Honourable Deputy President of the Republic of South Africa;
Honourable President of SALGA;
Honourable Deputy Chairperson of the NCOP;
Honourable Ministers:
Honourable Chief Whip of the NCOP:
Honourable Premier’s
Honourable House Chairpersons;
Honourable MECs;
Honourable Executive Mayors;
Honourable Permanent and Special Delegates;
All Representatives of the South African Local Government Association;
Ladies and gentlemen
 
Good Morning.
  
INTRODUCTION

It is with great pleasure that as we begin our term in office as the NCOP, we are provided with an opportunity to present our priorities for this 7th   dispensation, that must usher in new possibilities in our democratic experiment, that weave together streams of emergent nations from a divided past.

At the outset, we must underline our deliberate act to reposition the NCOP and its unique and distinct Constitutional mandate, in the sector across government and hearts and minds of our people.

This is to ensure provincial interests are taken into account in national sphere of government and thus promote national unity through cooperative governance and intergovernmental relations across the three spheres of government.

We have accordingly invited this cohort of capable leaders, strategically occupying the three spheres of governance, to participate in our mission to strategically reshape our Oversight agenda, as a matter of urgency, towards a more interventionist and proactive NCOP, engendering    intergovernmental and cooperative governance.

Honorable Members, we are also convened to re-articulate and re-constitute the Three-Sphere Coherence, in the planning, budgeting and implementation of strategic priorities for the 7th Administration.

These have been clearly elaborated by His Excellency, The President of the Republic of SA, President Ramaphosa, Minister’s and Premier’s through the SONA, various Budget Speeches and SOPA’s.

The spirit of our Constitution, at its foundational moment, saw the NCOP as a necessary arm of state, which will facilitate national cohesion under its legislative framework, in ways that can guarantee Intergovernmental relations and cooperative governance.

Its insistence was to underscore transformational innovation, to deepen democracy in the legislative and governance processes of the country.

However, the question before us, is to what extent has our Institution lived up to the spirit and expectations that underline the formation of NCOP as underwritten by our Constitution?

Again, Is the NCOP in its unique position, sufficiently utilized as a legislative platform to reify the strategic objectives of a transformative national agenda, which discontinues the history of oppression, domination and exploitation?

Over next the few days, we must respond to these questions and engage robustly on rebuilding a partnership to advance the implementation of the electoral mandate.

Our strategic intent is to refashion our three spheres of government in ways that can deepen connection amongst each other. This will elevate the interrelatedness, interdependence and mutuality that our Institutions share, in order to sharpen the capability of the state to drive the process of social change. 

To this extent, we must be reminded that  the NCOP is  thus  the only House  empowered by the Constitution to oversee strategic cooperation amongst the three sphere of government, which is fostered through Intergovernmental relations and cooperative governance.

This Three-Sphere planning session is intended to be the center of coordination and cooperation giving effect to our unique function.

We are thus implored to work together, through joint consultation, joint planning, and joint programming to achieve synergy for improved policy reforms and its implementation.

We are implored to better utilize Integrated Development Planning (IDP) and the District Development Model (DDM), using local sphere as strategic site for implementation.

IN SO FAR AS THE NCOP OPERATIONAL CONTEXT IS CONCERNED

The overarching policy priorities  driving our oversight mandate shall accordingly focus on;  Inclusive growth and job creation; Reducing Poverty and tackling the high cost of living; and, Building a Capable, Ethical and Developmental state

The priorities clearly indicate that we must place at the center of our development, policies that advance inclusive economic growth, expand the labour market to create more jobs for the poor and marginalised, while creating a solid social protection base for the vulnerable.

To achieve these policy priorities; ours is to  ensure we enhance the capability of the state to plan, budget, implement and develop growth catalysing priorities.

In this respect, our objectives must enact new perspectives that rewrite the past in ways that can inform the future.

Whilst the political transition of 1994 made progress to liberate black South Africans from the chains of extended colonialism, it has not dismantled continuities that are a source of social tension today

Colin Bundy asserted that, people make their own history, but not under circumstances of their choice; they act in the arena shaped by the past.

To understand the present conjuncture in S.A, it is essential to have a sense of history, to reflect on constraints and possibilities created by that history

To this, Jacque Depel-chin, foregrounds that the yearnings for radical transformation in S.A, will depend more on how the past is remembered, than on how the future is plotted.

Consequently, central to our Oversight agenda and political imperatives, as a necessity of this moment, is to gradually dismantle the colonial structures and designs, that set the scene of post- apartheid South Africa, as the most unequal economy in the world, which in effect enriched a minority, by holding down economic opportunities and incomes for the majority.

We have also observed the phenomenon of the reproduction of inequality according to Industrial policy specialist, Neva Makgetla.

She identifies this as an outcome of the persistence of highly concentrated economic power, reinforced by continued inequalities in education, geographical location, infrastructure and work organization.

Whilst we acknowledge that the democratic state has introduced reforms, it hasn’t done enough to bring about change and transformation in inequality. 

Hence, we are challenged by Amilcar Cabral when he opined that, national liberation exists, when, and only when, the national productive forces have been completely freed from all and any kind of  domination

We are therefore calling  for a paradigm shift in the Three spheres of governmentthat ensure Three Sphere Planning, unless we become enthroned to conditions of perpetual repetition without change.

It is a call for a progressive act that moves against the grain of constructed enclosures and sterility, so that we think about development differently

This is a development path that is able to make a nation as people and not a nation as state. That is able to assert the  idea that development should never be fixed, rather ever shifting and changing, that is able to fashion suitable models and designs of economic development, relevant to societies emerging from colonialism.

These models should in essence extricate postcolonial societies from underdevelopment, in ways that better track the root causes of the impasse

IN SO FAR AS THE CONTITUTIONAL IMPERATIVES OF THE NCOP

To this end, the NCOP through Three Sphere Planning, will advance the intended objectives of the developmental state focusing on policy priorities that uproot the transformation agenda.

Delve deeper into the imperatives and objectives of the IGR Framework Act, that include: ensuring a coherent government; the effective provision of services; monitoring implementation of policy and legislation, and realization of national priorities.

Furthermore; institutionalize Policy and Legislative Review Processes, inorder to consistently test the impact and efficacy of policies and Legislation passed by parliament

Ensure Sector parliaments play a dynamic role with better oversight tracking and impact assessment mechanisms

Ensure recommendations of Chapter 9 Institutions become standard items of the Executive; wherein parliament can meticulously track and oversee processes,

Review programme structure of Parliament to allow more time for plenaries, committees, and work performed in constituencies.

Develop and Implement a comprehensive three sphere-planning oversight framework and mechanism for facilitating intergovernmental relations.

Within this context, ensure that each level of government is able to effectively execute its functions while minimizing duplication of efforts and potential losses;

Thus, enable regular and targeted Intergovernmental Relations and Corporate Governance oversight, by conducting oversight over critical Intergovernmental Relations structures across the three spheres, which facilitate sustained three sphere engagement, towards joint and integrated planning and the implementation of key development priorities.

Equally, these will serve as a mechanism to enable the effective operationalization of the District Development Model.

AS I MOVE TOWARDS CONCLUSION

As we embark on this new journey, we must underline that your valued contribution shall determine the prospects for our individual and collective success

In this regard, I implore that we embrace more restorative pathways for the well-being of our people that introduce new politics, democracy and economy that ruptures from inherited social relationships, which emerged as a product of human choices.

I thank you-