The Executive Committee of the ANC recently held a meeting to reflect on the reports it received from EXCO Clusters as part of enhancing the work of the Provincial Government.
Top of the list of priorities, according to ANC Provincial Chairperson, Nono Maloyi (also MEC for the Department of COGHSTA), is the provisioning of service delivery by government departments. “One of the critical developments that have emerged from this EXCO meeting is that the North West Province will host the National Freedom Day celebration on 27 April 2023 at Manzil Park stadium in Matlosana Local Municipality,” she reported.
President Cyril Ramaphosa will lead the celebration to mark the 29th anniversary of South Africa's first democratic elections. Four thousand (4000) citizens from across the four districts are expected to attend this historical event, and others of the province and the country will follow the event on various media platforms. MEC Maloyi voiced that the province is ready to host this event and that build-up activities have been planned to raise awareness amongst citizens.
The Provincial Chairperson further stated that this was a significant development in that the province hosted World TB Day in Tlhabane and World Consumer Rights Day at the Sun City Resort in March. In addition, the province hosted the second Annual Mining and Energy Investment Conference in March at Suncity, aimed at luring investments to the province.
As part of the ongoing efforts to improve Agriculture as one of the key economic drivers in the province, MEC Maloyi reported that the province will be hosting the General Assembly of the World Farmers' Organization at Sun City from 21 to 24 May 2023. "Hosting these three national events in such a short time represents a vote of confidence on the province's ability to successfully host major national events of this magnitude," added Maloyi.
Maloyi announced that eight municipalities are under mandatory intervention under section 139 of the Municipal Finance Management Act (MFMA) on the challenges faced by municipalities that cannot render services to the citizens. They are Naledi, Dr Ruth, Madibeng, Kgetleng, Ramotshere Moiloa, Tswaing, Ditsobotla, and Mahikeng Local Municipalities. To redress this, Maloyi announced that they have established what is known as the Provincial Executive Representative (PER) appointed to oversee the implementation of the financial recovery plan at these municipalities mentioned.
Regarding progress made by the government on the work done for Military Veterans, he stated that the veterans now owned companies that benefit from government procurement opportunities and that an appointment of a contractor was due to commence with a housing project that targeted 88 Military Veterans.
The Chairperson also reflected on the news-making famous corruption scandal at NTI (North West Transport Investment), which he announced was now a matter before the court. Thus, the government needs to be more open in discussing the issue. “Except to confirm that we are confident as the government that we have a strong case that we are defending, and we believe that the court will rule in our favour," Maloyi stressed.
As of the end of March this year, the Chairperson alluded that the aggregate preliminary expenditure of the province amounted to R49.870 billion or 96.2% of the R51.722 billion adjusted appropriation. He also announced that the government underspent R1.852 billion in conditional grants. The breakdown of the underspending by government departments is; Health-R302 m, Education-R383m, Public Works and Roads-R227m, Agric & Rural Dev-R64m, ACSR-R32m, and Human Settlements-R7.5m. He added that these unspent amounts of conditional grants would be subjected to the rolled-over process.
Before giving the present MECs at the briefing a chance to answer questions from the media, Maloyi strongly emphasized that reports surfaced in various media platforms that the province had returned just over R1 billion to the national treasury were not true. “That money is still in the province. It is not true that we returned it to the national fiscus. For it as well, the rollover process will be followed,” vowed Maloyi.
It was also revealed at the briefing that the long-dragging case over the incomplete Marang block of flats behind Mmabatho Stadium was almost coming to closure. In a moment of laughter, Maloyi quipped, "The SIU and The Hawks have done their job, and for the culprits, I say, people are going to forfeit their nice cars and expensive shoes while we try to recover the state’s money,” he said amid laughter from the journos and government officials present.
