Government Communication and Information System
Government has announced that the much anticipated draft green papers on the monitoring and evaluation system and the national planning commission are expected to be finalised and published by the end of August. Government communications has released a statement on the latest cabinet meeting held in Pretoria.
During the cabinet meeting, the minister of finance tabled the first draft report of the ministerial task team set up to reprioritise spending. According to the statement, government wants to “reduce wastage and to divert spending to new areas” rather than attempting to cut public spending.
A primary concern is the need to achieve better value for money. The task team consists of the ministers of finance, monitoring and evaluation located within the presidency and public service and administration. The task team’s recommendations would be tabled soon.
In terms of legislation, cabinet approved the Protection of Personal Information Bill. The bill will be tabled in Parliament in the near future. The bill aims to protect an individual’s “constitutional right to privacy” with regard to the use of personal information by a broad range of actors including employers.
Cabinet also approved the comprehensive rural development programme. The programme encompasses three key areas, namely, better co-ordinated agrarian reform, a more effective land reform programme and the establishment of meaningful economic and social infrastructure in rural areas.
The programme will be launched by president Zuma in Limpopo on 17 August 2009.
The statement declares that a moratorium is to be placed on the sale of state-owned mining assets. Cabinet indicated that any exceptions to the moratorium would have to be cleared by cabinet following discussions with the minister of mineral resources. The moratorium has been put in place to bestow on the minister an opportunity to complete an audit of all mining interests owned by the state.
Sabinet Cape Town Office
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