WCG DoTP APP 2023/2024

Positively, the number of youth not in employment, education or training (NEETs) in the Western Cape has decreased in the third quarter by 5 262 from the previous quarter, although it has increased from the same quarter in the previous year. This mirrors the youth unemployment rate, which has also decreased by 2.1% quarter-on-quarter. However, the youth unemployment rate is still higher than the pre-pandemic levels. The Province registered a 4.8% Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth in 2021 (PERO, 2022/23) following the contraction of 6.2% in 2021. The Western Cape is expected to grow by 2.2 per cent in 2022 and only 0.3 per cent in 2023. Increasing inflation, rising policy rates, high unemployment, power shortages, and slow reform momentum that is affecting the national outlook are all factors contributing to this outlook. The Western Cape BER-RMB Composite Business Confidence Index (BCI) shows that 44 per cent of respondents were positive in Quarter 2 of 2022 and thus 56% of respondents had a negative outlook. Violent crime remains a key challenge for the Western Cape. The number of homicides recorded by the Western Cape Forensic Pathology Services for Quarter 3 of 2022/23 represents a 2.4% increase compared to Q3:2021/22 (the same period last year), and a 16.9% increase compared to Q1:2022/23 (the previous quarter). In 2022, 42.7% (25 761) of grade 12 learners in the Western Cape attained the appropriate pass rates to be eligible for university admission. The bachelor pass rates for the Western Cape continues to exceed that of the national average (38.4% in 2022). Although Matric results give an indication of learner performance, education remains a key challenge in addressing inequality. In the Western Cape, it is estimated that 7.7% of children aged 5 to 18 were not attending an educational institution during 2021. Gender-based violence is still showing worrying signs of increase post the pandemic with 2 518 victims of gender-based violence and crime seeking social development support services between 1 April 2020 and June 2020, compared to 5 960 victims accessing the same services between 1 April 2022 to 30 June 2022.

6.1.5.

Trend Analysis

Within Programme 2: Provincial Strategic Management, the PDO maintains synergy from the data governance policy initiative (baseline year 2019/20) to continuously improve responsiveness towards coherently managing a year-on-year increasing demand. The PDO introduced a Community of Practice (COP) as a partnership approach that streamlines communication and advocacy efforts related to sharing learnings and experiences on responsive data and evidence services.

The Provincial Data Forum (PDF) serves as a platform for:

• departments to engage on leveraging each other to deliver on their data initiatives and institutionalise data governance practices with PDO guidance

• keeping departments informed on PDO products, methods, tools, and techniques

• shaping integrated demand-supply management between PDO-BeI-Departments

• optimising and integrating Data Collection tools

• embedding a data-driven culture in the WCG to shape the increased use and access to credible data for better service delivery outcomes. The data and evidence services are driven by six (6) Catalytic Enhancements that shapes the delivery of Flagship Data and Evidence Initiatives to strengthen the maturity of how data

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DOTP ANNUAL PERFORMANCE PLAN FOR 2023/2024