Let’s swim together, and not sink

AFEW minutes after I delivered the State of the Province Address to account and answer for what the Eastern Cape provincial government has committed to achieve, I asked myself: What next?

I found solace in a number of motivational quotes.

Here is one of my favourites: “In life, you either sink or swim. There is no other option,” said American singer, songwriter, author, poet and self-proclaimed literary artist Linda Poindexter.

Poindexter reminds us that some may be inspirational talkers, others are thinkers, but in politics if you are unable to grasp the value of teamwork and the art of compromise, you’ll enter the game frustrated and leave it even more frustrated.

The idea of swimming or sinking together translates into having an intentional collaborative approach to delivering on our electoral mandate. Such an approach is based on creating an authentic teamworkbased environment, with everyone committed to swimming together, otherwise we will sink together.

Just to recap, as we mark the midpoint of our provincial administration, we have committed to:

Improve the quality of education and skills development;

Improve the health profile of the province;

Stimulate rural development, land reform and food security;

Transform the economy to create jobs and sustainable livelihoods;

Intensify the fight against crime and corruption;

Integrate human settlements and the building of cohesive communities; and

Strengthen the developmental state and good governance.

Also, the Eastern Cape has adopted and popularised an integrated service delivery model known as Operation Masiphathisane. It is an empowering service delivery model that connects communities directly to relevant departmental officials and service providers in order to ensure the provision of services in a sustainable manner.

Nowhere is teamwork’s importance more evident than in our provincial government as we work to deliver on the above seven commitments and on Masiphathisane.

And we have learnt that politics – an eight-letter word – works best when it’s paired with another eight-letter word – teamwork.

Teamwork is a good thing. It means cooperation instead of confrontation, it means moving forward not slipping back and it means a good outcome instead of a bad result.

Teamwork is also unity and effort joined to a common goal.

I have a simple equation that has guided me over time: Cooperation plus Contribution equals Success.

I’m proud of what the Eastern Cape government has achieved through teamwork over the past two and a half years.

However, we also admit that no matter how hard we have worked, we will never have all the answers.

None of us has all the skills needed to succeed. This means creating a province we all aspire to live in will require us delivering on our commitments by the end of our term in 2019 as well as every resident of the Eastern Cape embracing the idea of teamwork.

With a joint effort – whether it be in politics or any part of life – success is possible.

Everyone has to chip in to see the mission through to the end.

There is no “I” in teamwork. While not everyone gets to pilot the plane, the entire flight crew is critical to mission success.

My work as a public servant has taught me the importance of being a part of something greater than myself: it has taught me the value of cooperation and teamwork.

One of the key elements of teamwork is an emphasis on mutual responsiveness.

As a province, we should all remember that whether a sports team, a corporate sales team or city council or provincial government, the only way to get the job done is through a coordinated effort of the majority.

Granted, the sideline-sitters and the rock-tossing critics are always going to be a part of the scenery, but they will never stop positive momentum, whether it is in provincial government departments, the media, private sector, state- owned enterprises or small business.

We need everyone pulling together across the Eastern Cape.

To this end let us emphasise the positive, minimise the negative and practice real teamwork.

Many hands make light work, and there’s more than enough work to do to turn an impoverished and underdeveloped Eastern Cape into a thriving province.

Phumulo Masualle is premier of the Eastern Cape