2018 SOPA highlights
Premier Chupu Stanley Mathabatha gave feedback and told guests more about government's successes and plans for the year ahead in his State of the Province Address (Sopa) at the fifth opening of the Limpopo Legislature last Friday.
POLOKWANE – Premier Chupu Stanley Mathabatha gave feedback and told guests more about government’s successes and plans for the year ahead in his State of the Province Address (Sopa) at the fifth opening of the Limpopo Legislature last Friday.
Education:
Children enrolled in Gr R in public schools have increased to 127 000 learners in 2 441 schools. More than 26 000 practitioners are being trained at NQF level 4 and 200 will be enrolled for NQF level 6 in a three-year programme at the North West University. Training to enhance maths, science and technology skills of teachers and curriculum advisors are continuing.
Some 380 schools across the province will benefit from scholar transport and almost 3 800 schools will benefit from the provisioning of meals as per the National Schools Nutrition Programme. The MEC for Education was further directed to conclude a roll-out plan on the provision of sanitary towels to schools.
Government plans to connect 134 schools with drinking water and decent sanitation facilities, build 400 new classrooms, 100 specialist rooms, nine new schools, 50 Gr R classrooms and renovate 100 schools. More than 41 000 more learners will benefit from no-fee schools, bringing the overall number of benefitting children to almost 1,7 million.
Basic services:
Through the Municipal Infrastructure Grant (MIG) alone an additional 75 491 households have been provided with potable drinking water, 2 167 more households connected to decent sanitation facilities, an additional 135 559 households provided with access to refuse removal and an additional 15 620 households electrified.
Housing:
The premier expressed his concern on the slow pace at which houses are being built, with only just over 700 new housing units built this year and over 300 houses rectified which had structural defects. Altogether 1 700 sites were handed over to those who can afford and are willing to build their own houses. This will increase to 2 841 by the end of this financial year.
Mathabatha said Limpopo can no longer afford to return allocated budget (grants) while people continue to be homeless and he has directed the MEC of Cooperative Governance, Human Settlements and Traditional Affairs (CoGHSTA) to develop and implement a turn-around plan to ensure capacity to deliver more houses is enhanced. He added Limpopo needs to strengthen the spending of MIG as there is a strong relationship between adequate MIG spending and proper planning.
Water challenges:
Mathabatha said domestic, agriculture and mining users should begin to take practical steps to save water. In October a provincial water and sanitation summit will be convened to review progress made on the implementation of the resolutions of the last summit.
House of Traditional Leaders:
The Kgatla Commission, tasked to deal with traditional leadership disputes, has completed its job.
“We will be working with the Provincial House of Traditional Leaders and all affected leaders to deal with any other outstanding matter, including the findings and recommendations of the commission,” Mathabatha said.
Economy:
Despite Limpopo recording the largest employment gains with 62 000 new jobs created in the second and third quarters last year, in quarter four the province lost 35 000 jobs, largely attributed to the decline in the mining sector, where 15 000 jobs were lost, and trade sectors.
The appointment of the Musina-Makhado Special Economic Zone (SEZ) board is in the process of being finalised. This will be followed by the recruitment and appointment of technical staff to support and implement the SEZ projects. An amount of R147 million has been set aside to support the roll-out of basic infrastructure in the receiving SEZ municipalities of Musina and Makhado.
Infrastructure rollout:
Matahbatha said starting from March, 62 storm-damaged schools will be renovated at around R730 million. An amount of almost R250 million was set aside to improve healthcare infrastructure across the province. Altogether R32 million was budgeted for the construction of the Molemole Agricultural Offices, construction of which is expected to commence by May this year and R20 million was set aside for the maintenance of 211 Early Childhood Development (ECD) facilities in Limpopo.
Agriculture:
Five districts were affected with an insurgence of fall army worm, posing a serious threat to food security in the province. Farmers were urged to be in touch with the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development at first sight of any strange worms on their farms.
Tourism:
There is a challenge for the province to do more to attract a greater number of foreign tourists and Mathabatha directed the MEC of Economic Development, Environment and Tourism (Ledet) to develop a tourism strategy to address this challenge.
Limpopo Connexion, a subsidiary of the Limpopo Economic Development Agency (Leda), started with the first phase of the rollout of a broadband telecommunication network infrastructure.
Health:
The number of healthcare facilities that have reached the ideal clinic status has increased from 77 to 115 and 56 of the primary healthcare facilities operate on a 24-hour basis, while almost 270 of the public health facilities have access to broadband connectivity.
Neo-natal infrastructure projects have been completed at hospitals and four clinics built. Five new clinics will be finalised this financial year, the Thabazimbi Hospital mortuary, the out-patient departments at Matlala, Philadelphia and Dr CN Phatudi Hospitals will also be completed this year.
Maternal HIV vertical transmission has decreased from 1,2% last year to 0,96% this year.
Transport and community security:
Construction of the state-of-the-art Limpopo Traffic College facility is expected to commence in August at an estimated value of R53 million.
The province dominated the recent SAPS National Excellence Awards function and Mathabatha saluted the men and women in blue who represented the province at this function.
Corruption:
Provincial departments, the State-owned Enterprises (SOEs) and municipalities were directed to ensure all outstanding investigations related to corruption and maladministration are concluded without any further delay. Consequence management should be implemented without fear or favour.
Mathabatha committed himself to strengthen the Limpopo Anti-Corruption Forum to coordinate the efforts against corruption.
Electronic Vehicle Trip Monitoring Systems were installed on 425 subsidised buses to ensure government gets value for money and all buses will be equipped with these tracking systems.
Youth:
During the 2017/18 financial year, more than 2 300 young people were placed in internship and learnership programmes. A significant number of these have since been absorbed permanently by both the government and the private sector. Through the Construction Skills Education Training Authorities (Seta), R17 million was used to train 420 young people as artisans and 170 young people are recruited currently in partnership with the Manufacturing and Engineering SETA in a R19,9 million programme. More than 1 000 young people received bursaries last year.
To support and nurture young sporting talent, more than 860 schools, clubs and hubs will be supplied with supporting equipment and attire. Capacity building training for coaches, technical officials and team managers will be provided.
Governance:
HODs for all provincial departments were appointed last year. Mathabatha commended the Treasury and the Limpopo Gambling Board for receiving clean audit opinions and urged all departments and municipalities to strive towards achieving clean audits.
