Protocol
Programme Director, Cllr Nonkondlo
MEC for Roads and Public Works, Honourable Marawa
mayors
Councillors
Traditional leaders
Representatives of ward committees
Stakeholders: Ntabankulu Local Municipality Community Services, Department/Traffic Section, DPW: EPWP Social Sector, and National Youth Development Agency (NYDA)
Government officials from all spheres of government
Ladies and gentlemen
It gives me great pleasure to participate in this important event. Thanks to the organisers for inviting me to share some thoughts with you today. This is a time to celebrate – and to remind ourselves that this government delivers and is committed to improving the lives of all our people.
One of the other important projects we are overseeing at the moment – as Public Works - is the building of small bridges in rural areas in the Eastern Cape to improve the safety and access for people in remote villages. This is a Presidential project initiated by the President himself.
On a lighter note, as Minister of Public Works, it is such a relief not to be talking about fraud and corruption, collusion etc… The serious point is to remind ourselves that there remain large parts of the Public Works family that are functional – and in the case of Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP), are striving for excellence.
Let me also mention the importance of community involvement in the planning and delivery of these projects. We need community structures and leaders to ensure that there is tight control of the process of allocating EPWP work opportunities. We need to see in place open and transparent processes in allocating EPWP jobs. In this case, I am told that the work opportunities are being shared - with at least two beneficiaries taken from each ward.
Let me also mention the importance of partnerships – with the three stakeholders working together:
Ntabankulu Local Municipality Community Services Department/Traffic Section – providing:
- Overall project and operational management
- Monitoring and reporting, and
- Practical workplace experience.
DPW: EPWP Social Sector – providing:
- Budget for stipends and uniforms, and
- Training.
National Youth Development Agency (NYDA) – providing:
- Life skills and entrepreneurship training, and
- Support for exiting beneficiaries into formal employment and self-employment.
The Ntabankulu Youth Community Safety and Security Project
Implementation of the Ntabankulu Youth Community Safety and Security Project began in April 2013 as a pilot project of the EPWP Social Sector to create work opportunities and expand the sector’s involvement at local level. The project is designed to address youth unemployment while also rendering security and safety services to school children, officials and communities in public buildings, in the town and surrounding areas of Ntabankulu.
Community Safety and Security is one of government’s priorities - Outcome 3 on ensuring that “All people in South Africa are and feel Safe”. The origins of this project lie in a municipality study conducted by the Social Sector in 2011 through the Independent Development Trust (IDT). The results confirmed the huge potential among municipalities to deliver social service-related and human capital development programmes.
Guided by the rise in gender and child violence and other security challenges, Ntabankulu and EPWP Social Sector identified this project as a perfect intervention strategy - while at the same time addressing youth poverty and unemployment. Community safety and security projects are appropriately delivered by youth due to the demand for physical strength, energy and agility that the youth possess.
Subsequently, the EPWP Social Sector entered into an agreement with the executive of the Ntabankulu Local Municipality in March 2013 to implement the project.
This project is in line with the National Development Plan (NDP) which links work creation to social protection - supporting vulnerable groups, especially the youth.
I am pleased to announce that this project is also being piloted on three sites in Western Cape and Northern Cape.
I can assure you, that successful implementation in these pilots will result in a national roll-out across municipalities resulting in:
- Improved security, and
- Job creation for the youth.
Project objectives include:
- The creation of work opportunities for young people of 18 – 35 years in Ntabankulu local municipality and surrounding areas under the auspices of the EPWP Social Sector.
- Provision of monthly stipends for these youth in line with the EPWP Ministerial Determination. (R70.32 per day)
- Training of the youth in the project for efficient service delivery and personal development.
- Mentorship of the youth by the experienced relevant security managers working for the municipality.
- Rendering security and safety services to school children, officials and communities in public buildings in the town and surrounding areas of Ntabankulu.
The beneficiaries are deployed at:
- The pound
- Two primary schools as school patrols assisting children to cross the main road
- The local municipality building as security
- Town as traffic wardens, and
- The local municipality hall for crowd control/management.
There are 40 young unemployed persons involved in the project. The project is 100% youth, 26 females and 14 males. It is envisaged that the municipality will extend the project for another year in 2014/15 to provide the youth an opportunity to phase out gradually into alternative employment.
The way forward
- The EPWP Social Sector has prioritised the project for a learnership training to start by the end of November 2013 to assist beneficiaries to exit into formal employment.
- Project roll-out to other municipalities nationally will be facilitated in the following years.
EPWP
We are now finalising the planning for Phase III of the EPWP Programme – from 2014-2019 - based on the following approach:
- To up-scale numbers – by focusing on areas which give the largest number of work opportunities.
- But more importantly, rather than just counting numbers, the emphasis will be on the quality of the EPWP outcomes in terms of:
o Improved service for poor communities – such as home-based care, ECD, security, cleaning of cemeteries etc
o Provision – and importantly, maintenance - of additional infrastructure – such as roads, as well as
o More innovative projects which concentrate on greening and sustaining the environment.
The broader picture moving towards 2014
The big picture is this:
- EPWP has delivered. It will deliver more in Phase III - the period of the next government.
- This government has delivered. With your support it will deliver more after 2014.
As the ANC we have said that we are now moving into the second phase of our transition to democracy – where the emphasis is on social and economic improvement of the conditions of all our people.
Crucially, this includes the following:
- Combatting fraud and corruption;
- As part of our national democratic revolution addressing the land question; and
- Driving economic growth and job creation.
Combating fraud and corruption
We need to enforce zero tolerance of fraud and corruption – and reject tenderpreneurs – both within the broader society and government. I am pleased to be able to report that in the Department of Public Works (DPW) we have made serious progress in combatting fraud and corruption. As a result of investigations by the SIU (Special Investigations Unit) we have been able to move against corrupt elements – dismissing senior staff members and instigating court action to reclaim monies wrongly obtained.
Only yesterday, the media publicised the success of the Hawks in smashing a syndicate operating in Johannesburg which – with the collusion of officials – had defrauded DPW out of R40 million. We were paying rent for empty buildings!
We have now put in place systems to prevent that happening again. Meanwhile the wrong-doers will pay for their crimes. We are saying to the criminals: you can run but you can’t hide.
The 1913 Native Land Act and the Land Question
It is exactly 100 years since the passage of the infamous Native Land Act when 87% of the land – including all the best farming land – was reserved to whites.
The land question remains a defining and persisting difference in South African politics. With elections approaching, it suits the DA to now rebrand themselves as opponents of apartheid – pointing out that apartheid ended in 1994 with democratic elections.
From the side of the Alliance, we would say: “It’s more complicated than that. Political exclusion was only one facet of the national oppression of black people. The many ways in which black people were discriminated against, held back and denied opportunities – these things also have to be addressed – including the Land.”
Infrastructure: driving economic growth and jobs
As we move towards elections in 2014, it is inevitable that we will debate the record of the present leadership of the ANC in government. And it is right and proper that we do this. I would argue that in key areas of economic policy we have seen significant shifts – with the objective of combatting poverty and inequality and creating jobs.
I have personal experience and knowledge as a member of the PICC (Presidential Infrastructure Coordinating Council) of the Infrastructure Plan to drive inclusive economic growth and development; and to lead the struggle against the triple evils of poverty, unemployment and inequality.
Major long-term Strategic Integrated Projects (SIPs) have been developed to promote regional economies and job creation. Examples include:
SIP 3: South Eastern Node and Corridor Development – to promote rural development through:
- A new dam at Umzimvubu with irrigation systems
- The N2-Wildcoast highway to strengthen supply chains and access
- Building manganese rail capacity from the Northern Cape to PE and building a manganese smelter in the Eastern Cape.
- A possible refinery at Coega
- Development of a trans-shipment hub at Ngqura, and port and rail upgrades to improve industrial capacity and the performance of the automotive industry.
SIP6: Integrated Municipal Infrastructure Project – to assist the least resourced districts to address all infrastructure, maintenance and services backlogs. And here we will be using EPWP methodologies.
Concluding remarks
As we prepare for democratic elections in 2014, I want to make the following points: First, it is your right and duty to criticise government officials and representatives when we do not deliver. I would urge you to do this through the Alliance structures and through Ward committees.
I would be the first to admit that mistakes have been made. A large part of my job as Minister of Public Works is exactly to address these mistakes, to investigate wrong-doing and to root out the tenderpreneurs and corrupt elements. The same process is happening in other departments.
Thirdly, and this is the most important point: never forget that it was the Alliance – led by the ANC – which after decades of struggle and sacrifice – brought down the cruel Apartheid regime.
That same Alliance – ANC, SACP and COSATU – remains the only vehicle that is capable of taking forward our national democratic revolution to ensure that in the second phase of our transition we deliver real economic and social transformation to all our people.
