Collective of the Presiding Officers of House
Members of the Executive Council
Deputy Chairperson of the North West House of Traditional Leaders – Kgosi Mabe
Dikgosi Tsa Bokone-Bophirima
Chairman of Botswana South East District Council – Hon Phenyo Segokgo
Executive Mayors of District and Local Municipalities                      
Mayors of Local Municipalities
Chairpersons Representing State Owned Entities
Director General
Heads of Departments
Leadership of Organised Business
Leadership of Organised Labour
Ladies and Gentlemen
Comrades, Compatriots, Cadres and Revolutionaries

Hon Speaker our point of strategic departure is always the National Development Plan (NDP). In this regard, as Bokone-Bophirima we have sought in the last two years of this administration to anchor everything we do on the foundation laid out in the NDP, and mobilised all sections of society to claim a stake in the construction of a new rebranded, repositioned and renewed Province.

Hon Members should bear with me for again as we did during the State of the Province Address, remind this House of what President Jacob Zuma said during the occasion of the adoption of National Development Plan: "Regardless of our political differences, we broadly agree on the need to build a united, non-racial, non-sexist and prosperous South Africa. We may disagree on methods, but the end result is not difficult to agree on. The national plan describes that final destination that we are all moving towards”.

It is important that we revisit this reflection today, most importantly given what appears to be a declining sense of national duty amongst some within our country. This reminder is crucial at this moment as an intervention to deliver the message that, the country envisioned in the National Development Plan, is for the benefit of all of us irrespective of our competing and conflicting political interests. The path to 2030 is set out clearly in the National Development Plan, there are no short cuts.

Hon Speaker, budget which we require this House to approve will enable the Office of the Premier to play its strategic role to coordinate and lead the Rebranding, Repositioning and Renewal of Bokone - Bophirima within the context of implementing the National Development Plan through the five concretes, Agriculture, Culture & Tourism, Villages, Townships and Small Dorpies, Reconciliation, Healing and Renewal, Setsokotsane and Saamtrek-Saamwerk.

The current economic climate exacerbated by drought and the consequences thereof calls for bold and decisive leadership. This makes the role of the Office of the Premier in spearheading the Rebranding, Repositioning and Renewal of Bokone-Bophirima even more urgent than ever before.                  

Striving towards a 6% economic growth rate with intermittent adjustments by 2019, continue to serve as a useful means to stretch the determination and dedication of the Provincial Government in improving the lives of our people.

This strategic target requires stronger and more meaningful collaboration and partnership between Government, Business, Labour, Tertiary institutions and Civil Society. In addition to productive engagements we have had with labour and business, the Provincial Government has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the North West University to work together in improving the capability of the Provincial Administration to deliver services to the people.

Hon Members, in the next 30 days we will announce the new members of the North West Economic Development and Labour Council (NWEDLAC). The establishment of this important structure will assist in the coordination of collaborative efforts between Government, organised business, labour, academia and civil society as part of Saamtrek-Saamwerk philosophy.

We also want to bring to the attention of this House that the Executive Council has taken a decision to migrate the North West Development Corporation (NWDC) to the Office of the Premier as part of its rebranding, repositioning and renewal.

In addition, Government will in compliance and response to the President and Minister of Finance’s call to rationalise State Owned Entities, relocate some of our Provincial entities under the umbrella of a rebranded NWDC to position Bokone-Bophirima better in tackling challenges of growing the economy.

Programme 1

Administration R 106.216 million

Programme One’s main strategic goal is to ensure efficient and effective administrative support services to the Office of the Premier.

The Office of the Premier’s Compensation of Employees budget for 2015/2016 was R 260 million after the adjusted budget. For 2016/2017 an amount of R 300.797 million is allocated to fund 861 posts on the approved interim structure. R 3.658 million is allocated to the Office of the Premier for training of staff in 2016/2017.

The Office of the Premier remains committed to achieving high levels of ethics and good governance. It is for this reason that we have put in place a Governance Policy to guide the Office and serve as a benchmark for the rest of the Province.

In this endeavor, the Office of the Premier will amongst others implement the following to improve efficiency and good governance:

• Strengthen the financial management capacity within the Office of the Premier to enable our CFO to play an oversight function over all Provincial Departments and state owned entities.
• Improve the performance, planning, monitoring and reporting, by creating a dedicated Strategic Planning unit
• Implement all Post Audit Action Plan which includes findings from the previous administration of irregular and unauthorised expenditure.
• Revise our Risk Management Strategy to ensure effective controls.
• Improve our capacity to deliver on the new mandate of focusing 80% of our work on Performance, Monitoring, Evaluation and Intervention, and only 20% on administration in the Office of the Premier.

Programme 2

Institutional Development R 213.310 million

The strategic role played by the Office of the Premier to provide efficient and effective institutional support services to the entire Provincial Government is coordinated through this programme.  During 2016/17 we will incrementally build capacity within the Office to provide centralised support services in areas such as communication, ICT, legal, employee wellness and labour relations.

Hon Speaker, during the budget speech of 2015/16, we reported that for the period 01/01/2008 until 31/12/2014, which represented two three year leave cycles, R 2. 95billion was spent on public servants taking incapacity or sick leave.

Subsequent to that report, the Office of the Premier completed another incapacity and sick leave trend analysis for the period 2015/16 and used the findings to inform the Employee Health and Wellness interventions across all provincial departments.

We are now reporting that, from April 2015 until December 2015:

• 12 059 employees were reached through the Employee Health and Wellness Programmes that aims at improving individual employee’s productivity by focusing on managing chronic diseases and occupational injuries. We also hope that the launching of the campaign on health and lifestyle diseases will go a long way in curbing this phenomenon.

Hon Members, much as we acknowledge the seriousness of employees’ wellness and our duty as the employer to create conducive conditions for public servants to perform their duties, we are also aware that some public servants abuse incapacity and sick leave. The Director-General has been mandated to deal with this tendency.

Hon Speaker, we wish to inform this House and the general public that the internal inquiry conducted by the Office of the Premier on the number of employees employed by the state, has found that there are no ghost employees in Bokone-Bophirima, across all Departments so far.

We have confirmed beyond any doubt that 11 258 employees still appointed under Salary level 0 across the ten Departments, are in fact legitimate employees on short contracts and seasonal employees such as exam markers. The glitch was basically a technical error in which some employees in the Persal system were captured as floating, and therefore administratively were reported as ghosts.

The Ikatisong School of Governance has been established to facilitate skills development as part of the implementation of the National Development Plan to build an effective, efficient and productive public service.

The work we are doing through Ikatisong in conducting skills audit across the system, assessing deficiencies and implementing skills development interventions is part of the project to rebrand, reposition and renew Bokone-Bophirima.

A total number of 229 unemployed youth were awarded bursaries and 109 Grants awarded to needy financial assistance applicants.

The Provincial Government working together with the National Department of Higher Education & Training has successfully launched the new Skills Development Centre in Dr Kenneth Kaunda District during March.  Since the establishment of the Centre, 437 learners have been placed on learnerships, apprentices and recognition of prior learning in various sectors, including venture creation, cleaning, business administration, call centre management, boiler making, painting, plumbing, welding and management.

We have now urgently put into place a review of the implementation of ongoing programmes across the public service, these include:

• Scarce skills within departmental work skills programmes
• Compulsory induction programme
• Performance Management and Development System
• Batho – Pele (Mese eerst – People First)
• Executive Development Programme
• New programmes
• PFMA/MFMA -Improvement of Audit outcomes at Provincial  and municipal levels
• Collaboration with Department of Performance Monitoring and Evaluation in the training of program managers in strategic planning and APP’s as well as implementing a development planning framework.

Corruption, Integrity and Ethics

Hon Members, the Office of the Premier has handled 38 misconduct cases and appropriate sanctions were meted out. Within the context of the public service code of conduct, professionalism, and ethical conduct is the yardstick of discharging respective responsibilities to enhance the confidence of the public.

We have strengthened existing systems and processes to promote ethical conduct and discourage corruption in the public service. As announced during the state of the Province address, the Panel of Legal Experts has been appointed to deal with all litigation matters across Departments. We are already noticing positive development in how litigation matters are coordinated and managed by Provincial Departments.

Central role of the people

In line with our commitment to bridge the communication gap between Government and the people, the Office of the Premier working together with other Government

Departments and municipalities has implemented the following initiatives: 

• We have forged and put into action a mutual partnership with the two major radio stations in the Province, Motsweding FM and North West FM. Through these partnerships, the public representatives (various MECs and Mayors), participate in weekly live discussions on various service delivery issues. This strategic platform, named Bua Le Puso, is a vehicle through which these elected leaders are made to account to the public.
• We are also happy to inform our communities that they will from now on henceforth, get an official government newspaper called SEMPHETE. We continue to encourage members of the public to also make use of our existing and reliable communication platforms such as our Social Media networks, to make meaningful inputs on government performance.    

Hon Members, the Provincial Government has taken a decision to centralise and integrate ICT and Communication. A service provider has been appointed to assist in developing capacity of Government Communication as part of the plan of building a capable developmental state. This will assist the province in reducing duplication and eliminate wastage.

Through this integration, Government leaders within the Province will have an opportunity to create a uniform presence in all communication platforms across all the spheres of government.

This communication approach will assist us in the implementation of the five concretes, including popularising departmental campaigns and events championed by MECs and their HODs as well as municipal activities by the Mayors and the Premier. As they say, making business without advertising is like trying to stop the clock in order to save time.

Programme 3

Policy and Governance R 172.717 million

Hon Speaker, we have now appointed the Provincial Planning Commissioner to ensure that the objectives we have set ourselves under Programme 3, to provide quality service delivery through integrated planning, performance monitoring, evaluation and intervention is achieved.

Through this intervention we are creating a single service delivery model across both Provincial and Local Government spheres in the Province.

Hon Members, the Policy and Governance branch in the Office of the Premier has developed a service delivery monitoring system through which we are able to track the implementation of all 125 SOPA pronouncements, including decisions taken by the Executing Authority from time to time. We have thus been able to hold all Departments and state owned entities accountable on service delivery commitments adopted by the fifth Administration.

Ladies and Gentlemen, Hon Members, the quick turnaround in the Departments of Health, Education & Sport Development and Public Works & Roads is a demonstration of the effectiveness of our performance, monitoring, evaluation and intervention approach.

We are exporting this success across Government and municipalities through a Shared Services Model to facilitate the improvement of service delivery. We have already introduced an infrastructure shared services model with all municipalities through the Department of Finance, Economy and Enterprise Development (FEED).

The theme of coordination and integration runs through everything we do as Government. It is this approach that informed the implementation of ward based planning across all municipalities which we have now extended to include focus on village, township and small dorpies, as part of our Villages, Townships and Small Dorpies approach (VTSD).

Further, these plans will form the basis of our Municipal Integrated Development Plans and Annual Performance Plans of departments for 2017/18 going forward.

As part of its planning analysis and monitoring function, the Office of the Premier working other Departments will identify key socio-economic projects and their spatial distribution within the VTSD context and facilitate monitoring and reporting of these projects across spheres of government.

Hon Speaker, we are serious about the VTSD approach. We have now established VTSD Economic Focus Groups whose main mandate will be to work together with and guide Provincial Departments, municipalities and relevant stakeholders on economic planning and development in every VTSD area of the Province. The names of the three VTSD Steering Committees will be announced within the next 30 days.

Bagaetsho, in further strengthening our ability around 80/20 Performance, Monitoring, Evaluation and Intervention we will facilitate community capacity through participatory Monitoring and Evaluation in all districts, as part of the efforts to maintain contact with the people at all times.

Ladies& Gentlemen, as declared in the Freedom Charter “No Government can justly claim authority unless it is based on the will of the people”.

It is for this reason that Government has engaged with communities in all districts, and based on the positive feedback from communities, we will now implement Setsokotsane for the entire year in all districts. In addition we will implement a Setsokotsane 24hours operation Centre which will be at the disposal of the community to attend to all service delivery issues raised by the public.

On an annual basis we will be releasing a citizens report to reflect on the perceptions of communities with regards to service delivery issues.

Hon Speaker, I believe that Hon Members of this House have by now closely scrutinised the Budget of the Office of the Premier for the Financial Year 2016/17. This scrutiny has hopefully settled the debate of the last two years on the correct interpretation of the Setsokotsane approach.

We wish to reiterate that Setsokotsane is as an approach we have adopted to improve service delivery in an integrated and coordinated manner.

Those who may have followed the debate on President Jacob Zuma’s Budget Vote yesterday, have heard how Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa educated the National Assembly on how Setsokotsane has put Bokone-Bophirima at the centre and forefront of delivering services to the people.

We wish to restate this once more, that there is no additional budget set aside for Setsokotsane because service delivery funds are already appropriated through line function Departmental budgets for 2016/17.

I Hope this settles the debate. We will however always be available to Hon Members to assist those who from time to time may face challenges of memory lapse in this regard.

Mahikeng rebranding, repositioning and renewal programme

Hon Members, given the strategic status of Mahikeng as a Capital City and the success registered in the implementation of the first phase of the MRRRP, we have now handed over the project back to the municipality working with relevant stakeholders including all Provincial Department for further implementation.

A total of R142 million was allocated for all identified projects implemented during the 2015/2016 financial year under this programme, and the following are some of its achievements:

•     CCTV cameras installed in and around Mahikeng
•     Street-lighting in Mahikeng
•     Cultural Villages - designs of the three cultural villages have been completed.      
•     Patching potholes

Ladies and Gentlemen - Hon Members, we support youth owned business through financial and non- financial support to ensure that we fight rampant unemployment, poverty and inequality.

The draft bill for the de-establishment of the Youth Development Trust and the establishment of the Youth Entrepreneurship Services has been submitted to the North West Legislature for processing.

As announced during the State of the Province earlier this year, youth camps began in earnest in March 2016 in Tlokwe, at 4 Artillery Regiment in partnership with the South African National Defence force. Total of 400 youth have gone through the first two camps with a total of 2400 youth expected to go through this system by the end of November 2016.

The total budget for the Office of the Premier for which we require approval by the Legislature is R 492.243 million.

Hon Members, let me take this opportunity on behalf of Government and the people of Bokone-Bophirima to extend our deepest condolences to the Mogale family in Deelpan who lost five members of the family through a fire this week. The Premier has already visited the affected family and committed Government to assist the family where necessary during this difficult period.

Our thoughts also go to the families of Wits University students who died during a horrific car accident, the families in Klerksdorp whose dear ones were involved in an accident involving a taxi between Tlokwe and Carletonville. We wish those in hospital speedy recovery.

Hon Speaker, we take this opportunity to remind this House that next week on the 10th Motsheganong 2016, our country will mark the 22nd anniversary of the inauguration of the late Dr Nelson Mandela as the first democratically elected President of South Africa. We all have fond memories of this historic moment in the history of our young democracy and remember the echoing voice of Madiba when he said:

“We understand it still that there is no easy road to freedom. We know it well that none of us acting alone can achieve success. We must therefore act together as a united people, for national reconciliation, for nation building, for the birth of a new world”.

We owe it to the memory of this hero of our people to make South Africa great and avoid the temptation to tear our nation apart in pursued of sectarian interests.  At this very moment in this Country, we need a Mandela spirit to remind us of unity, forgiveness, national reconciliation and nation building. It is for this reason that as Bokone-Bophirima we have adopted the Reconciliation, Healing and Renewal programme to play our part in building a nation envisioned by Madiba on 10th Motsheganong 1994.

We thank the people of Bokone-Bophirima for their support, encouragement and commitment play their part in building Bokone-Bophirima which is at peace with itself, focussed on the important task to defeating the triple challenges of poverty, unemployment and inequality.

God Bless us All!

Ke a Leboga

I thank you

Baie Dankie

Siyabulela