23 January 29 January 2015

Fifty-five caterers in the Free State will cook up a storm when they square up for a coveted price of a franchise or own restaurant. The innovative and interactive competition, 2015 Free State Caterers Challenge is the brain child of MEC for Department of Economic, Small Business Development, Tourism
and Environmental Affairs, Mosebenzi Zwane. The Challenge was launched by MEC Zwane on Wednesday, 21 January 2015 at the Central University of
Technology. This project emanates from the lessons of the men and women who decided to do something with their lives albeit the challenges facing this
business sector. The first leg of the three staged competition will only be open to caterers in Bloemfontein. Only caterers already on the government's
transversal contract will be eligible to enter.
The competition's objective is to support the Free State caterers to expand their businesses so that they can have a meaningful contribution towards the
economic development and job creation in the province. The participating caterers have had an intensive training for the past 18 months at the Central
University of Technology to hone their talent in culinary offerings. The competition is staged in partnership with International Labour Organisation (ILO)
through their Enterprise Challenge Programme in support of job creation through innovation, entrepreneurship and sustainable enterprise development
in South Africa. Premier of the Free State, Ace Magashule and MEC Zwane were joined by two hundred guests who attended the glittering launch event.

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Free State Provincial Government Weekly Update

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Over 300 middle income home seekers (men & women) gathered at the President hotel to listen to MEC for Cogta & Human Settlement, Olly Mlamleli
outlining the processes involved in owning the ultimate priced possession - a home! The programme that MEC Mlamleli was presenting, Finance Linked
Individual Subsidy (FLISP) was introduced to address gap in housing provision. People who are affected are said to be earning too much to be provided
with fully subsidised government houses whilst they are also earning too little to qualify for a bond from lending institutions.
It is this sector of our society that rents, lives in backyards or stay with parents. Their lives are stagnant, and so would their children's, if there are no
interventions to address this dilemma. In her address, MEC Mlamleli assured the attendants that government is committed to ensure that qualifying citizens own residential properties. According to the MEC, FLISP aims to reduce the initial mortgage loan amount to render the monthly loan repayment instalments affordable over the loan payment term. The interaction between the stakeholders and the department pointed to some limitations regarding
the implementation of this programme.
We acknowledge the concerns and challenges you have raised here today. There is some work that we have already started in order to ameliorate the
drawbacks, and to this end, I can announce our partnership with the Free State Development Corporation for this purpose. Moving forward, we will create a help desk to focus on all Flisp-related enquiries, said MEC Mlamleli.

WALTZING HER WAY TO THE TOP

The Free State was placed on the map as the official of the Department of Sport, Arts, Culture and Recreation, Mrs Zola Thamae, walked away with Administrator of
the Year award at the South African Sports Awards which were held in Sandton. Thamae, who is the Director of Community Sport, was honoured as the President of the
Free State Cricket Union.
The MEC for Sport, Arts Culture and Recreation, Mathabo Leeto congratulated Thamae for doing well in the traditionally male-dominated sport and receiving the
award. Her appointment as President at the end of 2013 made her the second woman in South African Cricket to hold this office, and is a fantastic achievement. We
are extremely proud of Thamae and the strides she has made in empowering the people and promoting sports in our communities. She has proven herself as a woman
of stature and character in sport and is an inspiration for the young girls in our province that anything is possible once you set your mind to it, MEC Leeto stated. The
award means the world to me; this triumph says I am the beacon of light to other women. I feel humbled and blessed by this achievement. It really shows that hard
work pays, even though I was not necessarily expecting a reward for making a difference in other people's lives. I want to thank the Free State Cricket Union Board of
Directors for their support; this award is for them too, said the excited Thamae.

For Nomshado Matselane, receiving the award for the Excellent Trainer of the National School of Government (NSG) for
2014/15, was confirmation that the Free State Provincial Governments commitment to capacity building is yielding positive results. After 10 years as an educator in Thabo Mofutsanyana, Matselane joined the Department of Public Works as
a Deputy Director: EPWP Social Sector Coordinator in 2007. Currently, she is in the Security Training unit in the same department as Deputy Director: Training and Generic Support.
She is part of the Compulsory Induction Programme (CIP) and assists other departments with the implementation and
facilitation of CIP. Some of the departments she serves include Police, Roads & Transport, Health, Premier and Education.
CIP targets all new employees to the public service. It is aimed at ensuring that all public servants are oriented to the
public sector and to their respective job responsibilities. It is rolled out by the National School of Government to build an
effective and professional public service through the provision of relevant and mandatory training programmes.

Training is a lifelong process, as a trainer you are never at a stage where you know everything, things change day in and
day out and you need to always do research and learn more before taking the information to the trainees. We should not
cease learning: in our individual spaces, our workplaces or even from each other. Team work will take this province far
said the overjoyed Matselane.
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FSTDI SCOOPS THREE AWARDS

Kagisho Mangate, Training Manager:

From Left to right: Motlhago Makola, Acting Deputy Director: Management Training; Thandi Jeru, Skills Development Facilitator: Department of Human Settlement; Abbey Kgaile, Director: FSTDI; Nomshado Matselane, Deputy Director: Security Training, Public Works &
Infrastructure, Mampone Mohatle, HRD Agriculture & Rural Development; Victoria Thaele Skills Development Facilitator, Department of
the Premier and Makhanna Lebona, Trainer: Public Works & Infrastructure.

Provincial Treasury received Ministers

Award for Excellent Service

At the recent 17th Public Sectors Trainers Forum (PSTF) Conference hosted by the National School of Government at the CSIR Convention Centre in Tshwane, the Free
State Provincial Government shone as they walked away with some prestigious awards. In preparing for this years conference, the Free State Training and Development Institute (FSTDI) convened a consultative meeting with all Skills Development Facilitators to discuss the nominations. After thorough assessment, an agreement
was reached to enter four categories. Out of the four nominations, FSTDI scooped three awards categories in the whole public service. They came home with the following awards:
Ministers Award for Excellent Service to public service training was awarded to Mr Kagisho Mangate: Training Manager, Provincial Treasury for the
successful delivery of the FSTDIs PSETA Accredited Project Management course for FSPG officials up to SMS level 13.
NSG Principals Award for Excellence in training and development for NSG programmes was awarded to the Free State for the best Compulsory
Induction Programme (CIP) training; and
Excellent CIP Trainer in the public service was awarded to Ms Nomshado Matselane, Deputy Director: Security Training, Public Works and Infrastructure.
FSTDI is a training institute that facilitates and co-ordinates the building of transverse capacity in Free State Provincial Government, ensures effective and efficient
provision of human resource training and development services, and develops partnerships with key stakeholders in improving development of Human Capital.