State of the Province Address by Gauteng Premier Nomvula Mokonyane, Gauteng Legislature, Johannesburg, February 22 2010

Madam Speaker
Deputy Speaker
Members of the Executive Council
Honourable Leaders of Political Parties
Mayors
Honourable Members of the Legislature
Councillors
Members of the Diplomatic Corps
Distinguished guests
The people of Gauteng

Two decades ago a step signalling a major breakthrough in our "long walk to freedom" was taken.  It was a turning point that heralded a new era in the history of South Africa. That first historic step towards human emancipation, for the oppressed and the oppressor, black and white, rich and poor, turned into a brisk walk towards the transformation of the entire socio-political tapestry of our society.  This is a journey that together with the people of South Africa we are determined to travel and complete.  We shall continue on this road until we attain total emancipation from poverty, hunger and underdevelopment.

Over the past twenty years of our journey we have encountered numerous obstacles, challenges and difficulties that we had to negotiate and resolve. We knew that it was never going to be a smooth journey.  As a result, we have learnt valuable lessons and garnered sufficient experience to continue with our strategic programme to free the masses of our people from all the vices of racial prejudice, inequality, illiteracy and other injustices.

As we celebrate the two decades of Mandela's freedom, we are in essence celebrating the legacy of the Mandela generation given to all of us, black and white, poor or rich, gay or straight, peasant or landlord and young or old to safeguard. It is a legacy built on the values of humanity, selflessness, equality and constitutional democracy. It is a legacy that demands of us, with no options whatsoever, to defend it, uphold it and live by its doctrine. It is a legacy that has no patience for racial or cultural divisions. In the main, it is a legacy that seeks to forge national unity and social cohesion amongst the people of South Africa.

Many of the giants that walked with Mandela in a journey to build one nation in one South Africa have passed on. However, today we are blessed to have amongst us one of the stalwarts, Isithwalandwe and a great revolutionary leader who shared the space and time with those giants.

Madame Speaker and Honourable members of the House, kindly join me in acknowledging Prisoner 468/64, Ahmed Kathrada, a friend, comrade and fellow prisoner of Madiba.  In his many years of incarceration on Robben Island, he found hope in some of the little things that we take for granted.  In his book, "Memoirs" he captured how he and others, including Madiba, found meaning in a tiny garden.  He said: "In moments of despondency it was a reminder of renewal, of new life and fresh hope."

We take inspiration from Uncle Kathy's generation. This generation is a mirror image of selflessness, humanity and sacrifice.   These leaders have placed national interests, the interest of all, above personal interests and in some cases, even above their own survival.  It is on these vaules that we want to build a Gauteng that is united, non-racial and compassionate.  We commit to emulate the actions of these leaders.

This year, on Human Rights Day, we will commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of the Sharpeville massacre.  We will recall that fateful day when unarmed protesters against the unjust and humiliating apartheid pass laws were mowed down by the apartheid forces in Sharpeville.  We must use this day and other national commemorative days - Freedom Day, Youth Day, Heritage Day and the National Day of Reconciliation to forge national unity by commemorating them together as South Africans.

 At this moment, when the world is still reeling from the aftershocks of the devastating earthquake in Haiti, our hearts and thoughts are with the people of Haiti.  We call on all our people to continue to lend support in the reconstruction of Haiti.  May the souls of the departed rest in peace.

We also remember those of our people who were affected by the floods in Tembisa, Soweto and other areas.  Our prayers go to those who lost their loved ones. We thank all South Africans who have opened their hearts to help these fellow citizens.

Honourable Members, It is only eight months since we first presented the Program of Action of the current administration to this house.  During that address we stated that we were going to do things differently while being guided by the strategic priorities of the government.  We made it clear that to effectively drive this program we needed to realign the organisational structure and review the operations of the government such that they begin to assist us to achieve the set goals.

We said we would work in a manner that fosters new ethics and promotes a culture of hard work and respect for the public amongst civil servants.

Since the country was in the tight grip of economic recession, we committed this government to doing everything in its power to cushion our economy and people from the effects of the recession.

Indeed we have begun to make strides.  As we stated in the report we presented to this house on 27 November 2009, it is evident that even in this short period we have made impressive progress in meeting the needs of the people. 

We have now passed the planning stage and we are now geared for implementation.  This is the year of action.  It is the year for all of us to work together to speed up delivery.

We are mindful of the fact that we would not be able to stay on course and achieve what we set out to attain if it were not for the strong partnership and unequivocal support we enjoyed from the masses of our people. 

Madam Speaker,

Today, we present to the people of Gauteng through their public representatives the Programme of Action we will implementing in the course of this year in pursuit of our five year strategic goals.  In line with the national government's approach, the emphasis and focus of our activities will be on outcomes.  All our energies will be channelled towards what our people need and not what we think they need. 

Our programme is about what we will be doing towards fulfilling our unequivocal commitment to an improved quality of basic education; a long and healthy life for all the people; safety and security for all; economic growth that translates into decent work and improved living standards; vibrant, equitable and sustainable rural communities with food security for all; infrastructure development and sustainable human settlements; and a responsive, accountable, efficient and effective local government.

Education is our top priority.  Providing high quality education to our people, especially children will lay a solid foundation to secure a better future for all. 

Our vision is to ensure that every learner does well at school and leaves our institutions with knowledge, skills and qualifications that will give them the best chance of success in adult life.

We have done a thorough assessment of the education situation and we know what needs to be done to improve the quality of education.  Our intervention will start at the foundation stage of education to ensure that our children are well prepared to develop and succeed in the later stages of their education.

In this regard we have initiated the Foundation for Learning Campaign which will focus on the expansion and quality of Grade R as well as the external assessment of learners in Grades 3, 6 and 9. 

The development of our very young children is a critical phase in laying the foundation for successful learning and the production of good citizens.  We will continue to devote resources to ECD and Grade R to ensure that we achieve our target of universal access to Grade R by 2014, increasing the number of learners in Grade R from 78,000 to 118,000 in 2014.  This will assist us in ensuring that all learners, including those from disadvantaged backgrounds, are effectively supported in basic motor and cognitive skills development.

In the primary school phase we will provide all learners with workbooks containing content, exercises and tasks for each lesson of the year.  Educators will receive daily lesson plans to support the workbooks.  The workbooks are designed to promote quality learning and teaching under any conditions.  This will ensure that learners are guaranteed curriculum completion and that no learner leaves each grade with a backlog in learning.  This will further improve the child's chance of success in higher grades.

We are implementing teacher development programme that focuses on the entire life-cycle of teaching.  The programme focuses on dealing with the induction and support of new teachers, addressing the critical skills gaps of teachers and the general professionalism of the teaching force in the province. 

We will intensify our secondary school intervention programme, especially to improve Grade 12 the performance and performance of learners in mathematics and science.

The poor Grade 12 results are the result of wide-ranging systemic problems within the education department, involving educators, school management, learners themselves as well as wider socio-economic factors.  Historical interventions have achieved improvements but have been difficult to sustain because of fragmented project approaches and a lack of adequate resources.

The new intervention will be system-wide and flexible enough to allow for provincial and district specificities and applications.  With greater and more focused attention given to the foundation and primary stages of education, the system will produce more learners who are better prepared for Grade 12.  We have set ourselves a target to achieve 80% Grade 12 pass rate by 2014. 

The Mathematics, Science and Technology (MST) strategy has been reviewed to provide a single coordinated, integrated and inclusive approach across all grades.  The revised strategy will build a solid numeracy and literacy base in Grade R and the Foundation phase and deliver effective Mathematics Science and Technology education in the Intermediate and Senior phases as well as the FET band.  This will provide a significant post-school stream of new entrants into the economy, directly and via higher education and training; and ensure that the province has a pool of highly competent and highly motivated mathematics, science and technology teachers.

Some of our young people in rural and peri-urban areas have to travel long distances, suffering harsh weather conditions and leaving them little time for homework and effective learning.  We will therefore this year set up a pilot project to establish a boarding school for deserving secondary school learners in one of our rural areas in the West Rand.  This will go a long way towards ensuring more equitable access to quality education in our peri-urban and rural areas.

The education of our children is something that must concern all the people and not just government alone.  Parents, community leaders and everybody in communities must get involved in education.  School governing bodies and school management must create the possibility for communities to play an active role in the affairs of the schools.  It is communities that can guarantee the safety of learners and educators in the schools.  Communities can also take decisive steps to ensure that schools are protected from unscrupulous liquor traders who operate shebeens and taverns near school premises.

In working towards a goal of achieving a long and healthy life for all we will focus on improving the effectiveness and efficiency of our healthcare system, providing primary healthcare services in poor communities, reducing mortality rates and stepping up the fight against HIV and AIDS and TB.

We have heard the concerns raised by our people on the difficulties they encounter in accessing our hospitals and other health institutions and we are taking concrete steps to address them, including eliminating the long queues that we find in some of our facilities.  The concrete steps we are taking include:

·         Help desks at the entrance of hospitals to direct patients to appropriate departments/sections;

·         Retrieval of patient files from patient records a day before the appointment date;

·         SMS system to remind patients of their appointments;

·         Availability of clerical staff at patient affairs from 7H00 until 15H30;

·         Decentralisation of patient registration;

·         Dedicated queue marshals at all queues within an institution; and

·         Automated payment systems;

In the past 6 months, the availability of medication has improved from 85% to 92%.  Through improved monitoring and weekly recording of stock-outs, availability is being improved even further and we aim to achieve our target of 99% availability of essential drugs for each facility.

Two mobile therapeutic vehicles have been procured and commissioned to be used for emergency deliveries of medication to hospitals and clinics.  This will assist to maintain high levels of availability of essential drugs.

We will strengthen the Community Based Health Services (CBHS) by creating health posts within each voting district.  Community Health Workers (CHW) will take community based health services into the community, for example Directly Observed Treatments, health promotion, health education, delivery of chronic medication and referring people to the appropriate facility based health services.  Each Community Health Worker will service between 50 and 150 households. 

Three health posts will be established in Ekurhuleni during the 2010-11 financial year, and the number of fully trained Community Health Workers will be increased by training 3000 new Community Health Workers, which will bring the cumulative total to 6,500.

Service hours have been extended in a number of public institutions to extend access to healthcare to more people.  Extending the hours of service is an important part of improving access because it enables people to access health care after hours and on weekends, so that workers, job-seekers and learners are not disadvantaged or excluded.  There are currently 95 Primary Health Care facilities with extended service hours, including 81 clinics and 14 Community Healthcare Centres. 

We will extend hours of service to more facilities over a period of three years.  The plan will see more Community Healthcare Centres, Community Day Centres and mobile clinics operating after hours.  In the 2010-11 financial year, the number of Community Health Centres with 24 hour service will be increased from 18 to 26 (out of a total of 34). 

Improving the efficiency of our emergency medical services is also receiving urgent attention.  We have decided to streamline the EMS to create a single line of command which will improve efficiencies with respect to response times, better utilisation of vehicles and monitoring of services.

During the past six months an additional 115 ambulances have been procured, including two ICU ambulances which have been introduced to deal with critical cases and 15 rapid response vehicles.  More paramedic personnel have been appointed including 10 advanced life support paramedics, and 23 emergency care technicians.  These interventions will help to improve response times.  Ambulances will now be dispatched from clinics and hospitals.

The provincial government will also procure an additional 121 ambulances, medical equipment and accessories to meet the demands of hosting the 2010 FIFA World Cup.  This will leave a legacy that will in future cater for similar events and increase the capacity of emergency medical services.

In November last year we announced that the Gauteng Strategic Plan on HIV and AIDS had been revised to give more impetus to the fight against HIV and AIDS.  The plan aims to drastically reduce new HIV infections in Gauteng to achieve a target of 50% reduction in new infections by 2011 as well as prevent death from AIDS by extending treatment, care and support to 80% of people with HIV.  

The number of eligible people for antiretroviral treatment has increased from 185 126 in the last financial year to 226 253, whilst the number of children on treatment has increased from 16 029 in 2008/09 to 18 869 in the first six months of 2009/10.  

Three additional facilities will be accredited to provide antiretroviral treatment in December 2010.   However, shortage of skilled personnel and infrastructure still pose a challenge.

Our programme for the prevention of mother to child transmission of HIV has resulted in the reduction of the number of children who are born HIV positive from 9.6% from January to September 2008, to 6.3% from January to September 2009, which indicates the efficacy of dual therapy.

This year we will intensify the mass campaign on HIV counselling and testing to extend the percentage of people who know their HIV status from 51% to 70%.  We will increase the TB cure rate to 80% and all people with TB and HIV will be treated under one roof.  In order to further reduce deaths of HIV positive mothers we will start treatment for HIV infected pregnant mothers with a CD4 count of 350 or with symptoms regardless of CD4 count.  All pregnant women who are HIV positive will be on treatment at 14 weeks of pregnancy to protect their unborn babies.  Antiretroviral treatment will also be administered on children younger than one year old if they test HIV positive irrespective of their CD4 count.

We will increase access to anti-retroviral therapy from 247,000 people in December 2009 to 400,000 by March 2011, with an increase in the number of ART sites from 73 to 113 by March 2011.

We are providing community based services for over 35 000 orphans and vulnerable children including AIDS orphans and child headed households through 208 local NGOs. These children's services ensure that vulnerable children attend school, access social grants, supply basic meals and provide adult supervision.  

 Madam Speaker,

While there are encouraging signs that the economy is back on the upswing, the devastating impact of the crisis is still felt by many, especially the workers who lost their jobs.  Unemployment in Gauteng reached 25,7% by the fourth quarter of 2009. An estimated 2,2 million (2007 GDSP) people are living on less than $2 per day - this number would have increased as a result of the economic crisis. 

Last year we consulted with key role players in the economy and agreed on the necessary strategic interventions.  We generally agreed that investment in public infrastructure development should remain one of the key interventions.  We will continue to utilise and promote labour intensive methods in all our infrastructure development projects to maximise job creation. 

Over the next three years the Gauteng Provincial Government will spend 34 billion rand on infrastructure development.  But this amount will not be sufficient to fund Gauteng's infrastructure needs.  We have therefore decided to seek alternative funding to cater for new infrastructure projects including hospitals, schools, roads, bulk services and human settlements.  In this regard, we have mandated the Department of Finance to raise twenty billion rand from the private sector to meet the demands.  

To provide immediate relief to thousands of people who are currently unemployed, we will in the coming year launch a massive Community Works Programme in the 50 poorest wards in our province.  This will provide a critical employment safety net for our people.  Through these programmes we will provide each household in the poorest communities with a job for 100 days. 

The Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP) is one of the interventions that we shall continue to pursue since it has proven to be effective in alleviating the pressures of unemployment and poverty.

The current phase of the Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP) focuses on skills development.  There will be 56 new projects implemented during the 2010-2011 financial year.  The projects will include limited to new roads, schools, hospitals, clinics and community centres, waste management and craft hubs.  Through the EPWP we have already created 120 000 job opportunities of which 66 000 beneficiaries were women, 960 people with disability and the remaining 48 000. 

These direct interventions to create job opportunities will be complemented by actions to place our province on a new growth path.  Our focus will be on industrial policy, strategic economic infrastructure and the green economy.  These interventions will create more long-term and sustainable jobs.  We will continue to support economic sectors that have the greatest potential of creating decent work and opportunities.

Working with labour and other spheres of government, we will revitalise the manufacturing sector in Gauteng.  Our interventions in this regard will be in the following sectors: 

• Automotive
• Clothing, Textile, Leather and Footwear
• Transport;
• Capital Equipment;
• Furniture;
• CT;
• Business Process Outsourcing and Off shoring;
• Tourism; and
• Construction

We will as part of the revitalisation of the manufacturing sector work with the private sector to rehabilitate the Babelegi Industrial Park.  It will become a hub for energy related industry and contribute to the creation of green jobs and economic opportunities in one of the poorest parts of our province.

To further boost the manufacturing sector, we have completed plans for the revitalisation of Ekandustria and will interact with national government and the provincial government of Mpumalanga to complete the transfer of ownership to Gauteng province. 

Greater attention will be given to supporting the growth of small, medium and micro enterprises as well as co-operatives.  We will focus on poor communities with the aim of creating new wealth which will translate into decent work opportunities.  Support will include business development, mentoring, loan financing and other forms of support that will ensure viability and sustainability of SMMEs and co-operatives.

Cooperatives have a great potential to contribute to improving the incomes of the poorest and combating unemployment.  The service delivery model for Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital now incorporates the awarding of contracts to cooperatives to render services such as cleaning services, gardening, laundry, security, pest control, plumbing, electronics, painting, general repairs and maintenance.  Nine other provincial hospitals will also procure goods and services from co-operatives. 

During the financial year 2010-11 we plan to assist 300 co-operatives with business development and marketing of their products and services.  School uniforms for deserving children will be produced exclusively by co-operatives.    

Our focus will be on supporting small and micro enterprises.  We are determined to build strong and viable small businesses and co-operatives which do not only depend on government tenders and ad-hoc procurement to survive.  They must also be in a position to supply their goods and services to everybody, including big business. Therefore our support will focus on strategies to assist small businesses improve the quality of their products, as well as reaching new markets.

An efficient, reliable and dependable transportation system supported by a well maintained world class infrastructure is essential for a highly industrialised and very busy province like Gauteng.

Working together with private sector partners, we have committed an amount of R 5.5 billion towards the construction and upgrading of roads over the next five years.  This will yield the construction and maintenance of 1 500 km of provincial roads which in turn will create job opportunities. 

We will upgrade 80 km of roads from gravel to tarred surface and install storm water drainage in the following areas: Sharpeville; Refiloe; Mamelodi; Atteridgeville; Kagiso; Katlehong, Mohlakeng, and Orlando. We will undertake the construction of sidewalks on high volume pedestrian roads within the 20 prioritized townships. 

We will be rolling out the Intelligent Number Plate project later this year.  The process of publishing enabling legislation and regulations will be completed by April 2010 and a full systems rollout and implementation of the intelligent number plates is envisaged for October 2010.  The new system will make it possible to identify vehicles and their owners, and will put to an end the duplication of number plates frequently used in motor vehicle theft.   We will undertake a roll call of all vehicles in Gauteng to ensure that all cars are properly registered and licensed. 

The improvement of the Driver License Testing Centres is underway with the establishment of four new centres.  This year we will introduce mobile computerised learner license testing facilities to schools in Gauteng to introduce driving and road usage skills to grade 11 and 12 learners and assist them in applying for learner licenses.

The Gauteng Highway Improvement Project is progressing well and the project will be completed on schedule.  When the project is completed it will be much easier to travel on Gauteng highways since the bottlenecks and congestion experienced on major interchanges will be a thing of the past.  This will also help make Gauteng more competitive as a business destination.

The upgrading of Albertina Sisulu highway will be completed by the end of April 2010. This is a crucial gateway into Gauteng from the OR Tambo International Airport.  Along with this upgrading, we will also complete the beautification of this route, which will be a crucial route for the FIFA World Cup.  The K29 Malibongwe Drive upgrade will be completed by the end of April 2010.  It is an essential link between the Lanseria Airport and Johannesburg and Tshwane.

The Gautrain, one of our key capital expenditure projects, is still on schedule for completion, with the Sandton - OR Tambo link expected to be completed in June 2010.  This project has so far created 63 000 jobs.

Building cohesive and sustainable communities is one of the challenges that this government will continue to tackle head-on.  Despite our efforts over the years to provide decent housing for the people, the complete eradication of slums and informal settlements remains a challenge. 

Gauteng continues to grow substantially, mainly due to growing in migration. Our research shows that in-migration into the Province continues to grow and has accelerated in the last 4 years.  As a result of this phenomenon, we have seen rapid growth of our settlements over the past few years.  We are concerned that both low cost housing as well as high cost residential estates continue to grow outside of the urban edge, leading to sprawling settlements which leads to greater urban inefficiencies.

We simply cannot afford this urban growth model. We will therefore be strengthening our regulatory instruments to combat urban sprawl.  We will  be taking stock of available public land within the urban fabric and use these to create opportunities for people to move closer to areas presenting economic opportunities.  We will increase our outreach to the private sector to ensure the increase in the scale and better location of inclusive housing.  We will also be considering a number of incentives to the private sector to bring more holistic settlement development closer to where our people live.

Inner city revitalization in Gauteng is critical for the success of our development strategies.  Working with the municipalities in Gauteng, we will oversee development of major inner city projects, as well as the development of new business, expanding of existing business and development of industrial parks.  Our key focus for the next five years will be Germiston, Krugersdorp and Vereeniging.

We will identify suitable public land and property in these revitalization areas consistent with the urban renewal program.  Developers will then be solicited for proposals to develop the identified properties for any use that achieves our urban renewal outcomes for each specific area.

Building sustainable human settlements requires the support of appropriate bulk infrastructure.  In this regard we will be establishing a bulk infrastructure programme which will attend to the urgent upgrading and development of new bulk infrastructure starting with the Sedibeng Waste Water Treatment Works. This will be a major project with a potential to further unlock the development of that region; including maximising social and economic opportunities.

Given Gauteng's migration patterns, we will continue to provide various settlement and tenure forms to allow appropriate dwelling arrangements for our people. These will include mixed use settlements, low cost housing, serviced sites for informal settlement upgrading as well as rental housing.

In the next 4 years, we will roll out 180 000 solar geysers, thus reducing our reliance on electricity for water heating purposes and diversifying our energy mix.

Our Urban Renewal programme will see the completion of existing projects and the implementation of the Urban Renewal Master Plan for Winterveldt.  This will bring much needed development in one of the poorest settlements in the Province and contribute towards the consolidation of this area with the rest of Tshwane.

We will continue with our investment programme in the Top 20 Priority Townships.  This year, we will focus our efforts on the fifty poorest wards in the Province, most of them in the Top 20 Townships.  We will provide a basic package of services to these wards, thus targeting poverty.  The support services will include childcare, skills development, adult basic education, healthcare, food gardens and co-operative development. In this initiative, we will continue to place people at the centre of their own development, thereby promoting social capital and inclusiveness.  It remains our firm conviction that poor people, like the rest of society, are the best architects of their development, and government therefore simply partners them and avails opportunities to fulfill their aspirations.

Many of our people have told us that they do not feel safe in their homes as a result of high crime levels.  We are committed to deal with crime and the consequences of crime in our province.  The safety and security of our people remains a top priority of this government.  We are all too conscious of the fact that violent crime fuels people's fears and increases their level of insecurity, thus leading to instability.

As a demonstration of our resolve we will work with all the law enforcement agencies and other spheres of government to ensure that everywhere in Gauteng the people are and feel safe.

The efforts by the Gauteng Government to track, monitor and evaluate measures that have been put in place to combat crime in areas that contributed most to the high levels of crime have yielded positive results.    

In the short time that the Gauteng Aggravated Robbery Strategy was implemented there have been significant successes in a number of areas, especially in reducing violent crimes.

Our monitoring and evaluation of the police has pointed to weaknesses in forensics, resulting in delayed prosecutions.  To contribute to the effective prosecution of criminals, including rapists, we will explore the creation of a partnership with the private sector to expand Gauteng's forensics capacity, including the establishment of a forensics laboratory. 

The Hlayiseka School Safety Programme which is based on proven best practice is being rolled out throughout the province.  This programme involves assisting schools to establish school safety teams consisting of principals, teachers, learners and school governing bodies that will be responsible for developing a school specific safety plan.  The plan will involve identifying specific crime and safety challenges facing a school and developing ‘early warning' mechanisms to respond to these challenges and incidents quickly and appropriately.

In terms of social crime prevention, the key challenge is the scale at which programmes are able to function.  Effective social crime prevention programmes have to reach hundreds of thousands of children, young people and their caregivers to be effective.  The current programmes are based on models and approaches that have been proven to be effective.  We will in the coming year focus on the prevention of crimes against women and children, including the establishment of localised victim support services in the 50 poorest wards in our province.  We will also ensure the establishment of effective community safety forums and street committees in the most affected areas.

The Gauteng Alcohol and Drug Abuse Prevention programme was expanded to reach 19 500 young people.   These young people have been trained on the dangers of alcohol and drug abuse, and how to seek or provide help to people who are battling addiction.  In addition, the programme facilitated prison visits so that young people can get first hand exposure to the nature of prison life. 

As part of revising the Social Crime Prevention Strategy, the Department developed a conceptual framework and engaged in a consultation process with key stakeholders in 2009/2010.  During 2010/2011 Social Crime Prevention programmes will be further up scaled so as to reach more people in the province.

While Gauteng is primarily an urban province, the development of our rural and peri-urban areas is an important priority if we are to promote equitable development across our province.  We want to overcome the urban-rural divide and ensure that all our people, whether in urban, peri-urban or rural areas have access to decent services, infrastructure and economic opportunities. 

Rural development and the development of our agricultural sector also lays the basis for the achievement of our objective to eliminate hunger and guarantee food security. 

We will in the next year continue to promote the development of the agricultural sector and ensure that more of our people access economic opportunities and jobs in this sector.  In this regard, we will support commercial farming and agri-business.  We will facilitate the provision of infrastructure to improve access to markets and the transportation of goods and services, improve services provided by extension officers as well as facilitate improved access to finance.  We will also interact with national government to ensure that the Land Bank supports our farmers. 

We will continue to support and expand agricultural co-operatives with production processes and marketing of their products.  The eighteen cooperatives that were awarded contracts to supply food to hospital and social development institutions are all doing very well.  More co-operatives will receive similar assistance this year.  We will support land reform recipients to use their land productively and become viable farmers. 

We will also launch the West Rand agricultural training programme, which will provide agricultural training and capacity building to small and emerging farmers. 

To contribute to food security and to help eliminate hunger in our province, we will expand homestead and community food gardens, with a target of 36,000 household food gardens and over 900 community and school-based food gardens by 2014.  We will also pay further attention to food distribution. 

Madame Speaker,

Last year the Gauteng Provincial Government experienced cash flow problems which resulted in a number of departments failing to pay service providers on time.  We launched Operation Bhadala to resolve the problem and promised that all outstanding debt would be paid up by September 2009.  So far we have managed to pay 1.4 billion rand to service providers through the operation. Operation Bhadala revealed certain systemic problems which we are addressing.

I would like to apologise most profoundly to all service providers whose payments were delayed.  I would like to reassure all of them that we will settle the outstanding debts.  

We have made a series of interventions to improve our financial management and ensure that public resources are effectively deployed in line with our strategic priorities and programme of action.  To this end we have repositioned the provincial Department of Finance to play a more interventionist role and tightened up controls over procurement procedures across the provincial government.  We have also undertaken a review of contracts to ensure that these are indeed in line with our priorities. 

Two weeks ago we had a meeting with mayors and municipal managers of all Gauteng municipalities to talk about how together we can improve service delivery.  All municipalities made a commitment and mandated me to state this publicly on their behalf, that they will urgently attend to the improvement of service delivery.  They said I must tell the people of Gauteng that they will collect refuse every week, maintain water and electricity distribution infrastructure to ensure uninterrupted supply of services to consumers and maintain and upgrade roads.

While these issues of delivery of basic services correctly remain the function of local government, the province will take steps together with them to ensure that they effectively perform these tasks.   I will therefore be convening a follow up meeting with all municipalities in our province to discuss concrete plans for improving service delivery.  We will agree on minimum service standards to be implemented across the province and which will be published so that the people can assess our performance.

As part of our efforts to support local government, we will train 1500 officials in scarce skills for local government.  We will also implement revenue enhancement measures for local government, thus ensuring that our municipalities are financially viable.   We will work with local government towards training and enhancing systems for better functioning of ward committees.

We will continue to devote resources to empower women, especially those in the poorest areas.  A key focus will be on the economic empowerment of women through the EPWP, Community Works Programme, cooperatives, small and micro enterprises and skills development.

Women, particularly black women will be prioritised in the awarding of government tenders.  We will promote women's participation in agricultural production, construction, housing, tourism, the craft sector and other economic growth sectors.  At least 30% of all Gauteng Provincial Government procurement will be awarded to women-owned enterprises.  

The prevention of violence against women and children will receive particular attention.  We will continue to rollout localised victim support services in line with the Ikhaya Lethemba model, making them more accessible to women and children in need.  We are committed to provide and ensure the effective functioning of the 134 Victim Empowerment Centres across the province. 

Women's health services will be stepped up, with a particular focus on HIV and Aids and TB and the further rollout of ART and the Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission. 

Young people in our province bear the biggest burden of unemployment and marginalisation.  Together with the National Youth Development Agency we will take practical steps to give young people better access to economic opportunities. 

This year 4000 young people will participate in the second phase of the National Youth Service through the EPWP and receive training in areas such as engineering services and project management.  Further, we will assist them in gaining access to job opportunities. 

Each GPG department will implement at least one National Youth Service programme, which will start with the Global Youth Service in April 2010. 

Further, we will enrol over 4000 young people in training in areas such as Information Technology, electrical work, plumbing and life skills and expand the learnership and internship programmes. 

We will provide over 3000 bursaries to young people in critical skills areas such as engineering and medical sciences and ensure that at least 30% of participants in our artisan training are youth. 

As parents and communities we need to inspire our young people to build a better future together with us.  We will mobilise young people to serve as champions of our national values of caring and to promote national pride, unity and social cohesion.  We will urge young people to be active in the development of their communities and we will intensify campaigns to prevent substance abuse and teenage pregnancy. 

We will marshal our young people in crime prevention, with Youth Crime Prevention Desks in every police station in the province and the participation of at least 4000 young people in these programmes.

This year we will mark National Youth Day, June 16, in the midst of the FIFA World Cup.  We must ensure that this is a memorable occasion for our overseas visitors and that our youth become the country's ambassadors in this period. 

In a little over three months time we will be welcoming visitors to Gauteng who will be part of the greatest sporting festival in the world - the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

The implications of hosting the World Cup are very huge for Gauteng.  As government we have done everything to ensure that fans, players, officials, organisers, sponsors and everybody else who will be part of the World Cup are able to stay and move freely and safely within Gauteng.  

But we have to take note of a very important fact that the true hosts of the World Cup are the people and not government.  Whatever we do to ensure a successful World Cup we are doing on behalf of the people.  It is the people who will socialise with the visitors, befriend them, entertain them and take them to all corners of Gauteng so that when they live here they will have sampled the best that our province can offer.

In this regard, last year we launched the Gauteng Gateway 2010 campaign, whose main objectives are to mobilise the people of Gauteng, as the true hosts of the World Cup, to take ownership of the event and do what they have to do to give the visitors a great treat which will make them want to return to Gauteng after the world cup is over as well as to market Gauteng to the world as the preferred destination for investment, trade, tourism and competitive sport.

In March we will hold a Gauteng Gateway 2010 Summit which will be attended by among others service providers and operators in tourism, hospitality, entertainment, art and others who are interested in showcasing Gauteng to the world.  The summit will discuss what all of us can do to show the best of Gauteng to the visitors and make their stay in our province most enjoyable and memorable.

We have used the opportunity of hosting the World Cup to step up our infrastructure and create a lasting legacy for our people.

On Friday I will be joining FIFA and the Organising Committee in a media tour in which we will take foreign journalists to our match venues and other places of interest in Gauteng.  We hope to convince them that Gauteng, the gateway to the World Cup and South Africa is ready to host the most exciting football party ever. 

Madame Speaker

As the Gauteng Provincial Government, we heed the leadership call made by the President that we must build and strengthen a "performance oriented government" made in his 2010 state of the nation address.    In this regard, we will not only pursue numerical targets in our monitoring system, but will equally pay more focus on the quality of our outcomes.

We will ensure that our programme outcomes are not a mere acceptance of statistical targets, but enhance the quality of life of the people of Gauteng.  We are convinced that our civil servants do have the capacity to deliver better in their areas of responsibility.  What we need to do is to deploy them appropriately according to their knowledge, capability and ability.  

We will, through the Gauteng City Region Academy, pursue measures to ensure ongoing personal development of our public servants so that they can be well equipped to respond to the challenges of the day.

We will improve our communication with the people and keep them well informed of the implementation of the programme of action.  We will listen to their wise counsel on things that can help improve our work and we will take corrective action where they point out weaknesses in service delivery.

But success cannot come from government alone. 

We are calling on the people of Gauteng; our social partners, workers, business, women, youth, students, faith-based communities and traditional leaders to join us in making our province a better place for all. 

In achieving our goal of quality basic education for all:

• Learners and teachers must ensure that effective learning and teaching takes place in every public school; classes must start on time;
• Parents must support their children, encourage them to do their homework, make sure they are at school on time and help prevent alcohol and drug abuse
• Strengthen School Governing Bodies
• Every community member should take an interest in strengthening local schools and seeing to it that all children are in school; report any illegal liquor trading in the vicinity of schools and help protect and maintain school property.

In ensuring that more of our people live long and healthy lives, we encourage our people to:

·         Live a healthy lifestyle

·         Don't do drugs and don't abuse alcohol

·         Use your local health care facility responsibly and present yourself at an early stage when you are not well

·         Take your medicines

·         Know your HIV status, prevent HIV and Aids, help care for those affected and infected and support those who are eligible to access treatment

·         Undertake effective family planning and prevent teenage pregnancies

To support the progressive realisation of decent work and inclusive economic growth, we call on:

·         Businesses to help maximise employment opportunities, support for SMMEs, cooperatives and skills development in the workplace

·         Businesses doing business with government to deliver on time and ensure customer satisfaction, in service of the people

·         Every young person to take advantage of opportunities for education and skills development

·         Communities to welcome overseas tourists and show them the best that our province and our country have to offer.  

In realising our vision where all people are and feel safe and secure, we call on our people to:

·         Report crime in all its forms and support the police

·         Don't buy stolen goods or illegal imports

·         Blow the whistle on corruption in the public and private sector

·         Prevent violence against women and children

In realising our vision of vibrant and sustainable rural and peri-urban communities and food security in our province:

·         Support the cleaning and greening of our province

·         Start food gardens

·         Protect our environment and our natural resources and conserve energy

·         Keep your yard and your street clean and don't litter

In building sustainable human settlement and improving quality of household life:

·         Pay for basic services

·         Report illegal connections and wastage

·         Comply with bylaws

·         Protect community facilities such as schools, clinics and community centres

·         Support your neighbours and those in need in your community

In strengthening a responsive, accountable, effective and efficient local government:

·         Know your Ward Councillor and your Community Development Worker

·         Participate in Ward Committees, IDP processes and community organisations

·         Report poor services and work with local organisations and public representatives to improve service delivery.

Madam Speaker

In closing, allow me to express my appreciation for the leadership and the sound programme adopted by the ruling party, the African National Congress, which seeks to create a transformed and just society for all.  It is this national transformation agenda that continues to guide us in all our work in Gauteng.  To the people of Gauteng, we thank you for allowing us to continue to implement this program and pursue our vision.  We thank you for affording us the opportunity to govern.  We thank you for the trust and confidence you have in us.  This confidence and trust will never be taken for granted. The mandate you gave us will never be betrayed.  Siyabonga, Hakensa, Thank you! 

Together we can do more and better.  Let's get down to business, Kuyasheshwa!

Together we can do more and better.  Let's get down to business, Kuyasheshwa!

Dankie, Ngiyabonga

Source: www.gautengonline.gov.za

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