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Minister of Public Works, Stella Sigcau
MECs from the Northern Province
Distinguished Guests
Ladies & Gentlemen

The dawn of democracy in South Africa brought hope and optimism to millions of people, particularly the poor. We are happy today because that hope is being turned into reality for the communities of Tshipise Nzhelele with the handing over today of 11 poverty relief projects.

The Northern District Council is home to 4,5 million people and 91% of them live in a rural environment that had seen little or no development previously.

It is against this background that the first democratic government established the National Public Works Programmes in 1994 as an initiative to contribute to the alleviation of poverty especially in the rural areas.

These projects which include new access roads, hydroponics irrigation schemes, a bridge, crˆches, market stalls and a multipurpose hall have, during the construction period, employed a total of 502 people, including 235 youths and 205 women.
Today as I stand in your midst, I am overwhelmed by the effort that has gone into the co-ordination of these projects, creating hope and inspiration where very little existed before.

Although these projects are not the only solution to poverty and rural development in the country, one needs to acknowledge the important role that the NATIONAL PUBLIC WORKS PROGRAMME is playing in the fight against poverty in this Province.

The visible change that it has brought to the landscape of many a South African rural side is beginning to impact positively on the lives of many people especially in the most poverty-stricken areas. From Amatola in the Eastern Cape and Uthungulu in KwaZulu-Natal to Tshipise Nzhelele in the Northern Province the programme is providing much needed development to the poorest of the poor in our country.

I am pleased to note that although this program is primarily a mechanism to fund the construction of public facilities, it contains a big element of job creation. As I have indicated, a very large number of members of the communities of Tshipise Nzhelele were employed during the construction phase. Ladies and gentlemen, a distinguishing feature of this programme is that it channels resources to areas where they are needed the most.

According to the Community Based Public Works Programme, the affected communities themselves are involved in the identification, selection, designing, contracting and construction of the assets aimed to benefit them.

This is achieved through the involvement of local government structures in pin-pointing areas considered most needy within their jurisdiction. Using the medium of Community Committees, the community is drawn in to analyse their condition and decide on the nature of the assets they need.

This, I am told, is a result of an evaluation done into the Programme by independent monitoring groups between 1996 and 1997 which suggested that the aim of the project should be to reach the poorest communities with the greatest deficiencies in infrastructure and services.

The outcomes of the evaluation report have since informed the manner in which projects are planned, designed and clustered so that projects are built because they:

* improve accessibility to trading opportunities
* are labour saving
* improve human capital
* provide social cohesion
* are an environmental improvement and
* are directly productive

The training that community members have received as a direct result of this programme is important for two reasons. Firstly they have acquired much needed skills and secondly, the training process has ensured the transfer of ownership of these assets to the communities giving them a sense of pride and confidence in their own ability to rise above the circumstances that have been imposed on them by history.

The value of this process is further enhanced by the corresponding efforts by government to reform state procurement procedures with a view to affirming those previously disadvantaged thus ensuring that community members have the opportunity to utilise the skills gained.

This is in fulfilment of the fourfold objectives of the CBPWP, which aims to eradicate poverty through:

* reduction of unemployment
* education and training
* creation, rehabilitation and maintenance of physical assets
* and building the capacity of communities

Despite challenges still lying ahead for the government in general and the programme co-ordinators in particular, the CBPWP has been pronounced as "...probably one of the best public works programmes encountered in more than 30 developing countries" by the team of evaluators. This is an accolade that we should all be proud of - from the programme administrators, implementers to the beneficiaries in the communities. The government is certainly encouraged and inspired to achieve even more.

The launch of the National Public Works Programme in 1994 was a distinctly bold intervention by the government to put in place strategies to roll back the many decades of poverty, deprivation and neglect brought about by colonialism and apartheid.

It is important to remember that the initiative was informed by the government's overall strategy to improve social conditions, redistribute social justice and deepen democracy.

I am confident that the combined wisdom and foresight of this strategy, coupled with other government initiatives, will help to accelerate the total transformation of the South African economy, making it domestically accessible and globally competitive. For this reason therefore we need to work harder to ensure that public service delivery happens at a brisk pace, bringing to the communities more schools, clinics, houses, trading centres and business precincts.

As government we will continue to work together with organisations, both local and international to reduce poverty and improve the quality of life of the people.

I wish to congratulate all the various organisation involved in the Tshipise Nzhelele projects on the Partnership that now exists between the public and the private sector. At the project of Mapila for example ESKOM had already invested funds for the development of a hydroponics irrigation scheme. The intervention by CBPWP merely expanded on this foundation.

The South African Forestry Company Limited (SAFCOL) also deserves a special mention for contributing building timber to the projects in this area. It is often said that this country needs the effort of all the various sectors of our society in order to achieve the objective of a better life for all. These two companies have demonstrated what can be achieved if we all work together for the common good of our citizens. You as members of these communities know better the impact that these projects have had in your lives.

As government we are aware that amongst all the projects, the renovation of schools and the addition of new classrooms have been most valuable in improving the learning environment of the children in your area, providing them with a conducive learning environment.

Perhaps the extent of the success of these projects is best illustrated by the fact that the Mapila Hydroponics Project won a Presidential Award which earned it R35 000 in addition to a computer and a bakkie which they won in another competition.

In conclusion I would like to urge that the skills you have learned from the training programmes and the experience you have gathered should be a starting point for bigger challenges for this community in the future.

I wish you all success in all future endeavours and hope that you will continue to work together in the spirit of partnership that has brought you to where you are now.

I thank you.

Issued by: The Office of the Presidency

12 December 1999