Issued by National Department of Public Works
9 August 2001
The National Minister of Public Works, Ms Stella Sigcau, has launched another economic empowerment initiative on 09 August 2001, this time targeting South African women in the construction industry.
The Minister was a keynote speaker at the Women's Day Celebrations at Allan Ridge Community Centre, Uitenhage.
Called the Strategic Empowerment Programme for Women in Construction, the R135 million programme is an extension of the Strategic Projects Initiative (SPI) launched by the Department of Public Works in May 1998 as part of the Department's Affirmative Procurement Policy.
SPI aimed to accelerate the graduation of blacks from a sub-contractor to a prime contractor level on government construction contracts above R5 million.
Projects with a combined contract value of R600 million were identified under the SPI.
To date SPI has delivered some of the successful multi-million rand projects using blacks as prime contractors, including:
On the other hand, the Strategic Economic Empowerment Programme will accelerate the development and capacity of women-owned businesses to execute large-scale government contracts.
Since becoming the Minister of Public Works, Ms Sigcau has championed tirelessly for the advancement of women in construction as part of an overall strategy of construction industry development - to grow and transform the industry.
About 50 projects worth R135 million exclusively targeting Women Business Enterprise (WBE's) has been announced and initially piloted under Strategic Empowerment Programme in all the nine provinces for 2001/2002.
Regional breakdown will be available upon request.
"The R34 billion a year construction industry is a national asset, playing a vital role in the realisation of reconstruction and development targets. Government through its procurement muscle, is the largest consumer (more than 40%) of the industry's annual output", said the Minister.
Contact: Lucky Mochalibane Tel: 012 337 2057 Cell 082 899 9775