of Provinces by Thoko Didiza Minister of Public Works.
6 June 2006
Chairperson
The Deputy Minister of Public Works, Mr Ntopile Kganyago
MECs for Public Works from various provinces
Honourable members and delegates from provinces
Senior Management of the Department of Public Works
Senior leadership and management of our statutory entities
Distinguished Guests
Ladies and Gentlemen
It gives me great pleasure, Chairperson, to deliver what is in effect my
maiden speech in this House in my capacity as Minister of Public Works. Indeed
it is an honour and a privilege for me to take the opportunity granted to me by
this House, to pay tribute to my late predecessor uNkosazana Stella Nomzamo
Sigcau.
I am in a privileged position Chairperson because I know that I stand on the
shoulders of giants like Nkosazana Sigcau, and other great women of our country
who laid concrete foundations for our liberation and helped this country reach
not only its political freedom but also economic liberation for all including
women, the youth and the disabled.
Mpathi Sihlalo, kubalulekile ukuthi ngiphinde ngibonge uzakwethu Umnumzane
uRadebe ongu Ngqongqoshe wezokuThutha okunguyena owasibekela umhlahlandlela
wokuthi ngabe lomnyango wezemisebenzi yoluntu kufanele wenzeni.
Siyokhumbula ukuthi ngaphambilini lomnyango wawumbaxa neminye ungazimelanga
wodwa. UKhongolose ekuthatheni izintambo zombuso wabona kufanele ukuthi
njengohulumeni kumele siwumise lomnyango ukuze ngawo sidale amathuba emisebenzi
kubantu bakithi, ngaleyo ndlela silwe nendlala kanti kolunye uhlangothi sibe
sakha ingqala sizinda, phecelezi I-infranstructure. Mhlawumbe ke masibuyele
kancane nje ekuthini ngabe lomqulu womhlahlandlela walomnyango uthini.
The White Paper on the Transformation of Public Works published in 1997
outlines the key areas of our focus and will in the main determine the
trajectory we will take in the coming years. According to the White Paper,
Public Works provides and manages accommodation for line function departments
(including additional facilities of the Department of Justice, Correctional
Services, Defence and Safety and Security).
We also assist line function departments in the development of policy for
infrastructure delivery, and to lead the transformation of the construction
industry in line with the National Public Works Programme principles. The White
Paper further enjoins us that in carrying out these roles, our core functions
are in the property advisory services, property development, property
management and the National Public Works Programme. These are further broken
down to project management, property investment and property and facilities
management among others. In other words we are involved in the entire value
chain of all these sectors and we intend playing that role more effectively
going forward.
Clearly, as we undertake this task we will time and again evaluate how far
we have moved through our many programmes to address our mandate as a
department. As we assess our performance on the previous yearâs budget we are
guided by these very objectives. Budgets by their very nature are about choices
that one makes in dealing with the many needs and wants that are there. As a
department we have over the many years tried to manage the many needs that have
arisen as a result of the new dispensation such as managing our property
portfolio, while at the same time ensuring that we lead the Expanded Public
Works Programme (EPWP). The management of our resources unfortunately has been
a cause of concern for ourselves and members and these are matters we had had
to address.
The past financial year marked a turning point in those efforts of the
Department of Public Works towards prudent financial management and the
creation of an organization that is better able to deliver on its core mandate.
In that period we were pleased that the Department was awarded an Unqualified
Audit report in recognition of the various interventions instituted in the
past. In 1999 we adopted the Mintirho Ya Vula Vula (Actions Speak Louder than
Words) as our programme of action as well as the basis for our turn-around
strategy wherein we committed ourselves publicly to clean administration, good
corporate governance and the accelerated delivery of quality products and
services in creating a better life for all. We are encouraged that the hard
work started all those years is now beginning to pay off.
In seeking efficiencies in the delivery of government service we have, in
line with our Public Works White Paper, since April 2006 devolved our leasing,
maintenance, property rates and municipal services budgets to our client
departments. We will devolve the property rates to the Provinces in due course
for all the properties vested in their names. Again, Chairperson, in line with
the White Paper, it is now three years since we devolved the Capital Works
Budgets to clients.
We are devolving budgets in order to increase transparency in the budgeting
process, and to introduce incentives for the efficient use of resources. This
step, it is believed, will ensure that government departments have a much
stronger incentive to use office space, water and electricity more efficiently
because for the first time these costs will be coming from their own
budgets.
It is important to note that the Department of Public Works continues to
render the functions associated with these budgets. We are devolving the funds
but not the functions. It is however necessary for us as a department to
reflect what obligations will arise for us with regard to this new relationship
between ourselves and our clients.
Firstly, the services we must render must be efficient and effective. It
means the response time must take into consideration the needs of our clients.
Issues of oversight and supervision must also be taken into consideration. The
in-house capabilities within our civil service to manage this new relationship
that would have been occasioned by this new change, is something we would need
to reflect on. After-care support to ensure that our clients are satisfied is
also critical. The question that we need to ask ourselves in this regard
therefore is whether or not we have a structure that is responsive to the new
circumstance.
I am please to note that as a result of the revenues we will receive from
client departments through the accommodation charges, DPW will spend
approximately 50% more on maintenance over the next financial year than we did
last year. I must say that we anticipate growth in the maintenance budgets in
the coming years, because we also expect gradual increases in accommodation
charges to meet market-related levels.
Continuing with our quest for effectiveness and efficiency, we achieved 100%
expenditure on our allocated budget of five point five six billion rand (R5.56
billion) for the 2005/2006 financial year. In fulfilment of our core function
to provide land and accommodation for the State and its institutions, we spent
approximately two point five billion rand (R2.5 billion) on capital
construction works.
The issue of improving the Asset Register must be seen in its proper
context. Firstly, as a state we need to know what we own, its current state,
and what possibilities are there for using it for purposes of the state. It is
true however that not all state assets particularly immovable assets will
address the immediate needs of the state. This requires a reflection on how
best the state can use such assets in a manner that addresses the
socio-economic challenges that we still face as a country. This may mean Public
Private Partnerships which can be developed in the management of such assets,
while some assets may require disposal as stated in the State Land Disposal Act
of 1961. We must remember that this legislation makes it possible for
government to dispose through donation, outright sale and long-term lease. This
legislation must be understood in line with the Public Finance Management Act
on the disposal of state assets.
In disposing of some of these assets we will ensure that every property has
been subjected to thorough analysis and will dispose only on a case-by-case
basis. Our disposal policy must of necessity take cognisance of the
stipulations of the 1997 White Paper, which mandates Public Works to actively
manage the state property portfolio. It is however also my belief that we need
to retain our potential to actively play a role in the market and to that
extent we will keep
The Department, in conjunction with the Department of Defence, has been
running the 2014 Youth Foundation and Skills Development Programme in which
there are currently 72 learners aged between 13 and 16 participating from the
Eastern Cape, Limpopo, Mpumalanga, Free State, Northern Cape and the Western
Cape. In 2005/06 the programme had a budget of R1,4 million. The 2014 Youth
Foundation aims to attract the youth into the construction industry by hosting
school holiday camps. Learners are exposed to the built environment through a
coordinated programme e.g. talks by professionals, site visits and working on
design projects.
Chairperson, our flagship skills and job creation programme the EPWP, is on
course to deliver on its mandate. The EPWP has surpassed its employment
creation targets, across four sectors, with more than 301 000 work
opportunities created to date. On average 52% of the beneficiaries were female
and 38% youth. KwaZulu-Natal had the highest number of job opportunities
created with 66 317 beneficiaries, of which 33% were youth and 0.3% were the
disabled. This province also had the highest number of female beneficiaries in
the whole country at 62% as well as the highest wage payout of R126
million.
In line with the 30th anniversary of the June 16 Uprisings it is fitting to
talk about how the Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP) has benefited young
people. At 51% Mpumalanga recorded the highest number of youth employed in the
EPWP so far. This was followed by the Free State at 48%, Gauteng (46%), North
West (44%) and the Western Cape at 40 % of youth employed.
I want to thank the parliamentary oversight institutions for their critical
inputs into the strategic direction of this Department. I am looking forward to
a fruitful association with the Deputy Minister of Public Works, Honourable
Kganyago, the Senior Management and the entire staff of the Department.
I thank you
Issued by: Department of Public Works
6 June 2006
