Honourable Speaker
Honourable Premier of Gauteng province
Colleagues in the Executive Council
Honourable Members of the Provincial Legislature
Distinguished guests
Members of the Fourth Estate
Ladies and gentlemen
All protocol observed.
Honourable Speaker, being born is never a predictable or painless process. Allow me to illustrate the point with the words of acclaimed author Salman Rushdie:
How does newness come into the world? How is it born?
Of what fusions, translations, conjoinings is it made?
How does it survive, extreme and dangerous as it is? What compromises, must it make to stave off the wrecking crew, the exterminating angel, the guillotine?
Is birth always a fall?
The Department of Infrastructure Development was born in 2009 following the disestablishment of the Department of Public Transport, Roads and Works. The decision to have Infrastructure Development as a separate portfolio was informed by the significant role, that the provision and maintenance of public infrastructure plays in the socio-economic development and growth of the Province. The newly established Department of Infrastructure Development suffered many birth pains, which resulted in a qualified audit opinion during the 2009/10 financial year with a significant number of matters of emphasis. It was crystal clear that this infant would have to take giant steps to fulfill its mandate.
Since 2009, President Zuma, in his State of the Nation Addresses (SoNAs), emphasised the State’s investment in infrastructure. Over the next two years, the President ramped up infrastructure prioritisation, culminating in 2012, when he announced, “For the year 2012 and beyond, we invite the Nation to join Government in a massive infrastructure development drive”. In September 2012, the Presidential Infrastructure Coordinating Commission (PICC), was established; our Premier, Ms. Nomvula Mokonyane represents Gauteng on this committee.
Honourable Speaker, it is no secret that, the 2010 FIFA World Cup was the most lucrative in history, with the Department of Infrastructure Development contributing significantly to the success of Gauteng as a host Province. Moving forward after the landmark year of 2010, and as is common in developing countries such as ours; the key challenge was not necessarily going to be around delivering new infrastructure, but more on sustainable operations in terms of the maintenance and servicing of such infrastructure.
It is in this context that one of the department’s critical focus areas for 2010/11 was the intensified repairs and maintenance programme of our province’s socio-economic infrastructure. During the 2010/11 financial year the department implemented gargantuan steps to mitigate the previous audit findings and was rewarded through the achievement of an unqualified audit with an extended list of matters of emphasis. The department had decisively begun to shake off its birth pains - as a new or fledgling department. Thus, signifying a shift in gear, towards the attainment of a clean audit in 2014, in fulfillment of our Premier’s commitment to ensuring that Gauteng achieves its target of 100% clean audits by 2014.
During the 2011/12 financial year the department placed strong emphasis on tracking deliverables as part of ensuring that we came up with innovative methods to best deliver services to our people at a much faster pace. However the stark reality is that our Nation’s infrastructure needs are tremendous and Gauteng, which is at the epicenter of our economy, has to accommodate the bulk of the infrastructure demands.
Honourable speaker, the sharp increase in our population as a province, as reflected in the 2011 Census figures meant we had to be innovative and creative in the solutions we implemented to keep up with ever-growing demand for services and infrastructure. As our Provincial Government motto says, ‘Kuyasheshwa’!
Speaker in that spirit, in pursuit of the outcome of achieving quality basic education, in November 2012, we launched the state of the art, fully resourced Orefile Primary school in Olivenhoutbosch, which was constructed in a then record breaking time of under eight months using Alternative Construction Methods. In the 2012/13 financial year we succeeded in halving this construction time using traditional brick and mortar construction methods.
During the 2011/12 financial year the department had made several gains from the previous audit findings and attained an unqualified audit opinion. A significant achievement was the reduction in accruals, which have been on a steady and commendable downward trend for the previous 3 financial years. In the 2011/12 financial year, accruals amounted to R159 million, of which R100 million related to invoices received within the month of March 2012, as the financial year end drew to a close. However the department was by no means performing at an optimal level, the AG raised 39 exceptions, ranging from our human resource practices and policies, to supply chain management and performance management.
When I joined the department in 2012, I commissioned an internal audit of the department to assess the state of readiness for the desired level of infrastructure planning and service delivery excellence. Among the recommendations, was a need to review integrated systems, identify and address skills shortages in strategic and operational areas and the institution of a review process regarding the organisational structure. As a response to these recommendations, we have over the past year undertaken a concerted drive to recruit the technical expertise that will enable us to execute the construction and maintenance work we are mandated to undertake on behalf of various client departments.
Furthermore, the organisational structure of the department has been reviewed and aligned to the Infrastructure Delivery Management System (IDMS) model. The IDMS model is our core operating framework, which requires substantive investment in achieving the certification of our professionals with the relevant professional bodies. Our commitment to strengthen the Country’s technical expertise and bolster the development of scarce skills such as artisans, engineers and technicians, thus radically improving the execution of the construction and maintenance projects we are mandated to undertake is reflected in the resources we have allocated to human capital development within the department.
Improved planning of infrastructure projects has been achieved, which in turn ensures that the construction of infrastructure is executed on time, within scale and on budget. For example, the time taken for the delivery of schools with all amenities has been reduced from between 12-18 months in 2010/11 to 8 months in 2011/12 and in 2012/13 to just 3-4 months.
With regard to the maintenance of health infrastructure, Helen Joseph, Tembisa and Kalafong hospitals have been reclassified as academic hospitals. Natalspruit and Zola-Jabulani hospitals will be commissioned in the 2013/14 financial year. The implication of these actions for us is to ensure that appropriate capacity is in place to respond to the expected support from the department, that will enable these hospitals to service their constituencies seamlessly, thus contributing to the National objectives and Provincial goals as respectively stated by the President and Premier. In this regard, a proactive approach to our maintenance regime and rapid response to breakdowns has been adopted. Qualified professionals have now been deployed as resident engineers responsible for all maintenance activities at Chris Hani Baragwanath Memorial, Steve Biko, Dr George Mukhari and Charlotte Maxeke Academic Hospitals. Reports from hospital Chief Executive Officers (CEO’s) have confirmed the success of this initiative. The turn-around-times and quality of maintenance have been further enhanced by the e-Maintenance system, which is currently being piloted at Chris Hani Baragwanath Memorial Hospital.
As part of improving efficiencies Supply Chain Management policies have been developed, and roles of different parties within the value chain clearly defined. The prudent and accountable use of public funds and all resources that are in the custody of the department is also a matter of priority. In line with the Gauteng Anti-Corruption Strategy adopted by the province, we will continue to fight corruption and ensure that there is no financial mismanagement and maladministration, by adhering to the prescripts, of the Public Finance Management Act (PFMA). It is thus encouraging that the Department has, in the 2012/13 financial year, obtained an unqualified audit, in pursuit of a clean audit, as championed by GPG.
The Minister of Finance in presenting the 2013/14 budget clearly stated that social spending is not a substitute for job creation and therefore job creation remains a priority. Hence as part of sustainable development all Government initiatives need to innovatively promote employment creation as an integral part of their daily services to the people. Furthermore, the National Development Plan has highlighted initiatives such as Expanded Vocational Education as a strategic response to youth employment. The Department implements the Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP), National Youth Service (NYS) and Accelerated Artisan Training Programme (AATP) as platforms to promote skills development and develop work experience. In the 2013/14 State of the Province Address (SoPA), EPWP is expected to increase work opportunities within the Province from 151,000 to 196,000, of which 61% are at GPG level. The department needs to be proactive in devising an exit support programme for these interventions, which will ensure that these beneficiaries graduate to permanent or longer term employment in the private sector, or exit the programme better skilled and thus elevating their chances of future employability.
The position of Gauteng as the center of the Nation’s economic activities has obvious environmental consequences. The Gauteng Spatial Development Framework explicitly recognises the environmental impact of economic activities and the need to address this challenge. In support of this initiative to address environmental concerns as well as urban and inner city renewal programmes (articulated in the Provincial budget speech), the department undertook a research tour of Asia to investigate how Gauteng could benefit from best practices. Using these lessons, the Department is proactively engaging with the Gauteng Planning Commission (GPC) to develop the Gauteng Integrated Infrastructure Master Plan (GIIMP), which will deal with the dual concerns of environmental degradation and equitable growth. Concurrently, the Department has embarked on a Green Strategic Programme, which attempts to meet the expectations of the GPG in prioritising the reduction of C02 emissions while creating green jobs within the Province. The programme aims to achieve this objective by prioritising three projects, 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 hospitals affordable clean energy project.
Honourable Speaker, I stood in this esteemed House last year and made a promise, “By the time we table our 2012/13 annual report, you’ll be seeing a decisive turn around in the Department’s outlook and orientation. With the dedication and innovation of our team at DID, and your support honourable members, we are progressively approaching our target of being the “Premier construction entity of the Gauteng Provincial Government”.
Honourable Speaker, I believe that during the 2012/13 financial year, the House has seen a decisive turn around in the Department‘s outlook and ability to deliver. The infant Department of Infrastructure Development has grown into our birthright, and the fulfillment of our mandate.
Finally, I leave you with the words of the late Margaret Thatcher, “You and I come by road or rail, but economists travel on infrastructure” – DID are the architects of tomorrow today.
Madame Speaker, in line with Section 65(1) (a) of the Public Finance Management Act, 1999 (No. 1 of 1999) read together with the Standing Rules of the Gauteng Provincial Legislature in terms of Rule 47 (4) of the Standing Rules, I Qedani Dorothy Mahlangu, the Member of the Executive Council of the Gauteng Department of Infrastructure Development, hereby table the Annual Report of the Department for introduction to the House.
I thank you.
