9 October 2001
Significant appointments are being made in the Presidency in line with a Cabinet decision to enhance the capacity of government to co-ordinate and integrate its activities and improve its efficiency and service delivery. Two appointments have already been made, and others will follow.
In terms of a Cabinet decision, Mr Joel Netshitenzhe, CEO of the Government Communication and Information System, takes on additional responsibility in the policy co-ordination area of the Presidency as head of the Policy Co-ordination and Advisory Services. Mr Netshitenzhe's appointment will strengthen the capacity of the Presidency to integrate government and co-ordinate policy.
A second appointment is the secondment of oil company executive Ms Nthobi Angel to the Presidency to strengthen strategic, planning, performance management, communication and other aspects of the Presidency. This appointment signals a developing relationship between government and the private sector.
These moves coincide with the publication of the statutory annual report of The Presidency and follows an earlier special report of the Presidency entitled, "Democratic Governance - a restructured Presidency at work, 2000/2001", which laid stress on the view of the Presidential Review Commission (PRC) of the need to enhance the capacity of government to improve co-ordination of government (see www.gov.za for full report). The appointments are also in line with the direction given by the January 2001 Cabinet lekgotla to implement changes at the centre of government to meet the challenges of South Africa's new integrated approach to governance.
Mr Netshitenzhe will retain his responsibilities as CEO of GCIS but will, in addition, head the Policy Co-ordination and Advisory Services in the Presidency. Ms Angel, Director: Strategic Affairs at Engen Petroleum Ltd, will be seconded to the Office of the Director General in the Presidency for two years in the capacity of Chief Operating Officer: Strategic Planning and Communication.
The appointments resulted from collaborative efforts between the Presidency and the Department of Public Service and Administration to examine ways of implementing the cabinet decisions. They are of immediate effect.
In the context of the PRC report which recommended that the Presidency ought properly to be the core and apex of the system of governance, as it is elsewhere in the world, I warmly welcome the appointments which are designed to meet the Cabinet's requirement that the centre of government should be enhanced,
Rev Frank Chikane, Director General in the Presidency.
Issued by The Presidency