Premier

I thank the member for the question, and note its similarity to an Oral Question asked by the same member during the sitting of 19 September 2024 on Question Paper 4/2024. With this in mind, I will take this opportunity to reiterate some of the answers I provided at that time.

In respect of questions (1) and (2): Accountability is one of the six key values on which we base our behaviour as employees of the Western Cape Government, and as servants of the residents of the Western Cape. Everyone in our government is expected to adhere to these values, including and especially our provincial Ministers.

Our provincial Ministers and I are accountable through our reports to cabinet; we are accountable to the Auditor-General as the executive authorities for our departmental budgets and spending; in certain circumstances, we may be partially accountable to relevant departments or bodies within national government; and last but perhaps most importantly of all, we remain accountable to this House and its members through committee sessions, written and oral parliamentary questions, interpellations, and appearances in the House. Even without my efforts, we ought to be thankful that our national and provincial constitutions ensure such a high level of honesty and accountability for our executive – especially when that same accountability has often been sorely lacking in other provinces or at the national level. 

Over and above these measures, I have instituted a formal accountability process to assess the work performance of all Ministers.  All Ministers account on their quarterly financial and non-financial performance on the budgets and Annual performance plans. Any risks on performance are discussed with the aim of finding corrective measures to ensure everyone stays on track with performance.  I have also instituted one-on-one engagements with each Minister to discuss performance of their Votes on an individual basis.  These performance discussions also include the Accounting Officer of each of the Votes. The Annual Performance Plans and the Budget, as the formal accountability instruments, are the basis and the system used to assess the work performance of Ministers and their respective Departments

My most-recent engagement with my Ministers took place roughly a month ago in late April. During these meetings, myself and the Director-General met with each Minister in my cabinet, as well as their respective Heads of Department and senior staff members. Our conversations primarily centred around their Ministerial priorities, and their contributions of the overarching objectives of the 2025-2030 Provincial Strategic Plan (PSP).

As this House is aware, the apex priority for the Western Cape Government over the next five years, as outlined in the PSP, is to grow the economy in order to create jobs, and to equip our residents with the skills and resources necessary to get these jobs. This is a mission and a priority that unites not just this cabinet, but every one of our dedicated staff members. Each of our Ministers has an integral part to play in making this vision a reality, and a core part of our discussions on their progress is relating their work to our greater goal of economic growth and job creation.

Our apex priority is broken down into four portfolios, namely: Growth for Jobs, Safety, an Educated, Healthy, & Caring Society, and Innovation, Culture, & Governance. Each portfolio supports economic growth and job creation by either directly driving opportunities or removing barriers that limit participation in the economy. I thus consider the performance of the provincial Ministers with regard to their contribution to their portfolios.

It is important to note that many Ministers have mandates which cut across the portfolios of the PSP – something which is a result of our Whole of Government approach to accomplishing our apex priority. In brief:

• Minister Baartman is responsible for ensuring the fiscal responsibility of our province. More than this, her priorities also encompass the encouragement of measures such as Alternative and Blended Financing to further enhance government’s ability to spend effectively on services that matter to the Western Cape. As such, her Department is heavily involved with the Innovation, Culture & Governance portfolio.
   
• As the executive authority for both the Department of Local Government and the Department of Environmental Affairs and Development Planning, Minister Bredell has an exceptional mandate across all four portfolios. As our primary interface with municipalities, the Department of Local Government has a part to play by building municipal capacity and ensuring the water security of our province.  The Department of Environmental Affairs and Development planning also has mandates across all four portfolios, but is primarily focused on the Growth for Jobs Portfolio through its assistance with driving investment, and helping the transition to a growing, greener economy.
• Minister Londt and the Department of Social Development are responsible for many of the outcomes under the Educated, Healthy & Caring Society Portfolio. But they also have a critical role to play in the Safety Portfolio in terms of crime prevention, and in the Growth for Jobs Portfolio by assisting in our drive to equip our residents with marketable skills.
• Similarly, the Department of Cultural Affairs and Sport under Minister Mackenzie has roles to play not only in enhancing the social fabric of our society, but also in upskilling our residents and employing the transformative power of sport and culture to assist in crime prevention. Our Provincial Heritage Sites are also vital draws for tourism, meaning that DCAS has a direct part to play in job creation.
• Minster Marais is obviously primarily responsible for the Safety portfolio, and her Department of Police Oversight and Community Safety is primarily responsible for ensuring that the Western Cape is safe enough to grow economically, and to reap the safety benefits that expanded job creation will bring.
• Under Minister Maynier, the Western Cape Education Department has the task of ensuring the education of our children with the skills they will need to get the jobs of tomorrow – a critical component of the Growth for Jobs portfolio. But the WCED also has a critical role to play in ensuring we build the Educated, Healthy, and Caring society we hope to achieve – and thus the WCED is a core part of that portfolio, too.
• Minister Meyer was another Minister with whom we discussed the affairs of two departments – namely the Department of Agriculture and the Department of Economic Opportunities and Tourism. Both of these Departments make up the core of our efforts towards economic growth, and therefore it is Minister Meyer who is perhaps more responsible than any other single minister for the Growth for Jobs Strategy.
• Minister Sileku is another key part of the Growth for Jobs strategy, and the Western Cape Mobility Department is a crucial part of ensuring our people can get to work and goods can move around the province safely, cheaply, and efficiently.
• As the minister responsible for building and maintaining the critical infrastructure we need to grow as a province, Minister Simmers is also one of the members of the cabinet whose priorities primarily fall under the Growth for Jobs Portfolio. However, the Department of Infrastructure’s push for ever more affordable housing is also a key part of building an Educated, Healthy, and Caring Society.
• Finally, Minister Wenger and the Department of Health and Wellness are core components of building that society, and ensuring that the Western Cape Government’s healthcare offering keeps pace with the breakout growth and greater prosperity we expect to see in our province.

In any instance of underperformance, we will take action with the aim of supporting the respective Departments and Ministers to find solutions and to implement measures to correct any underperformance.   As part of my own oversight, I also undertake service delivery visits to assess performance of Departments. Findings feed into the individual discussions with Miniters and also into Cabinet

All of our Ministers have thus been assessed according to their progress in each of their portfolios which I have described above. While we are always ready to find new ways to help our Ministers and departments perform better, I can tell this House that all Ministers are performing well and working effectively toward their mandates in service of the PSP’s goals. At this time, there is no need to act against any Minister for underperformance.

(3) The Western Cape Government (WCG) Contact Centre serves as the primary point of contact for residents to log queries, file complaints, or request government services. Interactions with residents are governed by the WCG Digital Channel Management Protocol, which is designed to support both WCG business operations and citizen service delivery through digitally enabled channels.

The Contact Centre implemented and maintained high service standards, to enhance its overall efficiency and responsiveness to residents. These would include:

• Answering 96% of calls received;
• Answering 85% of calls within 20 seconds;
• Providing responses within 60 minutes during business hours;
• Resolving complaints within 36 business hours;
• Resolve 85% of queries on a first contact basis; and
• Achieving a 95% resolution rate.

Residents can access the Contact Centre through 15 channels, each managed according to our Standard Operating Procedure (SOP), the WCG Digital Channel Management Protocol and the applicable Service Standards.

The Contact Centre follows a structured ticket lifecycle:

1. Ticket Creation – All resident interactions are captured in a CRM system and ticketed, ensuring proper documentation and efficient management of responses and resolutions.
2. Ticket Capture and First Contact Resolution (FCR) – The Contact Centre aims for FCR by using annually verified FAQs from departments. Residents with a CRM profile can log their own tickets online through our website and monitor progress until resolution.
3. Escalations – If the Contact Centre is unable to achieve FCR or if a ticket requires special attention due to its complexity or priority, it is escalated to the department response manager for further investigation and resolution. Residents are informed about the escalation process and provided with the expected resolution timeframes.
4. Resolution and Feedback – The ticket is updated according to progress, and ultimately it is Resolved, including evidence to that effect.
5. Citizen Satisfaction – After a ticket is resolved, citizen satisfaction is measured through formal surveys in CRM
6. Quality Assurance – A percentage of staff engagements with residents undergo quality assurance checks to ensure that Contact Centre agents meet acceptable performance standards and error thresholds.
7. Data and Reporting – The Contact Centre complies with POPIA and provides departments with regular reports according to an agreed-upon reporting schedule.

Tickets regarding HODs or Ministers are managed through the Priority Escalation and Resolution Management (PERM) Standard Operating Procedure which also includes serious matters such as threats to life, allegations of corruption or abuse of power, or systemic service delivery failures. 

The Contact Centre office hours are:

• Monday to Friday: 07h30 to 17h00
• Weekends: 08h00 to 13h00.
• After hours:
  • The Contact Centre has a voice mail facility that is available outside of agreed operational hours, and responses are made within 60 minutes of business hours activation.
  • Please Call Me, SMS and emails are still received after hours, and responses are made within 60 minutes of business hours activation.

Additionally, First Thursdays is another mechanism where residents are able raise concerns or complaints. Every resident’s case is registered by the Contact Centre staff and their details captured including the nature of their case and whom they came to see. Every Minister and Head of Department has a scribe that records the conversation and the nature of the case. That correspondence is then disseminated to the relevant officials or programmes as directed by the Minister or Head of Department. Each office will have their own prescribed way of managing and resolving these cases. 

In the Office of the Premier, all cases are logged on the CMATS system and given a specific reference number. Should any cases from First Thursday be related to other departments and their mandates, an email will be sent by my office to the relevant Minister and department which includes the case background and request that the matter is addressed. Furthermore, they are requested to contact the resident to discuss possible solutions to their concerns raised.

Once the matter has been referred to the relevant department and minister, my office will send an email to the resident which will provide the background of the case, the resolution and introduce the residents to the office that will be dealing with that case will be copied into the email.

Last but not least, I am always excited to receive feedback from our residents, and my office frequently responds to queries, complements, and complaints received from our residents. Any resident of the Western Cape has the option of sending me an email at Premier.Winde@westerncape.gov.za or of calling my office directly. These numbers are readily listed on our Western Cape Government website – as are the contact details for any one of our provincial Ministers.

Much of the information I have given in this reply is contained within the 2025-2030 PSP document, which is freely available on our website. While I would expect every member of this House to have read that document by this point as part of their oversight duties, I would like to encourage members of the public to read it as well.  It demonstrates the roadmap this government intends to follow over the next five years, and it is vital that the public knows how their government intends to make the Western Cape a more prosperous, safer, better, more innovative place.

Because while the Cabinet of the Western Cape Government remains accountable to myself as Premier and to this House as the oversight mechanism, all of us are ultimately accountable to the most important authority in this province – the people who live in it. While we may not always agree, I firmly believe that our government, this House, and the residents we collectively serve remain totally united in the vision of a better Western Cape for all of our residents.