Speaker, hon members, we took a conscious decision to establish a Performance Monitoring and Evaluation department in the Presidency. We further decided to go beyond receiving reports from departments and to undertake hands-on visits to assess the delivery on our five priorities and other programmes of government.
To date we have undertaken four formal monitoring visits, focusing on government's five priorities; twice to the Eastern Cape and to Limpopo and the Free State.
We visited Mdantsane Township and Peddie in the Eastern Cape to assess the state of education. We were convinced that the national government's decision to work with the province directly, in order to turn the situation around, was the correct one. We are now working closely together to revitalise education in that province.
The second Eastern Cape visit focused on boosting job creation in the automotive sector in Port Elizabeth, assessing service delivery and revitalising Mthatha in the King Sabata Dalindyebo, KSD, Municipality. The KSD Municipality is a Special Presidential Project. In this regard we will continue to work closely with the province to improve the quality of life there.
Last month we visited Qwaqwa in the Free State to assess rural development. We were impressed with some of the good work that has already been done, although residents also indicated various areas of improvement.
In July we visited the Vhembe district in Limpopo for health care assessment, and undertook to improve service through the building of a new hospital. In Lebowakgomo, also in Limpopo, we were impressed to see a model hospital which can serve as a standard for most government hospitals.
We have also sent teams of officials from the Performance Monitoring and Evaluation department to check on service delivery frustrations and solutions in Umzimkhulu in KwaZulu-Natal, Burgersdal in Gauteng, Balfour in Mpumalanga and other areas. Principally, the issues which have been raised by residents in most areas include water, electricity, housing, health, schools, clinics, policing, unemployment and other infrastructure.
The major challenges include poor co-ordination between spheres of government, frustrations with the long and complex processes of obtaining assistance from government, as well as a lack of resources.
The launch of the Presidential Infrastructure Co-ordinating Commission on 8 September 2011 is meant partly to help us deal with these infrastructure challenges. We are satisfied that enough is being done to build a better life in the areas visited. Thank you, Speaker. [Applause.]