general manager, special programmes in accordance with the recently approved Gender Policy Framework (GPF) for the province. This unit facilitates, monitors and evaluates the mainstreaming of gender, disability, children and elderly person's rights into departmental programmes by ensuring awareness raising and confidence building among women, the disabled, youth, children and the elderly at all levels.

The function of the directorate, through the respective sub directorates, is to provide the following services:
• an effective co-ordination framework which enables monitoring and evaluation of the implementation of policies (albeit international, national or provincial) by provincial government departments.
• support and advice to the departments on issues affecting gender, disability, children and the elderly to ensure that these are addressed within the core and transversal functions of each department.
• report to the presidency on the Office on the status of women, office on the rights of the child and office on the status of disabled persons activities of the province and possible challenges faced in fulfilling the mandate.
• networking, lobbying and advocacy with civil society and the Non Government Organisation (NGO) sector to ensure the province takes cognisance of the issues affecting the designated groups.
• review departmental policies, projects and programmes for their implications on gender, youth, disability, children and the elderly and ensure these are aligned to the PGDP priorities.

Sub-Programme 3.5: Premier's Priority Programmes

Madam Speaker, the main focus of this sub-programme which has been given a sum of R14.421 million over the next year will be managing and funding various shorter term special programmatic projects linked to the broad objectives of the Office of the Premier (OTP), and linked to the key priorities of the premier and the provincial executive council.

Some of the key programmes that have been identified for funding through this sub-programme are as follows:
• KWAM: Purpose: an economic development initiative; focusing on rural communities; to partner with economic affairs and local tourism institutions.
• Charlotte Maxeke Fund: Purpose: women's development fund; the funding allocation is to monitor and coordinate fundraising.
• Project of Hope: Purpose: partnership with private sector; to respond to emergency and disaster; not a duplication of disaster funds with respective department; fund allocation for co-ordination of board of trustees; monitor and co-ordinate all activities.
• Special committees: Purpose: facilitate special intervention projects to accelerate service delivery; for example the health task team; to incubate service delivery until satisfactory performance to be returned to the relevant department; or a new initiative that requires immediate budget expenditure.

Madam Speaker,
I realise the importance of the office of the premier as the centre which must hold together and be a model of integrated governance for all departments in the province. We are committed to consolidating and ensuring sustainability of our pro-poor programmes beyond our electoral mandate. With the combined efforts of all programmes we have put measures in place for better fiscal governance, increasing and monitoring our spending so that all our poor people experience democracy through receiving the services in a dignified and respectful manner. We have increased our skills by reducing vacancies in senior management. We have strengthened our policy, planning, monitoring and evaluation tools that measure the impact of our progress. The recent PGDP assessment results emerge from this process, and will help us to strengthen our approaches and to close gaps such as translating the PGDP into all languages and getting a reliable tool to gauge the unemployment rate so that we know how and where to direct our efforts.

I remain committed to serving this government with honesty, humility and integrity.

I thank you

Issued by: Eastern Cape Provincial Government
11 March 2008