The Cabinet this week gave its official backing to the deployment of a top-level management team to overhaul government and social delivery in the Eastern Cape.
The interim management team will start operating in the province in January to assist the Eastern Cape in ensuring delivery of services. Its work will focus on health, education, social development, roads and public work sectors.
”This [deploying the team] is not connected to political matters,” says Joel Netshitenzhe, chief government spokesperson. He says that for the past 18 months, President Thabo Mbeki and ministers have visited the province to deal with problems of delivery and allegations of corruption.
The team will help develop turnaround plans to address service delivery backlogs for implementation by the administration.
”It will establish and maintain systems to ensure sustainable management structures and operations going forward,” he says. It will also monitor utilisation of conditional grants, donor funding and possible blockages in the service delivery chain.
The team will be made up of one national manager from each of the affected departments and a member of the presidency and national treasury.
”The team will be supported by the National Directorate of Public Prosecutions in the prosecution of any cases of corruption,” says Netshitenzhe.
The Cabinet also approved national policy guidelines for the provision of free basic electricity to poor households. Netshitenzhe says that the policy will be implemented in phases and will include 50kW of free basic grid electricity for every household each month.
He says that in non-grid areas, poor households will be provided with an 80% subsidy of the market cost to access non-grid electricity systems.
The Cabinet approved a number of appointments and submissions, but a large part of its discussion was on the issue of reparations and litigation against international companies that operated in South Africa during apartheid. The Cabinet neither supported nor opposed the litigation, but recognised the right of citizens to take action.
”Government’s approach to the issue of reparations will be finalised when the Truth and Reconciliation Commission submits the codicil to its final report,” Netshitenzhe said.
He also announced that government issued reparations worth R50-million to 18 000 apartheid victims.