council committee on economy, investment and employment
1 March 2007
We have invited you here today, to elaborate on policy issues pronounced by
the Premier, during the State of the Province Address last Friday. As the
Executive Council Committee on Economy, Investment and Employment, we will
focus on issues relating to economic growth and development. The
Committee/Cluster is made up of five (5) Departments, namely:
1. Finance (Chair)
2. Economic Development and Planning
3. Agriculture and Land Administration
4. Public Works
5. Roads and Transport.
The roles of this cluster/committee are to identity and unlock economic
growth opportunities in the province with the aim of boosting and growing the
economy of the province. During the State of the Province last Friday, the
honourable Premier announced five flagship projects, which will receive special
focus this year.
Three of these projects, fall under the responsibility of this cluster. They
are the:
1. Maputo Development Corridor (MDC)
2. Moloto Rail Development Corridor
3. Heritage, Tourism and Greening of the province.
Maputo Development Corridor
MDC is not a completely new project. It was conceptualised in 1994 when the
new South Africa government and the Mozambican government entered into a
bilateral agreement leading to a bilateral commission headed by the
presidents.
The province is on a continuous basis looking for economic opportunities
along the Corridor. Projects identified under Maputo Corridor are categorised
into:
* Industrial Infrastructure Projects, which are intending to set up an
appropriate environment for business operations. These include establishment of
freight logistics.
* The corridor will also promote manufacturing of resources that the province
has a large to medium and small entrepreneurs.
The MDC will focus on setting up the necessary infrastructure to support the
initiative in partnerships with all stakeholders including government, private
sector and the communities/general public.
Projects that were identified under the programme include:
* Industrial Infrastructure Projects-KMIA industrial par
* Manufacturing Projects-Agro-processing
* Primary production for the (rural development).
The Moloto Rail Development Corridor project aims to:
1. Implement an integrated transport system that will improve the public
transport system by providing a multi-modal integrated system consisting of
Rail (main line) and Road based (Feeder) services that will:
* lessen travel time and reduce the number of accidents on the Moloto
corridor
* provide affordable and safe travel solutions for both government and
passengers by means of a cost effective system
* improve regional accessibility and linkages
* secure transport system capacity to absorb future increases in commuter
numbers
* broaden the economic base of the province by means of a dedicated local
economic development programs with the corridor serving as a spine and catalyst
for development.
2. Positively impacting on the social lives of commuters by means of spin
offs of the improved public transport system and economic benefits that flow
from the corridor initiative.
In addition to the three flagship projects, the cluster has identified
further three high impact projects which will also receive attention. They are
the:
1. "masibuyel' emasimini" programme
2. coal haulage
3. bio-fuel project.
The "Masibuyel' emasimini" programme under the Department of Agriculture and
Land Administration was launched last year; it is a programme of support to
subsistence farming, which encourages people to go back to the fields and
plough. It has already reached 2 189 beneficiaries and we are planning to reach
more in the coming financial year. Three plots were run in three regions and we
are going to further roll out to cover more beneficiaries.
Coal haulage
The sustained accelerated growth experienced in South Africa since 2004 has
led to a substantial increase in the demand of electricity. In order for Eskom
to meet the mandate as laid down by Department of Public Enterprises, and the
ever increasing demand for electricity, additional coal resources are required
as tied collieries are unable to meet this demand.
The result is that Eskom now has a strategic dependence on coal hauling by
road from mines around and just south of the N4 corridor in Mpumalanga to power
stations in the southern parts of Mpumalanga.
In an effort to arrest the collapsing road network in the coal rich Gert
Sibande region, the Mpumalanga Department of Roads and Transport (MDRT) has and
continues to spend the bulk of the 2005/06 and 2006/07 roads budget on the
rebuilding and upgrading of some of the critical road network.
Furthermore the department has an obligation to keep the roads safe to the
general travelling public and has to keep on patching potholes and failures on
an ongoing basis on the sections of the imports routes not yet upgraded.
The damage has resulted in the roads becoming un-maintainable (daily
maintenance costs well beyond economic limits), as potholes and failures are a
constant problem, which keeps on recurring.
A high level coal haulage summit is planned in the first quarter of the
2007/8 financial year to involve all the stakeholders on the way forward.
Development Bank of South Africa have made some moneys available and advertised
a tender for a service provider to research on shadow tolling as part of the
haulage. The Department will have an overall financial plan for the coal
haulage network by the end of 2007/08 financial year.
Responsible departments in the cluster will give more information
shortly.
Under the Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP)
The Mpumalanga Government continued to create work in order to fight poverty
and accelerate service delivery. In 2004, the province had committed itself to
creating 100 000 new jobs through the programme over five years, ending in the
year 2009. It is encouraging that by September last year, we had already
created over 46 000 new jobs through this programme.
However, in the latest national reports on the EPWP places, Mpumalanga is
leading the pack of provinces. In 43 206 of the above jobs, there has been
skills transfer, which is another objective of the EPWP.
In our endeavour to scale up the implementation of EPWP, the province has
set itself a target of creating 25 000 work opportunities in the 2007/2008
financial year.
In line with the national priority to provide job opportunities and
training, the province has set aside R11 million to be used for the maintenance
of public infrastructure as part of the EPWP. This will include young women and
disabled persons. The province will deploy 500 National Youth Service Corps
members in the 2007/2008 financial year.
Enquiries:
Mohau Ramodibe
Cell: 082 771 9950
Issued by: Department of Finance, Mpumalanga Provincial Government
1 March 2007
