Issued by: Government Communications Information Service
24 January 2000
Ministers Stella Sigcau and Dullah Omar today addressed a two-day public sector workshop geared towards consolidating government initiatives to transform the construction industry, with specific focus on the emerging contractors.
Officially opening the workshop Minister Sigcau said:
"This workshop is about two outcomes: it is about empowerment and it is about co-operative governance. Its theme commits us to a common vision, to common objectives and principles that will guide and enhance the further development of our individual efforts. It commits us to co-operation ... to ensure that emerging contractors do indeed emerge into the mainstream economy .... and that support measures do not perpetuate the division between a well-resourced formal sector and an under-resourced informal sector."We see in this workshop a rare opportunity to learn from each other, to draw strength from each other and to recommit to a vision of a transformed construction industry that is contributing to accelerated delivery and to the achievement of our social and economic goals".
Jointly convened by the Departments of Public Works and Transport, the workshop "Towards a National Emerging Contractor Development Programme" is attended by 150 public and private sector delegates from across the country.
The two-day workshop will receive presentations from national, provincial and local authority agencies engaged in construction delivery and will evaluate the successes and constraints faced in promoting black-owned construction enterprises. Promoting access to work, management training, finance and credit are some of the critical challenges that will be discussed in breakaway sessions.
It is envisaged that the workshop will establish a forum to promote best practice and information sharing on an ongoing basis.
The Ministers of Transport and Public Works are both members of the Inter-ministerial Committee on Construction Industry Development that is promoting legislation to establish a Construction Industry Development Board.
Minister Dullah Omar confirmed in his address: "The theme for this workshop is twofold. On the one hand there is systems development and on the other hand there is the long-term partnership between government, business and our communities to achieve a sustainable pattern of development and security based on social inclusiveness.
"My department has through our projects, implemented the government's development objective with regards to job creation by the development of entrepreneurs and the growth of the economy on projects such as the Maputo Development Corridor and the Lubombo Spatial Development Initiative, where hundreds of people have been trained and empowered."
For more information contact: German Mphahlele, Director Emerging Contractor Development Programme, DPW, tel. 012-3372352
Issued jointly by the Ministries of Public Works and of Transport
Enquiries: Lucky Mochalibane, Communications
Tel: (012) 337 2057 or Cell: 082 899 9775
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