Gauteng Business 2016 edition

SPECIAL FEATURE

SPECIAL FEATURE Modernisation of the public service The GPG says it recognises that radical socioeconomic transformation cannot occur without fundamentally changing the way state institutions relate to society. As public officials and public servants, the GPG has to radically transform its attitudes and behaviour towards the public to reassert the dictum that it is there to serve the people, and not the other way round. “I am more convinced that we have to radically change the way government works in order to place service to the people at the centre of our work. It is for this reason that we have adopted the notion of an activist government as part of building a capable and developmental state envisaged in the RDP and more recently the National Development Plan, Vision 2030,” said Makhura. Dealing with – and eradicating – corruption among public officials and public servants (including in the private sector) is vital to the success of the initiative. The GPG will introduce measures to strengthen the integrity of public institutions and public processes so that fraud and corruption are prevented and detected early in the value chain in order to prevent losses. Makhura added it was not enough to simply talk about fighting corruption. “We have to demonstrate in action that corruption will not be tolerated in this administration,” he noted. GAUTENG BUSINESS 2016 34

SPECIAL FEATURE Reindustrialisation of Gauteng province The reindustrialisation of the Gauteng economy through strategic infrastructure development is also top of the GPG’s agenda. The massive rollout of public transport infrastructure across the province will be utilised to revitalise and modernise old industries that will locally manufacture or assemble buses, trains and locomotives. In order to boost employment and economic inclusion, the provincial government and municipalities will procure 75% of all goods and services from South African producers, especially SMMEs, township enterprises and black-owned, women and youth enterprises. The government is working closely with state-owned enterprises PRASA and TRANSNET in order to re-industrialise our province and build economic infrastructure that will boost employment creation and economic inclusion through investing more than R300-billion in post, freight, rail and pipeline capacity. Modernisation of public transport infrastructure There can be no doubt that Gauteng will look different over the next five to 15 years to what it does today. Combined with public transport infrastructure rollout and the development of the Aerotropolis and the OR Tambo Special Economic Zone, and driven by the provincial government and municipalities, this infrastructure investment has major potential to create more than 300 000 jobs and boost the development of new SMMEs and township enterprises that are owned and managed by black people, women and youth. Over the next six months the Gauteng government will outline detailed plans in this regard. New post-apartheid cities will be a combination of modern public transport modes, integrated and sustainable human settlements that are socially and economically inclusive, and promote urban green development. Particular attention will be paid to the West Rand and Sedibeng regions in order to revitalise their economies and connect them to the economic centres of the Gauteng city-region. Modernisation of the economy Premier Makhura noted that township entrepreneurs were capable of producing food such as bread for school nutrition and hospitals, clothes for school and police uniforms as well as furniture for government offices. This will bring millions of township residents into the mainstream of the economy. “We shall convene a summit with township entrepreneurs and SMMEs in the next 200 hundred days – or around 6 months - to develop a detailed Programme of Action,” he confirmed. In addition, the provincial government has identified key sectors that have the potential to address the twin policy imperatives of creating decent employment and greater economic inclusion. These sectors include finance, automotive industry, manufacturing, ICT, tourism, pharmaceuticals, creative industries, construction and real estate. The promotion of new SMMEs and township enterprises will also be brought into these key sectors of the economy. In the near future, the provincial government will enter into serious dialogue with the private sector players in each of these sectors in order to hammer out consensus on how they can unlock the potential of these key sectors of the provincial economy to create more decent jobs and be more inclusive of blacks, women and youth. CONTACT INFO Physical address: 94 Main Street, Matlotlo House, Johannesburg Postal address: Private Bag X 091, Marshalltown, 2107 Tel: 011 355 8000 Fax: 011 355 8694 www.ecodev.gpg.gov.za 35 GAUTENG BUSINESS 2016