Media release

Governance and Administration Cluster Media Briefing

25 February 2014

 25 February 2014

Media Briefing Background Document

Introduction
South Africa has a good story to tell, an amazing story about great triumph over adversity. 2014 is a momentous year for government and the people of South Africa as we tell the story of our democracy; a young democracy lauded the world over for bringing to one a once bitterly divided nation.

Since our democracy the public service has been faced with an enormous responsibility to provide access to government services to previously disenfranchised individuals and to do so in a manner that restores dignity and upholds Constitutional order.

Today we tell a good story of the past 20 years. It is a good story, all things being equal.

Access to Public Libraries
In South Africa libraries provide basic facilities like study areas, community activity rooms, children’s sections, internet facilities, photocopiers, faxes, and book material collections especially educational material that are available to communities to assist them to develop their skills and their education.

Users become computer literate in libraries, they seek and find jobs in libraries, and since the new libraries are mostly built in close proximity to schools, the learners benefit greatly by finding educational material that assist them in their studies, safe and quiet reading and studying space in these buildings. Students use libraries for the same purpose. Older people for instance come to libraries to socialise, to read newspapers and magazines, which keeps them up to date with the news.

To champion, promote and reflect important democratic values as part of our communities’ political life, we have invested a great deal in libraries. Public libraries are essential components of a modern democracy, enduring agencies uniquely tasked with providing for education, culture, literacy and information provision to reach all citizens free of charge.

Statistics for spending on public libraries by the three spheres of government in 2011/12 reveal that  provinces spent R407 778 million, municipalities spent R1 320 890 and national government spent R569 934 million.  There are about 1408 public libraries in the country, excluding community book units. The Department of Arts and Culture (DAC) is currently administering a conditional grant to provinces in terms of which funds are transferred to provinces to support the roll-out of library infrastructure.

Artist in Schools
The DAC has partnered with the Department of Basic Education for the programme of placing Artist in Schools with over 300 artists placed to date. The department has also partnered with the Department of Correctional Services to roll-out the Arts Access programme which uses the arts and culture as a tool for social re-integration and rehabilitation of marginalised persons and persons in conflict with the law.

Mzansi Golden Economy
The implementation of Mzansi Golden Economy (MGE) strategy yielded more than 50 000 jobs since its implementation in 2012.

The MGE implementation included:

  • Supporting the Cultural Events and Regional and Local Festivals
  • Implementing the  Public Art programme including the “Infecting The City” project
  • Roll-out of the “Artist in Schools” with more than 150 Artist placed in schools.
  • Implanting the “Touring Ventures” programme which yielded a  total of more than 20 productions that have been rolled-out through our Performing Arts Institutions
  • Establishment of the Art Bank is underway.
  • Sourcing Enterprise: Portal is under construction. Launch envisaged in March 2014.
  • Cultural Observatory as a research and data collection instrument for the creative and cultural industries is under progress.

Through the MGE the DAC is implementing the cultural precinct project.  This is aimed at using the arts for urban renewal and rejuvenation. DAC is working with civil society in Gugulethu to renovate and refurbish the Ray Alexandra Simons Centre into an anchor for urban renewal in Gugulethu.

Language Development
Work on language development includes the continued provision of bursaries for applied language studies with 45 post-graduate and 555 undergraduate degree students benefited. Learners are enabled to receive tuition in their mother tongues; citizens to receive voter education in the language of their choice using the multilingual Elections terminology booklets; and technical terminology glossaries provide a reliable point for translators and language practitioners in general.

The Use of Official Languages Act
Last year we enacted the “The Use of Official Languages Act”, we also worked on Cultural Laws Amendment Bill; Community Library Information Bill and South African Language Practitioner’s Bill. These legislatures will go a long way to further promote access to services and information to the vast majority of South Africans. The enactment of these Bills will mean a structured focus by the department on the implementation and delivery.

Social cohesion
The Department of Arts and Culture successfully convened a national social cohesion summit on 04 – 05 July 2012. The theme of the national summit was “!KE E: /XARRA //KE: CREATING A CARING AND PROUD SOCIETY:  It was attended by close to two thousand delegates from across South Africa and the world, representing government and civil society, business and labour, political parties, cultural and religious groups. Some prominent South Africans were appointed as Social Cohesion Ambassadors and a few of them accompanied us when we presented the report to the President on 27 November 2012.

Renaming of geographical features
The renaming of geographical features in South Africa is part of the process of the transformation of the South African Heritage Landscape in order to redress past imbalances and forge a common national identity and nationhood. To date we have approved more than 1300 geographical names including those of three Presidential Guesthouses (Kings House to Dr John Langalibalele Dube in KwaZulu Natal, Durban: Presidential Guesthouse to Sefako Makgatho in Gauteng Province: Pretoria); Renaming of Bloemfontein International Airport to Bram Fischer International Airport in the Free State Province.

Flags in Schools
To date the DAC has installed more than 6244 flags in schools since the launch of the Flag in every School project launch in 2005. Various publications on National Symbols have been developed and distributed including the book on National Symbols, a pocket sized booklet and a National Anthem Toolkit to enable singing the Anthem.

The Film Industry
It is imperative to emphasise that government has played a major role in supporting the film industries over the last few decades. In fact, the significant increase in locally produced films between 2004 and 2012 is attributed directly to government support to the sector. Over and above the DAC’s commitment of over R80 million per annum to the development of film through the National Film and Video Foundation, a targeted incentive mechanism, the Film and Television Incentive, administered by the DTI has contributed millions to the sector. In 2012 alone, the DTI invested an estimated R250 million in film projects.

  • The industry contributed R3.5 billion to GDP and created over 25,000 jobs.
  • Government through targeted investment mechanisms and development institutions investment was the largest single investor in the sector, making over R300 million available for film. 
  • The film sector has grown 14% per annum over the last five years, well above general growth figures elsewhere in the economy.

South Africa maintains co-production relations with a number of countries including Canada, Italy, Germany, the United Kingdom, France, New Zealand, Ireland and Australia. Since the signing of the first co-production agreement in 1997, over 50 films have been produced under the auspices of these agreements.

The country has recently produced a number of industry firsts, such as the tshiVenda film Elelwani, as well as internationally acclaimed films including, amongst others:

  • Yesterday, which was nominated at the Academy Awards in the Foreign Language category in 2004.
  • A Lion's Tale won a non- fiction Emmy in 2006.
  • U Carmen E Khayalitsha, a Xhosa- language film which won the Golden Bear award at the 2005 Berlin Film Festival.
  • Tsotsi, which won an Academy Award for best foreign language film in 2006.
  • District 9 was nominated for four Academy Awards, including best picture in 2010.
  • Fanie Fourie’s Lobola which won awards in 2013 at the Seattle International Film Festival and the Sedona International Film Festival in the United States.
  • Of Good Report, which won the Best Feature Film Award at the Africa International Film Festival in 2013.
  • The Long Walk to Freedom in 2013 which attained a number of nominations and garnered a Golden Globe Award in 2014 and has also been nominated for an Academy Award.

South African films have featured at major international festival like Cannes, Rotterdam and the biggest African film festival, FESPACO in Ougadougou Bukin Faso. There have also been a large number of international productions film in the country including Lord of War, Fury Road, the fourth Mad Max film; Blood Diamond, Invictus, Safe House, Shadow Recruit and most recently the Avengers.

Another significant success story is the turnaround of the Home Affairs department and the improved delivery of services to our people which we want to share with you today. It now takes 7 days to get your identity document. It now takes 2 days to register and receive a grant. In an effort to make services more accessible, on average 70% of our people have a Home Affairs office within 25 kilometres from their residences, over 75% of our people have access to a SASSA pay point within 5 kilometres of their homes, over 80% of our people have a primary school within 5 kilometres of their homes, and over 80% of our people have a secondary school within 5 kilometres of their homes.

Smart ID Card
Beginning 1 February 2014, the Department of Home Affairs has begun rolling out the Smart ID card to citizens as part of efforts to consolidate the restoration of citizenship, identity and dignity to all South Africans. 28 offices across the country have been earmarked to process applications for the Smart ID.

The Smart ID card is an integral part of the Department moving away from outdated systems as it builds digital systems that will help improve access to services for citizens. We call upon all citizens who have applied for Smart ID cards and have been informed by sms, to collect them from the respective Home Affairs offices of application.

Voter Registration Services
The Department of Home Affairs rendered services to the citizenry during the final voter registration weekend of 8-9 February 2014 as declared by the IEC.
As a consequence:

  • 19862 IDs- were issued
  • 2081 Temporary Identity Certificates- were issued 
  • 100 001 ID applications received. 
  • 4540 smart ID cards processed
  • 22 prisons across were visited in which 32 IDs and 9 Temporary Identity Certificates were issued
  • 315 Home Affairs offices were opened on both days from 08h00-17h00.

The work of the offices was complimented by the deployment of 73 mobile trucks to reach out to those areas where the department does not have a footprint. In addition senior managers from Pretoria were deployed to Home Affairs provincial offices to assist.

The Presidential Hotline
The resolution rate for received calls to the Presidential hotline improved to 94.7 percent as at December 2013 from 39 percent in November 2009 when the hotline was established.

Filling of Vacancies
The average time to fill vacancies in the public service improved to 5 months as at December 2013 from 9 months in 2010. The target of 6 months for 2014 has been achieved.

The percentage of the funded vacant posts in the public service has been decreased to 9.1 percent as at December 2013 and the target of ensuring that vacancies are below 10 percent, at any given time, has been achieved.

Audit reports
During the 2012/13 financial year, there is not a single department that got an adverse audit report. The number of departments that got disclaimer audit opinion was reduced to 5 during the 2012/13 from 10 in 2009/10.

Procurement turnaround times
Procurement turnaround times at the State Information Technology Agency (SITA) for preferred list of Request For Quotations (RFQs) improved from 80 days to 62 days as at 31 December 2013. Procurement turnaround times for ad hoc RFQs improved from 30 days to 10 days as at 31 December 2013.

Anti-corruption programmes
To date a total of 6043 practitioners have been trained on anti-corruption capacity building programme. The percentage of National Anti-Corruption Hotline cases closed by departments increased by more than 10 percent as 31 December 2013 compared to 23 percent baseline in August 2011.

The Public Administration Bill
In our work to build a public administration grounded by professional ethics, integrity and discipline, the Public Administration Amendment Bill is currently before the National Council of Provinces. The Bill will set national standards and systems for the entire public service and also respond to service delivery challenges to enable a coordinated public administration. Key areas of the Bill include:-

  • Mobility of staff within the public administration which may involve secondment of employees where there is skills shortage.
  • Prohibitions employees on conducting business with the state and disclosure of financial interest.
  • Capacity development and training of employees by providing for establishment of National School of Government.
  • Building a public administration grounded by professional ethics, integrity and discipline.

African Peer Review Mechanism
President Jacob Zuma tabled the African Peer Review Mechanism report at the 22nd African Union Summit in Ethiopia. Compiled by different sectors of society the report reflects on progress made by the South African Government in the last ten years on a number of aspects which include economic development, governance, social security, health and infrastructure development.

The report is a product of a broad and inclusive participatory process, that saw the National Governing Council of the APRM – who are the custodians of the national APRM process – travel the length and breadth of South Africa convening stakeholder consultative conferences in all the provinces during the 2012/13 financial year.

Conclusion
“South Africa is the greatest country on the continent.  Nowhere else has democracy been so embraced by its people.  Overcoming our great evil – apartheid – has left our citizens better off than ever imagined.  As a nation, we hold a torch for our beloved continent for what can be accomplished through the efforts of a committed government, committed people, committed business and committed civil society sector.  The people of South Africa have a way out of poverty in a land where opportunity is for all.  And if that way does not work government stands as a safety net for its people.” - African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) National Governing Council Report.

Speaking notes at the Governance and Administration Cluster Media Briefing

Thank you very much for joining us.
 
I am accompanied by my colleagues in the Governance and Administration Cluster.

This briefing expands from the State of the Nation Address delivered on 13 February 2014 by President Jacob Zuma. We will cover the work of the Governance and Administration Cluster and also elaborate briefly on achievements of this Government for the past five years.

When we look at what has been achieved in the past twenty years and what has been achieved in President Zuma’s first administration we can say without fear that South Africa has a very good story to tell; an amazing story about great triumph over adversity.

What this Government and its people have achieved is nothing short of a miracle. No developing country of the size of our economy can claim what we have done; only those who suffer from permanent ignorance will disagree with us when we say South Africa is a much better place to live in now than it was in 1994.

Since our democracy the public service has been faced with an enormous responsibility to provide access to government services to previously disenfranchised individuals and to restore dignity and bring to life the spirit of our Constitution. This administration committed itself to broadening access to services and ensuring that all South Africans have access to basic services.

As we celebrate twenty years of freedom, we are able to declare that all our people today are closer to institutions that provide government services.

A number of successes have been witnessed in the implementation of the delivery agreement for Outcome 12 which is implemented by the G&A cluster.

These include:

  • The resolution rate for calls to the Presidential Hotline improved to 94.7 percent as at December 2013, from 39 percent in November 2009 when the hotline was established.
  • The average time to fill vacancies in the public service improved as at December 2013 from 9 months in 2010. The target of 6 months for 2014 has been achieved.
  • The percentage of the vacant posts in the public service has decreased to 9.1 percent as at December 2013 and the target of ensuring that vacancies are below 10 percent, at any given time, has been achieved.
  • During the 2012/13 financial year, there was no single department that received an adverse audit report. The number of departments that received a disclaimer audit opinion was reduced to 5 during the 2012/13 financial year from 10 in 2009/10.
  • Procurement turnaround times at the State Information Technology Agency (SITA) for preferred list of Request For Quotations (RFQs) improved from 80 days to 62 days as at 31 December 2013. Procurement turnaround times for ad hoc RFQs improved from 30 days to 10 days as at 31 December 2013.

The President highlighted our commitment to fight corruption, mal-administration and unethical behaviour.  We are building capacity to centralise the management of disciplinary cases to ensure that cases of misconduct are investigated by competent people and that all three spheres of government are supported to finalise cases as speedily as possible. We will pay special attention to cases of irregular expenditure, unauthorised expenditure and other financial misconduct.

To date a total of 6043 practitioners have been trained through the anti-corruption capacity building programme. The percentage of National Anti-Corruption Hotline cases closed by departments increased by more than 10 percent as at 31 December 2013 compared to 23 percent in August 2011.

Our strategy is to ensure that we develop a modern ICT system to prevent corruption and those who are caught must be punished and the punishment must be painful.

In our work to build a public administration grounded by professional ethics, integrity and discipline, the Public Administration Management (PAM) Bill is currently before the National Council of Provinces. The Bill provides for the establishment of the Office of Standards and Compliance which will set national standards and systems for the entire public service. The office will also monitor compliance with public service and administration standards.

The PAM Bill also introduces a significant policy change in prohibiting public servants from conducting business with the State. Through its introduction government is intervening to curb opportunities and incentives for corruption. It complements the establishment of the single procurement office for government located in the National Treasury.

The turnaround of the Department of Home Affairs and the improved delivery of services to our people is another good story we share today. It is a story we tell everyday because we know where we come from. This Department was tasked in 1994 with integrating all TBVC states (Transkei, Bophuthatswana, Venda and Ciskei) and the old South Africa into one nation with a single national population database.

Today we can tell you that project was very successful, so successful that those agents who used to assist people to get IDs, passports and birth certificates are going out of business; it is so successful that many other countries have asked for our assistance. Our good story is better told as follows:

  • It now takes 7 days to get your identity document,
  • It now takes 2 days to register and receive a grant. In an effort to make services more accessible, on average 70% of our people have a Home Affairs office within 25 kilometres from their residences, 
  • Over 75% of our people have access to a SASSA pay point within 5 kilometres of their homes,
  • Over 80% of our people have a primary school within 5 kilometres of their homes, 
  • Over 80% of our people have a secondary school within 5 kilometres of their homes.

Since the beginning of February 2014, the Department of Home Affairs has begun rolling out the Smart ID card to citizens as part of efforts to consolidate the restoration of citizenship, identity and dignity to all South Africans. 28 offices across the country have been earmarked to process applications for the Smart ID.

The Smart ID card is an integral part of the department moving away from outdated systems as it builds digital systems that will help improve access to services for citizens. We call upon all citizens who have applied for Smart ID cards and have been informed by sms to collect them from the respective Home Affairs offices of application.

Informed by the unfortunate incidents that happened in 2001 at the Ellis Park Stadium, where 43 lives were lost, during the soccer derby, government passed the Safety at Sports and Recreation Events Act to avoid such incidents.

The state of sport and recreation infrastructure and participation activities mirrors the societal disparities created by the apartheid regime.  Numerous efforts to address these imbalances have been made since the advent of the democratic dispensation.  The Department of Sport and Recreation has completed 138 sport and recreation facilities projects.  These were implemented through the funds from Reconstruction and Development Programme and include the upgrading of the existing facilities.

Again, through the National Treasury Grant, we managed to construct 364 sport and recreation facilities.  The funds for sport and recreation provision have since been incorporated into the Municipal Infrastructure Grant (MIG), programme, where over 3200 sport facilities have been built post 1994. 

We have successfully hosted Rugby, Cricket and Soccer World Cups.  Through the hosting of these major events, we have successfully profiled the country’s abilities to host and manage major events.  The economic spin offs of these events, mainly with the 2010 FIFA World Cup, have seen the reconstruction of stadia and stretched into tangibles like road construction, airports construction,  social cohesion, national pride and to being part of the African family peace caravan for the youth of the continent. 

We are proud that our resources have truly represented us with lessons learnt from hosting of these major events, by assisting other countries like Brazil in hosting the 2014 FIFA World Cup.  We assisted Mozambique in hosting the All Africa Games, in terms of material and human resource.  We helped Mali in hosting the African Nations Cup.  Recently, in solidarity with the people of Libya, we hosted the 2013 and 2014 AFCON and CHAN tournaments. 

For the first time post 1994, in 2012 government approved the National Sport and Recreation plan which amongst other aspects deals with transformation, grassroots development and high performance.

In our effort to bring to life the Constitution’s obligation in ensuring quality education to all we have invested over R2 billion in the three spheres of government in modernising the old libraries and building new state of the art libraries. Central to our strategy to deepen democracy is a reading nation.

The implementation of Mzansi Golden Economy (MGE) strategy yielded more than 50 000 jobs since its implementation in 2012.  The film industry contributed R3.5 billion to the GDP and created over 25 000 jobs. In 2012 alone, the DTI and DAC have invested an estimated R250 million in film projects.

Government has played a significant role in supporting the film industry over the last few decades. The significant increase in locally produced films between 2004 and 2012 is attributed directly to government support to the sector. Over and above the DAC’s commitment of over R80 million per annum to the development of film through the National Film and Video Foundation, the DAC has contributed millions to the sector.

The DAC has partnered with the Department of Basic Education for the programme of placing Artist in Schools with over 300 artists placed to date. The department has also partnered with the Department of Correctional Services to roll-out the Arts Access programme which uses the arts and culture as a tool for social re-integration and rehabilitation of marginalised persons and persons in conflict with the law.

In conclusion, I want to quote from the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) National Governing Council report recently adopted by the AU Heads of State Report on what our people think of their Government:

“South Africa is the greatest country on the continent.  Nowhere else has democracy been so embraced by its people.  Overcoming our great evil – apartheid – has left our citizens better off than ever imagined.  As a nation, we hold a torch for our beloved continent for what can be accomplished through the efforts of a committed government, committed people, committed business and committed civil society sector.  The people of South Africa have a way out of poverty in a land where opportunity is for all.  And if that way does not work government stands as a safety net for its people.”

I quote from the APRM Report which was tabled in Addis Abba by President Zuma to demonstrate the achievements South Africans have made, in all sectors of life. This report was compiled by all South Africans, from civil society and business. We all agree that despite our remaining challenges, South Africa is a better place to live.

Enquiries:
Department of Public Service and Administration: Ndivhuwo Mabaya, 083 645 7838
Department of Home Affairs: Ronnie Mamoepa, 082 990 4853
Department of Arts and Culture: Mogomotsi Mogodiri, 071 687 4984
Department of Sports and Recreation: Paena Galane, 079 509 9833

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