Date: 25/11/2008

Title: SA: Jacobs: Speech by Gauteng MEC Ignatius Jacobs at the presentation of the 2007 to 2008 Annual Report, at the Gauteng Provincial Legislature

Source: Department of Public Transport, Roads and Works, Gauteng

Honourable speaker
Honourable members of the house
Representatives of our broad stakeholders
Representatives of our strategic social partners
Colleagues and friends
Ladies and gentlemen

Once again, we meet at this house to celebrate the products of teamwork, as informed by honest and robust engagement by members of the Gauteng Provincial Legislature, members of the portfolio Committee on Public Transport, Roads and Works, our broad stakeholder base, the community of our province, and measured against the performance of the thousands of dedicated public servants in our department, and those in the provincial government, at large.

Over the last two financial years, being 2006/07 and 2007/08, our department has achieved an unprecedented turn around in the management of its affairs, covering the three broad areas of finance, supply chain management and human resource management.

It is important to restate that in the period preceding 2006 to 2008, certain parts of these functional areas, as we would know, had been the subject of the Auditor General's particular emphasis, qualification and disclaimer.

Honourable speaker and members of the house, you would recall that upon the Auditor General (AG's) 2005/06 findings on the performance of our department we immediately adopted a turn around strategy which was aimed at helping us to mitigate the findings of the AG in the short run, shift to a re-engineering of the finance, supply chain management and human resource processes in the medium term, and to take the performance of our department to world class levels, in the long run.

Indeed, we are proud to register that during the financial periods extending from April 2006 to April 2008, we have attained two clean audits, resulting from extensive work done by dedicated officials, across the various sections of our department, thus helping us to lay a solid foundation for the raising of the service delivery bar in our area of work.

Honourable speaker, since the year 2004, our department has successfully pursued the fulfilling of the mandate of laying basis for the development of a future public transport system that will be safe, affordable, accessible, reliable, comfortable and environmentally sustainable, as well as the continuous provision of socioeconomic infrastructure such as roads, hospitals and community centres.

We have engaged in extensive stakeholder consultation and also built partnerships with communities, leading to the formation of the Gauteng Commuter Organisation, the Gauteng Provincial Metered Taxi Council, the Gauteng Women in Transport and the strengthening of relationships with the taxi industry, the bus industry, the construction sector, the engineering sector and the media. The department also implemented the groundbreaking October Transport Month that enabled government and communities to set and implement a new agenda for transport.

During this period, government has invested just over R23,3 billion for the provision of transport, implementation of Capital Expenditure (CAPEX), Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP) and other infrastructure development programmes in Gauteng province.

Furthermore, a total number of 1506 people have since been trained under the auspices of the Gautrain Rapid Rail Link. A total of 109 women are currently undergoing various forms of training in areas such as blasting, millwright/fitting and turning/diesel mechanics; and other forms of training on business management and engineering fields.

On the other hand, the metered taxi industry in Gauteng is now fully democratised and a newly established Gauteng Province Metered Taxi Association (GPMTC) is now in place, together with four regional structures. A metered taxi joint venture has also been formed with the South African National Taxi Council; leading to the unveiling of 326 new Gauteng Province (GP) branded metered taxis. These vehicles also participated in the 2007 Soccerex through delegate transportation.

The 2008 October Transport Month Campaign also saw us launching the Gauteng Transport Management Authority, thus unveiling an umbilical cord for the advocacy, initiation, coordination and alignment of all transport programmes in the province. This body will help us cover areas such as integrated transport, traffic management, provincial roads, freight management, the 2010 transport plan; urban governance; commuter involvement, and good governance.

The Gauteng Management Transport Authority (GTMA) will also lead the 2009 piloting and implementation of a single ticket system so that public transport ultimately becomes reliable, affordable, safe, accessible and sustainable. Furthermore, the strategic public transport network has been finalised, as part of the implementation of Gauteng's transport action agenda, as part of the objectives of turning Gauteng into a globally competitive city region of service.

A small, medium micro-economic (SMME) development programme, known as Motor City Hubs, is currently being run in the twenty prioritised townships. This is aimed at helping historically disadvantaged motor mechanics in establishing their registered and fully accredited vehicle repair and maintenance workshops that will offer a professional service to the public and government departments. Motor City also includes vehicle registration centres so as to bring government services closer to the people.

The construction and upgrade of roads infrastructure has gained unprecedented momentum, enabling access to trade, job creation and skills development. The department is also involved in a programme to upgrade and surface all gravel roads in the 20 identified townships.

The government believes that the safety of road users depends on the quality of drivers. In this regard, work is being done to help produce better drivers for Gauteng roads and enhance the safety of the community.

Furthermore, the Gauteng Provincial Government has also taken a decision to establish additional Drivers License Testing Centres in the twenty prioritised townships, as part of creating jobs and broadening the skills base of our province. This work has already started in areas such as Sebokeng in Sedibeng District Municipality. The learner booking system service has also been centralised with the aim to eliminate corruption at public service points.

Impophoma Infrastructure Support Entity, a government entity, is currently running an SMME support programme that provides easier and cost effective access to fleet and plant. The entity hires out the yellow fleet and plant to ensure that small businesses which have been awarded contracts become sustainable concerns.

Regarding Gautrain, we have seen1 687 Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment Employee (BBEEE) companies and 1 139 SMMEs were awarded contracts by the department, over the last four years. The value of these contracts amounted to about R4 billion, in the case of BBBEE, and R2 billion, in the case of SMMEs.

In the past few years, our job creation interventions have also been targeted at the marginalised sectors of society, namely women, youth and people with disabilities. The youth of Gauteng have been the major beneficiaries of these initiatives. EPWP projects have also created jobs for just over 1 200 people with disabilities.
The implementation of the Gauteng Provincial Government Kopanong Precinct, a one stop shop of public service in Gauteng, is currently running. This R600 million programme is being implemented by several small contractors of CIDB grades 1 to 4 in a bid to promote small enterprise development.
The department is also running a free training and development programme for emerging contractors and individuals in the construction sector, known as the Construction Contact Centre, wherein there is free assistance on business planning, modelling and marketing, coupled by business facilitation.

Gauteng Provincial Government has taken effective steps to ensure service delivery excellence at public service points, including hospitals. In this regard, work has already to install 200 new lifts and elevators at hospitals and other government buildings. Most of the current elevators have been in service for more than thirty years.

The hosting of the May 2005 Intergovernmental Infrastructure Summit, at the Gallagher Estate, involving the national Minister of Transport, the national Minister of Trade and Industry, the Premier and executive mayors, and stakeholders from the three spheres of government, also laid basis for the mobilisation, coordination, alignment and implementation of funded programmes for socioeconomic infrastructure growth and development.

The province has since been able to mobilise historical investments into public transport, and, in this regard, an amount of more than R60 billion will be invested into transport related programmes in Gauteng over the next three years. This includes the implementation of the Gauteng Freeway Improvement Plan and the Gautrain Rapid Rail Link.

Working with the Department of Community Safety, we have also placed the safety and security of the residents of our province on the top priority list of our department. In this regard, our department is working in partnership with all stakeholders to introduce a secure and auditable number plate manufacture and distribution system for Gauteng, by the first quarter of 2009.

The proposed system would see all manufacturers and distributors being properly registered with government. The system would ensure that all issued plates are traceable back to individual manufacturers. It is also the aim of our government that the intelligent number plate system should significantly help in reducing vehicle-related crimes.

Work is being done to accelerate the implementation of the 2010 transport plan. We also aim to leave a lasting legacy of transport infrastructure that will serve the needs of the people of our country and also ensure sustainable economic growth.

In 2009, the department will begin construction of the Pinehaven Interchange. At the same time, work has already started on the K15 Roadway linking Lenasia and Soweto, in the City of Johannesburg, with Kagiso in Mogale City, as well as the R55 which links Atteridgeville, Laudium, Centurion and Woodmead. Each of these road upgrades will cost more than R200 million. Furthermore, the South African Nation Roads Agency is speedily proceeding with the implementation of the Gauteng freeway improvement plan.

Under the auspices of Gauteng Provincial Government (GPG), and through our department, the 2008/09 financial year includes the surfacing of 66kms of roadway, of which 60kms will be in the 20 identified townships, and the rehabilitation of 8kms of gravel road. A further 15kms of the road network is being widened thus increasing the scope for public transport usage and the reduction of congestion and gridlock on the roads. This will help in developing a road networking which meets the socioeconomic needs of the residents of Gauteng, and the people of our country.

We further commit to even higher levels of service delivery excellence in the implementation of capital expenditure projects across the GPG divide, thus enabling the entirety of the Gauteng public service to give a better service to the people. This entails continuous adherence to fiscal discipline and the audit report for the year 2008/09 puts us in good stead to carry out our mandate as the department, in line with strategic Gauteng Provincial Government objectives.

Honourable speaker and members of the house, I proudly present to you our 2007/08 Annual Report.

I thank you.