T Mhlahlo: South African Women Entrepreneurs' Network Workshop

14 March 2006

Let me first take this opportunity to thank you for inviting me and I feel
honoured to make an input in such an important meeting.

This meeting takes place at an important time in the history of this
country, when the nation celebrates the 50th anniversary of the women’s march
to Pretoria, pursuit of emancipation of all women in South Africa.

As government, we cannot say we are progressing as a nation unless women of
our countries are truly liberated and have reached a state of gender equality.
Decisive and visible advances have been made since the advent of democracy to
achieve this object despite the harsh realities that still face the majority of
women in South Africa.

We are aware of the fact that women still withstand the worst of poverty and
underdevelopment. Their lives are characterised by low levels of literacy and
inequitable access to education, adequate food, health care, housing, water and
other resources.

Moreover, many women are still subjected to various forms of violence on a
daily basis, directed at them by virtue of their gender. They still experience
high levels of unemployment. In response to these challenges, government has
strived to bring about real change through introducing legislations that
facilitate social transformation. As we grapple with the transformation of the
economy on principles of democracy, women have a role to play to ensure that we
build a solid foundation for future generations.

Last month, we had a Provincial Job Summit, which laid a solid foundation
for government and its social partners to build our economy, thus contributing
to the realisation of the Provincial Growth and Development Plan (PGDP)
objectives.

The interests of women were taken into serious consideration in that summit.
The Department of Roads and Transport has been vociferous on issues of women
empowerment.

In coming up with redress mechanisms within BEE context, the department Has
embarked on an unhindered infrastructure network rehabilitation Programme
bringing on board all important elements of BEE wherein we Ensured that there
is affirmative action, empowerment of women, affirmative Procurement, access to
government support and development of human Capital.

Last month, we introduced our Provincial Transport Sector Broad-Based BEE
Charter, which supports the Accelerated and Shared Growth Initiative for South
Africa, Provincial Job Summit resolutions and PGDP objectives of maintaining an
economic growth rate of between 5% and 8% per annum. This initiative
demonstrates the Department’s commitment to work with all stakeholders in the
transport sector to develop a world-class industry that will grow in size,
create jobs, stimulate growth and development, and provide accessible and
affordable transport services to our people.

We want to ensure that there is black participation, especially of women, at
all levels of the Transport Sector in employment, ownership, control,
management and the procurement of goods and services to companies throughout
the industry value chain. One of the critical elements of this policy will be
to ensure that the department procures most goods and services from BEE
companies that are dominated by women, youth and people living with
disabilities.

All transport sub-sectors in the province, including taxis, buses, rail,
road freight, aviation, maritime and roads construction have their BEE
scorecards, which will guide the implementation of this policy. Eastern Cape
Province has already proved to be a fertile ground for the implementation of
this Charter, because of government’s commitment to overhaul the decaying
infrastructure network.

The Kei Rail Project is one of the critical examples, where BEE principles
were implemented during the refurbishment process of the railway line between
East London and Mthatha. Since the start of the refurbishment process, R105
million has been spent. About1 900 people were employed, in which 40% were
women, 15% youth and 1%disabled.Even some of the companies that worked on the
project were led by women. These included Sifikile Bafazi cc, Mphafa
Maintenance cc, Velnon Construction cc, Mita Construction cc, Triponza Trading
cc, Aloe Rail Services cc, ESBM cc, JR Brickworks and Cartage (PTY) Ltd, TNN
Rail Services and Singumzekelo Civil Construction cc were all 100% ABE
contractors, while six of them are with majority female control.

The East London to Mthatha railway line is now ready to take traffic for the
next 10 years. It is envisaged that the project will:
* Create 28 000 jobs over the next 20 years;
* Reduce unemployment in the East London Mthatha Corridor by 10%;
* We will ensure that more women get employment opportunities in this
project.

This year, the Department of Roads and Transport has received an allocation
of R1.98 billion. Our main task is to revive public transport and continue with
the extension of the East London/Berlin to King William’s Town rail commuter
service project; the proposed Port Elizabeth/Motherwell/Coega IDZ railway
commuter service project and the continuation of the Kei Rail Project. With
2010 Soccer World Cup around the corner, the provincial government has declared
Port Elizabeth as the main venue, while East London and Mthatha will be used as
training camps.

This means we need to accelerate the provision of transport infrastructure
that would meet world-class standards. It presents more business opportunities
for our women and youth. Your role is to grab these opportunities with “clean
hands” and avoid being exploited by big companies or be victims of
fronting.

As we continue with our task of ensuring that we overhaul the
infrastructure, which we inherited from the previous Cape Administration and
the former Ciskei and Transkei Bantustans, women should be at the forefront of
this economic evolution to ensure that their interests are catered.

In attempting to address road infrastructure backlogs, our budget has been
focused on capital projects. We have now decided to balance capital and
maintenance projects. Our Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) and five and
10 year plans reverse this trend and increase overall allocation to R2,0
billion.

Currently only 30% of budget is spent on maintenance. There is an expected
increase to 50% by 2007/08 and 70% by 2014/15. This means more opportunities
for the road construction industry, particularly the small, medium and micro
–enterprise (SMMEs) economy, Africans, women, youth and the disabled.

This will be further harnessed by the use of labour-intensive methods in the
delivery of transport infrastructure, especially in the construction and
maintenance of rural roads in support of the Expanded Public Works
Programme.

The new financial year will see the creation of a new programme within the
Department, which will specifically deal with community-based and labour
intensive methods of road construction and maintenance to build sustainable
Livelihoods and push back the frontiers of poverty. Through this programme, we
will have families that would get certain stretches of road to maintain and get
permanent salaries from the Department.

Our aim is to have road infrastructure that complements our transport system
in order to provide a safe passage for the motorists and other road users,
while creating more jobs and fighting poverty. With regard to the
transformation of the public transport sector, particularly in the former
Transkei region, the Department of Roads and Transport facilitated a process of
the establishment of a single legal entity for small bus operators in the
region. Currently, these operators get subsidies from government as individuals
and this was not economically viable.

The operators themselves came together to establish Africa’s Best 350 Ltd,
which is a 100% black owned company in which all the bus operators are
shareholders. Out of 185 shareholders of this company, 40 of them are women.
The State’s role is to subsidise the 166 identified routes for seven years with
a R16.7 million subsidy per year, which makes R73 million fare income for the
company with a R100 million annual turnover. The company size enables
negotiation for bulk rebates, better rates for financing and insurance, they
are now in a process of buying 190 new buses, which will cost them R19.7
million and they will save R23 million. I would appreciate a situation, where
more women are involved in this company, especially rural women. This project
is expected to create 580 direct jobs with 420 from current employees, 80 new
jobs for mechanics and refuellers, 60 specifically for women empowerment. With
regard to the restructuring of the Bhisho and Mthatha Airports, we have
recently called for expression of interests on a look-out for expertise that
will turn around these airports for optimal utilisation in support of the
Provincial Growth and Development Plan.

The Department received 14 submissions from companies, which had a variety
of interests such as airside operations, airport management, landslide
development (hotels, shops etc) and consultants. Next month, the Department
will announce the outcomes of this process. I hope that the interests of women
would be taken care of. Recently, the department held a session with women
within the transport sector, including buses, taxis, rail, aviation and freight
in an effort to create a platform for interaction between the department and
our female stakeholders.

We have engaged the institutions of higher learning in an effort to lobby
their support in building the capacity of our people, particularly women, youth
and the disabled people to enable them to seize the opportunities that are
being presented by our democracy. On 3 April 2006, we will host a graduation
ceremony for 120 of emerging business people within the taxi, bus and freight
industries, who finished a course on financial management and business
management. About 30% of the graduates are women. On 20 to 21 April, we will
have a Provincial Transport Summit, where we want to review our strategies and
policies in order to respond to the challenges that confront our province.

I would like to invite you to this summit, because we need your input as
women constitute the highest number of the transport sector clientele.

CONCLUSION

There is a great opportunity for the private sector, particularly the BEE
companies, to seize on the developments that are coming up with the Department
of Roads and Transport. Let us seize these opportunities and participate in the
building of our provincial economy, where all our people will enjoy equal
access to business opportunities irrespective of race and gender.

Thank you.

Issued by: Safety, Security, Liaison and Transport, Eastern Cape Provincial
Government
14 March 2006
Source: Eastern Cape Provincial Government (http://www.ecprov.gov.za/)