M Fransman: Western Cape Transport and Public Works Prov Budget Vote
2007/08

12 June 2007

Honourable Speaker
Premier Rasool
Cabinet colleagues
Honourable members of the Legislature
Friends and guests
Comrades

On Tuesday, 15 August 1967, almost 40 years ago a true son of Cape Town and
South Africa died in a gun battle on a Bulawayo farm in a country then known as
Rhodesia.

His name was Basil February and he was just 24 years old.

Friends, comrades, February could have been many things. In fact he should
have been helping to build the South Africa that all of us dream of.

And he should have been helping to build it today.

He was a keen sportsman and a gifted intellectual and writer but he knew
that his talents would never be recognised by HF Verwoerd's apartheid
government of the early 1960s.

And so he chose to fight for freedom.

In 1963 he joined the South African Coloured People's Congress (SACPC), a
year later he and a close friend James April "disappeared" without saying
goodbye to their family and friends.

Convinced that real political change would never come about by peaceful
means in South Africa they joined Umkhonto we Sizwe, the armed wing of the
African National Congress (ANC).

In 1967, as members of the Luthuli Detachment, February and other South
African freedom fighters fought shoulder to shoulder with Zimbabwe African
People's Union (ZAPU) soldiers in a joint campaign that began in the Wankie
Game Reserve in the then Rhodesia.

Their plan was to set up a "Ho Chi Minh Trail", a secret route and supply
line for Umkhonto we Sizwe soldiers running all the way from Rhodesia to South
Africa.

February, though, would never see his home and family again.

The great American Civil Rights leader Martin Luther King Junior once said,
"He who passively accepts evil is as much involved in it as he who helps to
perpetrate it. He who accepts evil without protesting against it is really
co-operating with it."

These words could have been especially composed to celebrate February's
courage and his life.

Honourable Speaker, Basil February refused to accept evil and so he paid for
his courage with his life.

February contributed many articles to Dawn, the Umkhonto we Sizwe journal. I
would like to read an extract from one of them to this House. It is entitled,
"A revolutionary dedicates himself to the cause of a better life".

"A revolutionary loves life and he knows that life does not end when he
himself dies. He knows that life, the life that he loved will go on in the
smiles and laughter of happy children. He knows that life will go on in the
smiles of beautiful girls for their youthful lovers. He knows that life will go
on in the hearts of a nation that will remember him. This is the life for which
he gladly gives his own."

Honourable Speaker, members and guests, I would like to dedicate this Budget
Vote speech to Basil February.

It is a privilege and an honour for me to welcome Basil's brother Terry and
sister in law Colette, as well as his friend James April to this Legislature
today.

It is crucially important that we always remember the sacrifices made by so
many of our patriots, sacrifices that paved the way for you and I to be free
persons today.

Honourable Speaker, comrades, Basil is buried in an unmarked grave somewhere
in Zimbabwe. I can't accept that the memory of our heroes should be trifled
with like this especially those who fell for the noble cause of freedom. And so
I would like to make an urgent call to our national government and to all
others who have the influence to right this wrong, to step up efforts to
identify Basil's grave and to bring him back home.

In tribute to Basil and all the other fallen heroes and heroines, I would
like to read a verse from Laurence Binyon's famous poem "For the Fallen."

"They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old;
Age shall not weary them, nor do the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning;
We will remember them."

Honourable Speaker, there's a delightfully expressive Afrikaans word which I
hope will give special meaning to the intentions of the Department of Transport
and Public Works as it looks towards next week, next month, next year, the
provincial elections of 2009, the football World Cup in 2010 and the Millennium
Development Goals (MDGs) of 2014.

The word is "wikkel" and for those who speak only English it means "hurry
up!" In Xhosa it translates as "khawuleza"!

Colleagues, members, all Budget Vote speeches promise service delivery. And
certainly between the last provincial elections in 2004 and the next one in
2009, the plans that my Department have put in place and the actions that have
followed these plans have ensured that (by and large) the commitments we've
made to the citizens of the Western Cape are being kept.

I believe that my Department has done much that it can be pleased about in
terms of service delivery to the various communities of this province.

I will list some of these successes later in my address.

But what we've achieved so far is just a small part of a work in progress.
We know there's much more to do.

And what has to be done, in other words, the collective needs of the future
rather than the achievements of the past will always make up the most important
consideration of a Budget Vote speech.

In the global village of the 21st century and yes our province is part of
that global village service delivery revolves around speed it revolves around
efficiency and it revolves around crafting a clear, unambiguous message in
response to what is being done (and will be done) and delivering this message
with a due sense of urgency to the people.

Honourable Speaker, the Department of Transport and Public Works has
dedicated itself to a service delivery plan built on a commitment to "action
now" and that is why I started this address by emphasising the need to "hurry
up" to "wikkel" and to "khawuleza."

I want to give the following assurance to the people of the Western Cape
today.

I want to say to the communities of Bitterfontein and Rietpoort in the far
north west Ebenhaezer; St Helena Bay and Doringbaai in the north west; Beaufort
West; Merweville and Leeu-Gamka in the north; Plettenberg Bay; George and
Knysna in the south east; Mfuleni; Paarl; Stellenbosch and Kayamandi in the
Winelands of the Boland; Mitchell's Plain; Langa; Khayelitsha; Gugulethu and
Bellville in the Cape Town Metropole and the vast range of towns and townships
in between.

"My Department is committed to providing you with the facilities and the
opportunities that you need and crave for. We are determined to make the
Western Cape a true home for you and for all who live in this province."

Honourable Speaker, friends, members, comrades, in his State of the Province
address (SOPA) of 16 February this year, Premier Ebrahim Rasool set an agenda
for reaching the United Nations (UN) MDGs in 2014 which as you know are:

* halving poverty
* eradicating hunger
* achieving universal primary education
* halving unemployment.

The Premier said that we needed to reach these goals "in order to ensure a
different Western Cape by 2010 when we host the football World Cup and to
ensure that in the upcoming financial year, 2007/08, we have used our resources
to intensify the struggle against poverty."

Premier Rasool said and I quote, "Today, this government presents to our
citizens 10 programmes of concrete on the ground delivery designed to make
differences for people and phased over what is to be achieved in 2007, by 2010
and towards the 2014 MDGs."

Honourable Speaker, the Western Cape government concluded some time ago that
transport holds the key to the future growth of this province. But even so the
confirmation that at least seven of the 10 programmes mentioned by Premier
Rasool touch directly on the activities of the Department of Transport and
Public Works have set the hearts of some of my officials beating at and let's
put it this way a rather rapid rate.

And I'm not surprised. What we're sitting with here is a daunting
challenge.

But don't misunderstand me, members, friends and comrades, it's a challenge
that I accept with humility and with a strong determination to succeed.

My Department is ready willing and more than able to help steer the Western
Cape into a new era, an era of action, of quick, efficient delivery and of
dialogue with the people we serve.

Our budget allocation for 2007/08 has been set at R2,207 billion which is
10,66 percent of the provincial budget.

But when it is compared with the revised estimates of 2006/07 (from R2,064
billion to R2,321 billion), it is in fact a reduction of 4,7 percent.

Did we do justice to the amount entrusted to us last year? Indeed we
have.

We launched a number of programmes, created thousands of job opportunities
and offered skills training to thousands of unemployed workers, women and
youth. I will provide details a little later.

In 2006/07, despite a number of difficult challenges we spent more than 97
percent of the amount we received.

Our underspending included a portion of the national provincial
infrastructure grant for repairing flood damage to roads infrastructure and
nature conservation facilities.

If we exclude the unspent portion of the grant from the total amount that
was underspent, our overall under spending for 2006/07 amounted to just one
percent.

Honourable Speaker, the intentions that I will be making known today for the
budget for this financial year will be built on a number of strong
foundations.

Let me start by saying that earlier this year, my Department put one of the
last building blocks of iKapa Elihlumayo, the Provincial Growth and Development
Strategy (PGDS) into place.

We launched our R30 billion Strategic Infrastructure Plan (SIP) as most
people who know something about it, refers to it as SIP.

The SIP, as many will be aware, is a plan that has identified the critical
infrastructure needed to move our province forward and to achieve the
objectives of shared growth and integrated development.

Many of its key elements fall within the ambit of my portfolio, from public
transport, to promoting the sustainable use of resources from ensuring that we
have the skills in place to deliver on the mandate entrusted to us, to
strengthening our resource base in order to manage and maintain our assets.

Today I can say to you with confidence that as far as our responsibilities
as a Department lie we have a plan to deliver.

These are our key deliverables:

* we will refine and start the roll out of the SIP
* we will make a significant contribution towards the fight against global
warming.

We will launch our Project Portfolio Management Programme which will enable
us to keep an accurate up to the day record of all our projects, across all
divisions, we will also launch an unemployment database (whose purpose is self
explanatory).

Our 2010 World Cup division will among other things contribute to critical
infrastructure such as the airport interchange and public transport priority
lanes on the N2, which will link the airport and the southern part of the metro
with the city, it will also play a role in the planning and design of the
Koeberg Interchange. It will be working with a budget of R1,34 billion
(although there will be some overlap with the budgets of some of the other
divisions).

Our public transport division which has a budget of R202,47 million) will
implement its Public Transport Transformation Programme, this will start with
service contracts on the Klipfontein Corridor for the provision of subsidised
public transport, other elements of the plan include the implementation of an
integrated fare management system and a safety and enforcement strategy, the
division will also establish a public transport operating entity. The division
will implement the George Mobility Strategy in the Southern Cape and begin with
the design of the Cape Winelands, Central Karoo and West Coast Mobility
strategies.

Our roads division, which has a budget of R1,23 billion will complete the
Potsdam interchange surface a number of tourist routes and implement a
maintenance, resealing and gravelling programme, it will also implement a
number of safety improvements, such as street lighting, bridge handrails and
pedestrian bridges.

Our Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP) will strengthen its capacity to
provide technical support and will establish institutional frameworks (sector
and district forums).

Our traffic management division will implement an electronic licence booking
system.

In terms of scarce skills, we will expand our Masakh'iSizwe Programme by
increasing the number of external bursaries from 127 to 230 and we will refine
and build on our learnership 1 000 programme.

Our public works division will complete 11 schools and 11 extra classrooms;
it will complete the Worcester Regional Hospital and will continue with the
construction of the Paarl Regional Hospital, it will continue with maintenance
and construction of general buildings.

Our property management division will develop an Immovable Asset Management
Plan and implement a Central Business District Office Accommodation Plan.

Global warming

Honourable Speaker, I would like to speak on a topic which on the face of it
seems to have little to do with transport and public works global warming.

We all know that rampant consumption of fossil fuel is the chief cause of
greenhouse gas emissions.

In 2002, the International Energy Agency (IEA) forecast that the global
demand for fossil fuel would increase by 1,6 percent per annum between 2000 and
2030.

The IEA predicted that the transport sector would be responsible for almost
three quarters of this demand and that developing countries would emerge as the
world's biggest fuel consumers.

The implications of pollution, greenhouse gas emissions and climate change
are frightening.

I'll give you just one example, in 2000, the United Nations Children's Fund
(UNICEF) reported that respiratory infections caused by air pollution (and for
that read wood fires and petrol emissions) made up the fourth largest cause of
death (6 000 per year) among South African children under the age of five.

Today, in 2007, there are even more motor vehicles on our roads than in 2000
and this means even more harmful emissions?

In the past few years we've sweltered through excruciating summer heat waves
we've had throat parching periods of drought and we've been lashed by
incredibly vicious winter storms.

Older Kapenaars say they cannot remember such wildly temperamental weather
patterns occurring in previous decades.

Honourable Speaker, friends, comrades and members of the broader Western
Cape community, time is ticking by for our generation. We need to ask
ourselves, 'what type of legacy do we want to leave for our children and their
children?' In trying to answer this question, we need to remind ourselves that
it is no longer sufficient for us to hide behind our sun block, sun hats and
long sleeve shirts.

And it just won't do to wring our hands in anguish.

It's time for action, now!

We believe that there are several courses of action open to us.

Public transport

In the area of public transport, we will work on technology that will lead
to the use of low emission fuels. Indeed, the 500 or so buses which we will be
purchasing for the 2010 football World Cup and for which we will be inviting
tenders soon will be low emission vehicles.

We will encourage the use of non-motorised transport. Over the next year we
will promote the use of bicycles starting at schools level, outside the bigger
cities.

We will promote the use of clean diesel fuel.

Once we've sorted out safety issues on public transport, we will look at
implementing a congestion charge for private vehicles.

Buildings and property

* we will minimise municipal water use in buildings by rainwater collection
or grey water recycling
* we will introduce water saving sanitary and water fittings
* we will introduce passive design principles which result in buildings that
are essentially self heating and self cooling through the control of natural
heat flows.

All new building projects will be evaluated in terms of the checklist and
retrofitting of existing buildings will take place on an incremental basis.

Integration of our built environment with the wider community and
accessibility for our people to services will also play an important role in
ensuring environment friendly principles.

To give some examples, the housing development on the Somerset Hospital
precinct will be "green friendly." It will be developed at a time of increasing
awareness of the impact of global warming. The "business as usual" approach to
building construction is fast becoming less acceptable. We will ask all tenders
to submit detailed statements of their sustainability proposals regarding this
development.

Our new Public Transport Service Centre, valued at R110 million over two
years will be built in Athlone next to the N2 human settlement, will also be
fitted with various energy saving devices.

In the area of sustainable human settlements, we will ensure that houses fit
the standards I've just mentioned and that transport is always within walking
distance of people's homes.

Our transport precinct initiatives will enable people to move from one mode
of transport to the next, from one drop off and go point, using smartcard
technology.

2010 World Cup

I mentioned the 2010 FIFA World Cup earlier. This extravaganza brings with
it many exciting possibilities and opportunities for our province and our
people.

It also brings with it many challenges and complexities. Of all the
preparations required from us to host the event, my Department, the city of
Cape Town, the South African Rail Commuter Corporation (SARCC)/Metrorail and
the Airports Company of South Africa have been charged with providing a
transport system with a "zero probability for failure."

This is an exciting challenge.

While most attention has been on the Green Point Stadium, from which the
provincial government has provided R212 million, we have been working steadily
and quietly on putting the key elements of the transportation system in
place.

The reconstruction of the N2 from Borcherds Quarry to the Black River
Parkway, construction of the new airport terminal and the behind the scenes
implementation of the smartcard based integrated fare management system are all
signs that we are taking care of the business.

We have already allocated about R1,4 billion in our current medium term
expenditure framework (MTEF) for World Cup 2010 projects. These include:

* the upgrade of Somerset Hospital
* the construction of Granger Bay Boulevard
* the Koeberg Interchange, the east bound carriageway of the N2 from Vanguard
Drive to Borcherds Quarry and the airport interchange
* the reconstruction of Sandkraal Road, George and the upgrade of non-motorised
facilities and infrastructure in the Cape Winelands District Municipality
* the upgrade of Athlone and Philippi stadiums as practice venues
* the building of fan parks and other public viewing areas
* transformation of commuter public transport, including the construction of
park and ride facilities
* preparation for the event and public transport, including the introduction of
a shuttle public transport service between the key centres and the city and
airport.

In addition to these projects, the South African Rail Commuter
Corporation/Metrorail are set to spend about R1,2 billion on upgrading
infrastructure, refurbishing coaches and buying new train set.

The airports company is set to spend R1,5 billion on building a new
terminal.

Honourable Speaker and members, as I've said we are taking care of the
business.

Harnessing the power of the information age

Honourable Speaker, new age technology thrills me and let me not be shy to
admit this, it sometimes scares me too.

But I'd like to give those of you who share my views on this subject a
useful tip, computer technology works very well when the experts create
programmes that allow the rest of us to get all the information we need by
pressing one or at the most two keys.

My Department has some excellent programmes in the pipeline.

The first one I would like to tell you about is our Rational Portfolio
Manager (RPM Project) or Portfolio Management Programme.

And I would like to start by asking you to imagine a programme that can tell
you at the click of a key on a daily basis, the number of projects (and their
names) that are on the go in the Eden Municipality or how many work
opportunities are available in Breederivier or what percentage of the expanded
public works budget has been spent in Bitou or which projects are ahead of
schedule and on budget in the city and which are battling to keep up.

And the list could go on and on.

This little beauty of a programme will be able to give an inquisitive person
like me all these answers and more. It's been tested and tested and tested
again. All the little glitches are being found and eliminated.

I've been assured that within four months this programme will be working
like a charm. It will save us time and money and serve as an early warning
system, when things look as if they may be going off the rails.

Honourable Speaker, finding funds for infrastructure is not one of the
greatest challenges faced by government.

A far bigger test for us is managing the implementation and integration of
projects across branches in our departments and across departments and spheres
of government.

The shortage of skills as well as the constant migration of experienced
staff in and out of departments creates many challenges and risks to the
successful completion of projects and the spending of our capital budgets
within the required timeframes and financial years.

Over the last two years, we've worked quietly at introducing a project and
portfolio management system for all our divisions.

At any given time, we manage up to 4 500 projects across all branches. With
these projects ranging in value from R2 000 to R200 million, it is often
extremely difficult to extract management information at short notice let alone
at the push of a button.

Government departments, municipalities and state owned enterprises cannot
afford to work in isolation any longer.

A sustainable housing development cannot be planned and constructed without
public transport as the path breaker.

By the same token, schools for current and future residents, municipal
streets, road based public transport ranks and interchanges and many other
functions require the participation of a number of equally important
stakeholders.

The Rational Portfolio Manager (RPM) has improved co-ordination and
integration across our branches and our client departments responsible for the
funding of schools and hospitals.

Within the context of a diminishing pool of professional and technical
expertise and resources at our disposal, it is by working smarter and
introducing the use of new technology and systems that my Department spent 99%
of its budget in the 2006/07 financial year.

Honourable Speaker, I have more great news.

One of the challenges that my Department recognised when we started
identifying our renewed EPWP mandate was that we did not have accurate
information on unemployed persons in the Western Cape.

Depending on which sources are used, the number of unemployed persons in the
province could range anywhere from 300 000 to 600 000.

But now we are setting out to develop a comprehensive electronic database of
unemployed people and their skills which we believe will help job seekers find
employment and employers find qualified workers.

The key initial focus will be on beneficiaries of the EPWP and other public
works programmes.

The database will use existing Internet enabled public access
infrastructure, for example the City of Cape Town's Smart Cape Centres, which
were launched by the Premier in 2006 to allow people to do a number of things
including:

* getting information on programmes
* registering
* developing and updating Curriculum Vitae's (CVs)
* getting access to the Internet and email
* applying for jobs.

Through training Community Development Workers (CDWs) in the use of the
system and calling on volunteers to assist at access points, unemployed persons
will have the opportunity to develop their CVs on the database as they
participate in EPWP projects or any other short-term employment-creation
initiatives.

Potential employers will also have an opportunity to register themselves on
the system and to source employees who meet their requirements for specific
skills.

My Department together with e-Innovation in the Department of the Premier,
is developing a strategy and a proposal for extending the network of
Internet-enabled public access points to areas where they are currently
unavailable.

We have identified 114 access points throughput the Western Cape, where the
unemployed can register themselves on the opportunities portal.

The success and frequency with which the Smart Cape access points are being
used in the poorest communities of Cape Town have shown that, given the
opportunity to access information technology (IT), the innovativeness of
unemployed persons can be harnessed to not only access employment for
themselves but also to create employment within their communities.

On the 26 June I will be launching the first phase of going live with the
portal. Seven sites in some of our poorest communities including Khayelitsha,
Mitchell's Plain, Delft and Bitterfontein have been identified.

In capturing the first round of data of unemployed persons and projects, we
are making use of a service provider offering employment to people with
physical disabilities.

The Re-Able Centre in Athlone has already captured some 15 000 complete
records of individuals who are unemployed or underemployed in the Western
Cape.

EPWP opportunities on my entire Department's projects as well as EPWP
projects identified by the Department of Local Government and Housing and other
departments are currently being loaded.

Persons registered on our portal, for example, from townships close to the
location of these projects will be selected for interviews and possible
placement.

I urge all unemployed persons to watch this space and to speak with their
CDWs on where and how to register themselves on the EPWP opportunities
portal.

Public transport

Honourable Speaker, I would now like to speak about public transport.

I have no doubt that the World Cup Tournament will boost our efforts to
create an integrated public transport system for the Western Cape.

The idea of such a transport system fills me with excitement (for obvious
reasons), but also with a great degree of trepidation (for even more obvious
reasons).

I am not going to deny that my Department is wrestling with enormous
challenges. Not surprisingly, it is the minibus taxi industry that is providing
us with the most and biggest headaches.

Honourable Speaker, I have a very simple message for the minibus taxi
industry.

"The Department of Transport and Public Works welcomes the support that the
majority of you have given to the government's taxi recapitalisation
programme."

We want you to be part of our proposed integrated public transport
system.

But there are two other things that I want to make clear and I want the taxi
industry to listen very carefully to what I have to say.

Firstly, this government will not allow mayhem in an industry that purports
to offer a service to communities of our province.

So, let me say this slowly, 'We do not speak to thugs who murder rivals. And
we want nothing to do with those who hire other thugs to kill to quote
'protect' unquote routes.

Thugs and murderers should not have contact with decent members of society.
They should be in jail and we will co-operate with the South African Police
Services (SAPS) to ensure that justice prevails.

Our duty is to Mr Ndlovu of Gugulethu, Mr Cassiem of Lentegeur, Mrs Mkhize
of Khayelitsha, Ms Smith of Claremont and tens of thousands of their fellow
commuters, who have just one simple need, a public transport system that will
take them to and from their destinations in comfort and most of all in
safety."

Honourable Speaker, we intend creating and maintaining such a public
transport system for the people of the Western Cape.

But we will not use only the stick to bring order to the minibus taxi
industry. We would be delighted to offer them some carrot too. We know that
human beings do not always act rationally and that desperation (to protect
routes) and anger (when there's a perception that others want to muscle in on
these routes) can be a volatile combination.

We support the observation by American civil rights leader Jesse Jackson
that "jaw to jaw is better than war to war." In order to create a stable and
peaceful industry, well set to focus on the business of providing a world class
public transport service to our communities, my Department is implementing (or
will soon be implementing) the following actions:

* The establishment of the dispute resolution unit, in line with the
recommendations of the Ntsebeza Committee of Enquiry into minibus taxi
violence, to bring together people who in the normal scheme of things would
prefer shooting one another. It is critically important for the industry to
accept that the days of resolving an argument with a gun are long past.

* Tomorrow, I am presenting to Cabinet for approval a set of fees to govern
the registration of taxi association and operators in associations, together
with schedule of fines to be assessed for non-compliance with regulations. Once
approved, the fees and fines will form part of the regulations for the office
of the registrar which I intend gazetting before the end of this month.

* The office of the registrar will be further strengthened with the
appointment of assessors who will be critical in the finalisation of the
registration of associations and their members, as well as in monitoring
compliance of those associations with the requirements of the National Land
Transport Transition Act (NLTTA).

* The taxi recapitalisation programme will be intensified this year. This
programme was launched in the Province during February and already the Taxi
Scrapping Agency (TSA) has established its offices, identified a scrapping yard
and is getting on with the business of scrapping old vehicles. In the next few
weeks the TSA and my Department will launch a road show to inform the taxi
industry about all aspects of the recapitalisation programme.

* A Draft Safety and Compliance Strategy, which is currently going through a
public participation process, will be presented to Cabinet for approval within
three months after which its implementation will commence. This strategy has
six main focal areas education, enforcement, engineering, emergencies,
Legislation and institutional arrangements. Its implementation will be driven
by a multi-agency unit which will involve all of the enforcement and
intelligence agencies, South African Revenue Service (SARS), transport
authorities and the directorate of public prosecutions.

Over and above these activities designed to "normalise" the public transport
environment, my Department is working tirelessly to create the type of public
transport system which the residents of our province want and deserve.

I am pleased today to report that the vehicle to realise this system is in
place, it is our Public Transport Improvement Programme (PTIP). This programme
rests on four key pillars:

* institutional reform to improve alignment and co-ordination between the
different spheres of government in dealing with public transport
* restructuring of public transport operations to promote integration between
rail, minibus taxi and bus modes
* integration of land use and public transport planning to promote financial,
environmental and social sustainability of the system and marketing.

The implementation of the PTIP has already begun:

As far as institutional reform is concerned, a ground breaking
inter-governmental transport agreement between my Department, the national
Department of Transport and the City of Cape Town has been drafted and will be
signed shortly.

This agreement, which is a product of a Transport Steering Committee, which
is chaired by myself and the Mayoral Committee member responsible for transport
in the city paves the way for the establishment of a Transport Planning
Advisory Council to be chaired by the City of Cape Town and a Public Transport
Operating Entity (PTOE) to be driven by my Department.

The PTOE will be responsible for co-ordinating and managing all public
transport operations in the province. Similar arrangements for the district
municipalities are under discussion, with the Eden District and George
municipalities being the first ones to be engaged.

As part of the restructuring of public transport operations the following
activities are underway:

Integrated Fare Management (IFM) and Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) are
currently being implemented to form the back office and back bone of integrated
operations. The IFM will make it possible for fares to be collected
electronically, through the use of smartcards. It will also enable proper
subsidy and fleet management. The testing of the systems will start before the
end of the year.

The operational service level designs for the public transport system in the
City of Cape Town have been completed and are under discussion with the
national Department of Transport. Designs for service in George will be
completed within a few months. These operational designs together with plans
for upgrading infrastructure on key rail and road corridors will form the basis
of rapid public transport networks.

A business case for the restructured public transport system in the
province, which sets out detailed costs and subsidy requirements for this
system is being prepared for discussion with National Treasury and Department
of Transport.

A total of R29 million is being spent on the construction of Phase 1 of
Sandkraal Road in George.

Training of previously disadvantaged public transport operators on business
management has already begun.

Discussion with the different public transport operators and industries on
how they can participate in the new system will begin soon.

Marketing and further consultative processes around the PTIP will feature
prominently in the remainder of this year.

Non-Motorised transport

The National Travel Survey has revealed that more than three million
learners are walking to school for one hour, one way, everyday.

To address this problem national Transport Minister Jeff Radebe announced
that one million bicycles would be distributed to learners over the next eight
years. My Department has entered into the spirit of this intention and since
October 2006 has distributed 645 bicycles to learners. And this is just a
foretaste.

In conjunction with the national Department of Transport, we will distribute
3 000 bicycles in this financial year.

Rail

Honourable Speaker, I would like to touch on the issue of rail with some
great news.

In a welcome effort to tackle the problem of overcrowding on trains,
Metrorail will launch a pilot service on the Khayelitsha, Langa, Cape Town
line.

It will be known as the "Khayelitsha Express" and it will be a first class
only service that will ferry passengers in comfort and with speed (it will stop
at only two or three stations) between Khayelitsha and Cape Town.

Honourable Speaker, I can vouch that Metrorail and the South African Rail
Commuter Corporation are sincere when they say they want to create a rail
service that all its commuters in the metro (especially) can be proud of.

Metrorail intends increasing the number of its train sets to 93 by next year
and to 108 over the next few years. The additional train sets will include a
number of new rolling stock. In 2007/08 124 rail coaches will be refurbished,
181 in 2008/09 and 220 coaches in 2009/10.

The cost of an improved rail service along three corridors, Cape Town to
Simon's Town; Cape Town to Bellville and Cape Town to Khayelitsha is expected
to come to a massive R1,2 billion.

Of course the burning issue with rail over the past few years has been
commuter safety and in this respect, I have more good news.

Last week, national Transport Minister Jeff Radebe told the National Council
of Provinces (NCOP) that (and I quote), "in terms of commuter rail
infrastructure, a short term three to five years funding requirement of R4,5
billion which relates to an annual requirement of R1,8 billion has been
identified to fund specific infrastructure interventions on priority commuter
rail corridors."

"We want these services to be felt by the majority of South Africans so that
their social well-being is improved and they have access to economic
opportunities. These regional rail plans were developed in consultation with
provinces and metropolitan authorities, taking into account strategies set out
in the metropolitan authorities' Integrated Transport Plans."

"The regional rail plans clarified the role that commuter rail should play
in the context of an integrated approach to public transport."

Special attention is also given to the improvement of security measures
within the railway environment. The strategy includes a co-operative agreement
with South African Police Service (SAPS) to invest in security related
infrastructure required for the establishment and rollout of a dedicated
railway police unit.

The rollout of SAPS members is on course with 700 rail police currently
active and 5 000 members being in place by 2010.

So far, police stations have been built in Cape Town, Retreat, Bellville and
Philippi Stations."

The Cape Town network has experienced a 31,6 percent reduction in crime
related incidents, while fare evasion has been reduced from nine percent to
four percent.

There's one other thing in a development known as the Khayelitsha Extension,
an additional 4,5 km of rail is being constructed at a cost of more than R400
million.

Over the next few weeks, I will be accompanying rail officials on a "meet
the people" mission to tell them what rail has planned for them over the next
few months and years.

I strongly believe that rail could prove to be the biggest beneficiary of
the 2010 World Cup. If all the talk about its second coming translates into
action with, for instance, new rolling stock being commissioned improved
security and a better communications service, rail will become a more than
efficient mass mover of people.

Here's something else that an MEC for Transport, who's eager to reduce the
number of private vehicles on our roads, drools over a full coach can transport
almost 120 people. Multiply this number by eight or 10 coaches and you have
about 1 000 people being efficiently moved from Point A to Point B.

The South African Rail Commuter Corporation and Metrorail will add another
couple of pluses to what I've just mentioned and yes, I will probably find
myself agreeing with them.

"Train travel" they will say, "helps reduce congestion." And when they add
that a full train is equal to having 300 fewer cars on the road, it enhances
their argument.

Then there is also the matter of pollution, rail lovers will argue that the
300 fewer cars that I've just mentioned amounts to an 80 percent reduction in
gas emissions because trains are powered by electricity.

I welcome the fact that the South African Rail Commuter Corporation has
budgeted R1,2 billion to upgrade the railways system in the Western Cape.

Roads

Honourable Speaker, whenever we speak about motor vehicles we have to speak
about roads.

Let me start by saying that by and large the roads of the Western Cape have
served our motorists well. But stresses and strains are beginning to
appear.

The three spheres of government national, provincial and local, will spend
more than R1,9 billion on improving Cape Town's transport infrastructure.

But let's look at what we have planned in greater detail and let's begin
with roads infrastructure.

In the City of Cape Town, a joint effort between the Department and the city
has led to the conceptual planning for improvements to the interchanges linking
the N1 corridor and the Port of Cape Town.

"Sort out the Koeberg Interchange," is a cry that has gone out for several
years now. Honourable Speaker, attention will be given to it in the coming
financial year as well as to the Lower Church Street and the Marine Drive
interchanges. When completed, vehicular access to the port will be improved
which will in turn reduce the cost of doing business.

Regarding the Koeberg Interchange specifically, upgrading will consist of
the introduction of directional ramps between the M5 and the N1.

It hasn't always been plain sailing in the past financial year and the
coming financial year will be no different.

Honourable Speaker, our biggest challenge is overcoming spiralling
construction costs. Over the past year, these additional costs have severely
impacted on our ability to reduce backlogs in maintenance as originally
envisaged.

We have, however, made steady progress through rehabilitation,
reconstruction and resealing in addressing critical links in the provincial
network. We have recently completed the following projects:

* the rehabilitation of the second phase of the N1
* the rehabilitation of the N2 and construction of BMT lane inbound between
Borcherds Quarry and Vanguard Drive interchanges. (The contract for the
outbound carriageway and upgrading of airport interchange has recently been
advertised)
* rebuilding of Trunk Road 1 Section 1: George to Outeniqua Pass
* installation of street lights on the N7, at Piketberg N7.

Honourable Speaker, we have identified a number of flagship projects for
2007/08. These include:

* construction of the Potsdam Interchange
* directional ramps for the Koeberg Interchange, construction of these will
begin in this financial year
* the rehabilitation of the N2 and construction of BMT lane outbound between
Borcherds Quarry and Vanguard Drive interchanges
* work on the upgrading of the airport interchange will also begin in this
financial year.

All roads related EPWP projects have been transferred from the community
based Public Works Branch to the Road Infrastructure Branch.

There are 22 of these projects, of which half are already in the
construction phrase. The largest of these is at Ebenhaezer near Vredendal,
where R8-million will be spent on upgrading the access road.

We will spend R464 million on construction costs in 2007/2008.

As usual, maintenance will form an important part of the activities of our
roads division in the new financial year, with 410 kilometres (kms) of
re-gravelling and 340 kms or resealing planned.

The three District Engineers' offices in Paarl, Ceres and Oudtshoorn are
responsible for maintaining the road network. They use the services of the five
district municipalities, to act as our agents.

We have transferred R217 million to these district municipalities for this
purpose.

The flood damage in the Southern Cape was the biggest single maintenance
event of the past year, with R90 million being spent on repairs to our
network.

There's one other crucially important issue that I would like to raise,
currently, the backlog in the maintenance of provincial roads stands at more
than R2 million, the municipal roads backlog is even higher at more than R10
billion.

I believe that it is possible for us and the municipalities to make a strong
joint case to the National Treasury for additional funds.

I would like to thank to all the engineers, technicians, artisans and
labourers who did such sterling work in restoring the roads so quickly to a
usable standard for passing motorists.

The roads division has budgeted R606 million for maintenance work in
2007/08.

Expanded public works

Honourable Speaker, the Western Cape Department of Transport and Public
Works has been meeting its EPWP goals.

It wasn't all that long ago that the EPWP set itself a target of 120 000 job
opportunities over five years (24 000 a year), starting from 1 April 2004.

By 30 June 2006, we had already reached 41 percent of that target and that
is when we decided to push up the target to 40 000 job opportunities per
year.

We took this decision because we believe that the poor of our province need
hope and jobs provide hope.

I'm proud to be able to say the Western Cape's EPWP is the second highest
contributor to work opportunities in the country. Only KwaZulu-Natal has come
up with higher figures than we have.

Of course, in moving from a total of 120 000 to 170 000 we are also looking
at upping the percentages of various designated groups to 40 percent women, 30
percent youth and two percent physically challenged people.

Honourable Speaker, in his State of the Nation address (SONA), President
Thabo Mbeki touched on the EPWP saying, "There is no question that this
programme can and must be ratcheted upwards quite significantly."

"Having surpassed the 10 000 target we set ourselves, we will increase the
number of young people engaged in the National Youth Service (NYS) by at least
20 000 through 18 of our departments which have already developed plans in this
regard, enrol 30 000 young volunteers in community development initiatives and
employ 5 000 young people as part of the EPWP in the maintenance of government
buildings."

The Western Cape Department of Transport and Public Works will be using the
old De Nova site, which I suggested be called the Solomon Mhlangu Centre for
youth development.

We are offering our youth the opportunity to acquire skills in labour
intensive construction, agricultural development and computer training at De
Nova.

We will also be launching a Basil February Team, which will offer skills
training to young people at a Youth Day celebration in Paarl on Thursday.

These ties in with the Western Cape Government's decision to "massify" the
EPWP, it also fits in strongly with one of the UN MDGs of halving poverty by
2014.

Primarily, public sector budgets are being used to reduce and alleviate
unemployment in four sectors:

* the infrastructure sector (such as the building of roads)
* the social sector [such as Early Childhood Development (ECD)]
* the economic sector (such as New Venture Creation Learnerships)
* the environmental sector (such as "Clean the Nation").

Although the Western Cape is performing at an acceptable level in most
sectors, a strategic decision has been taken to prioritize EPWP in the
following sectors to realise our stated "massification" strategy

* the infrastructure sector (in which we are looking to create a minimum of
20 000 work opportunities).

This includes:

* spending R31 million on the upgrading of access roads in the
province
* spending R40 million on maintenance of provincial roads, targeting poor
families identified through ward committees and CDW structures
* continuing major construction projects such as the Gansbaai-Bredasdorp road
works
* expanding labour intensive construction methods, such as the Municipal
Infrastructure Grants (MIG) projects
* expanding the NYS programme, starting with the one involving 500 youth in a
building maintenance programme.

The Western Cape EPWP unit has undergone a strategic shift in terms of its
core deliverables. Instead of operating as an implementing agent for EPWP, it
will now play a supportive role through co-ordination, monitoring and
evaluation, contractor development and training development and innovation by
ensuring the following:

* that a provincial institutional framework will be up and running by the
first quarter of 2007/08
* that lead sector departments and district municipalities will be prioritising
EPWP in their planning processes
* that implementation plans will be corresponding with set targets
* that there will be sufficient provincial capacity to drive EPWP and provide
technical support
* that the EPWP will be marketed much more effectively at local government
level, through CDW and ward committee structures
* that there will be increased community participation
* that an unemployed database will be set up to keep a record of available
labour and their skills levels
* that skills levels will be linked to exit opportunities in growth sectors as
identified through Micro-Economic Development Strategy (MEDS) / Local Economic
Developments (LEDs)
* that the private sector will play a role in the implementation of the
programme and its exit strategies
* that the 2007/08 implementation plan will be launched by the end of April
2007 (which I'm pleased to say we did)
* that the NYS programme in building maintenance will be launched in this
month
* that an EPWP unemployed database will be set up
* that an EPWP Summit will be held in July 2007
* that an EPWP impact analysis will be undertaken.

We believe that the EPWP must serve as the stepping stone, the bridge, if
you will between the second and first economies. And in this respect we are
making excellent progress.

Honourable Speaker, we put a lot of work into job creation initiatives in
the EPWP as well as in other programmes run by the Department.

And sometimes things occur that put broad smiles on our faces and move us to
say, "This makes it all worth while".

Here's one such story, a few weeks ago we held a learnership 1 000 breakfast
to encourage construction companies to become more involved in our skills
development initiatives.

Last week, my Department and a company called Power Construction forged a
mentorship agreement that will enable two young emerging contractors from our
EPWP to be given valuable experience by Power Construction.

I'm thrilled and more convinced than ever that this is just the
beginning.

Youth development

Honourable Speaker, I would now like to touch on the difficult subject of
youth development.

It is one of our country's biggest challenges and a solution will be beyond
us if we try to deal with it in a piecemeal and unco-ordinated manner.

The youth commission and Umsobomvu Youth Fund (UYF) are important government
vehicles that co-ordinate and drive the work on youth development.

They have been able to guide government to develop youth centred and youth
friendly programmes.

The parastatals and to a limited degree the private sector have embraced and
are responding positively to the challenge of bringing our youth into the
economy.

In this month, my Department will work with young people to draw up a
strategy framework that will encourage the development of young
entrepreneurs.

This youth and business reference group will be asked to work towards a
youth seminar, which will be hosted by my department to go with UYF and the
Provincial Youth Commission on 28 June as part of the Youth Month
celebrations.

This seminar will provide a platform for established entrepreneurs and
aspirant entrepreneurs to share their experiences and to develop a
comprehensive approach to the development of youth entrepreneurship.

Through this seminar we hope to establish a youth and business network that
will provide an organised voice through which government and the private sector
can interact.

My Department will provide infrastructure development to ensure that young
people will benefit.

Learnership 1 000

On 14 June last year, we launched Learnership 1 000 at part of Youth Month
celebrations.

"The response was overwhelming. More than 35 000 clamoured to be included in
the programme which had room for only 1 000.

Over the next three years, we will invest R52,5 million into the Learnership
1 000 programme.

Honourable Speaker, people want to work, they want to better themselves,
they want to be able to compete for the same opportunities that many of their
compatriots have been given.

There have been challenges, the chief of which has been getting the
Construction Education and Training Authority (CETA), the South African
Federation of Civil Engineering Contractors (SAFCEC) and the Master Builders of
South Africa (MBSA) to sing from the same sheet.

"We cannot have contractors running a bursary programme totally isolated
from the consulting engineers, the architects and the government."

"We must say jointly that we need skills."

We need to acknowledge that we have a problem acquiring and retaining scare
skills. To meet this challenge, it is imperative that we come together to
strengthen our learnership 1 000 partnership and ensure that as a province and
indeed as a country we develop the skills we need.

And I think that we are doing this.

New venture creation learnerships

In September this year, we will enter the next phase in our roll out of
learnerships to address the socio-economic inequalities that still dominate our
society, especially in our rural communities.

In last year and at the start of this year, my Department and I in
partnership with the Western Cape Youth Commission the Department of Labour,
the national Department of Public Works and the Sector Education and Training
Authorities (SETAs) called for applications for new venture creation
learnerships in growth sectors that benefit significantly from government
procurement.

The learnerships include ventures for vegetable gardens, electrical
projects, information technology (IT) companies, cleaning projects, project
management, events management and more.

Applicants have been through rigorous tests conducted by the SETAs and
government contracts are being ring fenced by all departments for the practical
component of learnership.

Learners in this programme will be granted a minimum contract of R800 000,00
to a maximum of R1,5 million over 15 months.

Traffic management

Honourable Speaker, I would like to turn now to traffic management and to
motor vehicle licensing specifically.

During the 2006/07 financial year, some 90 000 additional motor vehicles
were registered in the province. On 31 March 2007, the total motor vehicle
population for the Western Cape was 1 449 644.

This growth has been recorded despite the tendency of some businesses to
register and licence their vehicles in other provinces, where annual licence
fees are substantially lower. In the last year the Department took 12 of the
companies to task, and successfully re-licensed their vehicles in our province
at a cost of R32 000.

A number of similar cases are being finalised.

Altogether, we collected R797 million for licence fees approximately R22
million more than the target we set ourselves. Most of the over collection was
for arrear licence fees.

Over the past four years only two percent of the Western Cape motor vehicle
population was not licensed. Even though our licence fee structure is still the
highest in South Africa, our unlicensed motor vehicle population is the lowest
in the country.

I am therefore confident that we will meet our revenue target of R776
million for the current financial year.

We have not increased our licence fees for four years in a row.

To change the subject, personalised licence numbers still seem to be a
popular method of vehicle identification. Contrary to the predictions made in
1999 that the demand for such numbers would decrease with time, sales are
continuing at an increased level on a daily basis with close to 28 000 sales
recorded at a total income of some R44 million.

Driving licences

Much publicity has been given to the long waiting times for persons in
mainly the Cape Town metropolitan area to write learner's licence tests or to
be tested for a driving licence. In April 2007, two new testing centres in
Philippi and Khayelitsha were opened. A further two centres, in Ottery and
Mitchell's Plain will be opening soon.

Unfortunately, the issuing of learner's and driving licences continues to
offer lucrative opportunities for corrupt officials to receive bribes for the
issuing of these licences without the prescribed procedures having been
honoured.

With the former National Traffic Information System (NaTIS) and the now new
electric NaTIS (eNaTIS), it is fortunately easy in some instances to trace
these fraudulent activities and prosecute the perpetrators. Regrettably some of
the participants were found to be political office bearers but the Department
with my co-operation will not allow any person irrespective of the office he or
she may occupy, to escape the vigorous auditing actions of our compliance
monitoring unit.

I'm pleased to report that the compliance monitoring unit has formed a close
partnership with the Special Investigation Unit (SIU), which was established by
President Mbeki to help the provinces detect fraud and corruption in the
testing of drivers.

In the past year, I have cancelled about 300 learners and driving licences
that were issued in Swellendam, Stellenbosch, Robertson, Worcester and Ashton.
The Department is currently auditing seemingly false licences issued in
Stellenbosch, Worcester, Khayelitsha, Vredenburg and Caledon.

I have given approval for the registration of four traffic officers or
examiners of driving licences to be cancelled as a result of fraudulent
activities in the issuing of learner's and driving licences.

The Department is currently corresponding with four others. If they are
found to be involved in fraudulent activities, I will cancel their
registrations and bar them from performing any road traffic related duties.

During the year, pending the stability of the eNaTIS, the Department intends
to introduce the national electronic booking system for learners and driving
licences that will, to a large extent, eradicate the possibility of issuing
licences to persons who had not been subjected to the prescribed testing
requirements.

In addition to this the Department in consultation with the Council for
Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) business against crime component,
will introduce the best practice operational procedures and structural changes
at two pilot sites which will further enhance the authenticity of documentation
and tests.

Government Motor Transport (GMT)

Honourable Speaker, GMT as a strategic business unit within the Department
is responsible for the delivery of cost effective motor transport services to
government departments and institutions. These services are streamlined and
upgraded on a continuous basis in support of the programmes of delivery towards
the 2014 Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

I would like to mention the following GMT initiatives:

Implementation of a vehicle tracking project will be completed across the
total fleet within the next few weeks. The facility will be managed within a
management bureau that is committed to the operational efficiency of the fleet.
The bureau will also coordinate recovery operations during hijackings and
theft.

Risk modelling and reporting will be rolled out to proactively highlight
driver behaviour and other risk areas for follow up by clients.

The sophisticated electronic fleet management system developed by GMT will
be enhanced further and fully utilised to the benefit of all client
departments. The system will also be shared with other organs of State which
will mean a saving on development costs. Two African countries have expressed
interest in the system.

The implementation of service level agreements with all clients will be
introduced to monitor and continuously improve service levels, as well as
institute remedial actions where necessary.

Business processes will be streamlined to ensure that fleet repair and
maintenance work are distributed equally to increase Black Broad Based Economic
Empowerment (BBBEE) market share.

Corporate affairs

The Masakh' iSizwe Centre of Excellence has is a significant provincial
initiative in support of Joint Initiative on Priority Skills Acquisition
(Jipsa) with a unique engineering skills development programme.

The vision of the centre goes beyond the offer of bursaries in the fields of
quantity surveying, architecture and electrical, mechanical and civil
engineering fields. An essential element of the programme is to develop a cadre
of "nation builders," a 'high road' to addressing priority engineering skills
needs.

It is a route which is underpinned by the recognition of two categories of
beneficiaries, financially disadvantaged learners and resource poor
communities.

Our aim is to develop students into constructively critical patriots. In
order to become such patriots they need to understand the socio-political
context in which they live. To this end we've negotiated with the engineering
faculties to provide appropriate modules outside of the usual engineering
courses.

I have already referred to our relative success with the throughput
rates.

Masakh' iSizwe targets financially disadvantaged learners, especially women
and learners from rural areas for its bursaries.

With regard to graduate placement, last year of the 27 that graduated, 16
were employed by my Department, five were placed with South African Rail
Commuter Corporation (SARCC), four have proceeded to post diploma and degree
studies, one is gaining experience overseas and one is being developed as a
contractor through our Women in Construction Programme.

What is particularly pleasing is that of the 213 bursary holders this year,
44% are women (up from 35% last year) and 54% are from rural areas (up from 43%
last year).

Human capital in the Department

Honourable Speaker, I can report some successes on the strategies pertaining
to the recruitment and retention of people with scarce skills which we
initiated in the 2006/07 financial year.

In this regard, we employed 13 young graduates who studied with bursaries
awarded by the Department.

In addition, we hired 12 retired professionals to help with some of the
operational functions relating to engineering and architectural work while at
the same time acting as mentors for the young graduates.

This year, we awarded 215 bursaries at a high profile awards ceremony in the
Jameson Hall of the University of Cape Town. The ceremony was addressed
Professor Njabulo Ndebele, Dr Mamphele Ramphele, Premier Ebrahim Rasool and
myself.

The centre will soon announce a Bursary Collaboration Venture with State
owned entities and private sector companies, which will see the establishment
of a co-ordinating centre, sharing of costs for bursaries, the implementation
of leadership and life skills programmes and the consolidation of workplace
learning opportunities, mentorship's for students and employment contracts.

Change management

In collaboration with the Department of the Premier, we embarked upon an
intensive process of restructuring. The first phase of this process involved a
comprehensive review of the macro level of the organization in order to align
with Ikapa strategies and to absorb an infrastructure growth path.

Public works

Honourable Speaker, our public works branch continues to make an important
contribution towards the accelerated delivery of social and administrative
building infrastructure in the Western Cape.

In so doing, it is making a valuable contribution to the creation of
sustainable communities and to the capacity of governance institutions to
operate effectively.

I'm proud to report that our public works division has taken on the scourge
of poverty by creating a number of jobs, work opportunities and
learnerships.

Here are some facts and figures and I'm sure you'll agree with me that they
make impressive reading (and they are for the period up to March 2007):

* we created 9 988 direct jobs through conventional construction
contracts
* we created 2 274 work opportunities through the Building Maintenance Pilot
Project, of which 1 564 of the recipients were women in poor townships and
rural areas
* we created 241 learnership opportunities, of which 81 were for professionals
and 161 for trade persons.

Honourable Speaker, public works has also fought against poverty by
broadening economic participation.

Consider this (and once again these figures are applicable until the end of
March 2007):

* Public works advertised and awarded 713 tenders worth almost R877 million
of the 713 tenders, 631, worth more than R627 million went to enterprises run
by previously disadvantaged individuals. This constituted 71 percent of the
total monetary value.
* Five hundred and twenty six of these tenders worth more than R261 million (or
30 percent of the total monetary value) went to enterprises represented by
women.
* Contractors registered with the Construction Industry Development Board were
productively engaged, in particular those from grade 2 to grade 8 in the
general building, electrical engineering and mechanical engineering class of
work.
* Sixty-eight percent (or 110) Western Cape General Building registered
contractors were awarded work.
* Fifty-eight percent (or 20) Western Cape Electrical Engineering registered
contractors were awarded work.
* Sixty-three percent (or 25) of Western Cape Mechanical Engineering registered
contractors were awarded work.
* We awarded 18 contracts to professional service providers to a total
professional fee value of R8,8 million to enterprises with Black Economic
Empowerment (BEE) representation.

Public works has also maintained the momentum of delivery in the area of
education infrastructure. We have completed six new schools and added
classrooms to various other schools, to the extent that we have now provided
learners throughout the province with 8 400 additional classrooms.

Last year I reported in my budget Speech that we had started with the
construction of 11 new schools. I am happy to report that work on all is
progressing excellently. In fact, all will be completed in the 2007 calendar
year.

These are:

* Table View Primary School: September 2007
* Samora Machel Primary School: August 2007
* Khayelitsha Senior Secondary 1: August 2007
* Khayelitsha Senior Secondary 2: August 2007
* Khayelitsha Senior Secondary 3: August 2007
* Khayelitsha Primary School 1: August 2007
* Khayelitsha Primary School 2: August 2007
* Khayelitsha Primary School: August 2007
* Delft South Primary School: August 2007
* Sedgefield Smutsville Primary School: September 2007
* Khayamandi Senior Secondary: December 2007
* 11 Additional classrooms: May 2007.

The safety of our learners and educators is a priority of this government
and I would like to think that our Department has played an important role in
this regard.

Over the past year, we carried out maintenance work on 506 schools and
fenced another 65.

Honourable Speaker, we maintained the pace of delivery in health
infrastructure over the past year. Among the facilities we maintained,
upgraded, designed and constructed are:

* Mowbray Maternity Hospital rehabilitation completed
* Vredendal Hospital Phase 1, completed
* Vredendal Hospital Phase 2, planning started construction to commence in this
financial year
* Worcester Hospital, still under construction.

It will finish later than planned because of increased Client Department
requests Paarl Hospital currently under construction and progressing well
Mitchell's Plain and Khayelitsha District hospitals planning has commenced.
They are likely to go out on tender in this financial year.

Five new forensic pathology laboratories are currently under construction.
Four new community health centres are currently under construction and will be
completed in this financial year.

Three new ambulance stations are currently under construction and will be
completed in this financial year.

All maintenance projects scheduled for the past financial year were
completed. All minor construction and rehabilitation works scheduled for the
financial year were started, with some still being in progress.

Honourable Speaker, as far as general buildings infrastructure is concerned
we've made progress in a number of areas:

We've started the construction of the Beaufort West Traffic Centre,
including the ambulance station and Disaster Management Centre. This centre
will be a hub for the Western Cape Provincial Administration's services in the
Central Karoo Region and will be completed in July 2007.

We started renovations at the Gene Louw Traffic Centre in Brackenfell and
these will be completed in June 2007.

The Shared Service Centre for Public Transport in Athlone will be procured
and construction is scheduled to begin in October 2007.

Planning for office accommodation for various departments has been a major
challenge and will, in all likelihood, continue to be so for the foreseeable
future.

We completed 323 maintenance projects and conducted 6 000 instances of day
to day maintenance on provincial government buildings in the past financial
year.

I would like to give the assurance, too, that all buildings controlled by
the provincial public works will be made wheelchair friendly.

Women in construction

Honourable Speaker, in 2006 my Department and I took stock of the role that
women are playing in the construction sector.

In August last year, we hosted a "Women in Construction Summit" where close
to 800 people shared many of the concerns and frustrations that they face in
their efforts to increase their participation in an industry that has
historically been dominated by men.

We made a number of firm commitments, including a pledge to award contracts
worth at least R112 million to women.

We are also reviewing and amending our provincial procurement policies.

In partnership with the Construction Industry Development Board (CIBD), we
are increasing training and capacity building for women contractors.

We've established regional forums for women in construction in each district
of the province and I am pleased to welcome the chairpersons of seven of the
regional forums in the House today.

Minister Thoko Didiza, our national Minster of Public Works, honoured us
with her presence at the summit. She handed over the first awards for
excellence for women in construction in the Western Cape.

Winners and runners up in categories of small, medium and large contractors
received trophies, certificates and sponsored cash prizes.

Public buildings

Honourable Speaker, as the custodian of the provincial property portfolio my
Department has started the process of developing a Total Immovable Asset
Management Strategy.

This will guide the Department in the strategic management of the province's
immovable asset portfolio.

Honourable Speaker, the property management component of my Department is
currently busy with an exercise to ensure that the property register is up to
date. We are also co-ordinating an effort to create a provincial record of all
State-owned properties.

Together with our national Department of Public Works, we will also conduct
an audit of all state properties to ensure that our properties are in fact
registered in our records.

I would like to reiterate the call of Public Works Minister Thoko Didiza to
all those who know of any state assets to come forward with such
information.

The Minister has already announced an amnesty in this regard to those who
may currently be using our assets without the proper permission to come forward
within six months (starting 1 July 2007). After this period, we will take
strict action against illegal occupants of our properties.

Transformation of the rental portfolio

The Property Transformation Charter aptly describes the dilemma in the
property market. It states, "Black people continue to be significantly
under-represented in ownership of property whilst administrative, legal and
financial constraints restrict the ability of black people to participate in
the property market."

My Department will promote the leasing of office accommodation in pursuit of
the spirit of the Property Transformation Charter. To this extent, we are
developing a leasing in strategy that will guide us on how to procure office
accommodation with specific reference to BBBEE principles. This will assist us
to achieve empowerment targets as enshrined in the Property Charter.

In support of local economic development and empowerment of previously
disadvantaged individuals, we have identified properties in Beaufort West,
Mossel Bay, George and Plettenberg Bay for tourism related activities, arts and
culture and business process outsourcing (BPO).

Thanks!

Honourable Speaker, a department is only as good as its generals and foot
soldiers and I am fortunate in having an extremely good team at my
disposal.

I would like to thank my Head of Department (HoD) Thami Manyathi for his
insight and energy and all the senior managers of the Department of Transport
and Public Works, who have taken on some extremely tough deadlines without
flinching. I would like to welcome Lizzie Ramncwana and Hannes Mouton, two
senior managers who joined the Department in the last year.

I would like to acknowledge the Western Cape Metered Taxi Association, the
Western Cape Provincial Taxi Council, the Provincial Operating Licensing Board
and the Property Committee.

My thanks also go to the Masakh'iSizwe Board, run so expertly by Dr Ramphele
Mamphela.

Finally, I would like to thank all staff at the Department of Transport and
Public Works especially my staff in the Department.

Conclusion

I started out by dedicating this Budget Vote address to the memory of Basil
February, a brave and gallant son of the Western Cape. He sacrificed his life
and limb for a dream of freedom, justice and democracy. He truly sacrificed so
that the place of his birth can be a home for all so that "South Africa could
truly "belong to all who live in it."

His memory and sacrifice is echoed in the battle cry of Khawuleza that rings
through every corridor of my Department, his memory and sacrifice is honoured
as the spades, trowels and wheel barrows spring into action on every
construction site in the Western Cape, his lifeblood pumps in the veins of hope
that runs through our youth and women as they strive for a better tomorrow, his
visionary action transport and inspire us along the dusty roads, the winding
highways and bustling railway lines that is the heart beat of our economy.

His memory spurs on the battle cry Khawuleza as we rise up to wikkel and
intensify our actions to entrench democracy and empower the marginalised women,
men and youth and disabled in our country and as we strive for safety, peace
and prosperity for all citizens of the Western Cape and South Africa, I want
conclude by invoking those powerful words written by comrade Basil February
calling on us to dedicate our lives to "the cause of a better life", a life
that "will go on in the smiles of children". A life that "will go on in the
hearts of a nation."

I thank you!

Issued by: Department of Transport and Public Works, Western Cape Provincial
Government
12 June 2007
Source: Western Cape Provincial Government (http://www.capegateway.gov.za/)