Date: 29/06/2004
Source: Mpumalanga Provincial Government
Title: K Mashego-Dlamini: Mpumalanga Public Works Prov Budget Vote 2004/2005
BUDGET AND POLICY SPEECH OF THE MEC FOR MPUMALANGA PUBLIC WORKS, MS KC MASHEGO-DLAMINI, Mpumalanga Legislature, Nelspruit, 29 June 2004
Honourable Madam Speaker
Honourable Premier
Honourable Deputy Speaker
Honourable Members of the Executive Council
Honourable Members of the Legislature
Your Excellencies and Traditional leaders
Honourable mayors, speakers and councillors
Ladies and gentlemen
It is a great pleasure for me to present the 2004/2005 budget of the new Mpumalanga Department of Public Works to this house during this year of celebration of our democracy.
For my department, it is an opportunity in which to pause, to reflect on the achievements of the past 10 years, to consider with humility the hurdles that we have overcome and to look forward to an even brighter and better future.
Up to two months ago, the Department of Public Works still formed part of the former Mpumalanga Department of Public Works, Roads and Transport. One can therefore not report on the significant progress made in the area of public works in the past ten years, without paying tribute to what we still view as our mother department.
In 1994, the former department of Public Works, Roads and Transport was put together from the fragments of five different administrations. The transformation of these administrations into a single, people-oriented and efficient service was an enormous challenge.
Today, we stand before yet another challenge - that of building a new Department of Public Works that will address the needs of all citizens of Mpumalanga, a department that will become a leader in its field not only on provincial level, but also on national and international level.
Madam Speaker, there is no doubt in my mind that we will be able to meet this challenge if we look at how far we have already come.
Just ten years ago, imbalances in public building infrastructure were enormous. Many communities had no access to facilities such as schools, clinics, hospitals and community halls. From 1994 onwards, this department had to ensure that crumbling public facilities such as schools, hospitals and clinics in the former homeland areas were upgraded to a standard acceptable to all our people. Our new, democratically elected provincial government and its officials had to be properly deployed in buildings across the province in order to deliver an effective and efficient service to all our people.
This department also had to answer the call to be a job creator, a bringer of economic opportunity to disadvantaged communities. Out of this call, the province's Community Based Public Works Programme was born.
In his speech in February this year, Finance Minister Trevor Manuel commented that a budget is one of the great commentators on economic development, a powerful index of society's values and of the impact of government policies on people, families, workers, businesses and organisations.
Madam Speaker, members of this house, the steady increase in spending on social infrastructure in this province had a tremendous impact on the lives of ordinary citizens of Mpumalanga.
We have built schools and hospitals and clinics and even this Legislature and Administration Complex. Through the Community Based Public Works Programme we have created public facilities, economic opportunities, skills-based training and jobs in the poorest corners of our province.
Ten years of freedom have been good to the people of Mpumalanga. However, to quote Finance Minister Trevor Manuel again:
"This is a freedom that opens up opportunities, but also imposes disciplines; it is a freedom that creates capabilities, but expects stewardship; it is a freedom that rewards enterprise, but calls for accountability."
I stand before this House today to account for the public works activities of the Department of Public Works, Roads and Transport in the 2003/2004 financial year, and to indicate the way forward for the new Department of Public Works.
The new Department of Public Works consists of three programmes, namely Administration, Buildings and Property Management and the Expanded Public Works Programmes.
Programme 1: ADMINISTRATION
One of the greatest challenges my new department faces in this financial year is completing the restructuring process and ensuring that all directorates are sufficiently staffed.
I am certain that the groundwork done in the previous financial year will assist in this regard. Most officials have already been trained on job descriptions, which will assist the department in the implementation of its performance management programme.
During this financial year, the department will continue with a skills audit in order to develop and train officials in line with the strategic needs of the department. The skills audit will assist us in identifying the gaps that need to be filled and which we will address before the end of the year.
Training will also assist the department in addressing one of its main weaknesses, namely compliance by all officials with the rules and regulations of supply chain management as well as the Public Finance Management Act. A training programme will be completed by March 2005 to ensure that the department's officials know exactly what is required of them.
As part of the department's efforts to build capacity, learnerships in financial and administration skills are being implemented for existing employees with the aim of raising the skills level of the department. It will be one of the challenges of the department in this financial year to implement this directive from the current budget, which does not make provision for the learnership programme.
However, we have made available 13 bursaries in specialised technical skills to students from Mpumalanga. The department will increase the number of outside bursaries in technical fields over the next five years. We have also awarded 66 bursaries to existing staff members in all critical fields. We hope that this will assist in addressing the huge shortage in trained professionals in our province.
During the coming year, the department will also adopt a reviewed Communication Policy and communication strategy that will promote the new Department of Public Works as one of Mpumalanga's main service delivery departments, a department dedicated to building a people's contract for growth and development in our province. Direct communication and consultation with our communities and stakeholders, particularly around the Expanded Public Works Programme, will be one of the service delivery principles we intend to adhere to in this financial year.
The department has also made improvements in its general financial control and management.
We embarked on a project to barcode all inventory to ensure compliance with the Public Finance Management Act and Treasury Regulation on Proper Management of Assets. A service provider was appointed and all inventories at our head office and two regions was bar-coded. This project was finalised in the Ehlanzeni Region and the museum town of Pilgrim's Rest by the end of the 2003/2004 financial year.
Inventory control in the department was enhanced with the implementation of LOGIS at all stores of the department. The department also made good progress with revenue collection. All revenue budgeted for the past financial year was collected and exceeded. In this coming year, we plan to increase the department's revenue collection by another 5%. Amongst others, we will look at new and innovative ways to increase revenue collection, for example through recovery of outstanding rentals and service charges.
The department has also embarked on a risk management process through which we identified several high-risk areas. In this financial year, control measures will be in place to manage these risks. Compliance with acts; regulations and procedures will be continuously monitored. I am certain that this will assist in creating a culture of zero tolerance for fraud and corruption in the department.
Programme 2: BUILDINGS AND PROPERTY MANAGEMENT
Madam Speaker, members of the House, as part of the department's Public Works function, it provides a professional and planning service to several client departments. For example, in the 2003/2004 financial year we assisted the former Department of Health with a project management service during the reconstruction of eight hospitals, the construction of six new Community Health Centres and the planning of 10 reconstruction projects.
The department also assisted the Department of Sports, Recreation, Arts and Culture with project management, completing two libraries in rural areas as well as a feasibility study for the proposed Provincial Archive. This study was submitted to the Executive Council in the past financial year.
In 2003/2004, the department also prepared three-year contracts to keep the live support and occupational health and safety equipment in our public facilities in the best state of repair. An audit of all installations under the Occupational Health and Safety Act was completed and its recommendations are in the process of implementation.
During November 2003, the Department of Education transferred 400 new, additions and renovation contracts to this department for project management.
One of this department's challenges for 2004/2005 is the provision of a professional and efficient project management service to our client departments despite a huge shortage in professional staff such as architects, engineers, quantity surveyors and the like. In total, the department will plan, design, construct and commission more than 500 projects for client departments. The main client department is the Department of Health. Projects include 16 hospitals, 8 clinics, 100 VCT sites, 15 ARV sites and 20 nurses' residences. Other projects for client departments include a provincial archive, a library and two computer rooms.
Inexperienced contractors continue to affect the cost-effectiveness and quality of our service. However, the department hopes to create an enabling environment and empower more contractors through the Emerging Contractors Development Programme.
Madam Speaker
We were able to fulfil our mandate of maintaining government property by spending more than R50 million on government building maintenance. The bulk of these funds were spent on renovation. Amongst others, the department did general repairs and paintwork to the government administration building in Witbank, and renovated several small regional buildings as well as government houses at two road camps. The department also did general repair, electrical and paintwork at the KwaMhlanga Government Complex. Fourteen houses were renovated and public toilets were built at Pilgrim's Rest.
Two major challenges for the 2004/2005 financial year were upgrading five district offices and addressing the water crisis at the KwaMhlanga Government Complex. The department was also affected by the lack of key maintenance posts in the regions as well as insufficient funds for preventative maintenance.
In the 2004/2005 financial year, the department will complete the upgrading of five district offices as well as the erection of security fencing at the regional workshop complex. Renovation work will also continue at several dilapidated government buildings within the province.
Madam Speaker
The core function of the new Buildings and Property Management programme is to ensure that the department provides, manages and maintains the public sector infrastructure of this province.
One of the major challenges for the department has been the lack of a computerised immovable asset management system. This caused serious problems for the proper management and maintenance of government properties.
To address this problem, the department will appoint a project manager to prepare specifications for the system, which we intend acquiring in the next financial year. In order to be able to account for all government property, the department will complete an asset verification process by the end of this financial year. Once we know exactly how many properties there are, what their value is, as well as the physical condition of buildings, it will enable the department to improve its entire system of building and property management. This is a mammoth task, as we currently have nearly 15 000 properties on our books, which includes more than 10 000 properties with buildings.
We will also accelerate the process of vesting all properties to Mpumalanga Province. It has hampered us tremendously in the disposal of redundant property that many of our assets are still vested with the Republic of South Africa. Once this process is complete, we will be able to start disposing of redundant public property in the province.
The department currently lets 3 483 hectares of land and 1 306 buildings. We intend to complete a lease audit by the end of the financial year. This will put the department in a position to provide a better service to all its lessees. Other improvements include the establishments of one-stop centres in each of the three regions to deal with problems experienced by lessees.
Programme 3: EXPANDED PUBLIC WORKS PROGRAMMES
In this financial year, the department will join other departments in its fight against poverty by focusing on creating work opportunities and building sustainable social infrastructure. We cannot allow rising unemployment and the long shadows of social dislocation and exclusion of the past to darken the bright future of our province.
We also recognise that the pace of economic growth has to be accelerated through greater investment in infrastructure. This can only be done if we integrate the activities of government at all levels and if we harness the efforts of communities, labour, civil society and business.
Madam Speaker, members of this house, without reducing our focus on the First Economy as mentioned by the President, the Department of Public Works is also charged with the responsibility to pay attention to the transformation of the Second Economy through the Expanded Public Works Programme.
The main objective of the Expanded Public Works Programme is to utilise public sector budgets to reduce and alleviate unemployment.
The EPWP will target the following groups:
* The unemployed
* The unskilled
* People not receiving social grants
* The rural and urban poor
* Women and men
* People with disabilities
* The youth (as nearly 70% of the unemployed in our country fall in this category)
As in other provinces, our department prioritised labour-based infrastructure projects as part of government's Expanded Public Works Programme or EPWP. Over the next five years, funds channelled to this intervention will be earmarked for labour-based public works projects that will create the maximum number of job opportunities and develop the skills of marginalised sectors of our communities.
We have already identified projects provided for in the provincial 2004/2005 budget that will incorporate the principles of the Expanded Public Works Programme. The province has committed itself to spending one third of its Infrastructure Grant and the Municipal Infrastructure Grant on Expanded Public Works projects. A provincial Expanded Public Works Programme steering committee is already established, involving stakeholders from national, provincial and local government. A management plan for the province's EPWP is in place and most of the earmarked projects will start in July 2004. Mpumalanga has also heeded the call of the President of this country as well as the Premier of this province to formally launch the EPWP by September 2004. It is a pleasure to be able to report that Mpumalanga is one of the few provinces that are on track with the process.
Through the EPWP, Mpumalanga intends to create 100 000 jobs over the next five years. By the end of this financial year, 10 000 of the poorest of the poor in our province would have found a job through the EPWP.
One of the main vehicles for the programme will be our existing Community Based Public Works Programme as it combines the provision of viable public assets with job creation and skills development. Four cluster projects have been identified, namely the Highlands, Mbombela-Swalala, Lekwa and Sekhukhune-Marble Hall clusters. It is expected that these projects will create 400 jobs for designated groups such as women, youth and the disabled at a budget of more than R12 million.
The department is already very satisfied with the progress made on Community Based Public Works Programmes as a major job creation and poverty alleviation programme. The department spent R16, 5 million on seven Community Based Public Works cluster projects in the past financial year.
However, a recent audit of all Community Based Public Works projects revealed that many of the facilities remain under-utilised. By September 2004, we hope to redirect the use of these facilities, particularly where they involve income-generating projects. We will be working closely with the Departments of Economic Development and Planning, and Cultural Affairs, Sport and Recreation as well as municipalities on this issue to ensure that CBPWP facilities are self-sustaining and a source of economic opportunity.
The department will also make use of term contracts for PDI contractors, applying the principles of the Expanded Public Works Programme. As part of this, we have embarked on a learnership programme for emerging contractors. We have already signed 45 individual learnerships to capacitate managers and site supervisors on road construction projects. The EPWP emerging contractor learnerships will be implemented in July 2004. We expect that the number of learnerships will increase tremendously as other sectors also come on board. All EPWP training programmes should be initiated by March 2005.
Madam Speaker, members of the House, it is a pleasure for me to present the budget of the Mpumalanga Department of Public Works, to you as follows:
The total budget of the department for the 2004 / 2005 financial year is R264 033 000. It will be allocated as follows:
Programme 1 Administration: R 51 318 000
Programme 2 Buildings and Property Management: 195 209 000
Programme 3 Expanded Public Works Programmes: R 17 506 000
In conclusion, let me take this opportunity to thank the Office of the Auditor Genera, Provincial Internal Audit, Provincial Treasury and the Standing Committee on Public Accounts for pointing out areas of weakness than needed improvement. This has assisted us in improving our management systems.
I would also like to thank the Portfolio Committee on Public Works for the oversight and advisory role they played in relation to our department.
Lastly, I wish to thank the Acting HOD for the Department, all senior managers as well as staff of the department for their assistance in putting together such a goal directed and strategic budget. If this is an example of the kind of service delivery we can expect, there are great things ahead in the next five years as we build a people's contract for better public infrastructure for all the people of Mpumalanga.
Issued by: Department of Public Works, Mpumalanga Provincial Government
29 June 2004
Source: Mpumalanga Provincial Government
Title: K Mashego-Dlamini: Mpumalanga Public Works Prov Budget Vote 2004/2005
BUDGET AND POLICY SPEECH OF THE MEC FOR MPUMALANGA PUBLIC WORKS, MS KC MASHEGO-DLAMINI, Mpumalanga Legislature, Nelspruit, 29 June 2004
Honourable Madam Speaker
Honourable Premier
Honourable Deputy Speaker
Honourable Members of the Executive Council
Honourable Members of the Legislature
Your Excellencies and Traditional leaders
Honourable mayors, speakers and councillors
Ladies and gentlemen
It is a great pleasure for me to present the 2004/2005 budget of the new Mpumalanga Department of Public Works to this house during this year of celebration of our democracy.
For my department, it is an opportunity in which to pause, to reflect on the achievements of the past 10 years, to consider with humility the hurdles that we have overcome and to look forward to an even brighter and better future.
Up to two months ago, the Department of Public Works still formed part of the former Mpumalanga Department of Public Works, Roads and Transport. One can therefore not report on the significant progress made in the area of public works in the past ten years, without paying tribute to what we still view as our mother department.
In 1994, the former department of Public Works, Roads and Transport was put together from the fragments of five different administrations. The transformation of these administrations into a single, people-oriented and efficient service was an enormous challenge.
Today, we stand before yet another challenge - that of building a new Department of Public Works that will address the needs of all citizens of Mpumalanga, a department that will become a leader in its field not only on provincial level, but also on national and international level.
Madam Speaker, there is no doubt in my mind that we will be able to meet this challenge if we look at how far we have already come.
Just ten years ago, imbalances in public building infrastructure were enormous. Many communities had no access to facilities such as schools, clinics, hospitals and community halls. From 1994 onwards, this department had to ensure that crumbling public facilities such as schools, hospitals and clinics in the former homeland areas were upgraded to a standard acceptable to all our people. Our new, democratically elected provincial government and its officials had to be properly deployed in buildings across the province in order to deliver an effective and efficient service to all our people.
This department also had to answer the call to be a job creator, a bringer of economic opportunity to disadvantaged communities. Out of this call, the province's Community Based Public Works Programme was born.
In his speech in February this year, Finance Minister Trevor Manuel commented that a budget is one of the great commentators on economic development, a powerful index of society's values and of the impact of government policies on people, families, workers, businesses and organisations.
Madam Speaker, members of this house, the steady increase in spending on social infrastructure in this province had a tremendous impact on the lives of ordinary citizens of Mpumalanga.
We have built schools and hospitals and clinics and even this Legislature and Administration Complex. Through the Community Based Public Works Programme we have created public facilities, economic opportunities, skills-based training and jobs in the poorest corners of our province.
Ten years of freedom have been good to the people of Mpumalanga. However, to quote Finance Minister Trevor Manuel again:
"This is a freedom that opens up opportunities, but also imposes disciplines; it is a freedom that creates capabilities, but expects stewardship; it is a freedom that rewards enterprise, but calls for accountability."
I stand before this House today to account for the public works activities of the Department of Public Works, Roads and Transport in the 2003/2004 financial year, and to indicate the way forward for the new Department of Public Works.
The new Department of Public Works consists of three programmes, namely Administration, Buildings and Property Management and the Expanded Public Works Programmes.
Programme 1: ADMINISTRATION
One of the greatest challenges my new department faces in this financial year is completing the restructuring process and ensuring that all directorates are sufficiently staffed.
I am certain that the groundwork done in the previous financial year will assist in this regard. Most officials have already been trained on job descriptions, which will assist the department in the implementation of its performance management programme.
During this financial year, the department will continue with a skills audit in order to develop and train officials in line with the strategic needs of the department. The skills audit will assist us in identifying the gaps that need to be filled and which we will address before the end of the year.
Training will also assist the department in addressing one of its main weaknesses, namely compliance by all officials with the rules and regulations of supply chain management as well as the Public Finance Management Act. A training programme will be completed by March 2005 to ensure that the department's officials know exactly what is required of them.
As part of the department's efforts to build capacity, learnerships in financial and administration skills are being implemented for existing employees with the aim of raising the skills level of the department. It will be one of the challenges of the department in this financial year to implement this directive from the current budget, which does not make provision for the learnership programme.
However, we have made available 13 bursaries in specialised technical skills to students from Mpumalanga. The department will increase the number of outside bursaries in technical fields over the next five years. We have also awarded 66 bursaries to existing staff members in all critical fields. We hope that this will assist in addressing the huge shortage in trained professionals in our province.
During the coming year, the department will also adopt a reviewed Communication Policy and communication strategy that will promote the new Department of Public Works as one of Mpumalanga's main service delivery departments, a department dedicated to building a people's contract for growth and development in our province. Direct communication and consultation with our communities and stakeholders, particularly around the Expanded Public Works Programme, will be one of the service delivery principles we intend to adhere to in this financial year.
The department has also made improvements in its general financial control and management.
We embarked on a project to barcode all inventory to ensure compliance with the Public Finance Management Act and Treasury Regulation on Proper Management of Assets. A service provider was appointed and all inventories at our head office and two regions was bar-coded. This project was finalised in the Ehlanzeni Region and the museum town of Pilgrim's Rest by the end of the 2003/2004 financial year.
Inventory control in the department was enhanced with the implementation of LOGIS at all stores of the department. The department also made good progress with revenue collection. All revenue budgeted for the past financial year was collected and exceeded. In this coming year, we plan to increase the department's revenue collection by another 5%. Amongst others, we will look at new and innovative ways to increase revenue collection, for example through recovery of outstanding rentals and service charges.
The department has also embarked on a risk management process through which we identified several high-risk areas. In this financial year, control measures will be in place to manage these risks. Compliance with acts; regulations and procedures will be continuously monitored. I am certain that this will assist in creating a culture of zero tolerance for fraud and corruption in the department.
Programme 2: BUILDINGS AND PROPERTY MANAGEMENT
Madam Speaker, members of the House, as part of the department's Public Works function, it provides a professional and planning service to several client departments. For example, in the 2003/2004 financial year we assisted the former Department of Health with a project management service during the reconstruction of eight hospitals, the construction of six new Community Health Centres and the planning of 10 reconstruction projects.
The department also assisted the Department of Sports, Recreation, Arts and Culture with project management, completing two libraries in rural areas as well as a feasibility study for the proposed Provincial Archive. This study was submitted to the Executive Council in the past financial year.
In 2003/2004, the department also prepared three-year contracts to keep the live support and occupational health and safety equipment in our public facilities in the best state of repair. An audit of all installations under the Occupational Health and Safety Act was completed and its recommendations are in the process of implementation.
During November 2003, the Department of Education transferred 400 new, additions and renovation contracts to this department for project management.
One of this department's challenges for 2004/2005 is the provision of a professional and efficient project management service to our client departments despite a huge shortage in professional staff such as architects, engineers, quantity surveyors and the like. In total, the department will plan, design, construct and commission more than 500 projects for client departments. The main client department is the Department of Health. Projects include 16 hospitals, 8 clinics, 100 VCT sites, 15 ARV sites and 20 nurses' residences. Other projects for client departments include a provincial archive, a library and two computer rooms.
Inexperienced contractors continue to affect the cost-effectiveness and quality of our service. However, the department hopes to create an enabling environment and empower more contractors through the Emerging Contractors Development Programme.
Madam Speaker
We were able to fulfil our mandate of maintaining government property by spending more than R50 million on government building maintenance. The bulk of these funds were spent on renovation. Amongst others, the department did general repairs and paintwork to the government administration building in Witbank, and renovated several small regional buildings as well as government houses at two road camps. The department also did general repair, electrical and paintwork at the KwaMhlanga Government Complex. Fourteen houses were renovated and public toilets were built at Pilgrim's Rest.
Two major challenges for the 2004/2005 financial year were upgrading five district offices and addressing the water crisis at the KwaMhlanga Government Complex. The department was also affected by the lack of key maintenance posts in the regions as well as insufficient funds for preventative maintenance.
In the 2004/2005 financial year, the department will complete the upgrading of five district offices as well as the erection of security fencing at the regional workshop complex. Renovation work will also continue at several dilapidated government buildings within the province.
Madam Speaker
The core function of the new Buildings and Property Management programme is to ensure that the department provides, manages and maintains the public sector infrastructure of this province.
One of the major challenges for the department has been the lack of a computerised immovable asset management system. This caused serious problems for the proper management and maintenance of government properties.
To address this problem, the department will appoint a project manager to prepare specifications for the system, which we intend acquiring in the next financial year. In order to be able to account for all government property, the department will complete an asset verification process by the end of this financial year. Once we know exactly how many properties there are, what their value is, as well as the physical condition of buildings, it will enable the department to improve its entire system of building and property management. This is a mammoth task, as we currently have nearly 15 000 properties on our books, which includes more than 10 000 properties with buildings.
We will also accelerate the process of vesting all properties to Mpumalanga Province. It has hampered us tremendously in the disposal of redundant property that many of our assets are still vested with the Republic of South Africa. Once this process is complete, we will be able to start disposing of redundant public property in the province.
The department currently lets 3 483 hectares of land and 1 306 buildings. We intend to complete a lease audit by the end of the financial year. This will put the department in a position to provide a better service to all its lessees. Other improvements include the establishments of one-stop centres in each of the three regions to deal with problems experienced by lessees.
Programme 3: EXPANDED PUBLIC WORKS PROGRAMMES
In this financial year, the department will join other departments in its fight against poverty by focusing on creating work opportunities and building sustainable social infrastructure. We cannot allow rising unemployment and the long shadows of social dislocation and exclusion of the past to darken the bright future of our province.
We also recognise that the pace of economic growth has to be accelerated through greater investment in infrastructure. This can only be done if we integrate the activities of government at all levels and if we harness the efforts of communities, labour, civil society and business.
Madam Speaker, members of this house, without reducing our focus on the First Economy as mentioned by the President, the Department of Public Works is also charged with the responsibility to pay attention to the transformation of the Second Economy through the Expanded Public Works Programme.
The main objective of the Expanded Public Works Programme is to utilise public sector budgets to reduce and alleviate unemployment.
The EPWP will target the following groups:
* The unemployed
* The unskilled
* People not receiving social grants
* The rural and urban poor
* Women and men
* People with disabilities
* The youth (as nearly 70% of the unemployed in our country fall in this category)
As in other provinces, our department prioritised labour-based infrastructure projects as part of government's Expanded Public Works Programme or EPWP. Over the next five years, funds channelled to this intervention will be earmarked for labour-based public works projects that will create the maximum number of job opportunities and develop the skills of marginalised sectors of our communities.
We have already identified projects provided for in the provincial 2004/2005 budget that will incorporate the principles of the Expanded Public Works Programme. The province has committed itself to spending one third of its Infrastructure Grant and the Municipal Infrastructure Grant on Expanded Public Works projects. A provincial Expanded Public Works Programme steering committee is already established, involving stakeholders from national, provincial and local government. A management plan for the province's EPWP is in place and most of the earmarked projects will start in July 2004. Mpumalanga has also heeded the call of the President of this country as well as the Premier of this province to formally launch the EPWP by September 2004. It is a pleasure to be able to report that Mpumalanga is one of the few provinces that are on track with the process.
Through the EPWP, Mpumalanga intends to create 100 000 jobs over the next five years. By the end of this financial year, 10 000 of the poorest of the poor in our province would have found a job through the EPWP.
One of the main vehicles for the programme will be our existing Community Based Public Works Programme as it combines the provision of viable public assets with job creation and skills development. Four cluster projects have been identified, namely the Highlands, Mbombela-Swalala, Lekwa and Sekhukhune-Marble Hall clusters. It is expected that these projects will create 400 jobs for designated groups such as women, youth and the disabled at a budget of more than R12 million.
The department is already very satisfied with the progress made on Community Based Public Works Programmes as a major job creation and poverty alleviation programme. The department spent R16, 5 million on seven Community Based Public Works cluster projects in the past financial year.
However, a recent audit of all Community Based Public Works projects revealed that many of the facilities remain under-utilised. By September 2004, we hope to redirect the use of these facilities, particularly where they involve income-generating projects. We will be working closely with the Departments of Economic Development and Planning, and Cultural Affairs, Sport and Recreation as well as municipalities on this issue to ensure that CBPWP facilities are self-sustaining and a source of economic opportunity.
The department will also make use of term contracts for PDI contractors, applying the principles of the Expanded Public Works Programme. As part of this, we have embarked on a learnership programme for emerging contractors. We have already signed 45 individual learnerships to capacitate managers and site supervisors on road construction projects. The EPWP emerging contractor learnerships will be implemented in July 2004. We expect that the number of learnerships will increase tremendously as other sectors also come on board. All EPWP training programmes should be initiated by March 2005.
Madam Speaker, members of the House, it is a pleasure for me to present the budget of the Mpumalanga Department of Public Works, to you as follows:
The total budget of the department for the 2004 / 2005 financial year is R264 033 000. It will be allocated as follows:
Programme 1 Administration: R 51 318 000
Programme 2 Buildings and Property Management: 195 209 000
Programme 3 Expanded Public Works Programmes: R 17 506 000
In conclusion, let me take this opportunity to thank the Office of the Auditor Genera, Provincial Internal Audit, Provincial Treasury and the Standing Committee on Public Accounts for pointing out areas of weakness than needed improvement. This has assisted us in improving our management systems.
I would also like to thank the Portfolio Committee on Public Works for the oversight and advisory role they played in relation to our department.
Lastly, I wish to thank the Acting HOD for the Department, all senior managers as well as staff of the department for their assistance in putting together such a goal directed and strategic budget. If this is an example of the kind of service delivery we can expect, there are great things ahead in the next five years as we build a people's contract for better public infrastructure for all the people of Mpumalanga.
Issued by: Department of Public Works, Mpumalanga Provincial Government
29 June 2004
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