T Didiza: Western Cape Construction Contact Centre launch

17 August 2007

Programme Director
Deputy Minister, Ntopile Kganyago
My colleague, MEC Fransman and other MECs present
Members of the Parliament and the Provincial Legislature
Executive Mayors and Councillors Present
Chief Executive Officer and members of the Construction Industry Development
Board
Senior government management and leadership
Leaders of the construction industry and its stakeholders
Distinguished guests

1. Introduction

Today's launch is a celebration of achievement for the South African
Construction Industry and its stakeholders in the Western Cape. Our launch
takes place during August which is the Month of Women and during the continued
activities to mark national Construction Week. It is therefore also an occasion
on which we recommit to the goal of growing and transforming this industry that
is at the heart of the South African economy and at the forefront of South
Africa's Accelerated and Shared Growth Initiative (AsgiSA).

2. Growth, a challenge to all stakeholders

Construction growth is driven by probably the largest public investment in
infrastructure our country has ever seen. Specifically, in order to create the
infrastructure for growth and development, government is increasing public
sector capital budgets at an unprecedented rate of 10 to 15% percent per
annum.

With overall growth rates of more than 10% per annum, the construction
industry is likely to treble its output in 10 years. Cement and other materials
manufacturers are also expanding their production capacity to meet this rising
demand. This growth path creates immense opportunity for large, small and micro
enterprises, for employment and skills development and for empowerment.

It also presents all stakeholders with challenges that require new responses
and an intensified effort to grow our delivery capacity, our skills and our
small and medium enterprises (SME) business sector. The centre we are launching
today is one such response.

Together with the Construction Contact Centre's established in Durban, Bisho
and Pretoria, the Western Cape "triple C" provides a hub for stakeholder
partnerships to address the challenges of growth so that we can together unlock
the full potential of our industry.

3. Role of government

Today's launch represents a new level of partnership by Public Works and the
Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB) to intensify action for growth
at provincial and local government levels. It also represents the commitment of
government to expand partnership with stakeholders in delivering a holistic
development service to contractors, clients and the industry at large.

I wish to extend special thanks to the MEC for Public Works, Mr Marius
Fransman for his leadership role. Supported by Premier Ebrahim Rasool and the
provincial government, his drive and commitment made it possible for the
Western Cape "triple C" to be the first to open its doors to stakeholders in
early July.

On behalf of us all I wish to congratulate him, his staff and the CIDB for
the hard work and co-operation that has brought this centre into existence. We
will build on the experience of stakeholders in this province, the Eastern
Cape, Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal as we roll out similar Construction Contact
centres across the country.

4. Our vision and the role of stakeholders

Our vision for the Construction Contact centres embraces a number of goals,
including an improved and accessible registration service to more than 2000
contractors registered in this province. Recognising the fact that thousands of
new entrants have already registered as grade one contractor, we are determined
to expand our effort to grow these new entrants into the mainstream of
construction.

In order to improve the entire construction delivery chain, the CCC will
also enhance access to advice and information for contractors, the consulting
professions and public sector clients.

Importantly, the CCC provides a hub for partnership to roll-out of the
National Contractor Development Programme (NCDP) in this province so that we
can grow and transform our contracting capacity. At national and provincial
level we are challenged to set some demanding targets to drive the goals of the
NCDP, namely to:

* grow South Africa's contracting capacity, moving smaller contractors up
the registration grades
* address empowerment gaps revealed by the Register
* to promote enterprise sustainability, skills and profitability
* to raise performance in terms of quality, safety and health.

This province has already made great strides towards these goals bringing
stakeholders together around critically important initiatives. One example is
the Masakh' iSizwe Bursary Collaboration Venture (BCV), which we were able to
launch just over a week ago. Led by provincial Public Works, the BCV is a
unique form of partnership to deliver bursaries combining industry resources
with those of the National Skills Fund.

Based on a sliding scale of contribution, the BCV financing model enables
large and small companies to educate and provide experiential training to
students in the engineering and built environment disciplines. In line with our
transformation objectives, the programme also has a major focus on black and
women students and is providing leadership to the rest of the country.

I do believe that this innovative funding partnership, and the co-operation
achieved between government and industry in this province, may also suggest a
way forward for access to artisan training by contractors registered in the
lower grades. Together with the CETA we must pioneer a response to the fact
that that nearly 90% of registered contractors fall outside the skills funding
environment.

But the issue of training is not merely a challenge to government and the
CETA. Materials suppliers, large contractors, financial institutions and,
indeed, all stakeholders have a direct interest in developing the entire supply
chain of the industry. It is therefore encouraging that some of the larger
construction companies in this province have extended their in-house training
to smaller registered contractors.

One of the biggest challenges facing the SME sector is access to affordable
finance. We therefore invite financial institutions to review the national
Register of Contractors and to see if they can structure financial packages
appropriate to the various registration grades.

5. Conclusion

The slogan: "Partners for development" aptly captures the underlying vision
of the, "triple C's" which will realise their full development potential with
the active contribution of all stakeholders. It is therefore exciting that a
number of leading stakeholders have formally expressed commitment to offer
services at the CCC. These include industry associations, financial
institutions and the materials supply sector.

These and other commitments are a welcome indication of the response by
stakeholders to the challenge of growth and transformation. They are also an
indication that the Western Cape Construction Contact Centre has begun its
work. Once again I thank the political and administrative leadership of the
Western Cape and the CIDB. Together we are bringing a critical service closer
to the people of this province.

Today we are launching much more than just another centre. Today we are
launching the commitment of all stakeholders to join hands with government to
develop the construction Industry that is a critical to South Africa's economic
growth and our goal of a better life for all.

I thank you.

Issued by: Department of Public Works
17 August 2007