Date: 03/09/2004
Source: Department of Public Works
Title: S Sigcau: Launch of E Cape Expanded Public Works Programme
ADDRESS BY MINISTER OF PUBLIC WORKS, STELLA SIGCAU AT THE OFFICIAL LAUNCH OF THE EASTERN CAPE EXPANDED PUBLIC WORKS PROGRAMME, 3 September 2004
The Premier of the Eastern Cape, Ms Nosimo Balindlela
The Minister of Social Development, Dr Zola Skweyiya
The Deputy Minister of Public Works, Mr Ntopile Kganyago
The MEC for Social Development, Ms N Moerane-Mamase
The MEC for Roads and Public Works, Mr S Kwelita
Other MECs present
Members of the Provincial Legislature
The Executive Mayor, Ms Z Capa
The Mayor of KSD, Dr D Mkhatshwa
Distinguished guests
Ladies and Gentlemen
In the last ten years the policies and programmes of this government have focused on poverty alleviation. We were the first government in this country to acknowledge the existence of poverty and committed ourselves to eradicating imbalances and injustices that fuelled poverty. It was out of this acknowledgement that the ANC-led government entered into a contract with South Africans to create a better life for all, turn the tide of poverty, and build a people's contract for a prosperous South Africa.
At the same time, government recognised that poverty affects each one of us differently and uniquely. Our approach to fight poverty was then informed by this realisation and government adopted a multi-approach strategy to reducing poverty. Some of the practical steps this government has done in a fight against poverty include:
* Social grants for children, old and disabled. These are equal for any qualifying South African
* Affordable public healthcare with emphasis on free accessibility for children and pregnant women
* Free basic services such as water and electricity for those who qualify
* Free education
* Systematic tax reduction for all income groups with emphasis on lower income earners
* Urban renewal and rural development programmes to improve our social living conditions and bring essential government services closer to the communities
* Affirmative Action, Equity Employment and Black Economic Empowerment to target disadvantaged groups including blacks, youth and the women.
These programmes and many other examples mean that in real terms, the standard of life for many people has improved since 1994. We are proud as government and successive election results in 1994, 1999 and 2004 have also confirmed your appreciation, belief and commitment to building a prosperous nation.
At the same time, 1994 opened our eyes to other realities in the world such as the rampant pace of technology, necessity for special skills, importance of production as compared to consumption. This state of affairs adversely affected many of our people who lacked proper education and necessary skills to participate in the growing global but competent economy. Even long before 1994, many South African companies started to shed jobs. Unemployment, poverty and a culture of consumption grew as more and more of our productive workforce was retrenched thereby rendered jobless and short of skills.
Successive consultative forums led to the formation of Nedlac wherein government, labour, business and community representatives would co-operate to find solutions to economic and social problems affecting the pace of prosperity. From the side of government, we regarded the use of public sector funding as one of the means to generate job opportunities for the country's unemployed. These public works programmes featured prominently in the programmes of government to create jobs and reduce poverty. Gundo Lashu, Zibambele, Vukuzakhe, Vukuzenzele, Community Based Public Works Programme, Working for Water, Land Care Programmes, Tourism and more, became synonymous with efforts of government to create jobs and develop skills.
The purpose of our gathering today is to honour the contract we entered into with the people of South Africa and launch the Eastern Cape Framework of Expanded Public Works Programme.
The Expanded Public Works Programme is an initiative of government to create jobs, develop skills and improve our communities and take the marginalized poor people out of the spiral of poverty. It was first mentioned by President Thabo Mbeki in February 2003 and launched by him a year later as one of programmes of government to move our people from a welfare state to becoming active and productive participants in their development and country's growth.
Because it is based on our experiences over the past ten years, Expanded Public Works is a living programme and is succeeding. All spheres of government, all government departments and state-owned businesses are committed to its effectiveness. As a result we have reached the following milestones, in summary:
* Top government officials have formed the Director-General Steering Committee and meet regularly to review progress
* A fully-fledged EPWP Unit was established in my Department to drive the programme
* All Provinces have committed to setting up their Steering Committees for implementation, review, monitoring and evaluation using best available systems
* A training steering Committee has been established by the Department of Labour to develop training courses, qualifications and implementation of learnerships
* A Prominent Bank has committed to facilitating easy credit access for infrastructure contractors and assist them with financial management without unreasonable conditions
* A budget of R20 billion has been identified to take the programme into the next five years successfully
* As witnessed today, most provinces, municipalities and community development organizations have already started with their labour-intensive projects to create jobs, develop skills and improve our communities.
Various Sector Education and Training Authorities (SETAs) are leaving no stone unturned in their effort to rollout learnership programmes as part of skills development. For example, a standard training course for workers in the infrastructure and environment sectors has been developed which will provide workers with general like skills, awareness and understanding of HIV/AIDS, labour market information and information about EPWP exit opportunities such as learnerships, internships and national youth service opportunities. Through the National Youth Service Programme, the Umsobomvu Youth Fund is funding training of labour -intensive construction supervisors in some provinces.
At the Growth and Development Summit last year, the government presented the EPWP framework as part of its position to facilitate growth and create jobs. Both business and labour amplified their support for the programme. We are continuing to engage with both stakeholders to make EPWP a truly national affair. As a result, business, through the Business Trust, has agreed to make EPWP one of its key focus areas in the coming years. Recently we were heartened by the ABSA Bank when they entered into a Memorandum of Agreement with Public Works and the Construction SETA. They undertook to finance construction projects and facilitate easy access to credit for contractors.
Most sectors under the Expanded Public Works are making a remarkable progress. The infrastructure sector is expected to generate more than 750 000 job opportunities in the next five years primarily from conditional infrastructure grants allocated to Provinces and Municipalities. These numbers might increase with the adoption of EPWP labour intensive guidelines by other programmes such as electrification, public infrastructure maintenance and the construction of civil infrastructure for housing programmes.
On the other hand, the environmental sector has many ongoing programmes and their expansion could yield additional 200 000 jobs in the same period. According to the Social Sector Plan, a target of 150 000 job opportunities has been set and this will be achieved, among others, through the expansion of Home and Community Based Care Programmes in health, social and education areas. We are pleased with the progress we seem to be making.
To attest to the expanded nature of the Programme, both the Departments of Housing and Minerals and Energy have identified construction of civil infrastructure and electrification, respectively, as ideal to contributing to the goals of EPWP. Ourselves in the National Department of Public Works have identified the maintenance of public buildings as an area that can be labour intensive and create job opportunities. We were inspired by the Zivuseni and Saamstaan projects in Gauteng and Western Cape, respectively.
Eastern Cape stands to benefit from the EPWP. The state of the economy of the province and the social groups it sustains lends themselves to the focus of the programme. The launch here today is a milestone. It is not the end of the road, but rather the beginning of another stretch towards human fulfilment.
Issued by: Department of Public Works
3 September 2004
Source: Department of Public Works
Title: S Sigcau: Launch of E Cape Expanded Public Works Programme
ADDRESS BY MINISTER OF PUBLIC WORKS, STELLA SIGCAU AT THE OFFICIAL LAUNCH OF THE EASTERN CAPE EXPANDED PUBLIC WORKS PROGRAMME, 3 September 2004
The Premier of the Eastern Cape, Ms Nosimo Balindlela
The Minister of Social Development, Dr Zola Skweyiya
The Deputy Minister of Public Works, Mr Ntopile Kganyago
The MEC for Social Development, Ms N Moerane-Mamase
The MEC for Roads and Public Works, Mr S Kwelita
Other MECs present
Members of the Provincial Legislature
The Executive Mayor, Ms Z Capa
The Mayor of KSD, Dr D Mkhatshwa
Distinguished guests
Ladies and Gentlemen
In the last ten years the policies and programmes of this government have focused on poverty alleviation. We were the first government in this country to acknowledge the existence of poverty and committed ourselves to eradicating imbalances and injustices that fuelled poverty. It was out of this acknowledgement that the ANC-led government entered into a contract with South Africans to create a better life for all, turn the tide of poverty, and build a people's contract for a prosperous South Africa.
At the same time, government recognised that poverty affects each one of us differently and uniquely. Our approach to fight poverty was then informed by this realisation and government adopted a multi-approach strategy to reducing poverty. Some of the practical steps this government has done in a fight against poverty include:
* Social grants for children, old and disabled. These are equal for any qualifying South African
* Affordable public healthcare with emphasis on free accessibility for children and pregnant women
* Free basic services such as water and electricity for those who qualify
* Free education
* Systematic tax reduction for all income groups with emphasis on lower income earners
* Urban renewal and rural development programmes to improve our social living conditions and bring essential government services closer to the communities
* Affirmative Action, Equity Employment and Black Economic Empowerment to target disadvantaged groups including blacks, youth and the women.
These programmes and many other examples mean that in real terms, the standard of life for many people has improved since 1994. We are proud as government and successive election results in 1994, 1999 and 2004 have also confirmed your appreciation, belief and commitment to building a prosperous nation.
At the same time, 1994 opened our eyes to other realities in the world such as the rampant pace of technology, necessity for special skills, importance of production as compared to consumption. This state of affairs adversely affected many of our people who lacked proper education and necessary skills to participate in the growing global but competent economy. Even long before 1994, many South African companies started to shed jobs. Unemployment, poverty and a culture of consumption grew as more and more of our productive workforce was retrenched thereby rendered jobless and short of skills.
Successive consultative forums led to the formation of Nedlac wherein government, labour, business and community representatives would co-operate to find solutions to economic and social problems affecting the pace of prosperity. From the side of government, we regarded the use of public sector funding as one of the means to generate job opportunities for the country's unemployed. These public works programmes featured prominently in the programmes of government to create jobs and reduce poverty. Gundo Lashu, Zibambele, Vukuzakhe, Vukuzenzele, Community Based Public Works Programme, Working for Water, Land Care Programmes, Tourism and more, became synonymous with efforts of government to create jobs and develop skills.
The purpose of our gathering today is to honour the contract we entered into with the people of South Africa and launch the Eastern Cape Framework of Expanded Public Works Programme.
The Expanded Public Works Programme is an initiative of government to create jobs, develop skills and improve our communities and take the marginalized poor people out of the spiral of poverty. It was first mentioned by President Thabo Mbeki in February 2003 and launched by him a year later as one of programmes of government to move our people from a welfare state to becoming active and productive participants in their development and country's growth.
Because it is based on our experiences over the past ten years, Expanded Public Works is a living programme and is succeeding. All spheres of government, all government departments and state-owned businesses are committed to its effectiveness. As a result we have reached the following milestones, in summary:
* Top government officials have formed the Director-General Steering Committee and meet regularly to review progress
* A fully-fledged EPWP Unit was established in my Department to drive the programme
* All Provinces have committed to setting up their Steering Committees for implementation, review, monitoring and evaluation using best available systems
* A training steering Committee has been established by the Department of Labour to develop training courses, qualifications and implementation of learnerships
* A Prominent Bank has committed to facilitating easy credit access for infrastructure contractors and assist them with financial management without unreasonable conditions
* A budget of R20 billion has been identified to take the programme into the next five years successfully
* As witnessed today, most provinces, municipalities and community development organizations have already started with their labour-intensive projects to create jobs, develop skills and improve our communities.
Various Sector Education and Training Authorities (SETAs) are leaving no stone unturned in their effort to rollout learnership programmes as part of skills development. For example, a standard training course for workers in the infrastructure and environment sectors has been developed which will provide workers with general like skills, awareness and understanding of HIV/AIDS, labour market information and information about EPWP exit opportunities such as learnerships, internships and national youth service opportunities. Through the National Youth Service Programme, the Umsobomvu Youth Fund is funding training of labour -intensive construction supervisors in some provinces.
At the Growth and Development Summit last year, the government presented the EPWP framework as part of its position to facilitate growth and create jobs. Both business and labour amplified their support for the programme. We are continuing to engage with both stakeholders to make EPWP a truly national affair. As a result, business, through the Business Trust, has agreed to make EPWP one of its key focus areas in the coming years. Recently we were heartened by the ABSA Bank when they entered into a Memorandum of Agreement with Public Works and the Construction SETA. They undertook to finance construction projects and facilitate easy access to credit for contractors.
Most sectors under the Expanded Public Works are making a remarkable progress. The infrastructure sector is expected to generate more than 750 000 job opportunities in the next five years primarily from conditional infrastructure grants allocated to Provinces and Municipalities. These numbers might increase with the adoption of EPWP labour intensive guidelines by other programmes such as electrification, public infrastructure maintenance and the construction of civil infrastructure for housing programmes.
On the other hand, the environmental sector has many ongoing programmes and their expansion could yield additional 200 000 jobs in the same period. According to the Social Sector Plan, a target of 150 000 job opportunities has been set and this will be achieved, among others, through the expansion of Home and Community Based Care Programmes in health, social and education areas. We are pleased with the progress we seem to be making.
To attest to the expanded nature of the Programme, both the Departments of Housing and Minerals and Energy have identified construction of civil infrastructure and electrification, respectively, as ideal to contributing to the goals of EPWP. Ourselves in the National Department of Public Works have identified the maintenance of public buildings as an area that can be labour intensive and create job opportunities. We were inspired by the Zivuseni and Saamstaan projects in Gauteng and Western Cape, respectively.
Eastern Cape stands to benefit from the EPWP. The state of the economy of the province and the social groups it sustains lends themselves to the focus of the programme. The launch here today is a milestone. It is not the end of the road, but rather the beginning of another stretch towards human fulfilment.
Issued by: Department of Public Works
3 September 2004
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