Head of Transport in KwaZulu-Natal, Mr C Hlabisa will officiate at a farewell function arranged by Vuk'uzakhe contractors in honouring the outgoing Premier Dr. S'bu Ndebele for his contribution in creating a platform for small contractors to emerge. The event will take place on Saturday, 16 May 2009 at Woodburn Stadium in Pietermaritzburg starting at 09h00.
Vuk'uzakhe is an emerging contractor development programme which focuses on wealth and job creation in communities that have been mostly disadvantaged historically. The programme was piloted in 1994 as part of the Roads for Rural Development Programme which then had a budget of only R3 million. Today more than one thousand contracts are awarded annually to emerging contractors with a value of more than R200 million.
Dr S'bu Ndebele was championing this initiative while he was the Minister of Transport in the province of KwaZulu-Natal with the main purpose of eradicating and creating jobs. To date, the Vuk'uzakhe programme and contractors have created a substantial number of jobs, mostly in rural areas where unemployment is high. The department has invested about R10 billion in the Vuk'uzakhe programme from 1998 up to 2008. There are 29 140 registered Vuk'uzakhe Contractors in the province.
There are 32 Local Associations as per RRTFs and four regional associations, 100 learner ships were awarded for the construction contractors NQF Level 2 learnership and 88 received the full qualification.
"Central to the lasting eradication of poverty is the creation of a growing business sector that creates sustainable jobs which in turn, increases the productivity of our country. The small business sector must reflect economic empowerment for ordinary citizens and not just the upper echelons of society and Dr Ndebele played a pivotal role in making it a reality," said Cele.
Enquiries:
Nonkululeko Mbatha
Cell: 083 645 6252
Issued by: Department of Transport, KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Government
15 May 2009
Source: KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Government (http://www.kzntransport.gov.za)
