President Cyril Ramaphosa: Meeting between National Executive and the Eastern Cape Provincial Executive Council

Programme Director,
Premier of the Eastern Cape, Mr Lubabalo Oscar Mabuyane,
Ministers and Deputy Ministers,
MECs,
Executive Mayors and members of councils,
Officials,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

Good Morning,

Allow me to begin by thanking you all for being here. 

This is the fifth formal engagement that the national executive is having with a provincial executive.

Since November last year, we have had engagements in Limpopo, Mpumalanga, KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng. 

We hope to conclude our first round of visits to all the provinces in the next few months.

This is part of our commitment as the Government of National Unity to engage with provinces on a more regular and structured basis. 

The purpose of these engagements is to open a new frontier for inter-governmental cooperation.

We hope that these direct engagements will complement the work of bodies like the President’s Coordinating Council, which brings together national, provincial and local government to discuss common programmes, challenges and tasks.

We want to strengthen the ecosystem of collaboration.

The Government of National Unity has defined a set of strategic priorities for the term of the 7th administration. These are: driving inclusive growth and creating jobs, tackling poverty and the high cost of living, and building a capable, ethical and developmental state.

We are pleased that the Eastern Cape provincial government has aligned its Provincial Development Plan with these priorities. 

Premier,

In your State of the Province Address in February, you identified a number of ‘growth frontiers’ that will be the focus for the Eastern Cape for the coming financial year.

These include agriculture, manufacturing, oceans economy, digital economy and tourism. 

The province has also spelled out its plan to deal with persistent service delivery challenges.

We look forward to the upcoming presentation, which will outline these priorities in greater detail and provide a roadmap for implementation.

We should locate our engagement on these issues within the District Development Model. 

The District Development Model aims to foster greater coordination, integration and efficiency across all spheres of government. It is about breaking down the silos that hinder intergovernmental cooperation and working smarter and more efficiently.

A productive outcome of this engagement would be agreement on a concrete, credible and tangible plan for implementation under the Provincial Development Plan and the District Development Model.

The Eastern Cape is one of the most richly endowed provinces in terms of natural splendour, arable land, a lengthy coastline, well-located ports and several universities. 

All of these endowments should be used for economic growth and job creation.

Yet, the Eastern Cape has significant challenges in realising its potential.

There is the legacy of apartheid, the bantustans and the migrant labour system.

Levels of poverty, inequality and unemployment remain extremely high.

There is a significant infrastructure backlog, which affects the provision of water and electricity, health care, education and transport.

This is exacerbated by the growing impact of climate change.

As a consequence of these challenges, the province’s natural and other endowments are not supporting inclusive growth in an equitable manner. 

Despite progress in many areas, the province’s growth and development is also significantly hampered by poor governance, mismanagement of public resources, and corruption – particularly at a municipal level. 

The Consolidated General Report of the Auditor-General for 2023-2024 noted that since the end of the previous provincial administration’s term, stable leadership has strengthened oversight, increasing the number of departments with clean audits from five to nine.

Submission of good-quality financial statements improved from 62 percent of departments at the start of the administration to 76 percent in 2023-24 due to proactive support by the provincial treasury.

At the same time, the report noted that the Eastern Cape had the highest number of material irregularities of all provinces, which resulted in an estimated financial loss of R197 million. 

Of the 30 material irregularities identified, 13 remained unresolved at the time of reporting.

Not only must we pay attention to how well public funds are managed. 

We also need to pay attention to how these funds are used. 

According to the Auditor-General, the education department did not achieve 80 percent of its targets for public ordinary schools and infrastructure delivery performance indicators.

The health department did not achieve 54 percent of its district health services performance indicators.

So while the Auditor-General’s report shows that the province is making progress along the path of improved governance and financial management, it also points to areas that need significant improvement.

While there is much that can be learnt from these and other statistics, the true measure of progress are the changes brought about in the lives of the people of this province.

We must be concerned when we see the collapse of services and the deterioration of infrastructure in our metros, cities and towns.

We must be concerned at the sight of pensioners being forced to cross raging rivers in drums because there are no bridges, or sick patients lying on the floors of hospitals because there are no beds. 

The extent of these and other challenges means that we need to make critical decisions about resource allocation and spending in a difficult economic climate.

We are called upon to drive inclusive growth and job creation within an ever more volatile global economy.

We are called upon to answer the cries of our people for better service delivery, for jobs, for decent healthcare and education, and for protection from crime and gender-based violence. 

I would like today to be a productive engagement that results in sustainable solutions that will uplift our communities and improve the lives of our people. 

By working together, we can confront and overcome the challenges that are holding back this great province from achieving its true potential.

I thank you.

#ServiceDelivery