T Didiza: Regional Seminar on Labour Intensive Practices

8 September 2007

Programme Director,
Premier of KwaZulu-Natal, Sibusiso Ndebele and leaders of the province
Minister of Labour, Membathisi Mdladlana
Regional Director of the International Labour Organisation (ILO), Regina
Amadi-Njoku, and representatives of the ILO
Ministers of Public Works from Southern Africa
Public Works MECs from South Africa
Executive Mayors and Councillors present
Activists from around the world for job creation and poverty alleviation
Distinguished delegates and guests

It gives me great pleasure to welcome you today at this august and exciting
regional seminar. This 12th Regional Seminar on Labour Intensive Practices is a
particularly important conference since it draws together specialists,
researchers and practitioners from a wide range of disciplines. All of you are
activists in the global fight against joblessness and poverty.

The International Labour Organisation (ILO) together with African
governments, have provided an important lead in creating this regional focus on
a key economic challenge facing our continent and our global village – the
inability of millions to access work. Indeed, South Africa's Expanded Public
Works Programme (EPWP), in its design and implementation, incorporates the
fruit of international experience refined over more than a decade of
collaboration punctuated by these seminars.

Accordingly, the organisation of this 12th Seminar in the host province of
KwaZulu-Natal is fully supported by the South African government, including the
Department of Labour and the national and provincial Departments of Public
Works. It is an expression of our government's commitment to global change and
a better life for the people of our country and our continent. Indeed, this
commitment lies at the heart of the value system championed by our
government.

It is our belief, also that this 12th Seminar will enable us to scale up our
own labour-intensive programmes in the infrastructure, social and economic
sectors. It must also enable us to expand regional partnerships for
infrastructure development, job creation and the development of our human
capital. It is in this context that we extend a particularly warm welcome to
the southern African Ministers of Public Works, who have joined the seminar to
explore closer cooperation.

There are of course many priority issues on the agenda of the developing
world. Few of them however assume the same urgency as the issues of
infrastructure deficiencies, backlogs and disparities.

The legacy of uneven development and under-development in Africa and
elsewhere in post-colonial societies is well known. It continues to inhibit our
capacity to deliver infrastructure that supports employment and the full
participation of developing societies in global economic endeavour. This is
certainly true of our own experience in South Africa.

Africa has certainly taken a giant step on its unique path of renaissance to
a better and sustainable future. New Partnership for Africa's Development
(Nepad), is a pledge by African leaders, based on a common vision and a firm
and shared conviction.

Conceived and developed by African leaders, Nepad constitutes an integrated
plan to promote accelerated growth and sustainable development, to eradicate
widespread and severe poverty, to halt the marginalisation of Africa in the
globalisation process, and to accelerate the empowerment of women.

It is abundantly clear that the vision for Africa's renewal will be jointly
led by the development of physical infrastructure, jobs and human capital.
Speaking at the Extraordinary Summit of the African Union (AU) on Employment
and Poverty Alleviation, the then Head of the African Union and Nigeria's
former President, Olusegun Obesanjo said that "to accelerate growth and
employment on our continent we must increase the investment
infrastructure".

Indeed in May 2002, a Nepad Short-term Action Plan for Infrastructure (Stap)
was put forward as a preliminary response to the need for regional integration
to achieve economies of scale and to reduce Africa's economic marginalisation.
There can be no meaningful development without trade – and there can be no
trade without adequate and reliable infrastructure.

The short-term programme is to be complemented by a more comprehensive
Medium- to Long-Term Strategic Framework (MLTSF), which is currently in
development. The Framework will guide the continuous and consistent development
of regional infrastructure in Africa.

The Framework will:

* propose long-to-medium term strategic goals to guide the development of
Nepad infrastructure programmes
* define processes and criteria for selection and prioritisation of projects
and programmes under the Nepad initiative
* develop and institute a monitoring framework
* develop a framework for cross-fertilisation and dissemination of good
practices.

As part of this 12th Regional Seminar, we will hold a Ministers' Roundtable
Discussion to explore how we can collectively help to shape Nepad's delivery of
Infrastructure, infusing into it the principles of labour intensive
construction, skills development and the appropriate use of targeted
procurement to achieve positive social and economic outcomes that create a base
for expanding regional development.

Ladies and gentlemen,

In this context, the Ministers' Round Table Discussion may also explore the
potential to establish a Regional Infrastructure Forum that supports the
ongoing sharing of best practice and a common agenda for the development of the
regional construction economy. The forum could support a range of integration
objectives underpinning the Nepad agenda.

Such objectives could include common procurement and delivery management
standards, procurement targeting strategies that support regional and local
development, common minimum standards for employment, access to construction
related skills in the region and regional co-operation agreements between
professional institutions.

Recognising the immense challenge of maintaining the physical infrastructure
of our region, we could also share experience and best practice in this regard.
In South Africa, we estimate the need to invest over R120 billion ($1,8
billion) per annum – in maintenance alone.

Speaking at the 62nd Session of the United Nations (UN) General Assembly on
the 25 September our President, Thabo Mbeki, again highlighted the dire
challenges facing developing countries in their quest to achieve the Millennium
Development Goals (MDGs). I quote: "Many developing countries, especially those
from my own continent, do not have the material base from which to address and
attain the MDGs on their own. Accordingly, there is an urgent need for massive
resource transfers through development assistance, investment, trade,
technology transfers and human resource development."

In relation to infrastructure delivery and maintenance we need to ask the
question whether we can develop a collective regional approach in defining and
promoting a set of principles to guide international development assistance so
that it truly supports regional industry capacity, job creation and
development. Our own experience with the ILO is certainly a fine example of
cooperative assistance. Not only has the ILO supported us in the design and
development of our labour intensive programmes, it continues to walk with us
and support our journey of implementation.

However, there are many who are swayed by negative perceptions that, given
the advances of modern technology, labour intensive methods are inferior in
terms of time, cost and quality. In South Africa, we have been determined to
prove the opposite. We have deliberately chosen a hard road of learning in
order to infuse the principles of labour intensity and poverty alleviation into
the delivery of social and economic assets. Our determination is based on the
recognition that our people are our best assets - and labour-based methods
enable us to train and develop our people for the modern world.

Ladies and gentlemen,

In South Africa, the inherited backlog of uneven development coincides with
the need for new levels of infrastructure investment to deliver South Africa's
Accelerated and Shared Growth Initiative (AsgiSA). AsgiSA aims to achieve an
economic growth rate of 6% and to halve poverty and unemployment by 2014 in
line with our commitment to the UN Millennium Development Goals.

Our government is therefore determined to increase public sector capital
budgets at an unprecedented rate of 10 to 15% per annum and to raise Gross
Domestic Fixed Investment (GDFI) from 15% to 25% of Gross Domestic Product
(GDP). Accordingly, we are totally committed to ensuring the growth,
development and transformation of our construction industry, and to increasing
its inherent ability to create employment. We therefore have established
institutions and programmes to drive these objectives.

At the same time, we are acutely aware that growth on its own does not
guarantee full employment and improvement in the lives of ordinary people.
Emerging from three centuries of colonialism and apartheid, we inherited two
inter-linked economies that we characterise as the First and Second
economies.

To quote our President, Thabo Mbeki: "The two economies, one developed and
globally connected and another localised and informal, display many features of
a global system of apartheid. We have therefore endeavoured to strengthen the
First economy and use it as a base to transfer resources to strengthen and
modernise the Second economy and thus embark on a process to change the lives
of those who subsist in this Second economy."

Critical in this national endeavour to bring a better life to millions of
people in South Africa is the Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP).
Government's commitment to this programme is underpinned by budget allocations
that prescribe the objectives of labour intensity and skills development as
central to the delivery of infrastructure, social and economic services. This
year's original EPWP budget of R15 billion to provinces and municipalities has
since been increased by a further R3 billion allocated to the provinces for the
labour intensive construction and maintenance of access roads.

Further responding to our President's call to expand the scope and impact of
the EPWP, both national and provincial departments of public works have this
year launched the EPWP National Youth Service, underpinned by a vision to
support the, employment, growth and development of our youth, as well as their
ability to contribute to South Africa's ongoing journey of transformation.

We continue to draw on the ongoing support of the Department of Labour,
which plays a critical role in the EPWP by providing all the training in the
programmes, either directly, or through the various Sector Education and
Training Authorities that have been established in this country. Our experience
shows that skills development is a key component in the effective and efficient
use of labour intensive technologies and that continued emphasis should be
placed on training. With the support of the Construction Industry Development
Board (CIDB), a series of practical manuals have been developed to support the
design, implementation and training in labour intensive construction methods. I
am pleased to note that these have gained considerable international use,
enabling South Africa to contribute to job creation in many parts of the
world.

Importantly, this conference enables us as South Africans to pause and
consider the achievements of the EPWP and also to reflect on the challenges
faced. These will be shared and discussed during the seminar and I am sure we
will gain important insights from our international delegates on how we can
address some of these challenges.

Ladies and gentlemen

Public works programmes are an important initiative in South Africa, but
also around Africa and the world. They are geared at alleviating unemployment,
and at creating a foothold in the economy for the marginalised, unskilled and
unemployed. Some of the papers at the conference will highlight the global
spread of public works programmes and how different countries are implementing
them. I am pleased that a strong contingent of the South African EPWP staff
will benefit from the creative experience of other delegates.

The conference will present and discuss a range of initiatives to raise our
contribution to job creation and to free our people from the trap of
poverty.

One noteworthy initiative is the ILO's development of an Employment Impact
Assessment methodology that will assist decision makers to predict and increase
the employment impact of infrastructure projects. Another important conference
focus is that of road maintenance, which has proved to be a highly effective
way of combining the need for maintenance with providing dignity and income to
the poor, particularly in rural areas. This has been demonstrated around the
world and South Africa has its own example in the Zibambele programme which
will be viewed during the conference site vists.

Our conference will also showcase efforts to move beyond infrastructure
related activities to other labour intensive initiatives in areas as diverse as
waste collection, home based care, land car and the protection of wetlands.
These will be discussed and visited also.

We also look forward at this 12th Seminar to two exciting panel discussions
that may assist us to elevate the global struggle against joblessness. One of
these addresses the use of labour intensive methods on large-scale projects. A
pilot example exists in eThekwini, where a R500 million project will hopefully
pave the way for an increasing number of large projects to make their
contribution to engaging the unemployed.

The second panel discussion will address efforts around the world to use
public works programmes to guarantee income and work to the poor as has been
demonstrated by the Indian Government. This panel discussion on Employment
Guarantee Programmes, convened by the ILO, will help us to reflect on how our
initiatives can be better designed to increase their impact.

Ladies and gentlemen,

This 12th Regional Seminar is about the right to work, the right to life and
to human dignity. The Conference Theme 'Prioritising Employment Creation in
Government Policies, Investments and Infrastructure Programmes' aptly captures
the call of millions of jobless people for intensified action.

Once again I would like to congratulate the organisers, particularly the ILO
for providing a regional, and indeed, an international platform to take these
objectives forward.

We welcome the attendance and international activism of our professional
community. With us today are members of Engineers against Poverty and
Economists for Full Employment, whose commitment is part of the growing
movement for global change.

Ladies and gentlemen

I welcome you all. I am confident that the work of this conference will
enrich our policies and enable us to intensify our efforts to create a better
life for all our peoples.

I thank you

Issued by: Department of Public Works
8 September 2007