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Certain Canadian provinces have linked up with South African Provinces to develop the provincial governments' governance capacity and improve government systems and processes. Senior staff from each country work together in a supportive manner on a practitioner to practioner basis. The improved ability of governments to deliver their mandates will assist governments in reducing poverty and delivering basic needs and services to citizens. HISTORY In 1992 Nelson Mandela asked the Prime Minister of Canada to help the Democratic Movement in South Africa prepare the country for a new government. Canadian expert, Al Johnson was appointed as senior advisor to help decide how best Canada could assist. By the end of 1992 a $4.2 M (CAN) project, called the Policy Support Project, had been planned. The project was funded by the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) and executed by the International Development Research Centre (IDRC). The project was renewed in 1996. The second phase was called the Governance Support Project (GSP) or the Programme on Governance (POG). It had a budget of $9.8M (CAN).South African politicians and public servants went to various countries before the 1994 elections to look at different democratic systems. Several teams also visited the Canadian federal and provincial governments. After the elections some of the officials and politicians became public servants and parliamentarians. They indicated a desire to establish continuing relationships with Canadian provinces. Following the 1994 elections, the Policy Support Project focussed on providing advice on the needs of transition - constitutional advice and advice related to the development of policies and structures related to establishing democratic governments. Areas of focus included the machinery of government, fiscal arrangements, intergovernmental arrangements, and legislative processes. The Project provided advice to the national government and provincial governments. It also sponsored workshops and study tours, arranged for subject matter experts to provide consultant advice, and pioneered twinning arrangements with interested South African provinces. THE TWINNING PROJECT The Programme on Governance expired July 31, 2000. Following a program review, the Canadian government determined that the project should continue but should focus on strengthening the provincial governments only. The new project has a budget of $3.6M (CAN) in total. The Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) is funding the project, while IPAC (L'Institut d'administration publique du Canada) provides administrative direction. The new project has the following requirements: - Each partner of a twinning arrangement must contribute in-kind to the project. Canadian provinces must contribute a total amount of $1.4M (CAN) over the duration of the project ($1.4M/6 = $233,334 per Canadian province). South African provinces must contribute a total amount of $400,000 (CAN) over the duration of the project ($400,000/6 =$66,667 per South African province).
- CIDA's Results-Based accountability model must be used to ensure results are tracked throughout the project and that the Canadian government can justify its expenditures to the Canadian public. Likewise the provincial governments should be able to show results on their investments.
- Work plans must be responsive to South African provinces' requirements within the framework of CIDA policy goals - enhanced ability to reduce poverty and better service delivery, especially services that meet basic human needs. As well, work plans should contribute to meeting one or more of CIDA's cross cutting themes - poverty reduction, gender equity/equality, HIV/AIDS, and environmental sustainability.
- Each Canadian and each South African province must designate an appropriate official to serve as provincial co-ordinator.
There are currently seven twinning arrangements although not all have been formalized through an actual memorandum of understanding (MOU) and some are more active than others. The links between the Canadian provinces and the South African provinces are as follows: - Saskatchewan - Free State
- New Brunswick - Northern Cape
- Manitoba - North West Province
- Alberta - Mpumalanga
- British Columbia - Eastern Cape
- Ontario - Gauteng
- Ontario - Western Cape
CONTACTS The Project has two offices - a Canadian office in Regina, Canada to serve the Canadian provinces and a South African office in Bloemfontein, Free State to serve the South African provinces. The Project Manager (Lynn Minja) divides her time between the two countries. South Africa:
University of the Free State
School of Management, Room 272
P.O. Box 339, Internal Box 17, Bloemfontein, 9300
Free State, South Africa
Tel: 051 401 3563
Fax: 051 401 3587
Cell: 083 279 1979
minjal.ekw@mail.uovs.ac.za Canada:
Public Service Commission
2100 Broad Street, 5th Floor
Regina, Saskatchewan
Canada S4P 3V7
Tel: 1 306 787 3258
Fax: 1 306 787 4074
lynnminja@ipaciapc.ca Western Cape Coordinator
Ms Gayle Kaylor
Tel: 021 483 3881
Fax: 021 483 5447
gkaylor@pgwc.gov.za |
