Address by DPWI Deputy Minister Sihle Zikalala during the debate for Budget Vote 13, Cape Town
Honourable House Chairperson
Honourable Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure
Honourable members
Chairpersons and Board Members and Senior Management of our Public Entities
Director General and your Senior Managers present
Representatives of our Built Environment industry
Ladies and Gentlemen
Introduction – 70 years of the Freedom Charter
Seventy years ago, the African National Congress led South Africans from all walks of life, black and white, urban and rural, young and old, to adopt the Freedom Charter on 26 June 1955.
One of the key demands of the Freedom Charter is found in the clause, “The people shall share in the country's wealth!”
During the watershed Morogoro Conference in 1969, the ANC in the Strategy and Tactics was unambiguous that:
“In our country - more than in any other part of the oppressed world - it is inconceivable for liberation to have meaning without a return of the wealth of the land to the people as a whole. It is therefore a fundamental feature of our strategy that victory must embrace more than formal political democracy. To allow the existing economic forces to retain their interests intact is to feed the root of racial supremacy and does not represent even the shadow of liberation.”
As we debate Budget Vote 13 of the Department of Public Works and Infrastructure, we are called upon to remember the responsibility that history has bestowed on us to be the generation that delivers the injunctions of freedom. Therefore, every contribution that we make, it must be clear that transformation is not a nice to have but a prerequisite in order to create a society envisioned in the Freedom Charter inspired by the ideal of a united, non-racial, non-sexist, equal and prosperous society.
Hope and renewal for the DPWI
As the Minister has highlighted in his address, we are denouncing the business-as-usual approach in the Department. Our pursuit for service delivery excellence and high tangible performance is part of the attitude we are introducing to bring back the confidence of client departments.
Infrastructure-led growth
Honourable Members, this budget vote offers us an opportunity to reflect on a transformation journey that has been long, at times arduous. As DPWI, we recognise that targeted infrastructure development in rural areas and townships, marked by apartheid's legacy, can ignite a renaissance of industrial and entrepreneurial activity.
Since the dawn of democracy, targeted initiatives and steadfast policy interventions have given birth to the burgeoning of black entrepreneurship and industrialism across sectors—from manufacturing and agribusiness to technology and renewable energy.
Welisizwe bridges
Honourable Members, the construction of Welisizwe Bridges in six provinces to improve safety and mobility in rural areas continues.
We completed 48 bailey bridges in the 2024/25 financial year. Additionally, 51 bridges are currently under construction, with various teams working concurrently across sites to meet the programme’s delivery targets in terms of the backlog and the target for the current financial year.
A total of 1 920 (40 per bridge) EPWP beneficiaries from local communities benefited during the construction of these bridges.
Another positive outcome of the decentralised procurement strategy has led to increased involvement of local SMMEs.
The appointed service providers have been working closely with SMMEs in their respective provinces, fostering local economic development, skills development, and community buy-in.
New post-apartheid harbours
House Chairperson, as committed in the previous financial year, three Spatial Economic Development Frameworks (SEDFs) have been concluded for the new harbours in the Eastern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal and the Northern Cape.
The SEDFs provide a blueprint that will guide the developments through the incorporation of the best use of the land within the harbour precincts and specific needs of each province. DPWI is working towards releasing the harbours to the market for potential investments by the private sector.
Investing in community infrastructure
House Chairperson, as the department, we have no choice but to meet a number of national development goals by increasing access to social infrastructure, transforming the built environment and creating work opportunities through public employment programmes. We leverage on entities of the department to meet such objectives.
We are pleased to report that as per the IDT’s last performance, this crucial entity completed 315 new or replacement facilities. Of the R3.502-billion expenditure on designated groups:
- 27% (R945.688 million) was spent on women-owned entities
- 25% (R879.039 million) was spent on youth-owned entities
- 2% (R64.645 million) of expenditure was on people with disability
- Under the Contractor Development Programme: the entity awarded 87 contracts to designated groups participating in the CDP (39% to women contractors and 40% to youth contractors respectively).
Transforming the property industry
Honourable Members, the impact of our work as the DPWI, is not just in the mortar and brick work but it should be measured on how we make the property sector and the built environment more inclusive to create “a nation that works for all.”
The 2024 State of Transformation Report by the Property Sector Charter Council (PSCC) shows that the sector has improved to a Level 3 contributor to BBBEE. That is no small achievement. We have seen black ownership climb to just around 20% of property ownership, double what it was just over a decade ago, when we were languishing at less than 10% in 2012.
This is evidence of effort. This is evidence of intent. And to those who have contributed to this progress, we commend you.
But while we pause to acknowledge, we cannot afford to stop here.
Because if we are honest with ourselves, the pace of transformation remains too slow.
After more than 20 years of BBBEE, we still sit at just one-fifth of ownership in the hands of black South Africans, while 80% remains elsewhere, in a country where 80% of the population is black Africans.
Women, youth, people with disabilities, and rural communities remain at the margins. This is not enough. Not for the scale of our history. Not for the potential of our people. Not for the future of our country.
We need to be bold enough to admit: too much of what we have achieved has been about compliance, it has been about ticking scorecards and not enough about real, lasting change.
It is time for us to shift our mindset from compliance to consequence. From merely “meeting requirements,” to making an impact.
That means moving beyond procurement targets into the heart of both the property and construction sectors where there is meaningful ownership, decision-making power, and true wealth creation for all.
It means dismantling the barriers that keep black professionals and black-owned firms confined to subcontracting or once-off contracts.
Instead, we must focus on building enterprise and supplier development ecosystems that are sustainable, that integrate black firms meaningfully into the value chain and surely not as guests, but as co-owners of the table.
Contractor incubation and skills for the built environment
Honourable Members, despite multiple contractor development interventions over the years, the majority of emerging contractors in South Africa remain trapped in the lower CIDB grades with limited progression, poor access to funding, and weak post-programme support structures.
The current situation reflects:
- Low progression rates: Fewer than 36% of contractors in Contractor Development Programs progress beyond their initial grade.
- Payment delays and funding gaps: These undermine project delivery and contractor sustainability.
- Fragmented and inconsistent contractor development programme implementation: Infrastructure clients apply different standards, not aligned to a unifying framework.
- Limited post-Contractor Development Program support: Most contractors receive no structured mentorship or project access after training.
To improve the participation of previously disadvantaged groups in the construction industry, we have begun provincial engagements with the CIDB to create awareness on the CIDB Contractor Development Programme.
The National Contractor Development Framework is aimed at ensuring the sustainable development and progression of emerging contractors — with a particular emphasis on targeted groups, including women and youth.
Contractor development has been given a further boost through the CIDB B.U.I.L.D Programme which provides for the B.U.I.L.D Fund, the Enterprise Development Standard and the Skills Development Standard which are implemented on infrastructure projects.
For the year ahead:
- R100 million from the B.U.I.L.D Fund will be used to provide funding for emerging enterprises.
- Emerging contractors will also be supported in terms of competence assessment and top-up training.
The process has commenced to target 1 000 contractors to be assessed in terms of competence assessment (Assessment of Prior Learning) and 200 contractors for Construction Management Systems Training and Certification so that developing companies can sustain their businesses and participate meaningfully in infrastructure projects.
Honourable Members, the CBE remains seized with the implementation of the Professionalisation and Capacity Building Strategy for the Built Environment to improve the registration of black professionals and women professionals.
The CBE is progressing in its endeavours to implement a skills pipeline to ensure systemic strengthening in relation to the nuanced demand and supply dynamics within the Built Environment.
This programme focuses on a refined Candidacy Programme and a comprehensive national database of unemployed graduates and professionals.
Reapatala
Honourable Members, the Department is committed to paying invoices within the prescribed period of thirty (30) days through the Reapatala programme.
An average of 12 000 invoices are tracked monthly. The Department has tracked 167 266 invoices, with the value of R19.9 billion since 1 April 2024 to 31 May 2025.
The Department normally pays 99% within 30 days and we are addressing IT challenges that sometimes affect our performance. Reapatala is part of the programmes that my office is driving. More engagements are being planned with SMMEs to support them to be paid on time.
Revitalisation of workshops – insourcing for cost cutting and skills development
Honourable House Chair, we are re-introducing an insourcing operating model using government workshops to execute unscheduled and scheduled maintenance. Notwithstanding government’s cost containment measures, DPWI is currently implementing the programme in the Northern Cape, Free State, Western Cape, Gauteng, and KwaZulu-Natal.
The work is carried out by artisans in the Building, Carpentry, Welding, Electrical, Plumbing, Mechanical, Boiler Operations, Water Care and Painting trades.
Operation Bring Back: Recovering stolen and hijacked state properties
The Department will be vigorously implementing Operation Bring Back (OBB) to recover illegally occupied state properties. This project will take between 24–36 months.
The DPWI is in total looking at 1 287 properties that were identified by Ernest and Young through a forensic investigation that was conducted in 2016.
We now know that there are mainly four (4) categories of illegally occupied properties:
- Irregularly occupied (residential) – this category involves family members of previous government employees who may have passed on and left their family members in the houses.
- Illegally occupied (residential, vacant land and commercial buildings) – this category involves the active and deliberate illegal occupation of government property.
- Illegally transferred / stolen properties (residential, vacant land and commercial buildings) – this category involves illegal/unlawful transfer of government properties to private companies or individuals.
We will be collaborating with the South African Police Service and the justice system to treat this as a high priority crime.
Implementation of Expropriation Act
Honourable Members, the signing into law of the Expropriation Act by His Excellency President Cyril Ramaphosa, remains a seminal and ground-breaking moment towards achieving the vision of the Freedom Charter.
Moving forward, the Department should develop an implementation plan in the form of regulations to simplify its implementation by all expropriating authorities.
These regulations should be thoroughly consulted upon as per regulation development requirements as prescribed in the National Policy Development Framework adopted by Cabinet in December 2020.
In this regard, it is incumbent upon the lawmakers who are Parliamentarians to give proper guidance on how the regulations should dovetail with the provisions of the Act to explicitly provide clarity on issues of process, procedures, and properties that fall within the category of expropriation.
This shall provide certainty and thus encourage investors to invest in our country, and ultimately contribute to the 7th Administration strategic priorities.
Conclusion – Climate change emergency
Honourable Chairperson, climate change is real and must be treated as an emergency threat.
In this regard, sustainable infrastructure development is a necessity, not a luxury. In addition to our policies that support sustainable infrastructure delivery, the Department is proud of the work that is done by Agrement South Africa (ASA) in certifying eco-friendly building materials.
To build climate resilient communities and promote local economic development, let us support innovation, green industrialisation, and above all, plant trees to preserve our planet for future generations.
I thank you.
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