Tag Archives: The North West Premier

Mokgosi calls on govt to find a lasting solution to address socio-economic needs

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Picture: The North West Premier, Lazarus Mokgosi/Facebook

By OBAKENG MAJE

29 November 2024- The North West Premier, Lazarus Mokgosi said the problem of poverty is not the concern of poor people alone. Mokgosi, who was part of the debate at the National Council of Provinces (NCOP) in parliament said, poverty is a challenge facing all humanity for which they need to seek collective solutions to reduce and finally eradicate it.

Mokgosi further said an occasion such as today’s debate is an opportune moment to garner their efforts to resolve and find solutions to challenges of poverty affecting communities. He added that they are gathered here not to remind the people that they are poor and hungry.

“But, to find ways aimed at finding lasting solutions to address their socio-economic needs. We are not here to repeat the truths of how much we have changed the lives of our people as we celebrate the 30 years of the country’s democratic breakthrough.

“This is what they expect from us. To see their lives, change for the better and to afford basic needs. Mr President, poverty has a face, unfortunately it is gendered and is found in our spatial disparities,” said Mokgosi.

He said poverty is a product of the past, a blemish to the present and if they are not careful, it would be the reality of the future. Mokgosi said the fight against poverty needs solutions that work, not theories that sound good.

“Mr President, the North West Province is at least 68% rural and accounts for the highest number of unemployed people in the country representing half of our population.

“Our province is also endowed with vast natural resources accounting for some of the largest deposits of critical minerals that sustain global economies,” he said.

Mokgosi said there is no reason for there to be poverty in the North West. He said as they take over the reign of G-20 leadership, they should not miss the historic opportunity to disrupt the hegemonic global economic order to construct a just economic world order that will take the people of the North West along.

“The welfare of the poor people of the world should be placed at the top of the agenda during South Africa’s G-20 tenure. Since the 2024 General Elections, we have made enormous progress in creating opportunities for the people of North West to address high unemployment, and reduce high levels of poverty in our communities.

“We have recently revised our Provincial Growth and Development Strategy to map a developmental future for the province backed with scientifically modelled economic scenarios and choices open to us to lift our people out of their current situation.

We have adopted bold commitments to revive the vision of the National Development Plan to reduce the rate of poverty in the North West by half by the end of the 7th administration which is 2030,” he said

Mokgosi said the road ahead will be difficult, but they are prepared to stay the course and see to the full implementation of the interventions and the objectives they have set for themselves. He said they are encouraged by the emerging confluence of positivity that has seen the province registering the highest number of jobs created in the latest Quarterly Labour Force Survey with sixty-nine thousand jobs (69 000).

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69 000 jobs created in North West in quest to curb high rate of unemployment

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Picture: The North West Premier, Lazarus Mokgosi

By OBAKENG MAJE

13 November 2024- The North West Premier, Lazarus Mokgosi said the quarterly Labour Force Survey regarding job creation in the province is on a positive trajectory. Thus far, half of the population of North West province is unemployed. 

However, according to Statistics South Africa, the province has created 69 000 jobs in the third quarter of 2024.

Mokgosi said he has noted the latest Quarterly Labour Force Survey Report by Statistics South Africa with optimism and as a signal that efforts for economic reforms and job creation are starting to pay off.

He further said the province has initiated various intervention measures such as the finalization of the Provincial Growth and Development Strategy, the appointment of the Economic and Investment Advisory Council, resuscitation of the Skills Development Forum, as well as the accelerated and expanded advertising of vacant posts in the public service.

“All these efforts are aimed at addressing the scourge of unemployment in the province. While this is a step in the right direction, more needs to be done. We welcome the recent statistics on Quarterly Labour Force Survey, however more than half of the population remains unemployed.

“Expanded unemployment in the North West remains stubbornly high at 51.5%. The province will host a Jobs Summit early next year to strengthen the government’s efforts for job creation. We have decided to call a jobs summit early next year with different stakeholders to see how best we can find solutions to challenges of unemployment in the province,” said Mokgosi. 

In preparation for this summit, he said they have lined up a series of meetings with industry leaders in Agriculture, Tourism and Mining. According to Mokgosi, it is through these efforts that they can be able to have consensus on how they deal with this challenge.

Meanwhile, the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) in the North West said it has noted with interest that the rate of unemployment has declined in the province, showing some indication that some jobs have been created over the past quarter.

COSATU provincial secretary, Kopano Konopi said this further provides some sign of improvement when looked at on a yearly basis. Konopi said this is the area which will demonstrate that there is still much work to be done for the provincial economy to absorb as many entrants to the labour market as possible.

“The official unemployment rate of the province declined by 4.5% in the past quarter and by 1.8% on a yearly basis. At the same time, official unemployment declined by 2.7% in the past quarter and by 0.3% on a year-on-year basis.

“While we note this improvement, the unemployment of the province still remains the highest if one looks at the expanded rate and the second highest at the official rate. The sectors which have grown the most are manufacturing, which grew by 26.2% on yearly basis but shrunk by 3.3% on quarterly basis,” he said.

Konopi said this was followed by agriculture which grew by 21.4% and no shrinkage. He said the third one is mining which grew by 10.2% and no shrinkage at all.

“While we can see based on the stats above that there is some increase in the number of people who have gained employment, this has not put a dent on the unemployment rate of the province.

We believe that for the unemployment to substantially decline, we need an employment growth rate of about 5% per quarter.

“It is then that we will see a real decline in the unemployment rate.

We believe that for the employment to grow we need a real policy shift in the economy of the province. We must also see commitment on investment on economic infrastructure to stimulate economic growth,” Konopi said.

He said while they are aware of the plans of the 7th administration, they believe some of the commitments need to be sped up so that they can see real economic growth, which is able to absorb many unemployed people of the province.

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North West Premier lauds police after arrests of over 1000 illegal miners

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Picture: The illegal miners arrested by police in Klerksdorp

By OBAKENG MAJE

6 November 2024- The North West Premier, Lazarus Mokgosi commended the South African Police Service (SAPS) and the South African National Defence Force (SANDF), in their unwavering commitment to root out illegal mining activities in the province and in particular, Klerksdorp. Mokgosi said to date, over 1000 illegal miners affectionately known as Zama-Zamas, have been arrested through Operation Vala Umgodi.

“This ongoing operation forms part of the Safer Festive strategy, which will run for 123 days until the end of January 2025.

“This is an all-inclusive crime fighting initiative, which is centred on tackling illicit mining, murder, attempted murder, rape, Gender-Based Violence and Femicide (GBVF), drug offences, illegal dealing in liquor and burglaries, as well as traffic violations and illegal immigration among others,” he said.

Meanwhile, the North West police spokesperson, Brigadier Sabata Mokgwabone said: “A number of illegal miners who resurfaced yesterday, rose from the initial 269 to 439. In total, the number of illegal miners who resurfaced between 18 October and 5 November 2004, rose to just above 1000.

“The suspects are still being processed accordingly. The 55 suspects arrested on 2 November 2024, appeared in court on 5 November 2024, however, charges against them were withdrawn.”

Mokgwabone further said they were nevertheless detained by Immigration Officials in terms of Section 34 of the Immigration Act, 2002, pending deportation order.

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Mokgosi welcomes the launch of MTbBE program

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By OBAKENG MAJE

6 November 2024- The North West Premier, Lazarus Mokgosi applauded the North West Department of Education on the successful launch of its ground-breaking Mother Tongue-Based Bilingual Education (MTbBE) program for Grade 4s. Mokgosi said the department launched the program, which is primarily aimed at offering Mathematics, Natural Science and Technology in mother tongue.

“We congratulate the department on the successful launch of its ground-breaking MTbBE, which is primarily aimed at offering Mathematics, Natural Science and Technology in mother tongue.

“We would also like to take this opportunity to applaud tavern owners and their continued support by reducing their business operating hours and other activities during these matric examinations. We extend our gratitude to traditional leaders, School Governing Bodies (SGBs), parents, Faith-Based Organisations and Youth organizations,” he said.

Mokgosi further said their preparations for the 2024 National Senior Certificate (Grade 12) examinations and the implementation thereof has so far not experienced any incident, both from a policy or operational perspective.

Meanwhile, the North West MEC for Education, Viola Motsumi said: “The launch marked a pivotal step in promoting cultural inclusivity and strengthening foundational learning through the use of mother tongue instruction which is Setswana starting with the Grade 4 learners.

“The event featured a keynote address highlighting the vision and goals of MTbBE, set to begin in January 2025 for Grade 4 learners, and panel discussions exploring the benefits and implementation strategies of this transformative approach. The MTbBE program is designed to empower North West learners by connecting their education to their linguistic heritage, fostering inclusivity, and building a bilingual foundation.”

Motsumi added that in alignment with South Africa’s National Language Policy Framework, MTbBE also draws inspiration from the African Union’s call to build resilient, inclusive education systems across the continent. She said she shared a keynote address, while panel discussions were lined up by linguistic experts.

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North West Premier optimistic in his quest to address unemployment, inequality and poverty    

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Picture: The North West Premier, Lazarus Mokgosi during media briefing/Facebook 

By OBAKENG MAJE

6 November 2024- The North West Premier, Lazrus Mokgosi said his government will continue to address challenges vexing the communities, as well as implement the plans and commitments they have initiated to change their lives for the better. Mokgosi said the 2023/24 audit cycle which ended on 31 March 2024, serves as a ‘glimmer of hope’ when compared to previous financial years.

He further said a total of nine departments received unqualified audit outcomes with two receiving clean audits and only one department receiving a qualified audit opinion with reduced qualification paragraphs. Mokgosi added that this foundation has eased the transition as they managed to finalize and table the 2024/2025 Provincial Budget by focusing primarily on the immediate task of rolling out key service delivery programmes as well as job creation.

“Similarly audit outcomes in municipalities continue to demonstrate signs of improvement as some have been able to move out of the negative audit category. Of the 22 municipalities, 21 submitted Annual Financial Statements (AFS) for the 22/23 financial year with an exception of Ditsobotla Local Municipality.

“Three municipalities, Dr Kenneth Kaunda, City of Matlosana and Moses Kotane, obtained unqualified opinions in the 2021/22 and 2022/23 financial years. Progress was also registered in Moretele Local Municipality, which moved from qualified to unqualified, Ngaka Modiri Molema District Municipality from unfavorable to qualified,” said Mokgosi.

He said Kgetleng-Rivier Local Municipality has moved from disclaimer to qualified audit outcomes. Mokgosi said all these efforts are as a consequence of the financial recovery plans that they have initiated through the deployment of Provincial Executive Representatives (PERs) in line with the national treasury guidelines, as they believe that it is important for these municipalities to adopt sustainable and funded budgets to meet the developmental needs of the residents.

“The stabilization of these municipalities has enabled us to focus our energies on rolling out various water and sanitation projects at a cost of over R66 million benefiting over 41 000 residents. Through our bi-weekly Thuntsha Lerole initiative, we officially opened a R97 million bulk sewer and water reticulation project at Rekgaratlhile Township, near Stella.

“Similar projects are being implemented, while some have been completed in Moretele, Kgetleng, Ramotshere Moiloa, Mahikeng, Matlosana, Tswaing, Greater Taung and Kagisamo-Molopo Local Municipalities. In total, 29 water projects are being rolled out across the province,” he said.

Mokgosi said unemployment is a cause for concern in the province, hovering around 54%. He said more than half of the province’s population are suffering from severe hunger.

“In response to the latter, the provincial government has initiated food distribution programmes to assist families in need. Through the Presidential Stimulus Package for the 2024/2025 period, R48m has been allocated to the province targeting 2400 households through commodities such as vegetables and fruits, grains, broilers and small stock aquaculture & fisheries.

“In addressing challenges of unemployment, we have appointed the Premier’s Economic and Investment Advisory Council to assist the province drive the growth and development path of our province through the Provincial Growth and Development Strategy. To date, we have garnered investments to the tune of over ten billion rand in the N14 Mixed Development, Manufacturing as well as Renewable Energy.

“We have also signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Henan Province of China and renewed our economic ties with the Gyeongsangbuk-Do Province of South Korea during our visit to the two countries,” said Mokgosi.

He said these efforts will culminate into various investment opportunities that will create employment for the people of this province and address high levels of poverty and unemployment afflicting our communities. Mokgosi said on Monday, he met with the Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) of leading Indian companies in the country through the Indian Business Forum and they have also expressed interest in investing in Agriculture, Tourism, and Mining, which are primarily the province’s economic drivers.

“We also advertised over 240 vacant posts across all the departments of government targeting vulnerable groups such as women, youth and people with disabilities to take a lead in job creation.

“In mitigating the impact of poverty and hunger in our communities, we have set aside over R280 million to bolster subsistence, smallholder and commercial farmers to enhance and boost food production in the next financial year,” he said.

Mokgosi said their investment drive will only find traction, if they prioritize infrastructure development, particularly through the construction and upgrading of the roads. He said they have managed to introduce contractors to various communities for the construction of several road projects, including the upgrading of Road P202 in Ramokokastad in partnership with Anglo Platinum, who have contributed R50 million towards the project.

“Furthermore, the upgrading of Road D533 from the Manamakgoteng intersection through Sandfontein to Dikweipi, where Anglo Platinum has contributed R108 million towards this project, is in full swing. The provincial government also opened a completed R190 million second phase road construction project between Schweizer Reneke and Christiana in Dr Ruth Segomotsi Mompati District Municipality.

“Maubane community in Moretele was also handed over the newly repaired D625 road, which was upgraded at the cost of over R47 million. This is over and above the several roads that have been officially handed over across the province since June 2024, with a combined total of over R1,1 billion,” said Mokgosi.

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North West Premier, Lazarus Mokgosi removes former ANCYL president, Collen Maine as MEC

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Picture: North West Premier, Lazarus Mokgosi and newly-appointed MEC, Virginia Tlhapi/Supplied  

By OBAKENG MAJE

1 October 2024- The North West Premier, Lazarus Mokgosi has appointed Member of Provincial Legislature (MPL), Virginia Tlhapi as the new North West MEC for Arts, Culture, Sports and Recreation. This comes after the resignation of former ANCYL president, Collen Maine as the Member of the Executive Council (MEC), who was responsible for Arts, Culture, Sports and Recreation.

“I wish to take this opportunity to inform the people of the North West of my decision in terms of Section 132 (2) of the Constitution of the Republic to effect changes in the composition of the Provincial Executive Council by appointing Tlhapi in the same department.

“I wish to take this opportunity to thank Maine for his contribution during his tenure as MEC. Let me also congratulate the new MEC as she officially assumes this responsibility with effect from 1 October 2024,” he said.

Meanwhile, Mokgosi’s changes come after he was instructed by the ANC National Executive Committee (NEC) to remove a male MEC and replace him with a female MEC to address gender disparity.

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Former ANCYL president, Collen Maine removed as North West MEC

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Picture: North West MEC Arts, Sports, Culture and Recreation, Collen Maine

By OBAKENG MAJE

20 September 2024- The North West Premier, Lazarus Mokgosi is expected to make changes to his Executive Council (Exco) next week. This comes after the ANC National Executive Committee’s instruction to remove a male MEC and replace him with a female to address gender disparity.   

Now, Mokgosi has relinquished former ANCYL president, Collen Maine from his position as North West MEC for Arts, Sports, Culture and Recreation and replaced him with ANC Member of Provincial Legislature (MPL), Virginia Tlhapi, who is also former MEC for the same portfolio.

According to our highly-placed source, the decision was taken on 18 September 2024, during the ANC Provincial Executive Committee (PEC) meeting. However, Maine allegedly requested until next week to wrap up some of the projects that were already at the advanced stage.

Those projects include the opening of Manthe Indoor Centre and Taung Cultural Calabash preparations, amongst others.  Maine is expected to replace SANCO’s Tshepo Khoza as North West Provincial Legislature’s Deputy Speaker.

Khoza was unceremoniously removed from this position amid fake matric certificate allegations. On 21 June 2024, Mokgosi appointed five men and five women as MECs in his EXCO. However, he was supposed to apply the 60/40 method.

Meanwhile, the ANC spokesperson in North West, Tumelo Maruping said: “This matter is still internal and the North West Premier, Lazarus Mokgosi will communicate his decision next week.”  

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Molapisi appointed as acting North West Premier as Mokgosi goes abroad  

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Picture: The acting North West Premier, Oageng Molapisi/Supplied  

By BAKANG MOKOTO

29 August 2024- The North West Premier, Lazarus Kagiso Mokgosi, has appointed the North West MEC for Cooperative Governance, Human Settlements and Traditional Affairs, Oageng Molapisi as acting Premier effective from 29 August until 6 September 2024. During this period, Mokgosi will be leading a delegation of the provincial government to Gyeosangbu-DO province of South Korea and the Henan province of China on an international mission.

Mokgosi said the primary objective of this mission is to strengthen economic ties with the two provinces. He further said their quest is to also critically position the North West province as a prime destination for investments.

“This mission forms part of our ongoing efforts as the province to attract investments and address the high levels of unemployment afflicting our communities. There lies huge spin offs in the three economic drivers of our province and our visit is centred on exposing these opportunities to our prospective investors,” he said.

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North West Premier, Lazarus Mokgosi stewardship leads the province to positive trajectory  

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Picture: North West Premier, Lazarus Mokgosi

By REGINALD KANYANE  

The North West Premier, Lazarus Mokgosi said his government has demonstrated significant improvement in the 2023/24 audit outcomes for provincial departments. Mokgosi said the provincial government is showing a marked progression from the previous year. 

He further said this positive trend reflects the government’s ongoing commitment to enhancing financial management, accountability and transparency across all its departments and entities. Mokgosi added that in the latest audit cycle that ended on 31 March 2024, a total of nine out of twelve departments received unqualified audit reports, with two of them receiving clean audits. 

“Only one department received a qualified audit outcome with a reduction in audit qualification paragraphs. This signifies that the government’s support efforts must be doubled to ensure that this department also receives an unqualified audit outcome.

“The current year performance reveals that the new techniques that were employed over the previous year which included working closely with Chief Financial Officers (CFOs) and officials in the financial management sections are yielding desired results,” he said.

Mokgosi said in the previous year, the province managed to obtain seven unqualified audit outcomes, while five departments were qualified, prompting the provincial government to increase its support on these five departments.

He said the expansion in audit coverage bears testimony to the province’s comprehensive financial oversight and accountability. 

“Part of building a capable, ethical and developmental state is to see to it that the government has sound financial management controls. We are particularly encouraged by the increase in clean audits and the overall accuracy of our financial statements. 

“These improvements are aligned to our ongoing efforts to build public trust, enhance service delivery and improve the lives of the people of the North West,” said Mokgosi.

He said collaborative efforts of the Provincial Treasury (PT), Provincial Audit Committee (PAC), the Auditor General of South Africa (AGSA), dedicated members and Chairpersons of Portfolio Committees and other robust governance structures continue to set the province on a positive developmental trajectory.

“We made significant progress in addressing the root causes of the challenges that culminated into Section 100. These key stakeholders have been instrumental in implementing comprehensive reforms, enhancing financial management and strengthening oversight mechanisms,” he said. 

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North West Premier, Lazarus Mokgosi says media play a significant role in keeping communities abreast  

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Picture: The North West Premier, Lazarus Mokgosi/Facebook

By OBAKENG MAJE 

The North West Premier, Lazarus Mokgosi said the media plays a significant role in keeping the communities abreast of key government programmes that are primarily aimed at changing the lives of the people for the better. Mokgosi, who held a Provincial Media Day at Protea Hotel in Mahikeng on 2 August 2024 said, they have invited the media as part of their ongoing efforts to cement the relations with members of the media.

He further said as Members of Executive Council (MECs) in the North West, they met with the media after he delivered a speech on the official opening of the North West Provincial Legislature (NWPL), to highlight and put emphasis on the priorities of the 7th administration. Mokgosi added that they affirm and fully support the independence of the media to hold the government accountable as enshrined in the constitution.

“This Media Day that we are launching today will be held annually after the Premier’s State of the Province Address (SOPA) to communicate developmental initiatives of this administration, as well as interventions on various socio-economic challenges such as unemployment, poverty and income inequalities afflicting our communities.

“We will also hold quarterly media sessions with yourselves to report progress registered in attending to a number of challenges, remedial action plans and achievements.

We are not ignorant to challenges confronting our province and we are hard at work to speedily resolve them,” he said.

Mokgosi said in the past two weeks, Members of the Executive Council (MECs), have been tabling their Budget Votes and Policy Speeches that are aligned to their Annual Performance Plans (APPs) to ensure that they create economic opportunities for their people, whilst attending to their concerns on service delivery. He said the period from now until 31 March 2025, the 7thadministration will be completing the work of the 6th administration to ensure a seamless transition between the two administrations.

“The full account and report back of the 2024 SOPA will therefore be in February 2025, which will also include a full resourced Programme of Action of the 7th administration. The provincial government has subsequently developed a Programme of Action for the 2024 SOPA for implementation.

“Today, we have invited you to highlight what the priority areas of the 7thadministration are. We have appointed the Economic & Investment Advisory Council, consisting of Members of the Executive Council (MECs), Economists, Industry Experts, Organised Agriculture, Labour, Tourism Sector, Mining and Independent Experts,” said Mokgosi. 

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