27 January 2020
Acting HOD,
Rre Lerato Wa Modise;
Acting HOD, Mme Mashobao;
Head of Ministry, Rre Mohibidu;
Senior Managers;
Ladies and Gentlemen,

Good morning

Let me start by welcoming every-one of you, wishing you and your loved ones a prosperous new year.

This year Ladies and Gentlemen, I want us to collectively declare the year of More Action and Less Talk- Business Unusual in the advancement of the Socio-Economic challenges faced by our people.

This is the year in which we need to prepare ourselves to carry more responsibilities and confront challenges head-on and provide durable and practical solutions.

We are meeting here today, with one mission and vision to pursue the strategic vision of making our Province a Modern, Growing and Successful Province a reality.

Ladies and Gentlemen-Senior Managers, I want us to come out of this extended planning session with a comprehensive implementation and workerable plan for the Department.

This year we are going to move forward with speed to improve on service delivery for our people. However, that will only be achieved if we change what has to be changed and consolidate what is working.

The regional staff meetings and Farmers’ Indaba I embarked on, should be an eye-opener and encourage us to work even harder in resolving the challenges that are hindering our employees and our stakeholders from bringing services to our people.

The issue of information technology (IT) should take a centre stage- we can’t be preaching the 4th Industrial Revolution when we cannot provide basic IT services to our employees.

The Executive and Senior Managers should lead from the front and make sure that targets are met and be rest assured that on all of this I will be playing an active oversight and provide guidance.

Ladies and Gentlemen, the Ministry will continue to play active oversight over the department, and there is a need to be more efficient and effective in the implementation of our decisions as well as:

• Improving communication between Senior managers, and between the ministry and the department, 
• Respect timelines and my requests regarding any information,
• Work together and avoid potential competition,
• Critical look at our performance,
• Mutual respect, coaching and proving exemplary leadership,
• Being cautious of what we say in public and amongst subordinates,
• Finally, by being more organized and structured and move in unison towards the same direction because we are pursuing the same purpose for greater good and service for our people.

Let me caution, we are not here for self service and self-glory but for the masses of our people.

There are glaring weaknesses in other programmes but there are good things as well and this require a creative, collective teams and mentors to take the department forward.

I plead with all of you to do your best, be critical, raise issues if you are not satisfied but also, help us with forward looking solutions.

The slow implementation of projects and slow expenditure which result in a roll-over should be a thing of the past. There is no excuse as to why we shouldn’t meet our targets.

I hope to have a team of Senior Managers which is willing to pull together with me, in order for us to make necessary changes, which will ensure our continued success.

Ladies and Gentlemen, I hope that this is going to be a productive meeting as we look forward to a successful year.

I thank you