the DPW stand at the Rand Easter Show as part of Stakeholder Mobilisation,
Gauteng
18 April 2006
Our valuable stakeholders,
Senior management from the Department,
Ladies and gentlemen,
This year is our second appearance at the Rand Show and it is the hallmark
of our public relations campaign as part of our communications to take the
Department to the communities. We launched an intensified phase of our
communications and marketing campaign in November last year and we aptly called
it âSouth Africa Worksâ because of public works. This pay offline we felt was
an assertion of the role and the importance that this Department plays in the
social development and economic growth of the country as demonstrated by some
of its core programmes on display today.
As one of the key infrastructure development departments of government,
Public Works has for a long time negated its centrifugal role in the
transformation of South Africa by failing to aggressively market its key
functions and their effect on the normalisation and democratisation of our
society. That was until 2000 when the current Minister of Public Works, the
honourable Stella Sigcau made a policy speech wherein she committed her
Department to stepping up communications and community liaison in line with
efforts of this government to use communications as a tool of development and
empowerment.
Two years ago we celebrated 10 years of democracy and freedom and at the
time we boldly stated that since 1994 this Department had spent R10 billion to
execute nearly eight thousand construction-related projects as part of its core
functions of immovable asset management and construction industry development.
The figures excluded more than R2,5 billion worth of infrastructure development
projects invested in the rural communities as part of governmentâs poverty
alleviation drive.
As we make strides to meet government socio-economic objectives of the
second decade by 2014, the Department has stepped up its pace to align its
programmes to Accelerated and Shared Growth Initiative for South Africa
(AsgiSA). We are part of the government team involved knee high in efforts to
halve unemployment and grow the economy by more than six percent.
To demonstrate our resolve, we have among others redefined our structure to
compliment our strategic vision to be the world class organisation. We have
also reformed both our procurement methods and our financial management to
bring efficiency and effectiveness to our business. We are putting in place the
human resource plan to take care of our scarce skills and we have embraced best
practices to improve our competitiveness including infrastructure development
and delivery. Internally we have launched a management improvement âZimisele /
Give it your bestâ programme to sustain our reforms.
The awarding of an unqualified audit report to the Department by the
Auditor-General in 2004/05 was a testimony to the incipient success of our turn
around strategy. The current successes of our programmes such as the Expanded
Public Works Programme (EPWP), the Re Kgabisa Tshwane inner city government
accommodation improvement programme, the construction and property industries
development and transformation programmes are all early indications of our
relentless repositioning strive.
Like any milestone this success signifies the end of one stretch but the
beginning of another. We have sworn an oath to continue this trend.
I want to thank all our stakeholders who have joined us this morning and
like to encourage this co-operative association well into the future. To Lindie
Rasiluma and the marketing team, we applaud you for this wonderful opportunity
to highlight the Department. We expect to see this Department and its products
and services showcased at every significant forum locally and beyond our
borders. I invite all to partake in our hospitality.
I thank you!
Issued by: Department of Public Works
18 April 2006
Source: Department of Public Works (http://www.publicworks.gov.za/)
