T Didiza: Vuk'uphile learners welcoming ceremony

29 June 2006

The MEC for Public Works Ms Candith Mashego-Dlamini
The Executive Mayor of the Nkangala District Municipality
Mayor of the Emalahleni Municipality and other local mayors
Learners and members of the community
Ladies and gentlemen

It is a pleasure for me to address you today on an occasion to hand over
certificates to learners in the Vuk'uphile Contractor Learnership programme. It
is an even greater pleasure that this function is taking place in one of my
favourite provinces, Mpumalanga, and does so in the month of June. As the whole
world knows June is the month in which we celebrate the role played by our
youth in the struggle for liberation as signified by the 1976 protests. On a
personal note June is not only the month in which I was born, but also the
month in which I started in my previous role as Minister of Agriculture and
Land Affairs in 1999. And as luck would have it, in my current role as Minister
of Public Works. June it seems, will become a rather significant month for
me.

So, if you allow me, we are seeing a confluence of several forces: my birth,
a relatively new role for me and Youth Month. I am sure that we will from today
onwards harness these energies to rid the country of poverty and unemployment,
to rid the country of the shortage of skills and to set it on the growth
trajectory that is adequate to address all our socio-economic challenges. Let
us remember that we are here to mark our own collective contribution to the
development of this country: as government, as the private sector, as community
organisations and as all other social institutions of our people.

As the Department of Public Works (DPW) we are implementing skills creation
programmes through the combination of theory and practice. This we believe is
the only unity that will give our people a real chance to move from the
Periphery of the Economic Centre, to the Centre of the First Economy.

One such skills creation programme is Vuk'uphile which means "wake up and
live" and which is what we are celebrating today. Vuk'uphile is jointly managed
by DPW, the Construction Education and Training Authority (CETA) and
participating public bodies (i.e. provinces and municipalities). These
structures are in turn supported by the Department of Labour and Absa. The
involvement of Absa is important because it seeks to address one of the most
problematic areas in the construction sector and business world, namely the
crippling lack of access to finance.

In this programme Absa gives qualifying learners access to working capital
and funding for equipment, access to credit and training, and helps them build
a sound financial track record. Learner contractors apply for learnerships
through Vuk'uphile, which entitles them to receive formal institutional
training as well as workplace training. The latter is provided by way of
ring-fenced contracts issued by participating public bodies. Training is also
provided for learner supervisors and labourers.

The learners selected for Vuk'uphile learnerships are assigned to newly
formed close corporations comprising three individuals: one contractor and two
technical supervisors. Each learner has access to a qualified and experienced
mentor throughout their learnership, ensuring that they have the necessary
capacity to tender for and execute Expanded Public Works Programmes (EPWP)
projects once their two-year learnership is complete (i.e. they are in a
position to take advantage of long-term income opportunities). Each learner
graduates with a National Qualifications Framework (NQF) level 2 certificate,
with skills in managing a business.

The Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP) is one of Government's most
aggressive initiatives to fight poverty, improve services and create job
opportunities. A key component of the EPWP is the imperative to provide skills
training for project beneficiaries. We consider this an important
differentiator, a way of overturning the injustices of the past, and addressing
the gross distortions resulting from the iniquitous system of apartheid. Today
we know that the lack of proper skill in the country has returned to haunt all
of us and stands squarely on the road to our sustained economic development as
individuals and as a country.

The EPWP and Vuk'uphile represent some of the many programmes that
government has designed to reverse this skills challenge. The task may be
massive and the backlog immense, but today we are certain that these obstacles
can be overcome. In the process, little by little, people's lives will improve
and their prospects for a better life enhanced significantly such as through
the Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP). So as Public Works ours is not a
Bing Bang job, it is incremental and often takes place quietly, far from the
gaze of the media. It is if you like akin to the sound of a forest growing,
rather serene yet signifying the figurative oxygen that is necessary for our
democracy to thrive.

One of those ways in which we supply that oxygen is through increasing the
skills base in the country. The EPWP aims to create one million job
opportunities in its first five years. Figures we released after the first year
indicate that more than 200 000 job opportunities were created in that period.
I am certain ladies and gentlemen, that the programme will easily accelerate to
300 000 work opportunities per annum by the end of its third year.

By utilising government expenditure on goods and services in
labour-intensive EPWP projects, we aim to draw as many people as possible into
meaningful work, across the length and breadth of this vast country of ours.
This we cannot achieve without the crucial role played by local, provincial,
and national government stakeholders.

In this context I am therefore pleased MEC, to note that Mpumalanga province
is one of the more active participants in Vuk'uphile. In this province we have
signed learning agreements for 282 learners, who are at various stages of their
respective learnerships. In addition there are numerous public bodies that are
implementing learnerships in this province. These include the provincial
Department of Roads and Transport, Nkangala District Municipality and
Emalahleni Municipality. I am pleased to tell you that the first group of
Vuk'uphile learners has already implemented two labour-intensive infrastructure
projects.

Nationally learners from 122 close corporations incorporated under the
auspices of Vuk'uphile will graduate from the programme during the first half
of 2007. This will boost the pool of companies which have competence in
labour-intensive construction and will also increase the number of people who
are employed under the EPWP. By the time the last of the Vuk'uphile learners
have graduated in 2009, we will have completed 2 205 labour-intensive projects.
We estimate that these will cost an estimated R3 billion which will include
R1,3 billion in wages paid.

Through these projects Vuk'uphile is also demonstrating that with the right
construction technology, South Africa can successfully address infrastructural
backlogs in a cost-efficient way and to acceptable engineering standards. We
are saying we can do this while maximising job opportunities for the
unemployed. Through the Vuk'uphile mentorship model, we have significantly
reduced the risk posed by beginners and we have instead ensured that projects
are constructed to specification, within budget and on time. Based on this
evidence, public bodies are likely to continue supporting emerging contractors
which, in turn, will unlock the rich commercial expertise our country has to
offer.

In concluding my remarks this morning let me say why it is important that we
continue with the development of skills for our people. As far back as March
2004, prior to the launch of the EPWP in May 2004, a symposium was hosted by
the Institute for Justice and Reconciliation to address issues of nation
building and poverty relief. The symposium was titled "Beyond Budget 2004, Job
Creation and Poverty Alleviation in South African: What Should We Be Doing?" Dr
Iraj Abedian, then still Chief Economist of the Standard Bank Group, made the
following statement:

"Given good management and planning, the EPWP can create valuable assets
roads, dams, bridges, urban facilities in under-serviced areas. They can impart
useful skills, while providing people with some income and experience that mark
a real improvement in their lives at present, and potentially for their future
options. For many new, small municipalities, they will make up the great bulk
of their capital expenditure".

In an address at the National Skills Conference held in Gallagher Estate on
3 March 2005 which also saw the unveiling of the National Skills Development
Strategy (NSDS) 2005 - 2010 Minister of Labour, Mr Membathisi Mdladlana
said:

"It is my belief that through the NSDS 2005 - 2010, together with our social
partners, we will support the broader goals of government to halve unemployment
and poverty, and reduce inequality by 2014, and to further ensure that the
institutions of skills development, which in the main are the Sector Education
and Training Authorities (SETAs) and the National Skills Foundation, use their
resources to advance our skills revolution."

It is important ladies and gentlemen, that I express my appreciation at this
stage to the national political principals, provinces and municipalities who
have already signed Memoranda of Agreements (MoA) to implement the Expanded
Public Works Contractor Learnership Programme. I would also like to thank all
the private sector companies which have supported this programme. I would also
like to thank the learners who have taken the step to acquire skills and
knowledge that will allow them to take charge of their own futures, and
hopefully form an integral part of the national economy in their future
careers.

Equally critical is the support provided by partners, ranging from the
private sector, to non-governmental organisations (NGOs), community based
organisations (CBOs) and the media. All of these bodies can play their part in
educating, lobbying and providing management input for the implementation of
EPWP projects and in particular Vuk'uphile.

MEC, members of the legislature, mayors and councillors, together we must
ensure that we not only comply with the law but create opportunities for the
unemployed in their areas, to train and get work experience.

Let us all join the skills revolution. Let us spread the word so that no
government official, potential partner, media representative or future learner
is ignorant of the EPWP, its learnership programmes and its capacity to bring
about meaningful change in people's lives.

I thank you.

Issued by: Department of Public Works
29 June 2006