Addressing the provincial government representatives, the Chief Whip of the NCOP, Mr Kenny Mmoiemang, said that the quality of deliberations and robust engagements displayed by the Northern Cape Permanent Delegates to the NCOP during the NCOP Provincial Week have proven that they collectively have the best interests of the province at heart.
He said that is the case because “we owe our existence as NCOP members to the resolution of our legislature and the people of our province”.
Mr Mmoiemang said Provincial Week is one of the critical flagship programmes of the NCOP, thrusting it at the centre of cooperative government and intergovernmental relations. This concurrent posture, he said, upholds its uniqueness and significance in holding the three spheres of government accountable. More importantly, he said, it has elevated the NCOP’s oversight role in upholding the object of this year’s theme, “Confronting the Challenges Facing the Timely Delivery of Viable Public Infrastructure to Communities.”
He said their engagements with the provincial executive have reinvigorated them to champion the province’s service delivery interests and priorities with great zeal and resolve at the NCOP. “Our experience during this week was informative and has put us in a better position to elevate our province’s challenges to the relevant committee of the NCOP and to ensure that they are attended to so that people receive the services that they deserve as citizens of our country and residents of our province.”
In keeping with the NCOP’s mandate of elevating provincial issues to the national sphere of government, he pointed out that the provincial week was preceded by ministerial briefings and a fruitful engagement with the president on some of the province’s infrastructure challenges. “We used this opportunity to enquire about the nature and form of support that the president and Department of Public Works and Infrastructure can afford the province to improve its infrastructure profile and to curb its backlogs. This will help realise built infrastructure’s catalytic role in stimulating economic growth and job creation.”
The Chief Whip said they have engaged in the deliberations because the NCOP in the 7th Parliament resolved to adopt an outcome-based oversight approach to challenges facing service delivery to communities. “Due to these deliberations with the executive,” he said, “our NCOP committees are now in a position to ask relevant departments responsible for public infrastructure poignant questions on how far they are with the commitments made by the president and their ministers during our engagements with them.”
He said the NCOP Provincial Week underscores the collaborative oversight approach as the hallmark of its quest for executive accountability and optimal service delivery. “This programme has shown how effective oversight can be when the provincial sphere of government interfaces with its national counterpart to account for its shortcomings and find sustainable solutions to challenges that impede the pace of delivering viable public infrastructure to our communities.”
In the same breath, the Chief Whip commended the cooperative spirit and professionalism demonstrated by the Northern Cape MECs, the provincial departments’ officials and their entities during the NCOP Provincial Week and for the humility they displayed in the way they conducted themselves and provided answers to probing and often robust questions posed by the NCOP delegation. He also welcomed the timelines and commitment they gave to resolve the challenges that some of the province’s infrastructure development projects still face.
Abel Mputing
20 September 2024
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