Works, Ignatius Jacobs
16 February 2006
We are not here to speak about promises; we are here to speak about
delivery! We are here to speak about improving the quality of life of the
residents of Gauteng and the people of South Africa in general.
The State of the province address by the Premier of Gauteng, Mr Mbhazima
Shilowa accounted for the work of the Gauteng Provincial Government in this
current term of office. It further envisioned the work that government should
continue to do, in an effort to try to make sure that the ideals in the 'age of
hope' speech by the President are realised.
The State of the Province address posed a number of challenges for both
Public Transport and Public Works to ensure that our province prosper socially
and economically. As a Department the challenge for us is to ensure that Public
Works makes Gauteng Work and that the movement of people, goods and services;
realises the five strategic priorities of the province.
In terms of building better communities and efforts to ensure that we create
jobs and fight poverty by focusing on the 20 townships identified by the
Premier; the following work has already began through our socioeconomic
infrastructure development programme;
Job creation and Poverty Alleviation
1. We are currently busy with identifying trading spaces, sidewalks,
bridges, green areas, sports fields and facilitate skills development through
the venture and construction learnerships, through the Expanded Public Works
Programme (EPWP). Through this we will be able to employ young people, women
and people with disabilities.
2. We have further identified 10 community heritage sites for implementation
in the next 24 months. This is in partnership with the Department of Sports,
Arts, Culture and Recreation (SACR). Four sites are being rolled out in Duduza,
Thokoza and Boipatong Heritage sites. Six other sites have been identified in
the EPWP.
3. These are ongoing Siyasebenza projects which include the development of
schools' sports fields. The project is labour intensive and will facilitate
poverty reduction and skills development. These projects provide new
opportunities in the maintenance of schools' overall infrastructure e.g.
ablution facilities and sewer piping.
4. In partnership with Department of Agriculture, Conservation and
Environment (DACE), the Department is using the farmer settlement programme as
a basis to develop agricultural projects on identified farm land in Gauteng.
EPWP will follow the Gauteng Agricultural Strategy as a guide to implement
these projects. The projects will be started in Elandsfontein and Rietfontein
farms, blending dairy and beef farming, piggery, large scale hydroponics and
vertical gardening, and in-land fisheries.
5. EPWP will further focus on a roll-out programme of roads and stormwater
to contribute to the Accelerated Service and Growth Initiative of SA
(ASGISA) as announced by the Premier. Accompanying this initiative will be
necessary assessments and upgrades, of the sewer network system in adversely
depressed areas like Evaton and Winterveld.
6. Through EPWP, we will assess and implement a programme of converting
boilermakers to be on a uniform platform i.e. conversion from being coal-driven
to an electrical platform at the Gauteng hospitals. This is an excellent
opportunity to develop artisans in the electrical and mechanical fields. It is
an initiative that will create a skills basis for the maintenance of boilers
[at cyclical and regular intervals as per the product life cycle maintenance
requirements].
7. The Department will launch two construction contact centres (CCCs) in
Johannesburg CBD and Funda Centre in Soweto next month. We will further roll
out another 10 CCCs throughout the province during this current financial year.
The purpose of these centres is to be build entrepreneurs, business people,
small, micro and medium businesses in construction and assist them with
financial viability and employment creation capacity. We are currently working
with Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB), Sector Education and
Training Authority (SETAs), KFW, Umsobomvu Youth Fund, GEP, Blue IQ,
Construction Education and Training Authority (Ceta), and the banks. The other
10 CCCs to be launched will be based in the rest of the regions of Gauteng;
i.e. Tshwane, West Rand, Ekurhuleni, etc.
All these projects will prioritise the 20 townships as identified by the
Premier. We are working and will continue to work together with local
government, through community development workers and other role-players which
would ensure that we realise the objective of making Gauteng a better place to
live and work in.
Capital projects
The total cost of projects which commenced during the current financial
year, of which some will continue in the next financial year will be up to the
amount of R362 million. These projects will include;
* Coronation Hospital - Upgrading of casualty, OPD and pharmacy
* Helen Joseph Hospital - Breast clinic
* Mamelodi Hospital - New hospital
* Polson Hospital - New pharmacy
* Sebokeng Hospital - Hospital upgrade
* Stretford CHC - New CHC phase 2
* Tembisa Hospital - Upgrade of the ICU, burns, OPD and casualty units
* Weskoppies Hospital - Two new wards
* Yusuf Dadoo Hospital - New pharmacy
* Upgrading of the Pretoria State Theatre
* Walter Sisulu Place of Safety - Secure care upgrade)
* Upgrading of George Thabe Stadium
* Upgrading of HM Pitje Stadium
* Upgrading of Sinaba Stadium
The implementation of capital projects and other socio-economic
infrastructure development projects are implemented in line with the
infrastructure summit held last year. This we implement in line with the
implementation plan of the resolutions taken at the summit by all
stakeholders.
Public transport
We are creating a coherent and sensible plan for public transport so that it
can become the preferred mode of transport for all residents in Gauteng. The
main plans will be the integrated public transport plan and the provincial road
network. These strategic plans, the Premier referred to will make sure that
everybody has access to safe, affordable and reliable public transport with
quality improving all the time
The plans will ensure that we contribute directly to economic growth, to the
creation of work opportunities and the fight against poverty and to resolving
the growing congestion problem on our roads. Besides being committed to
transforming public transport in partnership with local government, we will
work with all stakeholders, from commuters and business to organised labour,
taxi operators and Metrorail.
We will prioritise the needs of commuters but not neglect the needs of
operators. We are currently involved in a process to launch a commuter
organisation which will ensure that the rights of commuters are protected. Last
year, we launched the Interim Public Passenger Stakeholders Forum and this year
we will continue to work closely with them seeking their views and
co-operation. We will prioritise rail in the province's main corridors where
the requirement is the mass movement of large numbers of passengers. Rail is
fast and convenient and is a powerful mechanism to increase land use densities
and promote economic agglomeration - simply put, people want to live, work and
run their factories or businesses near a passenger rail service, particularly
if that service is safe, efficient and reliable
In this respect the Gautrain is an integrated part of the rail network,
servicing the corridors between Tshwane, Johannesburg and the Johannesburg
International Airport - connecting the economic heartland of our province. We
are currently working with national government, South African Rail Commuter
Corporation (SARCC) and Metrorail to improve rail services to accommodate
larger numbers and attract commuters currently using road transport. With rail
as a mass mover of people, buses are most efficient along medium to high
density corridors and routes within metropolitan areas
We will work with the operators in the local authorities and private sector
to align bus and taxi routes in order to ensure maximum possible accessibility
to the particular mode of transport which is most suitable to the individual
commuter's requirements. We are working towards co-ordinating the provincial
subsidised bus service and the metro bus services offered by Tshwane,
Ekurhuleni and Johannesburg. These subsidised buses must prioritise services to
our poorest citizens and the areas in the province where rail and taxis do no
service optimally. When the Gautrain is up and running we will ensure that
these services and the approximately 300 Gautrain feeder buses complement each
other and do not duplicate routes. We will start to issue new tenders for the
subsidised bus services this year, which will also ensure improved service
delivery and broad based black economic empowerment
We must use taxis for high accessibility and flexibility and support them
through the process of formalisation and recapitalisation, of which the
conversion to operating licenses is a critical first step. I would like to
extend my appreciation to the industry for their co-operation in this regard
and commit my department to complete this process by the deadline of May 2006
set by the national Minister. These interchanges will make connections fast and
easy and provide shopping and services for those who want to do their errands
on the way to or from somewhere else. They will be economic hubs offering
opportunities for small businesses and local economic development
This will be one of the places where integrating transport with economic
development of the province will be most visible. The contribution of a good
transport infrastructure goes way beyond the opportunities for local economic
development provided by well planned interchange hubs. This contribution will
become most obvious as reduced journey times for goods and people bring real
cuts in the cost of doing business in Gauteng. Together with enabling public
transport operators to be better, safer, and more efficient, we are paying
attention to the road infrastructure on which buses and taxis have to
operate.
Just to give you a sense of how roads are also still firmly in our sights,
here are a few figures: New road construction includes the completion of JIA
Interchange; the start last October of the K29 phase 1, Cosmo City
construction; the start last June of the K60, Sunninghill road; the maintenance
of 2 515 km, the rehabilitation of 9 km and the resealing of 128 km of
provincial roads in the past year
This has helped us train 507 people and create 6 345 jobs, while 55 % of
procurement went to Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) companies. We are
including public transport friendly measures such as lighting, better shelters
and stops on all routes on which a lot of public transport travels. This is a
logical step followed in many countries towards the broader challenges of
integrated transport and traffic management, because it takes into account the
real cost to the taxpayer, the environment and the sustainability of our cities
and our economy of burgeoning motor traffic.
It says that commuters should be free to use their cars alone and at peak
time if they wish, but that they should pay the real cost to the country of the
road network and traffic management if they choose to do so. The contribution
of integrated public transport will be visible as our cities become more
efficient through better land use as business and residential communities
develop closer to public transport and when workers have more money to spend as
the proportion of incomes spent on travelling to and from work comes down
It will be seen when tourist numbers grow because access to the many
attractions our province has to offer, from shopping in Sandton to the Cradle
of Humankind and the Apartheid Museum to the Union Buildings becomes easier for
visitors from around the world. And a better public transport system overall,
with Gautrain as a central element, will contribute to urban regeneration,
particularly in the CBDs of Tshwane and Johannesburg - in fact, we are
beginning to see signs of this, with promotional material for residential
developments in Braamfontein explicitly mentioning the proximity of the future
Gautrain station.
The transformation of public transport and maximising it contribution growth
and prosperity in the province is a long term task. However this can be
accelerated with enhanced co-ordination between government and between
government and operators. This year will see us developing policy and
legislation to establish a province-wide transport integration and
co-ordination body to lead public transport planning and implementation
processes in Gauteng.
This body will complement the establishment of Transport Authorities by some
municipalities. The Transport Authorities are critical instruments to improve
local level service delivery and enable co-ordination between transport and
other local government responsibilities such as land use planning and metro
policing. As the Premier has announced, we will also establish the Gautrain
Management Agency to run the Gautrain Project in a focused and orderly way
which allows the management of the challenges inherent in any project of this
size
Finally let me note that there is an enormous amount of work being done by
provincial and national government officials and private sector planners,
engineers and transport experts to create and implement the very viable
strategies we are embracing. But we will not get there overnight, it is going
to take years of work and a good deal of perseverance by government and our
people as we get things right
It is worth doing so because a trip to any region anywhere in the world
which has a functioning public transport system will tell us that we are
creating economic infrastructure for the long term. This is the vision we must
embrace if we want to make Gauteng a globally competitive city region. This
vision will enable us to make Gauteng a better place to live and work in.
Issued by: Gauteng Department of Public Transport, Roads and Works
16 February 2006
