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The President of Contralesa, Nkosi Patekile Holomisa and his Executive,
All members of royalty,
Distinguished guests,
Ladies and Gentlemen.

Contralesa represents an historic milestone in the liberation of the African people. Contralesa came about at a time when various formations in SA were coming together in order to speak as one voice in denouncing the ills of apartheid whilst working towards the achievement of a democratic state.

We cannot appreciate the challenges we face as a nation unless we comprehend the legacy we inherited from apartheid colonialism. Our successful transformation has put us in the best possible position to deal with a number of issues, including the fight against endemic poverty.

People with short memories forget that traditional leaders are an integral part of the glorious wars of resistance against colonialism. Amongst the founding fathers of the ANC were some traditional leaders of note. Thus, the institution of traditional leadership is an integral part of our democracy.

Addressing challenges of development, and extricating our people from the morass of poverty requires national unity and the participation of all formations in society including traditional leaders. The only condition of participation in this nation-building project is as our President puts it, "to dedicate this year to building unity in action for change."

Our government fully understands the imperative of rising to the challenge of overcoming this legacy of underdevelopment and of creating conditions or an environment for just and sustainable socio-economic development. It is a legacy whose persistence is confirmed by, amongst other things, the daily life experience of 70% of our country's poverty-stricken people who live in rural areas.

As you are well aware, rural South Africa is characterised by:

* High levels of poverty;
* Dislocated and sparse settlements;
* Sub-standard or non-existent housing;
* Poor access to basic services; and
* Subsistence modes of economic activity.

To intensify the offensive against poverty and underdevelopment, it has become necessary for government to adopt the two strategies, the one being the Integrated Sustainable Rural Development Strategy (ISRDS) and the other being the Urban Renewal Strategy (URS). These two, when pursued in tandem, give us a simultaneous mix of instruments that constitute mutually reinforcing elements of our stated policy objective of creating a better life for all.

The logic of and the relationship between the two strategies is underpinned by a number of principles:

* Both strategies are directly aimed at addressing the continued persistence of the socio-economic, infrastructure and spatial imbalances that emanate from our apartheid past;

* The programmatic and developmental approach adopted by both these programmes is informed by the various development programmes of government, which have been in place since 1994;

* Both programmes are aimed at addressing the micro and local economic development imperatives that seeks to complement and sustain the macro-economic stability that we have achieved as a country;

* Poverty targeting and alleviation is an explicit objective of both programmes. This explains why the nodal points and localities identified in these programmes so deliberately correspond with the landscape of underdevelopment and poverty in South Africa;

* Integration of service delivery and development at a local level is a conscious attempt to address the multi-faceted nature of the complex challenges that confront us in rural and urban South Africa;

* The decentralisation of decision-making and the setting of priorities at a local level are fundamental to both programmes. This is directly aimed at building robust and sustainable municipalities and a strong local government sphere;

* The need for a demand-driven approach to development, where local projects are identified through the municipal integrated development planning (IDP) process is key.

* It is also recognised that various partnerships will be necessary to ensure the success of each of the programmes.

The vision of the Integrated Sustainable Rural Development Strategy (ISRDS) is aimed at:
"Attaining socially cohesive, resilient and stable rural communities that are economically empowered and productive - contributing substantially to South Africa's growth and global competitiveness".

As government, we know that translating intentions into implementable programmes is a process that spans several phases.

Rural development as well as urban renewal strategies will have the features of:

* A realistic, ten-year, time horizon, 2000-2010;
* A targeted nodal or spatial focus, and
* A phased implementation plan.

President Mbeki announced the first set of nodes or spatial locations where the ISRDS will be implemented, these are:

* O.R. Tambo, North East, Ukhahlamba and EG Kei District Councils in the Eastern Cape;
* Umzinyathi Umkhayakude, Ugu and the Zululand Municipality in KwaZulu-Natal;
* The Kalahari-Kgalagadi Cross Boundary District Council in the Northern Cape and the North West Central;
* Karoo District Council in the Western Cape;
* Sekhukhune Cross Boundary District Council in Mpumalanga and the Northern Province;
* Eastern District Municipality in the Northern Province, and
* Thabo Mofutsanyane in Qwa Qwa in the Free State.

Subsequent to the announcement of the first set of nodes in February 2001, the ISRDS nodes will be rolled-out for delivery implementation by July 2001. Government will announce a further 30 rural nodes by the end of 2001. It is estimated that about 10 million people will benefit from the ISRDS programme alone.

Each node will reflect a package of projects as determined through local Integrated Development Plan (IDP) processes. National and provincial government departments will play a key role in targeting their support and programmes in these areas. Currently there are several crosscutting programmes e.g., Food Security, Basic Infrastructure, Enterprise Development, Human Resources Development, Land Reform, Community-based Income Generation, Rural Finance, Social Assistance & Safety Nets, Affirmative Procurement, and Local Government and Institution Building. These programmes are being carried out by departments (national and provincial) as well as by various municipal councils, in ways which are not yet fully integrated. Depending on the needs and priorities in the different nodes, government will package its offerings as a "Basket of Services" which will include:

* Adult Basic Education and Training (ABET);
* Primary Health Care Feeding Scheme;
* Housing;
* Kick-start Youth Programme;
* Housing support centres;
* Telecentres;
* Women in construction;
* Local Economic Development projects;
* Co-operatives;
* Community Based Public Works Programme;
* Working for Water;
* Khula start;
* Community Water & Sanitation;
* Technology Centres;
* Eco-tourism;
* Land Care and utilisation;
* Cultural Industries; and
* Energy Centres.

We envisage a range of partnership agreements to support both the ISRDS and the URS. These partnerships will include the private sector, organs of civil society, research institutions, donor agencies and multilateral agencies. These stakeholders will be mobilised to tackle the common economic challenges in ways which are mutually beneficial.

The President has indicated that both the ISRDS and the URS will benefit from a special amount of R 6 billion set aside for infrastructure development. In addition to this, a further amount of R 65 million will be made available to specially build the institutional capacity of the 13 nodal District municipalities.

Sustainable development, as envisaged by both the ISRDS and URS, is only possible in conditions of good governance. The South African system of co-operative governance relies on sound intergovernmental relations that are manifested by horizontal co-ordination between national departments and vertical co-ordination between the national provincial and local spheres of government. The integration, which will affect policy-formulation, law making and implementation of programmes, is indeed an indispensable element of good governance and therefore, a prerequisite for sustainable socio-economic development.

My Department, the Department of Public Works, is contributing to the creation and improvement of local rural infrastructure within this integrated framework I have explained. We do this through the Community Based Public Works Programme (CBPWP or Ilima). The Community Based Public Works Programme is a poverty alleviation programme focusing on job creation and rural infrastructure development as part of government's focus on rural development and fighting poverty.

By design it targets the poorest of the poor in rural areas, changing the lives of people by creating assets that stimulate local economic and social development. This results in employment, training and capacity building opportunities being created for those who were systematically pushed to the fringes of society.

Through this programme, millions of people are empowered to take charge of their own destiny by freeing their potential. This programme therefore complements and supports government's Integrated and Sustainable Rural Development Strategy. Since 1998, we have delivered and are attending to 713 CBPWP projects in the identified development nodes. This is almost half of the 1 553 rural infrastructure projects we handled since 1998, which illustrates the role of the Community Based Public Works Programme in the ISRDS. In terms of the nodal points for rural development announced by the President in his State of the Nation address on 9 February 2001, the CBPWP is already running projects in all but the Kgalagadi Cross Boundary District Municipality and the Central Karoo District Municipality within the identified nodes.

Having been voted by the ILO and CASE as the best poverty relief programme in Southern Africa, the CBPWP has been improved to ensure maximum impact where it is implemented.

While the programme has created almost 66 000 jobs since 1998, of which more than 5 000 offer sustainable employment, the programme has now incorporated, in addition, the creation of sustainable, self-reliant and viable community projects at a larger scale. Together with the Department of Agriculture, we have embarked on reviving irrigation schemes that have become defunct in a number of provinces. In the revived schemes, communities will eventually be in charge of decision-making, will determine whether proceeds should be used for development of health facilities, upgrading of roads, etc. We are quite convinced the Community Production Centres (CPCs) will play an important role in the ISRDS. For the current financial year, we have set aside R 15 million towards the further development of the CPCs.

Twenty-three multi-purpose community centres have been provided for in the Public Works' budget, to provide a 'one stop' service centre within rural areas for government services to communities.

The 2000/2001 financial year has been a watershed year for Public Works. The media criticised a number of government departments, including my own, for not spending funds destined for the poorest of the poor. We responded and explained the reasons at the time, but we also committed ourselves positively to ensure that we spend the funds during the previous financial year.

It must be remembered that the funds we refer to go as far back as 1998/99, 1999/2000. In addition, we had to spend funds allocated for the 2000/2001 financial year. This means we had to spend budgets spanning three financial years.

From the expenditure of this money in the previous financial year alone, we have created more than 20 000 jobs in rural areas, mainly in the three poorest provinces. Of these jobs, 46% went to women and 43% to the youth. Because of the infrastructure that we have developed, Ndwedwe, a small little known village now qualifies for town status. This will attract local investment and create local jobs.

With a budget of R374 million, Ilima will sustain the delivery momentum into 2001/2002, continuing to build the economic and social fountains of hope for the poorest of the poor. Our success is informed by the partnership we have forged with Provincial governments, District councils, Traditional leaders, National departments and, not least, the private sector. It is unity in action for change that will eradicate poverty and ensure sustained rural development.

One of the main priorities of Ilima in 2001/2002 will be to narrow the dividing line between rural and urban economies by concentrating on rural roads. The latter are key to improved integrated sustainable development initiatives and local economic development, including Black Economic Empowerment.

Ladies and gentlemen, my department stands ready to deliver on our rural infrastructure and poverty alleviation budget. We have demonstrated a turn-about in the historic under-expenditure of funds earmarked for poverty relief.

LET ME SHARE WITH YOU SOME CBPWP ACHIEVEMENTS

Rural infrastructure created:

In the three years starting 1998 to now, the CBPWP implemented a total of 1 553 projects that delivered various types of infrastructure to rural communities. These span:

* Bridges and road works;
* Water and sanitation;
* Agriculture related infrastructure;
* Markets and taxi ranks, crèches and schools;
* Classrooms and sport facilities;
* Community halls and centres;
* Chambers for Kings/Queens with their own community halls; and various refurbishments and upgrading to existing infrastructure.

Job creation:

Of the 65 826 jobs created on infrastructure projects for rural communities during the past three years, almost 42% were filled by women, 42,5% by youth and 1,5% by disabled people.

In terms of gender targeting, this programme has outperformed the public sector in women participation.

Rapid delivery/land rehabilitation projects:

* Projects for immediate impact on needy areas such as those hit by the floods were introduced. This generated immediate income to some of the poorest communities as well as created a subsistence skills base and acceleration of expenditure.

Community Based Public Works Programme this year include:

* A Business Plan that goes up to the year 2004 - submitted to Treasury;
* Continuation of Multi-year funded projects already under implementation;
* Operationalise the rest of the budget allocated to District Municipalities;
* Held an Induction workshop with the entire CBPWP fraternity;
* Do capacity assessment of District Municipalities, especially new ones;
* Introduce a Capacity Building programme;
* Contribute on planned interactions with the ISRDS fraternity;
* Planned co-operation with the Department of Sports and other Departments;
* Complete and discuss a Detailed Achievements Management Schedule with the CBPWP fraternity; and
* Started a process to make Provincial Departments of Public Works play a role of secretariat to the Provincial Co-ordinating Committees.

CONCLUSION

My own experience informs me, as I have acknowledged in my budget vote speech in May, that traditional leaders in the spirit of co-operative governance will be dependable partners in rural infrastructure development as we jointly face the challenges of the African century. It will be counterproductive at this point in time if traditional leaders were to decide not to participate in developmental programmes simply because matters to do with their status and role have not been finalised. Traditional leaders are regarded by their people not as ordinary leaders, but as fathers of the various tribes.

United in our action for change we will take our country forward, we will address poverty and continue development as an overall objective.

I wish you success in your endeavours. We dare not fail!

Issued by: Ministry of Public Works, 2 June 2001