Honourable Speaker and Deputy Speaker
Honourable Premier, Mr ES Magashule
Honourable Members of the Executive Council
Honourable Members of the Legislature
Honourable Members of Parliament
Leadership of political parties
Their Majesties Marena le Mafumahadi
Religious leaders
Chairperson of the South African Local Government Association (SALGA) and representatives of Local Government
Executive Mayors, Mayors, Speakers and Councillors
Directors-General
Heads of departments
Municipal managers
Chairpersons and CEOs of state owned entities and agencies
Other officials
Distinguished guests
Comrades and friends
Introduction
Honourable Speaker
On the occasion of the State of the Province Address on 26 February 2010, the Premier spoke extensively about the achievements of the Free State Provincial Government in the first year of the fourth term of the democratic government. The honourable Premier said that the achievements show that through “Operation Hlasela”, we are bringing hope to our people. This is notwithstanding the challenges that lie ahead, challenges of delivering more to combat the scourge of poverty. I stand here before you today, to outline the programmatic tasks of my department for the forthcoming financial year. We must work together in partnership with our communities and business to fight poverty, hunger, and to create decent jobs to “Build a Better life for all”. This budget vote is testimony to the Premier’s clarion call that we need to intensify the fight against poverty, create jobs and promote sustainable development and growth.
Our immediate task is to use all instruments at our disposal, the budget being one of many, in a coordinated and concerted effort to create jobs, and offer protection to the poorest amongst us. The department’s appropriation for this financial year 2010/2011 is R948.325 million. The largest part of the increase in this budget allocation is due to the provision for rental payments and municipal services. This is an increase of 18 percent, as compared to the previous year, but it is still not sufficient to meet all the needs, particularly the huge backlogs of maintenance and the payment of rates and other services.
Administration
Honourable Speaker, we will continue building capacity, organising our department better and ensuring good corporate governance. The department will also continue to engage in capacity building to enhance skills and ensure retention of scarce skills. To this end, the department has put in place innumerable programmes. In order to optimise the development of human capital within the department, we will put our staff, especially those that are employed to do general work, through a process of determining their competencies in terms of the various trades. We will do this recognising prior learning for the occupational class tradesman aid as required. It is intended that this will stimulate, motivate, develop and ensure mobility of this personnel. This process will be followed in line with the general thrust of the Skills Development Act.
In the past year we have started to fill critical positions in the department. These appointments assisted in closing some of the gaps in management and technical fields. The recruitment and selection process underscored the challenge that the government is facing with regard to the scarcity of skills within the professional engineering and related fields. The absorption of bursary holders from these related fields and our insistence on engineering expertise as well as skills transfer from the existing in-house and three Cuban Professionals in the fields of mechanical, civil and electrical engineering mitigates this scarcity of skills.
To the beautiful people of Cuba, we will forever remain indebted for the sacrifices they made and the hardships they have had to endure for us to be able to stand tall amongst the countries of the world. Our relationship with the peoples of Cuba is one based in a shared vision of a world free of exploitation of one by the other. Cuba is evidence that a people untied can never be defeated.
The principle of Batho Pele requires prudent risk management to form the basis for government‘s service delivery programmes. The department has entrenched enterprise risk management in strategic planning to assist with the achievement of set objectives with minimum risk. The uniqueness of challenges such as limited resources and competing objectives, together with stakeholders and public expectations of service delivery, escalates the need for risk-averse decision making. With the implementation of Enterprise-wide Risk Management (ERM) within the department, appropriate capabilities would be created.
The restructuring and in particular the establishment of the rural development function has not been brought to conclusion. In this regard we should mention that during the last financial year the department as part of the provincial government approach, participated in the realignment project. Final implementation of the realignment project will start in the first quarter of the 2010/11 financial year. We will also increase our research capacity to be more hands-on with regard to departmental programmes in particular our new mandate of rural development.
Regarding the transfer of capital works function from other departments, the Departments of Education and Public Works and Rural Development, have put in place processes and systems to ensure that the transfer of staff is finalized with effect from 1 April 2010. The process to transfer staff from other departments will be embarked upon in the new financial year. Honourable Speaker, we would like to take this opportunity and thank the 117 support staff members transferred to the Department of Police, Roads and Transport for their commitment and dedication and trust that they will render the same high quality service. This support administration programme receives the budget allocation of R74 569 million in this 2010/11 financial year.
Public Works
Honourable Speaker, our public works branch is tasked with ensuring that; socioeconomic (physical) infrastructure is developed in the form of capital works projects, maintained and upgraded towards sustaining its quality and long-term utilisation; government’s property assets are well managed, maintained and utilised in a way that increases provincial revenue; and the Expanded Public Works Programme is implemented across the province, in a manner that creates decent jobs and develops skills.
This branch receives a budget allocation of R 817 916 million.
We pledge as the department to continue building on our achievements of the past years. We will intensify our efforts to improve and speed up our pace of delivery of the much needed infrastructure with the sole purpose of growing the economy and reducing poverty and unemployment in the province. The Department will continue to broaden access to constitutional rights through public works, rural development and the Expanded Public Works Programme. This will also be done in a way that builds safe, secure and sustainable communities.
In the current financial year 2009/10 we commenced with the construction of 15 platooning schools, some of which are already operational. The Department has also completed a world class mortuary which has been described as an engineering masterpiece. We also completed the maternity ward at Boitumelo, which has received accolades for being the best in terms of architectural detail and user-friendliness.
During the 2010/11 financial year, we will continue with planning and execution of our own capital projects. The projects that we will continue to implement are the following:
- Construction of the Free State Provincial Government Building
- Upgrading of the current Legislature Building
- New testing centre in Bethlehem
- Social Development building in Kroonstad
- Testing station in Harrismith.
The department will also be implementing a new project in the 2010/11 financial year. We will begin the planning for the construction of the New Legislature Building/Complex.
A comprehensive infrastructure plan that will include all departments in the province will be finalised by end of March 2010. The roll out of this plan will contribute immensely to the economic growth and development of the Province. It will further contribute towards job creation and skills development. We will in the process, be contributing towards
Contractor Development and the improvement of the Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB) grading levels of Historically Disadvantaged contractors which will enable them to access opportunities in the private sector as well.
Along with the acceleration of infrastructure delivery will be the maintenance of old infrastructure. Maintenance as an industry in its own right, will unlock the potential of government to further economically empower, train and skill our people. This is an area where opportunities for the National Youth Service will also be further explored. It will benefit job creation and the development of small contractors, as contractors will be required to ensure that a portion of their work is allocated to smaller and upcoming contractors in line with their capacity (CIDB grading levels). They will also be expected to make opportunities available for National Youth Service learners to be trained in a variety of skills in the built environment.
We will strive to improve our compliance to the Occupational Health and Safety Act requirements, access to government buildings by people with disabilities, including ensuring that our buildings are compliant with regard to energy saving. To further enhance holistic growth of smaller contractors, the department will re-advertise the programme in order for new applicants to participate in the second phase of the Contractor development programme. The current programme will be coming to an end in March 2010. Its re-advertisement, which will take place during the first quarter, will give a new crop of aspiring smaller contractors an opportunity to also participate in the construction industry. We will target 50 small contractors and will also focus on CIDB grade 1 to 6 in order to maximise work allocation. The Department of Public Works and Rural Development played a vital role in establishing the CIDB Construction Contact Centre (CCC) and managing the CCC‘s maintenance.
The relationship between the parties is based on the fact that the CIDB is an agency that accounts to the national Department of Public Works. At the provincial level the relations are bolstered by the Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) and the mandates they both have in assisting the contractors with the grading and enterprise development programmes.
In 2010/11 and the forthcoming years, the department and the Construction Industry Development Board will embark on joint road shows in rural areas to inform contractors about the Construction Contact Centre services and the departmental programmes. These road shows would have commenced by July 2010. The commercial banks with whom the CIDB signed the Memorandum of Understanding to make funds accessible to the contractors will also participate.
In 2009, the Construction Contact Centre hosted the Construction Charter seminar during the Construction week. Plans are afoot for the department in this financial year, to co-host a similar event due to the changes on the Charter Scorecard and the Broad Based Black Economic Empowerment (BBBEE) alignment to the Preferential Procurement Policy Framework Act (PPPFA). On 1 April 2010 the Construction Contact Centre will open the Business to Business or the Internet facility to enable the contractors to have access to the infrastructure information, ranging from the advice on how to build different building structures and the drafting of the business plans. Access to this internet facility will be free to the contractors.
Property management
Honourable Speaker, the transformation of the property industry remains high on our agenda; a bigger portion of our expenditure on rented property portfolio still goes to the companies owned by the historically advantaged individuals. Transformation of the property sector entails changing the patterns of ownership where historically advantaged individuals own properties. We have put measures in place to ensure the integration of the historically disadvantaged individuals into the economic mainstream through property ownership. We will re-advertise the property incubator programme by June 2010. The property incubator programme is an enterprise development programme which seeks to:
- Address the imbalances of the past in the property sector
- Guarantee entry and growth of black owned enterprises into the property market
- Promote strategic intervention by government in all sectors of the property industry
- Create an ambience where targeted property related businesses are able to acquire empowerment opportunities, related skills and competencies in order to compete independently for opportunities in the industry.
The programme will house a number of enterprises which share a range of services within the property industry. These will include amongst others:
- property management
- facilities management
- property ownership
- property valuations.
I urge all those who had applied previously for inclusion in the property incubator programme to reapply when we re-advertise as this will further enhance the economic
growth and development of the province and ensure participation of black property entrepreneurs in this sector.
Decentralisation of office accommodation to districts will be pursued vigorously in the new financial year. This is made important by the fact that the provincial government needs to balance development in the entire province by ensuring that services are provided in a decentralized manner. Implementation of this strategy will further stimulate and enhance economic development and activity in the smaller towns of our province. The intention is to also consolidate departments in offices and buildings, and have some kind of one-stop-shops for easier access to services by our people.
We will also maintain our plan to dispose of properties that have ceased to serve the strategic needs of government or have become redundant. To this end, we have disposed of 36 houses in QwaQwa. I will be handing over the Title Deeds for these houses before the end of March 2010. In 2010/11 financial year, we will further dispose of 29 houses in Wepener. There are plans to further accelerate the process of disposing of houses in the following towns: Winburg, Heilbron, Frankfort, Harrismith and
Fouriesmith.
We will also ensure that all tenants in government buildings, houses and flats, pay rent or risk legal action being taken against them. The payment of rates and taxes by the provincial government to municipalities is critical as it is a major source of revenue for municipalities. There have been challenges with regard to accurate invoicing of the provincial government by municipalities. To address this, the department developed an implementation plan to assist the respective municipalities to do the reconciliations of their accounts and bill the department appropriately. We will pay out the full budget of R140m allocated for property rates for the 2009/10 budget.
The asset base of the provincial government continues to increase as schools and clinics are being transferred from municipalities to the province. This places a further demand for more resources to be allocated to ensure their upkeep. We will therefore strive to have improved and comprehensive facilities management plans and ensure implementation thereof.
Honourable Speaker, security of government property plays an important role in enhancing service delivery. We will continue to improve the security of our property by introducing advanced measures in both the physical as well as the electronic security. A continuous training of our security personnel in all areas of security administration will play an important part in this regard. We will be starting our own accredited training unit in the 2010/11 financial year to accelerate the skilling of our personnel in this area.
Special attention will be given to investigations to continue to minimise abuse of systems and to enhance service delivery.
The department will further increase its capacity with regard to the provision of security in and around government property in the province.
Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP).
Honourable Speaker, the target for the second phase of the implementation of the Expanded Public Works Programme for the 2010/11 financial year is to create 20 544 work opportunities. These will be created through the use of labour based technologies in the main. It is expected that municipalities will also play an important role in this regard. Through the implementation of the Expanded Public Works Programme, the department creates short-term jobs and builds social capital by involving communities in socio-economic infrastructure development in their areas. The Expanded Public Works Programme also seeks to contribute to skills development, thus increasing job opportunities and enterprise development.
As you are all aware, the EPWP projects target youth, women and people with disabilities who are provided with relevant training and productive employment opportunities. Our own budget for the implementation of the Expanded Public Works Programme is R27.644 million for the financial year 2010/11.
Speaker, from April 2009 to January 2010 through the EPWP the province has created 27 116 work opportunities across all sectors and the breakdown is as follows:
- Infrastructure sector: 10 970 work opportunities
- Social sector: 11 107 work opportunities
- Environment and culture sector: 3 839 work opportunities
- Non State sector: 1 200 work opportunities.
Of the 27 116 work opportunities created 10 846 were youth, 14 914 were women and 813 were people with disabilities. The remainder of 543 comprises of both the adult men and women. As the province, we exceeded the target set by the national Department of Public Works for the creation of work opportunities for the ending financial year 2009/2010. The target that was set was 18 116 work opportunities. This achievement was reached through partnership, cooperation and participation of the provincial departments and municipalities, underscoring the fact that “working together we can certainly do more”. In the same breath, we urge municipalities to ensure that all their projects are reported on so that all the data can be captured.
The department recruited 500 youth to participate in the second phase of the EPWP -National Youth Service programme in the built environment. 107 youth from Motheo and Xhariep Districts were trained in the following trades:
- Plumbing
- Electrical
- Welding
- Bricklaying and
- Carpentry.
Nine learners in the field of welding were absorbed by Transnet and 14 are being trained in the electrical field by Centlec. The department will continue to look for opportunities for the remaining participants from the other districts.
In the spirit of rewarding excellence in EPWP implementation, the EPWP Recognition Programme (Kamoso Awards) was launched in 2006/07 by the National Department of Public Works and Business Trust (as part of the Support Programme) to recognise municipalities, provinces, departments and public entities who had excelled in implementing the EPWP, and to encourage others to follow suit.
Honourable Speaker, the province has always featured amongst the winners in every final and this year we should ensure that we improve on our performance and scoop many awards and become the winner in many of the categories. Our performance speaks for itself as we won in the following categories over the years:
- 2007: Public Works, Roads and Transport (Best Infrastructure Programme - Makwane)
- 2008: Mangaung (Best Local Municipality Infrastructure Sector)
- 2009: Maluti-a-Phofung (Best Local Municipality Infrastructure Sector)
- 2009: Mangaung (Best Local Municipality - Environmental Sector)
- 2009: Public Works (Regional Office Best Regional Office - National Youth Service)
The second phase of the EPWP introduced a new sector which started in July 2009, the non-state sector. Through this sector government will be partnering with the non-profit organisations to create jobs, so as to alleviate poverty and make a dent on unemployment in line with the targets of the Millennium Development Goals. In this regard the province together with the Independent Development Trusts (IDT) has identified six non government organisations implementing projects and reported on work opportunities created in this sector:
- Mangaung University of the Free State Community Partnership Programme -Bloemfontein
- Pheko ka Kopanelo - QwaQwa
- Progressive Youth Development Organisation - Botshabelo
- Regeneration of the lost Generation - Viljoenskroon
- Sunrise Resources Centre - Bethlehem
- Tswelopele Rural Development Network - Bloemfontein.
Through National Treasury an incentive grant has been established with the intention of rewarding those public bodies that perform well with regard to job creation by reimbursing them a portion of their wage costs. The more employment created, the higher the incentive that will be paid out.
The allocation indicated in the 2009 Division of Revenue Act is just an indication of the amount available for payout to the respective public body within the budget appropriated by Parliament. The actual amount the public body will receive is entirely based on the number of Full Time Equivalent Jobs created above their set minimum performance threshold.
In 2009/10 financial year only Maluti a Phofung, Mangagung, Matjhabeng and Thabo Mofutsanyane signed the Memorandum of Understanding with the national Department of Public Works for the incentive grant in our province. I am pleased to announce that for this financial year the number of municipalities in the Free State that qualify for the incentive grant has increased to 10. This will go a long way in providing municipalities with the much needed finance to meet their infrastructure backlog.
Rural development
Honourable Speaker, the rural development mandate is drawn from the Cabinet’s 2009 Medium Term Strategic Framework (MTSF) which aims at providing comprehensive rural development (CRDP) linked to land reform, agrarian reform and rural development.
Integral to the concept of rural development is ensuring that people from rural communities must take the centre stage in the improvement of their own quality of life. This requires active participation of all stakeholders, that is, the private sector, non-government organisations, community based organisations, traditional leaders, municipalities, provincial and national government.
Honourable Members, at the heart of the rural development concept is land and agrarian transformation, which includes food security, rural livelihood, increased agricultural production, sustainable use of natural resources, as well as economic and social infrastructure.
The department has the responsibility to initiate, facilitate and coordinate rural development in collaboration with other departments in order to promote a more integrated and coherent approach to rural development.
Speaker, much of the departments’ work in this area of rural development to date has been based on the implementation of five pilot projects in Thabo Mofutsanyane (Diyatalawa and Makgolokweng), Fezile Dabi (Cornelia), Lejweleputswa (Hennenman), Motheo (Thaba Nchu) and Xhariep (Jagersfontein and Bethani). These projects will be continuing in the financial year 2010/11.
We are also working closely with the national Department of Rural Development and Land Affairs to source funding for the roll-out of rural development projects in the following additional areas: Lejweleputswa (Theunissen), Fezile Dabi (Oranjeville/ Deneysville/Zamdela) and Xhariep (Jacobsdal).
The department used its skilled work force in various trades in the construction of infrastructure projects in Jagersfontein and Makgolokoeng. The intention of using these artisans was mainly to impart skills to the locals and promote their employability. For this financial year 2010/11 moving forward, we will strive to improve our integrated and coordinated approach with all stakeholders and provincial departments in the speedy implementation of rural development. We will speak in one voice and make sure that we push back the frontiers of poverty and ensure a better life for all. Speaker, rural development has been allocated a budget of R28 196 million in the year 2010/11.
Operation Hlasela
Honourable Speaker, we continue to heed the call made by the Premier in his first State of the Province Address that all provincial departments will engage on a concerted effort to eradicate poverty and create sustainable livelihoods in rural areas. This we do through our contribution to the provincial government’s Operation Hlasela programme. There are new localities where new rural development projects will be implemented in the new financial year. These localities cover all the regions of the province where infrastructure development, economic development and activity, needs to be stimulated.
Operation Hlasela ensures that departments execute their projects and work in a more coordinated and integrated way. We are looking to further enhance this approach to achieve more, faster and smarter.
Finally
My department and I are committed to responding to the call of both the President and the Premier to remove impediments to growth and development. We intend to be in the field, working tirelessly in partnership with rural communities and business. I therefore urge our stakeholders and partners like SALGA, Traditional leaders, municipalities and business to improve on this collaborative effort going forward. Lepetjo la rona jwalo ka lefapha ke letsoho mohomeng as we roll our sleeves and get down to dirty our hands in building a prosperous Free State.
Of critical importance would be to ensure that the challenges and interests of people in rural areas receive due attention and effect. This is with particular reference to women, youth and people with disabilities.
Honourable Speaker, let me take this opportunity to thank the Premier for his leadership, my colleagues in the Executive Council for their support, Members of the Legislature and Members of the Portfolio Committee for their oversight role.
I wish to express my gratitude to the HOD and the officials within my department, who, in the short time I have been with them, have shown me their passion and commitment in ensuring that the department achieves its mandate. I also want to express my heartfelt gratitude to my husband and children and the entire family, for the unwavering support they continue to provide - they are my pillar of strength.
The late President of the African National Congress, OR Tambo, when addressing the external mission in 1971 said, “We who are free to eat and sleep at will, to write, to speak, to travel as we please; we, who are free to make or break revolution, let us use our comparative freedom, not to perpetuate the misery of those who suffer, nor give indirect aid to the enemy they fight by withholding our own contribution”.
We table this budget vote today mindful of the mammoth task before us, that of ensuring that those living in misery must say today is better than yesterday and they must hope that tomorrow will usher in a world free of misery. Let’s make these plans and programmes work, together.
I thank you
Source: Department of Public Works and Rural Development, Free State Provincial Government (http://www.fsworks.gov.za/)
