THE 2015/16 BUDGET VOTE SPEECH FOR FINANCE

THE 2015/16 BUDGET VOTE SPEECH FOR FINANCE, ECONOMY AND
ENTEPRISE DEVELOPMENT PRESENTED AT THE BOKONE BOPHIRIMA
PROVINCIAL LEGISLATURE BY HONOURABLE MEC WENDY JOY
NELSON, 19TH MAY 2015.
Honourable Speaker of the Provincial Legislature
Honourable Premier of Bokone Bophirima, Mr Supra Obakeng Ramoeletsi
Mahumapelo
Honourable Members of the Provincial Legislature
Honourable Members of the Executive Council
Honourable Executive Mayors, Mayors and Speakers of Municipalities
Chairperson of the Provincial House of Traditional Leaders, Kgosi Zibi
Magosi a Bokone Bophirima
All members of the business, civic and religious societies
Acting Director General, Heads of Departments, CEO’s of State Owned
Entities and Municipal Managers
Distinguished Guests and Fellow Comrades
Honourable Speaker, today’s departmental budget is constrained by the
need to consolidate provincial public finance in the context of slower economic
growth and growing national public debt.
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Since I presented the 2015/16 Provincial Budget to date, the economic climate
both globally and nationally has not improved significantly. The world
economic growth forecast is 3.5% for 2015 with uneven prospects across
countries in the world. Advanced economies are likely to increase slightly from
the current rate as some financial crisis related effects wear off. This is likely
to translate into growth in the demand for our domestic output, thereby
supporting local economic growth.
The South African economic growth was subdued by the low economic
performance of advanced economies in the Euro Zone and other emerging
economies such as China. Due to many countries recovering from the
economic meltdown, the South African economy registered a growth of 1.6%
in the third quarter of 2014. However, the supply side constraints such as
labour unrest and electricity supply interruptions have led to the unsatisfactory
growth of 1.3% in the fourth quarter of 2014.
Nevertheless, measures such as the accelerated infrastructure expenditure
have supported positive economic growth.
The decline in the price of crude oil by 55% has provided business with a
temporary window of opportunity for reduced input costs and relief to
consumers. This relief will be short lived as the oil exporting countries will readjust supply and re-arrange market prices to favour their fiscal position.
Honourable Speaker, the NDP proposes that the South African economy
should grow by 5.4% per annum in order to create additional jobs for the many
unemployed South Africans, reduce unemployment to 6% in 2030 and reduce
income inequality. This requires a concerted effort by all role players in order
to meet this objective.
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Provincial Economic Overview
Honourable Speaker, notwithstanding the less favourable global and national
economic outlook, the Bokone Bophirima Government (BBG) re-affirms its
commitment to achieving the 6% growth rate by 2019 through its key
provincial economic pillars; Agriculture, Culture and Tourism (ACT) supported
by critical tributaries namely, mining, beneficiation, service industries,
manufacturing and the green economy within the context of the National
Development Plan (NDP).
The provincial economy enjoyed economic growth of 5.1% in 2005 which is
the highest peak since 1996. Following the economic crises, the Province
reported an economic growth rate of 2.5% in 2013, which was an
improvement from the -2% growth rate in 2012.
Growth was supported by the rise in the export of mining output and
expenditure by the public sector service.
In this regard, provincial growth
recovery is still inadequate for the creation of much needed jobs to curb
soaring unemployment, drastically reduce the percent of people living in
poverty and close the income inequalities measured by the Gini-coefficient
which currently sits at 0.59.
For the province to achieve its anticipated 6% growth rate we are required to
confront the broader structural challenges facing our economy and support the
programmes that ensures full implementation of the NDP objectives. Today’s
budget speech deliberately seeks to support economic growth by ensuring
value for public finance spend, re-directing of resources towards ACT,
economic sector development and diversification.
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It is for this reason that the province needs to diversify its economy in order to
mitigate the risk of an over-reliance on the mining sector, this cannot be over
emphasized.
Honourable Speaker, we are aware that the majority of our people support
this radical move taken by Government, but, we are equally aware that there
are forces that are discouraging this radical approach, this is because there
are a few individuals who have continuously been the sole beneficiaries of the
government purse, they want to remain the only beneficiaries of this
government, this will no longer be the case.
Honourable speaker I must hasten to indicate that the government of the
people’s province has committed itself to sharing the government spend
amongst the people of this province, because, in line with the Freedom
Charter the people shall share in the wealth of the country, and in this
instance, specifically this province. I want to urge the people of this province
to support this 5th Administration in its efforts to massify economic participation
in this Province. Re batla tswelopele (we want progress). Ons moet almal
saamtrek en ons moet almal saamwerk.
We recognise that this road will not be easy and that we will face many
challenges, we are ready for them. This Government is encouraged by the
overwhelming support and positive feedback received during our public
platform engagements in the form of Setsokotsane and Bua le Puso.
In recognising these daunting tasks, I have borrowed encouraging words from
the first President of democratic South Africa, the Late Tata Nelson Mandela
when he said “there is no easy walk to freedom anywhere and many of us will
have to pass through the valley of shadow of death again and again before we
reach the mountain top of desires.”
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Inspired by the words of the late Icon, the unfavourable economic conditions
facing our country and Province which led to the reduction in budget
allocations will not deter this Bokone Bophirima Government (BBG) from
implementing developmental programmes which seek to radically transform
the socio-economic conditions of the Province and its citizens, underpinned by
the following intervention programmes introduced by the 5th Administration:

Focus on Agriculture, Culture and Tourism (ACT) as the strategic
economic pillars;

Rebranding, Repositioning and Renewal (RRR);

Saamwerk - Saamtrek Philosophy;

Reconciliation Healing and Renewal (RHR);

Setsokotsane and

Bua le Puso;
Honourable Speaker, these radical programmes form the basis for resource
allocation to the departmental initiatives as outlined in its budget and annual
performance plan and are geared towards improving the socio-economic
conditions of villages, townships and small dorpies (VTSD).
As a department we are in total agreement with the Premier’s policy
pronouncement that, 60% of our procurable items within the goods and
services budget would be sourced from suppliers in villages, townships and
small dorpies. In supporting this policy pronouncement, we will be monitoring
procurement patterns of all departments and public entities and regularly
report to EXCO on compliance with this important directive.
Honourable Speaker, I made commitments in the previous financial year that
I will always make time to continuously report on financial matters to the
EXCO and Legislature. I can confirm that through our oversight functions on
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financial matters, the department has in the past financial year achieved
amongst others, the following:

Intensified municipal support and provision of monitoring and financial
management support to departments and state owned entities led to
improvement on audit opinions;

Overall, eleven (11) out of thirteen (13) Departments (including NW
Provincial Legislature) were unqualified with one (1) clean audit as
compared to the year before, when only seven (7) were unqualified.
This is a success rate of 85% as compared to the year before of 54%;

The unaudited system payment reports indicate that the department has
paid all of its creditors within 30 days during the 2014/15 financial year;

An assessment of the skills level of Chief Financial Officers in
Provincial Public Entities was conducted during the past financial year
and Provincial Treasury has accordingly provided the support by
assisting entities with the preparation and submission of Annual
Financial Statements (AFS);

Provincial Risk Management Forum has been established for public
entities and has been effective throughout the financial year, Treasury
also successfully hosted the Provincial Risk Management Indaba;

Provincial Internal Audit ensured that during the first three quarters of
the 2014/15 financial year, 281 assurance and advisory audit reports
were issued;

Cluster Audit Committees met with all departments prior to the
submission of the annual financial statements and annual reports in
order to review documentation submitted and subsequently issue
reports containing matters to be addressed by Heads of Departments;

Provincial Internal Audit function has also been involved in the audit of
the reconfiguration process and have not only performed audit on
evidence files submitted but also advised on where the processes need
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to be strengthened as well as provide guidance on file indexing,
substantiating evidence and training on these processes;

Four provincial economic review and outlook reports were produced,
two of which focused on municipalities;

Vacancy rate of the last three years has declined from 40% to 17%.

Finance has improved its employment equity status; we currently have
36% of women at SMS level and 2, 6% people with disabilities. This is
an increase of 3% and 0, 6% respectively.
Honourable Speaker, I am proud to announce before this august house that
the MFMA Unit has recently scooped the following two national awards at the
Sixth Annual Audit and Risk Indaba:

Provincial Treasury of the year Award for providing dedicated support to
municipalities on operation clean audit initiatives, and the

Provincial Treasury of the year award in supporting governance
processes in municipalities.
In celebrating these awards, it is important to sustain the clean audit outcome
recorded in the 2013/14 financial year by Treasury and improve the audit
opinions of the provincial administration by increasing this number from only
one. I am confident that we are on the right track in our contribution towards
changing how Bokone Bophirima is perceived and the budget and
performance targets set for 2015/16 re-affirms our commitment in this regard.
Plans for 2015/16
Improved Audit Outcomes
In order to improve the 2014/15 outcome, support will be intensified to focus
on nine municipalities to achieving Unqualified Audit outcome.
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Support to Village, Township and Small Dorpies (VTSD)
Honourable Speaker, in support of the VTSD economies, the Bokone
Bophirima Provincial Government (BBG) is committed to improve the delivery
of services to our people through the ward based budget model.
The macro-economic analysis programme will produce reports to the lowest
level to assist with resource allocation in VTSD and monitor the
implementation of the resources allocated in VTSD by providing regular
reports on a monthly and quarterly basis on the socio-economic impact of this
policy position.
These reports would also be used as an early warning system and provide
valuable advice to departments about the need to change the approach and
plans if necessary for effective implementation of the policy pronouncements.
Sustainable Resource Management
Honourable Speaker, in order to improve the monitoring and reporting by
Public Entities, all public entities will be required to submit a monthly In-Year
Monitoring (IYM) and the Quarterly Performance Report (QPR) which would
provide financial and non-financial performance information.
Provincial Treasury will facilitate a process for the review of the Bokone
Bophirima Infrastructure Delivery Management System (IDMS) Framework.
Notably, The IDMS Framework is a prerequisite for the Performance Based
Incentive Grants allocation to Health and Education and provides guidelines
on how the province intends to plan and implement infrastructure projects.
This also serves as an important tool for proper planning and implementation
of infrastructure projects.
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Honourable Speaker, whilst the focus would be on protecting and ensuring
sustained funding for Health and Education in terms of performance based
incentive grants, Treasury would be working with other departments in the
same way to improve planning, implementation, monitoring and reporting on
infrastructure delivery.
Reduction of Government Debt Owed To Municipalities
Since the introduction of the “reduction of government debt” programme, the
department has noted the need to substantially decrease the debt owed to
municipalities by government departments. When the programme was
introduced in September 2014 government departments accounted for R410
million or 6 % of the total municipal debtors book of R6,9 billion. It was
important to start with this exercise in order to confirm the latest information
and undertake the necessary determination of what is disputed and “not
disputed” debt.
As part of the programme, the current value of disputed debt is at R143 million
and needs to be resolved by all parties by July 2015 as this is the close of the
municipal fiscal year. In relation to undisputed amounts, to date about R38
million have been paid to municipalities. Whilst there is dispute resolution in
progress, all state departments must settle current accounts within the
prescribed 30 day period. The MFMA unit within the department will request
monthly progress reports from municipalities for purposes of monitoring.
Honourable Speaker, the department will continue with this important
programme and as indicated before, in instances where the debt has been
recognised and is undisputed, Treasury will effect payments directly to
municipalities.
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Shared Services Model - Appointment of Financial Experts
Honourable Speaker, the Bokone Bophirima Government will implement the
Shared Services Model as announced by Hon Maine in his departmental
budget speech, the programme seeks to address the challenges that
municipalities are facing by striking a balance between sound corporate
governance, an enhanced control environment, effective risk management
and service delivery.
The Bokone Bophirima Premier’s Coordinating Council (BBPCC) has
approved the implementation of the model and this model will be implemented
from July 2015 under the guidance of FEED, LGHS and OOP. MEC Maine
and I have agreed that for 2015/16, we will conduct joint MUNIMEC’s and our
old Memorandum of Agreement will be reviewed.
In an effort to curb the over reliance on consultants and to improve audit
outcomes, support to municipalities will be intensified through the appointment
of retired financial experts in 2015/2016. The public recruitment process has
already commenced and the department is currently finalising selection and
placement through the shared service model.
The focus areas of the shared service model are as follows:
 budget management
 assets management,
 credit control and revenue collection,
 municipal financial assets and liability management,
 governance and performance management,
 supply chain management,
 risk management and internal audit.
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Key deliverables of this programme would be skills transfer which constitute
an integral part of contractual obligations in order to build capacity in the
identified municipalities.
Municipal Standard Charts of Account
The implementation of the Municipal Standard Charts of Accounts (mSCoA)
will be strengthened to ensure that all municipalities within the province are
compliant by 1st July 2017. The mSCoA provides for alignment of spending
and revenue collection based on classifications consistent with National and
Provincial departments within the uniqueness of local government.
Implementation of Financial Recovery Plans
Honourable Speaker, the department will also assist all municipalities with
the implementation of a financial recovery plan for improved revenue
collection. These measures are intended to enable municipalities to honour
their commitments. This will also assist municipalities to devise a plan to
expand their current revenue sources in order to improve their financial
viability.
Honourable Speaker, the following local municipalities will be prioritised for
asset management support: Kgetlengrivier, Moretele, Maquassi Hills,
Ventersdorp, Greater Taung, Mamusa, Ditsobotla, Mahikeng, Tswaing,
Ratlou, Ramotshere Moiloa and Kagisano Molopo.
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Capacitating Departments and State Owned Entities
Honourable Speaker, for improved financial management, the department
will be rolling out the following programmes:
 Financial Improvement Programme, the objective is to reform financial
management in departments and public entities. Furthermore the
department has developed a Support Plan which should result in six (6)
departments and two (2) public entities receiving a favourable audit
outcome;
 Capacity Development Programmes are being developed to be
implemented
as
part
of
Financial
Management
Improvement
Interventions for provincial Chief Financial Officers, in line with the
findings and recommendations of the Chief Financial Officers Skills
Assessment Project;
 Financial systems support and training in BAS (Basic Accounting
System), PERSAL, Asset Management, Budget Formulation & Analysis,
SCoA (Standard Chart of Accounts) and Economic Reporting Format for
managers and practitioners.
Honourable Speaker, we will be extending the financial risk management
audits which is currently instituted with PERSAL salary runs to BAS (Creditors
Payment System), to detect possible fraudulent payment transactions with the
sole objective of reducing the escalating salary bill of the provincial
departments.
To demonstrate governments commitment to cost containment measures, I
am happy to announce that we have commenced with the “headcount”
programme and to date three of the four districts of the Department of
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Education and Sports Development have been covered and we will be
concluding the last district before the end of this week.
Honourable Speaker, what is encouraging and different about this initiative is
that we are using departmental officials with no reliance on costly and
expensive consultants. Departmental officials have been pulled from different
directorates and I am looking forward to the joint implementation of the
recommendations and this report will also serve before EXCO for
implementation.
Provincial Treasury will closely monitor the implementation of cost
containment policies in the Provincial Departments and Entities. Special effort
will be taken to provide assistance to the Provincial Departments to resolve
and clear Unauthorised, Irregular and Fruitless expenditure. The cost
reduction measures announced during the 2015 Provincial Budget Speech will
also form part of the comprehensive cost containment programme of the
current administration.
In view of the ever increasing budget pressure in the departments of
Education and Sports Development, Health and the department of Public
Works and Roads which is also exacerbated by the perpetual challenge of
accruals emanating from unpaid invoices from prior financial years. EXCO has
resolved and directed Provincial Treasury to closely support and co-manage
the financial affairs of these three departments with the view to restore sound
financial management.
For us to achieve the desired results, the implementation plans have been
developed which respond to specific challenges in each department. The
implementation plans focus on areas such as supply chain, financial and
human resource management.
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Honourable Speaker, I want to emphasise that, Provincial Treasury has not
taken over the functions of these departments. The departments are expected
to continue with the delivery of services under the leadership of their
responsible MEC’s and Accounting Officers and as such, the intention of the
co-management of financial responsibility does not in any way exonerate the
said departments from executing their mandate.
Honourable Speaker, I wish to put it on record that the principal objective of
this assignment is to support and assist the three departments to restore their
cash position and expenditure management.
Provincial Internal Audit
Key initiatives that will be pursued by the Provincial Internal Audit function
during the 2015/16 financial year will include assurance assignments to audit
and advise departments on the effectiveness and adequacy of departmental
action plan systems with regard to external and internal audit and
Management Performance Assessment Tool (MPAT) findings.
The system is important, not only for preventing repeat findings but also with
regard to financial compliance and performance management in ensuring
progress towards good governance, clean administration as well as enhancing
our Provincial reputation in this regard.
Centralized Supplier Database
The National Treasury along with Provincial Treasury will be implementing
Phase 1 of the National Central Supplier Database from August 2015. This
database will ensure online self-registration for suppliers in the country. In this
regard, through our outreach programmes, we would ensure that all SMME’s
and Co-operatives are registered on the database.
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This database will expose our SMME’s and Co-operatives to economic
opportunities not only in the Province but throughout the entire country.
Budget Allocation
Honourable Speaker, to enable the department to achieve its annual
performance targets, the following funding per programme is proposed:
PROGRAMMES
2015/16
R ‘million
1. Administration
163, 155
2. Sustainable Resource Management
129, 116
3. Asset and Liabilities Management
47, 582
4. Financial Governance
146, 149
TOTAL BUDGET
486, 002
Honourable Speaker, only through prudent spending of the limited resources
at our disposal, will we be able to radically transform the lives of our people.
With this allocation and within the context of the VTSD, this budget will be an
instrument to improve the lives of the marginalized and disadvantaged people
of Bokone Bophirima.
Honourable Speaker, having concluded budget proposals for Finance, allow
me to present the budget proposal for Economy and Enterprise as part of
Finance, Economy and Enterprise Development.
Without repeating what I have said before, I need to emphasise a few points
that have already been conveyed to this august house since the beginning of
the debates on vote speeches.
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Before I deal with the detailed plans for the 2015/16 financial year, I need to
reflect on the “Back To Basics” approach which reminds me of an ANC
statement captured in the 1994 RDP document; “small business development
is a key strategy for economic advancement of historically disadvantaged
individuals and communities”.
As a province we are fully committed to growing a diversified and prosperous
economy and the “Saamwerk-Saamtrek” philosophy compels us to work
together to achieve the 6% growth rate. In order to achieve this, public private
partnerships anchored on co-operatives and SMME’s are essential.
As government, we are convinced that all stakeholders should embrace this
bold and radical approach of transforming the socio-economic conditions of our
province through villages, townships and small dorpies.
Pursuant to the attainment of the developmental objectives as outlined in the
National Development Plan, the Provincial Government extends an invitation
to business and civil society to work together in the spirit of “Saamwerk –
saamtrek” philosophy and not to undermine efforts of government by
embarking on undemocratic tactics which encourage violence, disorder and
infringement of individuals rights as enshrined in the constitution.
Honourable Speaker, in order to achieve the NDP and provincial priorities,
the department will focus its efforts and resource allocation to VTSD through
the implementation of the following programmes: Cooperatives and SMME
Development,
Integrated
Enterprise
Development
Services,
Business
Regulation as well as Trade and Sector Development.
The 2015/16 budget allocation provides us with the opportunity to improve and
better the performance of the 2014/15 financial year. In doing so, we need to
evaluate the performance of the last financial year, which in the main was a
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transitional period which would lead to the implementation of programmes
informed by the 5th Administration. As part of the evaluation report the
department will be further realigned to ensure efficient service delivery in line
with the deliverables of this 5th Administration. I have also noted the following
progress recorded which formed the basis for review and alignment to the
radical programmes of the 5th Administration:
 376 Cooperatives and Companies were registered through the
department;
 262 Annual Returns for Cooperatives and Companies were lodged;
 181 SMMEs and Cooperatives were trained on new venture creation by
FET colleges;
 There are 398 cooperatives that are active in the Province and the
spread is broadly as follows:
Bojanala District has 122 cooperatives; Dr Ruth Segomotsi Mompati has 67
cooperatives; Ngaka Modiri Molema has 140 cooperatives; Dr. Kenneth
Kaunda has 69 cooperatives as per the departmental data. These are mainly
in the Villages, Townships and Small Dorpies. The sectors are primary
agriculture, manufacturing and services and in total 2140 job opportunities
have been created. These records were updated and collated with the
assistance of the Community Development Workers.
 23 Information Workshops for SMMEs and Cooperatives were held;
 74 Targeted groups of Women, Youth and People with Disabilities
enterprises exposed through Flea markets, and equipment donated as
part of interventions;
 Borobalo Diamond Cutting Project in Wolmaranstad is currently up and
running and has created permanent jobs for 6 youth in the area and we
will continue to support this project
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 The Provincial Stokvel Exhibition Bokone Bophirima 2015 was recently
hosted with the aim of formalising relationships between various stokvel
clubs; financial cooperatives and service providers;
 Successfully hosted the Provincial Small business and cooperatives
summit on 30 March 2015. Approximately 700 delegates at the summit
agreed with the Governments proposal of redirecting 60% of our
procurable resources and efforts towards “village, township, and small
dorpies through SMMEs and Cooperatives.
 The department successfully hosted the Global Youth Entrepreneurship
Workshop in November 2015. Approximately 1500 youth were in
attendance and were exposed to various opportunities by amongst
others ESKOM, The Technology Innovation Agency (TIA), the
Agricultural Research Council, Brand SA, Nerpo, Taung Agricultural
College, CETA, Shanduka Black Umbrellas, NEF, IDC, SEDA and
SEFA to mention a few.
 Total number of liquor licensed premises as at the end of March 2015 in
Bokone Bophirima were 6 348 and 2 999 of these being taverns;
 About 4 728 inspections were conducted and liquor business premises
were inspected for compliance with the legislative requirement 267,
contraventions were noted with fines amounting to R424 500,00 issued
by SAPS;
 A total of 548 consumer complaints were resolved successfully resulting
in R2.8 million returned to consumers in Province;
 Consumer Bill has been enacted and the implementation of the Bill will
be rolled out in 2015/16 financial year;
 Conducted investigations into market practices in the remote rural areas
as part of the Setsokotsane Programme, where unscrupulous
businesses were found to be exploiting consumers especially
pensioners who were cheated out of their grants.
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Plans for 2015/16
NWDC
Honourable Speaker, the NWDC has seen a turnaround in strategic focus.
In line with the 5th Administration policy pronouncement, the NWDC has clear
directives with regard to the following Key Performance Areas:
 Investment and establishment of PPP’s;
 SEZ Development, resuscitation of the Mahikeng Agro Processing SEZ
and leverage on the investments already done through MIDZ;
 Co-operative and SMME Development
In this regard the following RFP’s will be issued for potential investment:
 Establishment of a stationery factory;
 International Convention Centre in Mahikeng;
 5 Star Hotel in Mahikeng;
 Government complex in Mahikeng;
 Green energy initiatives;
The NWDC will also finalise the process of the appointment of a suitable
candidate for the construction of the Itsoseng Shopping Centre. This will allow
for the people of Itsoseng to be able to perform various economic activities
within the economy as well as to stimulate employment creation.
Furthermore, the process of establishing warehouses for Bulk purchases will
be accelerated. This development will ease the burden on Tuck Shop and Hair
Salon owners in doing business. Salon and Tuck Shops will be clustered
together and encouraged to form cooperatives to realise the ideal of doing
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business and reduce barriers to entry like single or individual mass capital
outlay.
Funding for SMME’s and cooperatives have been restructured at the NWDC
and I want to encourage the public to apply for these funds ranging between
R1000 – R1 million. Lessons from the past have indicated that stricter
collection and management of the SMME fund needs to be put into place and
this will be done as part of the 2015/16 programme and beyond. New
applications will start on 01 June 2015 and young people are encouraged to
participate.
With continued economic development, social upliftment and sector growth at
the helm of both the national and provincial development agenda, the NWDC
has repositioned itself to implement projects in line with the provincial priorities
(VTSD). The focus will be to create enterprise in villages, to open economic
hubs in townships thus resuscitation of village, township and small dorpies.
Honourable Speaker, the department has received a solid proposal from
organised designers led by Mr Morahanye “TK” Leokaoke, he is amongst our
guests today. The proposal focuses on creating an enabling environment
where designers in our province could showcase their garments in malls and
many other public platforms for commercial purposes
This request to partner with government to assisting designers to become
commercially is exactly what we will do. I have requested NWDC to work with
organised designers and interact with TK as the project lead. I want to extend
this call to all designers to support this initiative and make necessary inputs for
the successful implementation of this programme.
This year also marks the close out of a three year incubation commitment with
Mr Rolance Molapisi who has ignited the province with the annual national
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Drifting Competition. This 3 year investment and incubation has seen a
talented young man rise to be an entrepreneur in an environment that was not
transformed, this initiative has brought local investment and has also been a
catalyst for tourism, Mr Molapisi also joins us here today.
North West Gambling Board
With regard to the North West Gambling Board, I am very proud to announce
that in line with the vision of the gambling board to become the leading
Gambling Board globally, the CEO – Mr. Fortune Sekgaphane has been
elected 1 of the 14 trustees to the International Associates of Gambling
Regulators in October 2014 as well as the Chairperson for the sub- committee
on technology and illegal gambling at the Gaming Regulators of Africa Forum.
Congratulations are in order.
Honourable Speaker, the North West Gambling Board continues to make
great strides and have managed to collect R105 million in revenue for the
people of Bokone Bophirima. This is above the target set in 2014/15 of R98
million.
The Gambling Board will in 2015/16 accelerate the fight against illegal
gambling in the Province; this illegal industry is currently robbing our province
of revenue that can be used to improve the quality of life of the people of our
province.
This year will also see the finalisation on the matter of the 5th Casino licence
that must be re-allocated to the Province. In this regard, we have received a
letter of intent from DTI and express our gratitude to Minister Davies and the
department for the manner in which the matter is being addressed.
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SMME’s and Co-operatives Development
Honourable Speaker, Premier Mahumapelo stated that the “massive
programme of cooperatives development intends to roll out as a transition
from the Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP) to rather establish
sustainable enterprises”. To this end, the following programmes would be
implemented in support of the Premier’s pronouncements
 The Department in partnership with NWDC will roll out the
establishment of four (4) alternative building material factories with one
in each district. Beneficiaries of the current EPWP will participate on this
program. The factories would be in Madibeng, Tswaing, Taung and
Maquassi Hills;
 The department will establish textile industries in the four districts. Dr
Kenneth Kaunda, Dr Ruth Segomotsi Mompati and Bojanala District
Municipality have been engaged and beneficiaries have been identified;
 In support of SMMEs and Cooperatives, the NWDC will establish 19
Enterprise Development Centres in all Local municipalities. Unused
school buildings as well as NWDC offices will be utilised for this
purpose.
 The department will implement a bakery program in all municipalities
which will be linked to the National School Nutrition Program;
 To support our informal businesses the department will encourage hair
salons and tuck-shop owners and new entrants in the industry to form
cooperatives and consortiums for job creation. For 2015/16 financial
year, one warehousing project would be implemented for this purpose
and vacant school building will be used as part of this project;
 Taxi rank vendors will be encouraged to use the cooperatives model for
the cost reduction through bulk purchasing as well as warehousing in all
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municipalities, in phased approach with the first pilot this year. In
addition to this, the Department will conduct a study of economic
activities taking place at taxi ranks in the Province and the revenue
cycle to further leverage on opportunities in the taxi rank economy as
well to create an enabling environment for trade.
 The department will commission the incubation program for people
living with disabilities in Phokeng village ward 5. This incubation centre
will house the following three enterprises:
clothing and textiles,
electronics, furniture as well as upholstery.
 The Bakery project in Mokgalwaneng is in the process of being
commissioned and will be launched in the next 3 weeks
 The Call Centre in Logagane village ward 2 will be operational in this
financial year and the following entities have been identified to buy
space as part of activating the call centre: North West Gambling Board;
North
West
Development
Corporation;
Industrial
Development
Corporation; National Empowerment Fund; Detpartment of Rural,
Environment and Agricultural Development – environmental component;
SEDA, SEFA and Provincial Supply Chain – registration of suppliers
 Roll-out of the Incubator support programme will be implemented for the
purpose of training of emerging and existing enterprises. The
department will leverage on private sector incubator initiatives to
increase capacity.
 In partnership with Wholesale and Retail SETA we will be rolling out the
informal sector instruments and the provision of financial incentives for
the development of formal retail businesses;
 Resuscitation of the Mahikeng Special Economic Zone, this process will
be led by NWDC and making use of the MIDZ infrastructure is important
for this initiative. Discussions have already commenced with the
Department of Trade and Industry, progress on the matter will be
provided to the legislature
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 Business Regulation
Honourable Speaker, as Government we are aware of the crime statistics,
this requires Government to act decisively and boldly. Jointly with Community
Safety and Transport Management, the department will be embarking on a
massive awareness and law enforcement programme with the view of
reducing incidents of crime as a result of alcohol abuse as well as enforcing
legislation and liquor licence trading conditions.
The following key initiatives will also be implemented in the 2015/16 financial
year:
 Introduction of new trading license certificates with security features;
 Public education on the Consumer Act and the establishment of the
Consumer Court;
Budget Allocations
Honourable
Speaker,
the
total
budget
breakdown
to
support
the
implementation of key policy imperatives is as follows:
Programmes
Amount
Administration
Integrated Economic Development Services
Trade and Sector Development
Business Regulation and Governance
Economic Planning
R
R
R
R
R
77 228
56 203
45 778
70 931
4 956
TOTAL
R255 096
Honourable Speaker, included in the R255 million allocation is an amount of
R103 million or 40.67% of the budget that will be transferred to Public entities
as follows:
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Entities
Amount
North West Gambling Board
North West Development Corporation
R 52 661 000.00
R 51 103 000.00
TOTAL
R103 764 000.00
From the goods and services budget of R41 million, 60% which translate to
R24.6 million has been ring-fenced for VTSD procurement with emphasis on
Co-operatives and SMME’s.
Honourable Speaker, this is the Year of the Freedom Charter and with such
recognition, we re-affirm the declaration which says, “All people shall have
equal rights to trade where they choose, to manufacture and to enter all
trades, crafts and professions.”
In the re-affirmation of this declaration, consistent with the key message of
government, we strongly condemn the xenophobic attacks on foreign
nationals in our country and we agree with the “Saamwerk – Saamtrek”
philosophy that as fellow Africans, we are one and that we can work together
for the betterment of our country and the Province in particular.
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I wish to conclude by the thanking:
 Our heavenly Father to whom I depend on for health, wisdom and a
sound mind
 My beloved movement the ANC for the opportunity to serve the people
of our province
 The Honourable Premier Mahumapelo for his visionary leadership
 My colleagues in the EXCO for working together in the spirit of
“Saamwerk – saamtrek”
 The Honourable Chairperson of the Public Accounts Committee for your
support as well as the former Chairperson Hon Rosho and the new
Chairperson of the Committee, Hon Elisha;
 Honourable members of this august house for being true to the principle
of “accountability”;
 The Acting Head of Department, currently overseeing FEED and the
staff in the department for their dedication;
 The Head of my office and dedicated staff
 My family for understanding servanthood
 Last but not least, the People of Bokone Bophirima for allowing us to
lead
Ke a Leboga
Thank you
Baie Dankie
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