The Western Cape will continue with its ICT friendly policies to enable the province to fit into the global service economy, says premier designate Ebrahim Rasool, but he warns that government IT departments face transformation.
Rasool spoke to ITWeb after a media conference yesterday, where he sketched the policies he plans to pursue after formally taking office on 27 April.
"The Western Cape must continue to pursue policies that will allow it to play a significant role in the global service economy. This includes ICT, tourism and other service industries. We also have to ensure that our educational institutions meet the skills needs of these sectors," he said.
Rasool, who was the Member of the Provincial Executive Committee for Finance in the outgoing coalition government, presided over a number of projects that were launched in the Western Cape to bolster the province`s ICT credentials. These included private and government call centers and investment conferences.
Rasool has been appointed to replace New National Party leader Martinus van Schalkwyk as head of the Western Cape. He is one of nine provincial leaders appointed by President Thabo Mbeki after the ANC won the national and provincial elections held on 14 April.
ICT is the third largest formal employer in the province after manufacturing/agriculture and tourism. About 27 000 people are employed in the ICT sector in about 1 500 companies.
Rasool went on to say that his party was not happy about transformation in certain provincial government departments.
"We have not been satisfied about the level of representation and that of service delivery by those departments. The bottom line on transformation is that of service delivery," he said.
One provincial government department, Provincial Administration for the Western Cape, has been heavily criticised in the past for failing to deliver various services to the other departments that it is supposed to support. This department reports directly to the premier`s office.
"There have been a number of issues concerning that department for some time and they will be addressed. We won`t necessarily increase the budget, but we will certainly help them to use it more cleverly," Rasool said.
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