Today, as we commemorate Womens Day, we honour and remember outstanding women who shaped and developed our history and paved the way for our desire to build a genuinely non-racial, non-sexist, democratic, and prosperous South Africa. I speak of Mam Winnie Madikizela Mandela, Albertina Sisulu, Sophie de Bryn, Charlotte Maxeke, Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, Gcina Mhlophe, and many others.
Today, we also mourn the passing of our great Mama Connie Chiume, an outstanding actress and community builder. A woman of substance and a committed South African. Later this morning, I will visit her family to formally pass our sincerest condolences on behalf of the people of Gauteng.
7TH ADMINISTRATION
Last week, the Gauteng Legislature passed its first litmus test by overwhelmingly supporting the budget that will allow the 7th Administration to run its affairs. We want to thank all parties that supported the budget and note the reservations registered by other parties.
Since establishing the Government of Provincial Unity, we have unanimously adopted the Medium-Term Development Plan, which will be converted into a concrete Programme of Action for the 7 th Administration. Two weeks ago, we held a two-day strategic Lekgotla attended by all Executive Mayors of our municipalities, and we agreed to accelerate service delivery in our province through the implementation of the District Development Model.
NASI ISPANI MASS RECRUITMENT JOB OPPORTUNITIES PROGRAMME
We note with deep disappointment attempts to discredit some of the intervention programmes in our province to create job opportunities for the unemployed. We remain committed to continuing with these programmes, as they are essential to our desire to eliminate unemployment.
In 2020, during COVID-19, the national government introduced a youth employment programme called the Presidential Youth Initiative to employ young people as teacher assistants in our schools across the country; this happened long before we even knew the dates for the National and Provincial elections.
This programme was renewed annually until 2023 when it was terminated across the country. We stepped in as the Gauteng government to protect our young people until the national government could provide further guidance.
Our stepping-in was not for political expediency but a genuine attempt to protect these young people who played a crucial role in achieving our Matric results.
We were clear from the onset that we are closing a gap until this national programme is clarified by the national on whether it will continue or not. We extended our financial support.
Unfortunately, the lack of clarity from the national government on whether this programme will continue made it practically impossible for us to proceed with the programme, which continues to hurt us deeply. Fortunately, last week, we finally received correspondence indicating that national government will continue and are finalising the model on how to best implement the programme nationally.
We have noted the protests by some beneficiaries of the Nasi iSpani recruitment programmes, including the desire to be appointed permanently. As earlier indicated, this is not a provincial programme but a national one. The provincial
government stepped in when the national government was still rethinking the implementation approach. We therefore apologise if an impression was created that this is a Gauteng programme.
From the onset, we indicated that we were stepping in until the national
government was ready to activate the program again. We are now prepared to meet with the representatives of the beneficiaries to clear all misunderstandings.
We also received concerns about the non-payment of the Green Army beneficiaries, which was tasked to keep our province clean and ensure food security in our communities. This programme was also for a limited period.
Our team now assures me that all outstanding payments were settled. With almost 4000 of the 6000 beneficiaries paid to date, the outstanding payments will be finalised later next week. We once more apologise for the confusion caused.
It is important to indicate that the Gauteng Provincial Government still supports all the provincial-backed Nasi iSpani programmes.
The following programmes are still ongoing after the elections.
Youth Development Profiling programme – Profiling of youth within communities to determine interventions for youth development.
Number of beneficiaries.
Aga le Rona road workers programme – Maintenance of the road infrastructure.
Number of beneficiaries.
Property maintenance programme – Maintenance programme at manual clearing, cleaning & maintaining vacant land, including government-owned facilities.
Green Army programme – Assist communities in establishing food gardens and general environment maintenance. Number of beneficiaries- (Their 1-year contract ended in May 2024).
Crime Prevention Wardens – These assist law enforcement agencies with crime prevention. There are 7361 beneficiaries, and 2231 Military Veterans are currently undergoing training.
Sawubona Mhlali Brigade programme – Fosters intergovernmental collaboration by promoting joint planning and implementation amongst government departments as informed by identified needs & household problems.
Civic Ambassadors – To provide civic education to communities.
Solar technicians – To prepare a renewable energy skills pipeline by training youth in the solar energy sector.
Gauteng Youth Brigade – Provide general school and teacher assistance services to schools in Gauteng.
Our Nasi Ispani programme was not a vote-catching ploy but a genuine attempt to get employment opportunities for the unemployed; hence, we will continue with these programmes.
In the next few weeks, we will make more
announcements about genuine job opportunities for those who are unemployed in our province. We are also proud that other provinces are following in our footsteps and introducing some of our job-creation initiatives.
We know this programme will not be appreciated by our detractors, but we are doing it for the unemployed, not for political reasons or to influence electoral outcomes.
We are scheduled to meet with the new Minister of Labour to accelerate our iCrush no Lova skills development programme. This programme intends to reskill close to 500,000 unemployed people in our province. As soon as we bring on board the new Minister and allow her to share her ideas, we will move quickly to accommodate more people in this programme.
PUBLIC PROTECTOR REPORTS
We ve noted and accepted the two reports recently released by the Public Protector concerning the appointment of the CEO of Tembisa Hospital and the matter of Mayibuye Secondary School. We;ve already established a team to
implement all the remedial actions requested by the Public Protector immediately.
STATE OF THE PROVINCE ADDRESS
Next week, on August 15th, 2024, we will table the State of the Province Address to outline some of our intervention programmes to grow Gauteng and ensure our province creates opportunities for all.
This SOPA will set the tone for how the 7th Administration and the Government of Provincial Unity will carry out
its mandate.
INFO SUPPLIED.
