In his State of the Province Address, Gauteng Premier, David Makhura announced our 5th administration’s ten pillar programme of radical transformation, modernisation and re-industrialisation of Gauteng, over the next five to fifteen years. This is our response to the persistent triple challenges of poverty, unemployment and inequality facing our people and their cry for faster positive change and a more people centred administration.
As the Department of Infrastructure Development, we are revising our five year strategy and plans to be in line with this fresh mandate. Our vision is to be a leading radical infrastructure provider and facilitator that positions Gauteng as a Globally Competitive City Region with a sustainable, inclusive and growing economy that creates decent employment.
We are the implementing agent for all provincial infrastructure delivery projects for client departments such as Health, Education, Sports Arts and Heritage, Social Development and Agriculture and Rural Development. We are responsible for maintenance of all Gauteng infrastructure through well-defined maintenance plans. We manage the provincial property portfolio and asset management. Most importantly, we implement and coordinate the Expanded Public Works Programme in a manner that enhances skills development and optimises decent employment and entrepreneurship.
Radical and strategic infrastructure roll-out
To address the past challenges of poor and slow infrastructure delivery, we have developed and have started implementing a radical delivery method and approach referred to as the Infrastructure Delivery Management System (IDMS). This methodology will enable us to re-engineer and re-position the department to be capacitated, effective, efficient and accountable in delivering infrastructure. The System entails three phases namely; portfolio management planning, project management implementation and maintenance.
We are improving our planning processes which are informed by the client departmental needs, design of projects, implementation and close out of projects. With maintenance, we accept assets, mobilise for facilities management, operations, and ongoing emergency repairs and maintenance. We will also be disposing off assets that have become a huge liability.
To contribute to accelerated social transformation, re-industrialisation and strategic infrastructure rollout, in this financial year, we are massively rolling out 55 capital health projects, i.e. construction and/or upgrading of clinics, community health centres and hospitals. We are providing 25 services on National Health Insurance (NHI) projects mainly in Tshwane. The scope of these NHI projects includes alterations, additions and new construction. The total budget for health capital projects is about R534 Million.
In doing this work, we will contribute to revitalisation and mainstreaming the township economy by supporting the competent SMME’s and township enterprises as local contractors and we will ensure creation of decent employment for local people including Africans, Coloureds and Asians. Those SMME’s that are beginners are absorbed in the incubation contractor development programme and they are supported to implement smaller projects until they are ready to implement bigger projects efficiently.
It has indeed taken us a long time to construct the Natalspruit Hospital but we have completed the construction as planned and we are completing a few additional works. The hospital shall be officially opened within the 100 days of the new administration.
We undertake construction of various programmes for the department of education, namely new infrastructure programme, rehabilitation and refurbishment, upgrading and additions, which includes fencing, Grade R, septic tanks and upgrades of full service schools throughout Gauteng. Ten new schools will be officially opened by end of December 2014 including the Magaliesburg Boarding School. The total budget for education capital projects is over R1.1 billion.
We are in this financial year constructing five capital projects for the social development department including drug rehabilitation centres in Ekurhuleni, Tshwane, Johannesburg and Sedibeng. We are also upgrading and renovating six capital projects including the Walter Sisulu and Father Mkhatshwa places of safety in Tshwane. The total budget of social development capital projects including upgrading and renovation is about R77 Million.
Other capital projects include memorial acres for the sports department including the Boipatong Memorial Centre to be officially opened by October 2014, upgrading and renovation of nature reserves on behalf of the Agriculture Department. We are, in the process of this radical infrastructure roll out, engaging the private sector to partner with us in unlocking the potential of the infrastructure sector to create more decent jobs inclusive of women, youth, people with disabilities and military veterans.
In March 2015, we shall be part of the launch of the massive programme that will give hope, skills and entrepreneurship skills to 500 000 young unemployed graduates and unemployable youth, women, people with disabilities and military veterans, as announced by the Premier as an expansion of the Tshwane Tshepo 10 000.
We will also engage research institutions to vigorously promote innovation within the provincial economy and fast track the development of new industries that will usher Gauteng into an innovation driven, knowledge based, smart and green economy.
To boost employment and economic inclusion, we will procure 75% of all goods and services from South African producers especially SMME’s, township enterprises, and black owned women and youth enterprises. By Black we mean Africans, Coloureds and Asians. One of the challenges of revitalising the township economy is the social and economic infrastructure that is decaying with the look and feel of these working class residential areas being neglected. Our people must seize these opportunities i.e. property upgrading to raise the quality of life in the townships.
Maintenance turnaround through e-maintenance
Since the e-maintenance project was launched at the new Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital, there is improvement in the turnaround of maintenance management of our infrastructure. Any member of the public can lodge a complaint about maintenance defects. These will be electronically recorded for our artisans to fix the defects within the turnaround time. For major maintenance defects, there is always a plan to fix the problem.
During my unannounced visits in hospitals for instance, there were service providers fixing lifts and there were plans to replace old boilers and other equipment. We will however do an audit of all major maintenance problems in all our facilities, record these on a dashboard so that it’s easy to closely monitor the turnaround time to fix and repair these major defects. This will also help us budget better for maintenance management.
Radical Expanded Public Works Programme
In his State of the Province Address, the Premier committed that in further bringing and addressing depression in the economy, we shall unveil a comprehensive and more integrated EPWP and CWP that will create over one million job opportunities within a period of five years. This comprehensive programme will be linked to providing temporary relief for a longer duration for participants. It will also be linked to the revitalisation of the township economy and renewal of township infrastructure, especially in old townships.
We are pleased to report that when some of the EPWP participants we met during our unannounced visits to projects, they requested that we increase their contract period from 6 to 12 months and we have responded positively to this request as per the Premier’s commitment. We are also engaging the Public Works Minister so that there is uniformity on EPWP contact period.
We believe this positive move will further contribute to reducing poverty, unemployment and inequality. We are also working on the exit strategy to ensure that after 12 months these participants do not become unemployed again but that they are either absorbed by the state or private sector or they are supported to create township enterprises or cooperatives to participate in the economy. We are currently rolling out the Zivuseni Reloaded and National Youth service EPWP type projects that will result in creation of a total of 6 500 job opportunities during this financial year.
Transformation of the state and governance
The Premier urged the public servants to transform their attitude and behaviour towards the public to re-asset the dictum that we are here to serve the people and not the other way round. During my 100 days and beyond, I will continue to do unannounced visits to various workplaces and infrastructure projects to meet and greet staff and to inspect service delivery.
We have adopted consequential management where public servants who excel in their work will be rewarded and those who are lazy will be coached and when all efforts fail, they will face consequences as per the Public service act. Our people deserve better service delivery. We will also be taking steps to ensure a more effective and visible campaign in preventing corruption and graft.
The Green Agenda
Finally, the department is rolling out Green Agenda Initiatives which is part of climate change mitigation and adaptation strategies as well as the green and smart economy. The programme entails mainly, the roof-top solar panel roll out project (which will simultaneously address existing constraints of land and power supply), the energy efficiency retrofit project and the hospital affordable clean energy project.
It is foreseen that this programme can go far with regard to job creation, as well as promoting entrepreneurship by establishing local manufacturing and assembly plants. The HOD and/or his team will unpack this very important program and thereafter we will take you to a short tour of one of the projects.
I thank you.
For enquiries contact:
Mbangwa Xaba
Cell: 072 447 6582 or
E-mail: mbangwa.xaba@gauteng.gov.za
