Date: 20/04/2005
Source: Department of Public Works
Title: Sigcau: Construction Transformation Charter Group
The Minister of Public Works, Ms Stella Sigcau (MP), delivers an opening address at the Construction Transformation Charter Group (CTCG), CSIR, Pretoria
The Director-General of Public Works and Programme Director, Mr James Maseko
The MECs present here today
The Chairpersons of the CTCG, Mr James Ngobeni and Mr Mike Willey
Representatives of the Construction Industry and Labour
Senior Government Officials
Distinguished Guests
Ladies and Gentlemen
Six months ago I launched the process that brings us together here today. Given the diversity and lack of unification in this sector, I must admit that at that time I was sceptical that the industry would meet the deadline set for producing a draft Charter by July 2005. However, I must say, I am both impressed and happy with the progress thus far; and I am now confident that come 1st of August 2005, the country shall have a draft Construction Sector Charter.
I want to commend the commitment demonstrated by all the sector stakeholders to this process. Without such, we would not be where we are today.
Ladies and gentlemen, this Indaba may be an event in the process to develop the Charter for the construction industry, but transformation itself and the objectives of the Charter are not. Transformation and change are often painful processes especially when participants have divergent expectations. We will have a Charter later this year but our efforts to transform this industry and continuously encourage, promote, and ensure its development will not end when the Charter is completed. It is therefore important that I say it upfront that this Charter will not merely be about compliance, compliance in terms of the scorecard, the targets, and all the things that enterprises have to report on in terms of the Charter. It is about true transformation of this sector and about true and meaningful empowerment as a precursor to growth and development that I want to believe that we all aspire to.
Repeatedly, I have said that the construction industry is a national asset. We meet here today as architects of the future industry propelled by growth and development. We meet here today as industry stakeholders driven by our varying constituency-based aspirations and objectives. However, if we are to realise a truly developed and prospering construction industry, we need to rise beyond constituency or organizational aspirations. We need to ensure that our deliberations are driven by a mental determination that says the industry (and its growth) is bigger than us all. Therefore, we need to transcend vested parochial interests which at worst can derail and scupper transformation initiatives. We may not yet agree about minute details in our path to the vision of the future, but I have no doubts that we are united in our agreement that our uneven history and divisive past has landed us in this quagmire; and that if our national asset is to remain as such, we need to have a holistic approach to its transformation, development, and growth.
There can be no better moment than now to lay concrete foundations for a sustainable transformation, particularly at a time when the economy is growing and the construction industry is looking much healthier and doing better than the recent past. It would be criminal to let the status quo continue and have the economic benefits of this industry accruing to and enjoyed by just a few advantaged individuals and groups. Through this process, the racial and gender skewed ownership in the construction industry will be addressed ukuze nesininzi sabantu bakuthi abamnyama, oomama, kunye nolutsha bakhe bangcamle kulebhekile kudala irhatyulwa ngabambalwa abakhethiweyo!
Our construction efforts would have failed if they did not touch every aspect of the entire construction value chain, from supply, production, and delivery to ownership, control and environmental impact. Hence I say the construction charter should lay a basis for transformation and empowerment that will resonate in the industry without substituting white with black, men with women, old with young, or big with small. I hear that some of you have fears that this Charter will take family owned businesses started by your great grandfathers and give them to blacks. That is not what transformation and empowerment are about. Transformation should begin with an introspective analysis which questions the preponderance of white, men and conglomerates but proceed to recommend structured ways within which we need to empower black, women, and small contractors -as well as communities that perpetually spawn these disadvantaged groups. Hence we emphasized that the charter will promote among others partnering, mentoring and coaching to bridge the divide. This is the heart of our transformation and is in synch with BEE or Broad-Based BEE.
The construction charter is a transformation initiative and establishes principles upon which BEE should be implemented in the sector. Its primary objectives are to achieve a substantial change in the racial and gender composition of ownership, control, and management, promote transformation, growth, competitiveness, and efficiency of the industry. The Charter will also address skills development and enhanced enterprise development and sustainable growth of BEE enterprises. Of equal significance, the Charter will lay a foundation for integration of the construction industry to promote sustainable growth and development.
Ladies and gentlemen, I think you all have heard me tell my Department and this industry that I do not want to hear the word “emerging contractors” forever. When will they emerge? Why are they not emerging? We all know this industry has black contractors, professionals, material suppliers. We know this industry has women contractors, professionals, and material suppliers. Why is it then that they (both black and women) do not emerge? Although we talk partnering, coaching, mentoring, enterprise development, we must do so carefully to ensure that it does not send a message that we do not have readily available black and women capacity that is not “emerging.” Enterprise development should be structured in a manner that it is not a substitute for ownership but that rather compliments it and provides for clear developmental objectives that are measurable and quantifiable.
Human capital is one of the resources we have to nurture and develop as a sector. Yet this sector is very infamous for casualisation of labour. How then do we start talking about issues of skills development when the labourers that we are supposed to train and develop for the future and well being of our sector are the people that we pick up on the side of the roads in the morning and drop them off in the afternoon after a day’s work not to ever see them again? As I said earlier, this Charter will not be about compliance. Skills development will not and should not be just about paying levies to the CETA and writing that off as having complied with the Act. Workers don’t get trained, employers pay the levy and get nothing back, and more importantly, the industry’s skills base diminishes. It is up to all of you to ensure that meaningful training and skills development takes place in this industry.
In addition, but also in line with our proposed scorecard, we need to ensure that the industry is in the forefront with others in the implementation of its social responsibility plans because we need to plough back to our communities. As a construction industry, let’s challenge ourselves to make sure that our corporate social responsibility is geared towards aspects that are related to our industry.
Developmental challenges relating to the provision of infrastructure and infrastructure backlogs should provide much needed impetus to extricate this country from the status of developing to the developed while at the same time it provides a window of opportunity for this industry. Fora such as this one should strive to come up with winning formulas, mindful of the role of the construction industry in poverty alleviation.
Looking back at the process to establish the Charter, we started in July 2004 with mobilization before we launched the process officially in October of the same year and set ourselves a target of July 2005 as our completion date. Substantial milestones have been achieved through the workings of the technical committees that have been established to look at issues that will be addressed by the Charter including ownership and control, skills development, employment equity, enterprise development, procurement, regulatory affairs and corporate social investment. We have now reached a crucial point, that of developing a scorecard for this industry. The Department of Trade and Industry has given all the sectors a guideline through its published draft code of conduct. I want to urge you that as you deliberate and debate your positions on the scorecard, keep in mind the end result that the scorecard will try and achieve. The scorecard will be a product of this process, but let us not forget that the processes we are engaging in – that of transformation and empowerment - are life long and will outlive the scorecard.
Before I conclude, I am aware that there have been provincial visits by the various stakeholders represented in the Charter Group. However, I need to stress that this Charter should neither be a Gauteng thing nor should it be seen that way. You need to make a deliberate effort to ensure that industry stakeholders from Cape Town to Sekhukhune in Limpopo to Springbok in Northern Cape to eMsinga in KwaZulu-Natal not only know about this Charter and its implications, but that they are given an opportunity to make inputs and comments. If we fail to give everyone that opportunity, we would have failed to give this process credibility.
Ladies and gentlemen, I want to wish you good luck in your deliberations over these two days. May your debates be constructive and converge towards achieving the common goal of transforming our industry.
I Thank You
Issued by: Department of Public Works
20 April 2005
Source: Department of Public Works (http://www.publicworks.gov.za)
Source: Department of Public Works
Title: Sigcau: Construction Transformation Charter Group
The Minister of Public Works, Ms Stella Sigcau (MP), delivers an opening address at the Construction Transformation Charter Group (CTCG), CSIR, Pretoria
The Director-General of Public Works and Programme Director, Mr James Maseko
The MECs present here today
The Chairpersons of the CTCG, Mr James Ngobeni and Mr Mike Willey
Representatives of the Construction Industry and Labour
Senior Government Officials
Distinguished Guests
Ladies and Gentlemen
Six months ago I launched the process that brings us together here today. Given the diversity and lack of unification in this sector, I must admit that at that time I was sceptical that the industry would meet the deadline set for producing a draft Charter by July 2005. However, I must say, I am both impressed and happy with the progress thus far; and I am now confident that come 1st of August 2005, the country shall have a draft Construction Sector Charter.
I want to commend the commitment demonstrated by all the sector stakeholders to this process. Without such, we would not be where we are today.
Ladies and gentlemen, this Indaba may be an event in the process to develop the Charter for the construction industry, but transformation itself and the objectives of the Charter are not. Transformation and change are often painful processes especially when participants have divergent expectations. We will have a Charter later this year but our efforts to transform this industry and continuously encourage, promote, and ensure its development will not end when the Charter is completed. It is therefore important that I say it upfront that this Charter will not merely be about compliance, compliance in terms of the scorecard, the targets, and all the things that enterprises have to report on in terms of the Charter. It is about true transformation of this sector and about true and meaningful empowerment as a precursor to growth and development that I want to believe that we all aspire to.
Repeatedly, I have said that the construction industry is a national asset. We meet here today as architects of the future industry propelled by growth and development. We meet here today as industry stakeholders driven by our varying constituency-based aspirations and objectives. However, if we are to realise a truly developed and prospering construction industry, we need to rise beyond constituency or organizational aspirations. We need to ensure that our deliberations are driven by a mental determination that says the industry (and its growth) is bigger than us all. Therefore, we need to transcend vested parochial interests which at worst can derail and scupper transformation initiatives. We may not yet agree about minute details in our path to the vision of the future, but I have no doubts that we are united in our agreement that our uneven history and divisive past has landed us in this quagmire; and that if our national asset is to remain as such, we need to have a holistic approach to its transformation, development, and growth.
There can be no better moment than now to lay concrete foundations for a sustainable transformation, particularly at a time when the economy is growing and the construction industry is looking much healthier and doing better than the recent past. It would be criminal to let the status quo continue and have the economic benefits of this industry accruing to and enjoyed by just a few advantaged individuals and groups. Through this process, the racial and gender skewed ownership in the construction industry will be addressed ukuze nesininzi sabantu bakuthi abamnyama, oomama, kunye nolutsha bakhe bangcamle kulebhekile kudala irhatyulwa ngabambalwa abakhethiweyo!
Our construction efforts would have failed if they did not touch every aspect of the entire construction value chain, from supply, production, and delivery to ownership, control and environmental impact. Hence I say the construction charter should lay a basis for transformation and empowerment that will resonate in the industry without substituting white with black, men with women, old with young, or big with small. I hear that some of you have fears that this Charter will take family owned businesses started by your great grandfathers and give them to blacks. That is not what transformation and empowerment are about. Transformation should begin with an introspective analysis which questions the preponderance of white, men and conglomerates but proceed to recommend structured ways within which we need to empower black, women, and small contractors -as well as communities that perpetually spawn these disadvantaged groups. Hence we emphasized that the charter will promote among others partnering, mentoring and coaching to bridge the divide. This is the heart of our transformation and is in synch with BEE or Broad-Based BEE.
The construction charter is a transformation initiative and establishes principles upon which BEE should be implemented in the sector. Its primary objectives are to achieve a substantial change in the racial and gender composition of ownership, control, and management, promote transformation, growth, competitiveness, and efficiency of the industry. The Charter will also address skills development and enhanced enterprise development and sustainable growth of BEE enterprises. Of equal significance, the Charter will lay a foundation for integration of the construction industry to promote sustainable growth and development.
Ladies and gentlemen, I think you all have heard me tell my Department and this industry that I do not want to hear the word “emerging contractors” forever. When will they emerge? Why are they not emerging? We all know this industry has black contractors, professionals, material suppliers. We know this industry has women contractors, professionals, and material suppliers. Why is it then that they (both black and women) do not emerge? Although we talk partnering, coaching, mentoring, enterprise development, we must do so carefully to ensure that it does not send a message that we do not have readily available black and women capacity that is not “emerging.” Enterprise development should be structured in a manner that it is not a substitute for ownership but that rather compliments it and provides for clear developmental objectives that are measurable and quantifiable.
Human capital is one of the resources we have to nurture and develop as a sector. Yet this sector is very infamous for casualisation of labour. How then do we start talking about issues of skills development when the labourers that we are supposed to train and develop for the future and well being of our sector are the people that we pick up on the side of the roads in the morning and drop them off in the afternoon after a day’s work not to ever see them again? As I said earlier, this Charter will not be about compliance. Skills development will not and should not be just about paying levies to the CETA and writing that off as having complied with the Act. Workers don’t get trained, employers pay the levy and get nothing back, and more importantly, the industry’s skills base diminishes. It is up to all of you to ensure that meaningful training and skills development takes place in this industry.
In addition, but also in line with our proposed scorecard, we need to ensure that the industry is in the forefront with others in the implementation of its social responsibility plans because we need to plough back to our communities. As a construction industry, let’s challenge ourselves to make sure that our corporate social responsibility is geared towards aspects that are related to our industry.
Developmental challenges relating to the provision of infrastructure and infrastructure backlogs should provide much needed impetus to extricate this country from the status of developing to the developed while at the same time it provides a window of opportunity for this industry. Fora such as this one should strive to come up with winning formulas, mindful of the role of the construction industry in poverty alleviation.
Looking back at the process to establish the Charter, we started in July 2004 with mobilization before we launched the process officially in October of the same year and set ourselves a target of July 2005 as our completion date. Substantial milestones have been achieved through the workings of the technical committees that have been established to look at issues that will be addressed by the Charter including ownership and control, skills development, employment equity, enterprise development, procurement, regulatory affairs and corporate social investment. We have now reached a crucial point, that of developing a scorecard for this industry. The Department of Trade and Industry has given all the sectors a guideline through its published draft code of conduct. I want to urge you that as you deliberate and debate your positions on the scorecard, keep in mind the end result that the scorecard will try and achieve. The scorecard will be a product of this process, but let us not forget that the processes we are engaging in – that of transformation and empowerment - are life long and will outlive the scorecard.
Before I conclude, I am aware that there have been provincial visits by the various stakeholders represented in the Charter Group. However, I need to stress that this Charter should neither be a Gauteng thing nor should it be seen that way. You need to make a deliberate effort to ensure that industry stakeholders from Cape Town to Sekhukhune in Limpopo to Springbok in Northern Cape to eMsinga in KwaZulu-Natal not only know about this Charter and its implications, but that they are given an opportunity to make inputs and comments. If we fail to give everyone that opportunity, we would have failed to give this process credibility.
Ladies and gentlemen, I want to wish you good luck in your deliberations over these two days. May your debates be constructive and converge towards achieving the common goal of transforming our industry.
I Thank You
Issued by: Department of Public Works
20 April 2005
Source: Department of Public Works (http://www.publicworks.gov.za)
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