Focused strategy to meet goals

EVERY now and then every one of us needs to look within ourselves honestly to answer a simple question: Is the path we are following yielding positive results or not?

Introspection helps you to acknowledge what you have done, evaluate your progress and learn lessons from mistakes and failures.

Introspection is a self-contemplation exercise to perceive your words and actions as others perceive them, an accurate analysis of previous events, current concerns and future desires.

As we mark the midpoint of our provincial administration, it is appropriate for us to embark on some introspection to assess the progress made against the commitments agreed on at the beginning of our administration in 2014.

While our well-intentioned strategies have been hamstrung by the subdued global outlook for growth, we have taken concrete steps to eradicate inequality and alleviate poverty and reduce unemployment.

To deliver on our electoral mandate and commitments, we adopted the Provincial Development Plan driven by the Provincial Medium Term Strategic Framework’s seven focus areas:

Improving the quality of education and skills development;

Improving the health profile of the province;

Stimulating rural development, land reform and food security;

Transforming the economy to create jobs and sustainable livelihoods;

Intensifying the fight against crime and corruption;

Integrated human settlements and building cohesive communities; and

Strengthening the developmental state and good governance.

Allow me to account on each of these seven focus areas.

In education, we are implementing a three-year transformation strategy committing to a seven-point turnaround plan to address identified challenges in education.

The seven-point plan, which has begun to bear results is:

An increased number of functional schools;

Rationalisation and realignment of schools;

Capacitation and functionality of districts and head office;

Mobilisation of social partners and the change agenda; Supply of trained educators; Adherence to national budget allocation norms; and

Work towards achieving an unqualified audit.

In an order to improve the health profile of the province, the government has been to strengthen and restructure the provincial healthcare system with a particular focus on these priorities:

Re-engineering of primary healthcare ;

Reducing the disease burden with a special focus on tuberculosis and HIV/Aids;

Reducing the child and maternal mortality rate;

Improving facilities management and hospital administration; and

Enhancing health management information systems and the strengthening of human resources for health.

Through our Agricultural Economic Transformation Strategy, we are:

Stimulating rural development, land reform and food security;

Enhancing the commercial and small-holder development; and

Producing high potential commodities in spatial and commodity-based clusters across the province.

To boost economic growth and create much-needed jobs, we have implemented the following six programmes:

Developed support and promoting Small Micro and Medium Enterprises and Cooperatives;

Implemented a 30-day payment to service providers;

Maximised local procurement opportunities, developed local suppliers and provided off-take agreements to promote employers of 100 or more people;

Implementing a maritime programme;

Promoting the province as a tourism destination and increase the number of tourists; and

Growing the renewable energy sector.

To curb crime and corruption, the Department of Safety and Liaison in the Eastern Cape oversees the effectiveness and efficiency of the SA Police Service in the province and ensures effective social crime prevention through interdepartmental co-ordination and engagements with the national department and law and enforcement agencies.

In our effort to build integrated human settlements and cohesive communities, the provincial government has:

Developed sustainable human settlements which are accessible and located in areas of high economic opportunities; and

Is providing housing to special groups such as war veterans and other designated groups.

To foster accountability and good governance, the province has:

Developed and implemented measures to foster accountability and consequence management, including the introduction of a provincial Leadership Pledge;

Signed service delivery agreements with members of the executive;

Implemented cost-containment measures; and is piloting the integrated financial management system.

To ensure a comprehensive role of ensuring economic growth, job creation and a sustainable budgeting in municipalities, we are:

Strengthening support to improve governance;

Supporting in the provision of basic services;

Working hard to ensure a smooth process of amalgamation of some municipalities; and

Strengthening collaboration with traditional leaders around nation-building, social cohesion, moral regeneration and rural development.

Indeed, the solutions to all our problems lie in introspection and acknowledging our successes and failures. We welcome scrutiny and invite opportunities to engage and collaborate in order for the Eastern Cape to be the best it can be beyond our term of office ending in 2019.

Phumulo Masualle is premier of the Eastern Cape