I Jacobs: Departmental Annual Report presentation

29 November 2007

Honourable Speaker
Members of the Legislature
Residents of our province
Friends and colleagues
Ladies and gentlemen

When the findings of the Auditor-General (AG) for the financial year
2005/06, were made known late last year, even in the face of major achievements
by our department, it became apparent to us, as the Gauteng Department of
Public Transport, Roads and Works and as government, that there was a need for
a major intervention in order to address challenges identified by the
Auditor-General. Such findings had also taken place in the midst of the
attainment of key milestones by our department in making a meaningful
contribution to service delivery excellence.

This related to milestones such as the utilisation of the Capex Budgets of
client departments in the province, in the outlay of socioeconomic
infrastructure, as well as a marked improvement in terms of service delivery
towards the creation of jobs, building of socio-economic infrastructure and
improvement of the quality of public transport, helping us, during the year
under review, to attain victories, that had never been achieved since 1994.

Some of our 2005/06 successes included an improved service delivery model
for Public Works, incorporating the development of strategic master plans,
changes in planning cycles, improvements in project management and a track
record of pro-active client relations. It also included the development of high
level strategic business plans for the establishment of a 2010 public transport
legacy programme incorporating improved airport access, the introduction of
Intelligent Transport Systems and the introduction of improved passenger
information and road signage.

This was coupled by the successful implementation of the Expanded Public
Works Programme (EPWP) focus on poverty pockets and key designated project
areas, as well as delivering project solutions in the fields of waste
management, community infrastructure, economic hubs, roads, education
facilities and sports playing fields. In addition to this, we had made huge
strides in changing citizen travel behavioural patterns as a result of such
government initiatives as Public Transport Month, Car Free Day and the
successful hosting of a Commuter Indaba.

The Auditor-General's 2005/06 determinations and findings had identified
weaknesses in areas such as supply chain management, human resource management,
revenue, expenditure, and assets within the department. The findings had
resulted in eight qualifications for the department, together with 21 matters
of emphasis and a disclaimer, a grossly serious state of affairs which we
viewed and immediately treated with the seriousness that it deserved.

In this regard, we then adopted a turn around strategy for the department,
which entailed a focus on backlogs in reconciliations, compilation of source
documentation, etc. and ensuring that all the operational policies and
procedures are finalised and implemented; ensuring that all managers'
performance contracts are in place, coupled by a performance management system
that is functional and aligned to strategic service delivery objectives. The
turn around strategy would be implemented in phases comprising a mitigation of
critical challenges in the short term, as well as inculcating best practices
and world class performance standards in the medium-to-long term.

Such work was also being done against the backdrop of achievements made by
Gauteng Provincial Government at the point of the Mid Term Review, producing a
report which showed that, indeed, government was breaking new ground in
ensuring access to services as well as ensuring that such access necessarily
entailed the building of a better and caring Gauteng for all the residents of
our province and the people of our country.

The strategy was also adopted in order to demonstrate the commitment of our
government to service delivery excellence, as well as commitment to
accountability and transparency in the utilisation of public assets. We are
glad to report to the Legislature that the Auditor-General's findings for the
Financial Year 2006/07 indicate that our department has received a clean audit,
thus contributing to the Auditor-General's rating of our province as being the
"Best financial performer for the year," with the Gauteng Department of Public
transport, Roads and Works being deemed a star performer for the year.

The Auditor-General also commented that the ability of the department to
turn its fortunes around within a year was indeed unprecedented in the history
of financial performance since the advent of democratic rule. All of this was
achieved, in spite of the immensity of challenges that the department had faced
in the previous year. And on that note, we would like to give credit to the
Legislature, for its honesty and critique, as well as our departmental teams
and staff in helping us to address attendant challenges.

Regarding the overall performance of our department during the year 2006/07,
we are confident that we have further added a shoulder to the wheel in the
extension of the frontier against poverty and underdevelopment, in our province
in particular, and our country, in general, through the attainment of
milestones such as:

* the acceleration of infrastructure development programmes, thus helping to
create jobs and reduce unemployment
* integrated and master planning with respect to the 2010 Transport Plan,
aiming to leave a long lasting legacy of socioeconomic growth and development
and building sustainable communities
* an increase in total expenditure from R1,481 billion in 2005/06 to about
R6,227 billion in 2006/07
* an increase in current assets from R546,457 million in 2005/06 to R576,941
million in 2006/7 (with a normal under expenditure of 0,4%)
* continued empowerment and participation of women, youth and people with
disabilities in our programmes such Women in Construction, Women In Transport,
Construction Contact Centres and other infrastructure development
programmes
* the attainment of a 70% complement for procurement awarded to BEE companies,
well in advance of the 2009 timeframe that we had set for ourselves
* the conversion of thousands of radius based permits to route based operating
licenses under the auspices of the Taxi Recapitalisation Programme
* the implementation of the scrapping of Old Taxi Vehicles as a way of
contributing to safety in public transport modes and helping to modernise the
service
* the commencement of the implementation of the Gautrain Rapid Rail Link as
part of the development of an integrated public transport system
* work being done to align our programmes with the work of the Construction
Industry Development Board (CIBD), thus a producing a CIBD Aligned
Strategy
* the signing of Memoranda of Understanding and performance agreements with
Seta's regarding learnerships
* receiving a clean and unqualified Audit by the Auditor-General for the year
2006/07

Regarding our trading entities, the year 2006/07 saw Impophoma
Infrastructure Support Entity engaging in alignment in order to support the
priorities of provincial government through a structured programme to ensure
that emerging contractors have access to equipments so that they may
efficiently implement government programmes. The Gauteng Government Motor
Transport, now known as G-Fleet, implemented an electronic fuel purchasing
facility and also introduced a more professional debt management system. During
the period under review, the Urban Transport Board was also appointed and its
operational structures were put in place in order to lay basis for the
implementation of the Board's charter.

The performance on black economic empowerment (BEE) also reflects 100%
achievement of the target set in Gauteng Provincial Government's GPG's black
broad based economic empowerment (BBBEE) Strategy as officially adopted in July
2005. The month of October 2006 also saw to the implementation of transport
related programmes and increased public discourse on matters of transport, in
general and public transport, in particular. In this regard, Car Free Day was
held on 20 October and the High Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) lane was piloted for a
period of five days later in the month, helping us to introduce better and
smarter ways of using road space. We also initiated the provincial Roads
Maintenance Strategy while vigorously implementing the development of roads in
the 20 identified townships.

We also held six Cabinet Izimbizo in order to help deepen democracy and
public participation, in line with the prescripts of the constitution of our
land of realising people's democratic rights. This also sought to help improve
access to information. On the other hand, work was done to train managers in
our department on matters of HIV and AIDS in the workplace and its effect on
staff and underlying communities. A total of 58 out 200 managers have already
been trained and this will soon be finalised.

Regarding the allocation of resources as well as budget planning, our
department achieved a 100% success rate. Our spending variance was also reduced
to 0,4%, far exceeding our target of two percent, for the year under review.
Our Public Works portfolio and EPWP initiatives have also enabled us to create
jobs while also helping to impart much needed skills to the residents of
Gauteng province, especially women, youth and people with disabilities.

The year 2006/07 also saw to the accelerated implementation of roads
infrastructure development programmes and public transport initiatives such as
the doubling of the Heidelberg Road into a dual carriageway at a cost of about
R180 million, the rehabilitation of 110 kilometres of roads, the maintenance of
1 465 kilometres of roadway, as well as the implementation of the Freeway
Improvement Scheme, together with A Better Roads Plan so as to ensure that our
roads provide the necessary conduit and support for accelerated socioeconomic
growth and development.

This puts us in a better position to increase the capacity of the department
in pursuit of delivering on revised Gauteng Provincial Government Strategic
priorities and to continuously change the lives of the residents of our
province for the better.

I thank you.

Issued by: Department of Public Transport, Roads and Works, Gauteng
Provincial Government
29 November 2007