Breakthrough in Eastern Cape Government and business partnership

Children
Breakthrough in Eastern Cape Government and business partnership - newsflash 26 June 2007

The Deputy President, Her Excellency Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka believes the newly-launched Eastern Cape Provincial Administration Business Partnership will succeed in helping the Eastern Cape Province to offer better service delivery.

Barloworld is a direct contributor to this programme. We were represented at the launch in East London by Dominic Watson, Commercial Director at Barloworld Coatings (Automotive), Port Elizabeth.

Mlambo-Ngcuka was speaking at the launch of the public-private collaboration between the Eastern Cape Provincial Administration (ECPA) and the National Business Initiative (NBI) in East London. The event was attended by senior business leaders, the Premier, MECs, Executive Mayors and senior government officials.

The NBI has facilitated a new partnership between Business (local and national companies) and the Eastern Cape Provincial Administration. This collaborative initiative will assist the Province in fulfilling its responsibility to deliver on its Provincial Growth and Development Plan goals. The intention is for business to assist the Provincial Administration by enhancing its capacity for service delivery on a sustainable basis.

The support that will be offered through this collaboration is designed to:

Enhance the capacity of the administration officials through coaching and mentoring
Improve expenditure efficiency
Increase investor confidence
Effectively fund the administration's programmes

Mlambo-Ngcuka emphasised that government is faced with challenges of governance and state capacity. She mentioned that bad service delivery undermines the good things that the country has accomplished. "Government is known for slow service delivery and turn-around times and I hope that this programme will be able to address these issues," she added.

André Fourie, NBI Chief Executive noted that the private sector cannot achieve growth and prosperity without investing in surrounding communities. Strong leadership is needed to contribute to the development of the country and a clear example of this is shown through the hard work and efforts of the business Working Committee, involved for over two years in setting up this important initiative. "The NBI believes that through responsible collective action, as well as through their individual contributions, business leaders and companies can make a big contribution to the social, economic and environmental conditions required for long-term business success and social cohesion in the province," added Fourie.

Under the first phase a pool of mentors and coaches has been established. Twenty two experienced volunteers have been trained and assigned to the Department of Economic Development and Environmental Affairs and four other departments. This project will be piloted for 12 months with a view to extending it both within that department and to other departments for a further two years or more subject to annual review of its success by the Steering Committee.

Eastern Cape Premier Nosimo Balindlela said the engagement is a milestone for the Province and will improve the lives of the people. Balindlela added that the organisations supporting the initiative show that business believes in this Province Better service delivery can only be achieved if business and government can work together through mentoring and coaching. She added that government must learn from the business community on how to operate with excellence and benchmark itself.

In addressing the delegates, John Ross-Smith, Managing Director of Johnson & Johnson, said a close collaboration between government and business is needed as the Province is facing a challenge of service delivery and poor performance on their strategic objectives. "We will need more coaches and mentors in future. Ross-Smith emphasised that current mentors selected from early retirees are not demographically represented but hopefully this issue will be redressed."

The collaboration process began in January 2007 when coaches and mentors, with specific critical skills were invited to participate in the coaching and mentoring intervention. The response was significant and CV's submitted indicate that there is a wide range of well qualified retired people who were interested and willing to participate in the programme.

In conclusion, the Deputy President said that both coaches/mentors and protgs will face challenges when working together in such a relationship. "Sometimes you will have to put the foot down, fold arms or bang the table. But we must never allow differences to set us back as we all have a role to play in strengthening our democracy."

For more information, please contact:

Jennifer Smith
Head: CSI
Barloworld Limited
Tel +27 11 445 1268
Fax +27 11 445 1581
Cell 082 808 5911

This page was updated on 3 August, 2007

Return to top