Ladies and Gentlemen we come to you this evening, to fulfil the wishes and aspirations of the People of Gauteng.
We come to you, to continue with the crucial process of reconstituting the 7th Administration of our province, the Government of Provincial Unity We accept, without conditions the outcome of our elections and the desires of our electorate that all political parties must work together to run our provincial government.
In doing so, we must be matured and sober at all times. Hardline stances must be avoided. Openness, transparency, compromise and communication should be the hallmark of our administration.
As I said during my acceptance speech at the legislature. We’ve been asked to work together, to work together we will do. We’ve been asked to combine our thoughts for a better Gauteng. To combine our thoughts, we will do, together. We’ve been asked to leave no one behind, Today, we all declare that no one, will be left behind unless they choose not to be part of GPU.
However, we will not close the door for any party. It was Tony Judt who said ‘broken eggs make the best omelette but you can’t build society with broken men and women”.
But it’s this African idiom that captures our current situation “Tlhapi holofela leraga, meetsi a psele o a lebeletji”
Our task from today, is to build a better Gauteng. Our task from now on is to make Gauteng attractive. Attractive for all families, Attractive for all forms of investment, Attractive for workers, youth and students, Attractive for sporting and cultural events, Attractive and safe for our women and children.
Our mandate is simple, crime, CORRUPTION, and lawlessness your time is up.
Our mandate is simple, municipalities play your part we will play our part.
Our mandate is simple, Johannesburg CBD, Alexandra Township, Sethokga, hostel, Makause informal settlement, we are ready to make you beautiful again.
We also extend our appreciation to the Members of the Executive Council (MECs), the Director General and Heads of Departments who provided the leadership needed in the 6th Administration.
As we transition to the 7th Administration, we welcome our new Speaker, Madam Morakana Mosupye and the Deputy Speaker, Madam Refiloe Ntshekhe, they enjoy our full support to lead our legislature.
Today, we bring to you the new leadership and Members of the Executive Council, assigned to steer the ship towards a better Gauteng.
The team, will from this week, start their work of consolidating the elections of manifesto of their parties into a shared vision for the Gauteng we want, a shared vision of prosperity, shared vision of service delivery, a shared vision to eliminate crime, corruption and lawlessness.
Our agenda to protect the weak, the poor and vulnerable will be led from the Office of the Premier is priority of our province to fight crime, corruption and lawlessness.
MECs of the state, MECs for all GP and not for a specific political party. We are Gauteng Government not a certain Party’s Government.
The Executive Council will be constituted as follows: 1. The modernisation of Government and the need to embrace innovation and technology in our work has necessities that the Department Egov to be a standalone department to be led by Bonginkosi Dlamini (IFP).
2. To steer the finances of our province and accelerate the economic growth of our province the MEC for Finance and Economic Development is Lebogang Maile (ANC).
3. Our skills development programme and the desire to educate our children will be led by MEC Matome Chiloane who will also lead the Department of Sports, Arts, Culture and Recreation (ANC).
4. Our eHealth Programme, to modernize our health facilities and promote good living lifestyle will be led by MEC Nomantu Nkomo Ralehoko (Health and Wellness) (ANC).
5. Our roads and transport portfolio will be led MEC Kedibone Diale-Tlabela (ANC) who is assigned the major task to accelerate the speed train between Limpopo and Gauteng.
6. Human Settlements and modernization of our TISH and CBDs will be led by MEC Tasneem Motara (ANC).
7. We also feel that there is an urgent need for us to protect the weak, the poor and the vulnerable.
Our relationship with Non-Government Organisations (NGOs) is a very important relationship and unfortunately there were serious missteps, we need to rectify this. Our NGOs are doing work on behalf of government, and they must be treated with respect. They are not doing us a favour. We also need to duplicate the work that they do and ensure that we run a seamless institution that does not give them headaches and troubles.
It is within this context that I want to wholeheartedly apologise to this sector for the pain and the misery that they are going through. I have taken a decision to appoint MEC Faith Mazibuko (ANC) to be the MEC that is responsible for Social Development so that she can repair this relationship and provide shelter to the homeless and provide support to those that are poor and vulnerable to our society.
8. Food security and fighting urban hunger and the establishment of a State Farm will be assigned to Ms. Vuyiswa Ramokgopa (RISE Mzansi) as the MEC for Agriculture and Rural Development.
9. Infrastructure Development will be the tool to unlock economic growth and job creation together with the coordination of government work and the need to provide support to local government and our traditional leaders and communities will be assigned to MEC Jacob Mamabolo (ANC) as the MEC for Infrastructure Development and Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs.
10. With pending environmental challenges in unlocking economic opportunities and the reality of climate change, we felt the Department of Environment must be a standalone and will be led by MEC Sheila Mary Peters (PA) as MEC for Environment.
We remain committed to building a better Gauteng. A Gauteng that will make all of us proud. A Gauteng that will fight crime, corruption and lawlessness mercilessly. I thank you.
INFO SUPPLIED.
