Johannesburg - The Office of the Premier in Gauteng will seek to improve management across all provincial departments as well as advance health, service delivery and technical capacity in the financial year ahead.
Premier Nomvula Mokonyane, during her office's Budget Vote in the Gauteng Legislature on Tuesday, said the Office of the Premier, with the help of Gauteng Treasury, had identified the need for effective management across all departments with the aim of achieving spending in line with priorities, payment to service providers within 30 days and achieving clean audits across the board.
"National and provincial departments and municipalities are ... required to undertake steps to correct weaknesses and improve residents' experiences in their daily interaction with government. Where serious problems are identified Intervention Teams will be established to ensure that there are rapidly addressed," she said.
Mokonyane said particular focus will be given to education, healthcare facilities, social grant centres, police stations, municipal centres and the justice system. Efforts to enhance the lives of women, youth and people with disabilities will also be given particular attention.
Mokonyane said the Office of the Premier had a R236 734 million budget for the 2012/2013 financial year.
In the year ahead, work will be done to ensure that the provincial government is better positioned to deliver on its infrastructure commitments.
"We will further strengthen systems to ensure more effective maintenance; better multi-year infrastructure planning; and delivery spending in line with allocated budgets.
"The Gauteng Planning Commission and Gauteng Treasury will play a particular role in this regard, including the close monitoring of infrastructure spending and delivery and making the necessary interventions to unblock delivery obstacles," the Premier said.
Attention is being given to improving technical capacity, particularly in the Department of Infrastructure Development and the Department of Roads and Transport.
In addition, attention will also be paid to economic development initiatives, especially economic infrastructure and job creation.
"This includes potentially catalytic provincial flagship projects to stimulate growth and crowd in investment in the knowledge economy and ICT sector, transport and logistics in the Green Economy," the Premier said.
With regards to health in the province, in the year ahead, further attention will be paid to putting in place systems to ensure effective budgeting, revised procurement delegations and the payment of suppliers on time and other cost containment measures, Mokonyane said.
The monitoring of the supply of essential medicines will continue with efforts being concentrated on improving the efficiency of the province's Medical Supplies Depots.
"Other key priorities that will receive attention include appointments in critical posts as well as more effective infrastructure planning, delivery as well as maintenance and litigation management," she said.
An important focus for the provincial government in 2012/13 will be mainstream programmes on gender, youth and people with disabilities.
In addition, comprehensive, cross-sectoral programmes aimed at combatting violence against women and children will be strengthened. "This includes improved conviction rates, social awareness and societal attitudes," she noted.
The Premier also announced that a Women's Monument had been initiated to serve as a living testimony of the heroic women who marched to the Union Buildings in 1956. The monument will be located at Lillian Ngoyi Square in Tshwane and will be linked to the existing monument at the Union Buildings.
"Together with the national government and the City of Tshwane, we will launch the monument as part of Women's Month...The monument will include a training centre for women as well as an arts and crafts multi-purpose centre," Mokonyane added.
Youth unemployment levels in the province remained an area of concern and the province would continue with programmes aimed at addressing this challenge.
The Premier said in the year ahead, together with the Presidency, more than 100 visits will be made to monitor frontline service delivery in the province.
