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I am indeed pleased that this meeting provides an opportunity for me to express appreciation to both:
* the International Labour Organisation (ILO), and
* the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) for their unwavering commitment to the challenges and opportunities facing the Government and people of South Africa.

The partnership we have forged draws inspiration from this shared commitment and has grown in strength since inception of the Preparatory Assistance Agreement in 1996.

I believe that the content of the subsequent 1999 Project Agreement reflects also an increasing appreciation of the nature of the challenges that we are confronting.

In addressing the challenges of poverty, employment, rural development and the transformation of the construction industry, we continue to learn and to adapt our approach in a manner that supports the systematic development of our new democracy.

Thus, capacity building has been a central feature of our partnership.

IMPACT OF THE PARTNERSHIP

In addressing the wider impact of this project, I will not dwell much on the specific outputs, which are well documented in the final report, though I must mention the first evaluation of the Community Based Public Works Programme (CBPWP).

This evaluation led to a fundamental overhaul of the programme, a more effective targeting strategy and greater relevance of the programme as a core component in Government's integrated rural development strategy.

Research undertaken in areas such as the maintenance and operation of assets will further support the sustainability of CBPWP projects in the context of our integrated rural development strategy.

In addressing the broad impact of our co-operation, I would like to focus on the aspects of capacity building and partnership that have characterised the life of this project.

Capacity building has been extended to a wide spectrum of stakeholders and has cemented partnerships with these stakeholders. Indeed, capacity building has created a firm platform to sustain the initiatives we have embarked upon together.

I would like to cite some examples.

The support of this project enabled representatives of the emerging black construction industry to attend conferences in Singapore and Washington and also enabled representatives of organised labour to visit Singapore in preparation for the legislation to establish the Construction Industry Development Board.

I remember that in August 1999, shortly after I took up office at Public Works, I was invited to meet leaders of the black construction industry at a capacity building workshop organised within the framework this tripartite agreement.

That workshop addressed partnership with the black construction industry:
* on our Emerging Contractor Development Programme,
* on the concept of the Construction Industry Development Board,
* and on the establishment of the Construction Education and Training Authority (CETA).

Through these various approaches, our joint efforts have assisted these less well resourced sectors of society to contribute actively in shaping the new development institutions, in shaping the construction industry and, indeed, in shaping our new democracy.

Since then we have jointly convened workshops in the Provinces addressing the participation of women in construction. Building on the capacity we are creating, the Department of Public Works is currently inviting tenders for projects of between one and five million Rand that will target women contractors throughout South Africa.

Capacity building has also addressed the public sector to promote best practice. Today's Labour Based Awareness workshop will have a profound impact on the ability of local district councils to contribute effectively to job creation within the ambit of the Community Based Public Works Programme and beyond.

Finally, senior officials of the Department have benefited significantly from a number of study visits, including the recent visits of the CBPWP to Egypt and Brazil.

Such study visits have had a direct bearing on the direction and quality of our work. For example, the recent visit to the United Kingdom led by Lydia Bici, has informed our current strategy to benchmark the state of the construction industry and to establish concrete targets for industry performance improvement.

Our participation last year at the Botswana international conference enabled us to identify significant role players and to convene an exciting conference in April. That conference has yielded an agenda of co-operation in the development of the construction industries of southern Africa.

To me it is abundantly clear that the impact of these activities extends way beyond the narrow sense of the term "capacity building". In a very real sense, these activities have enabled us to forge national and international partnerships and have underpinned partnerships between spheres of Government, and between Government and the various sectors of civil society.

LOOKING AHEAD

I welcome the proposal that our close out report should form the basis for a future strategy to mobilise new partnerships with both national and international stakeholders. We will make further input to the draft strategy that is currently in preparation.

I also welcome the support of the ILO and UNDP to convene a stakeholder conference in the near future. At that conference we will present our achievements together with the critical challenges that lie ahead.

I would like to highlight a few pivotal components of such a strategy.

Poverty alleviation

Government is poised to intensify its integrated rural development strategy as from August this year.

As Public Works, we are taking a re-look on how we can effectively deal with poverty alleviation, working from our existing programmes as base.

Construction Industry

With regard to construction industry development we must build on the existing linkages and cooperation that have been established within the ambit of this project.

Amongst other things, we need to mobilise international expertise to build the capacity of the newly established Construction Industry Development Board.

Our objectives of growth, development and sustainable employment in the construction industry are being undermined by the HIV/ AIDS pandemic.

We are therefore currently developing a campaign to address HIV/ AIDS awareness in the industry and this initiative will also require the commitment of all stakeholders.

CONCLUSION

Please accept my "Thank You", Dr Andoh (ILO) and Ms Hague (UNDP) to your organisations for the valuable collaboration and support that has enhanced the ability of the Department of Public Works to deliver on its mandate.

I am sure that this collaboration will continue into the future, and that you will also be partners in our future endeavour.

Issued by Ministry of Public Works

16 July 2001