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24 April 2008

Honourable Speaker
Honourable Premier, Beatrice Marshoff
Colleagues in the Executive Council
Members of the Legislature
Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee, Honourable Parkies
Executive Mayors, Mayors, Speakers and Councillors
Head of the Department and officials
Fellow comrades and friends
Honoured guests and people of the Free State

Introduction

This Budget Vote marks the last full financial year of the third term of the democratic government. This Budget Vote is historical precisely because it marks the end of a political term that was very profound to our historical mission of building a better life for all. To refer to this Budget Vote tabling as historical is therefore not a matter of routine description. Fittingly, our programmatic slogan for this term was appropriate: "A people's contract to create work and fight poverty".

One of the biggest intervention programmes for stimulating growth and development in the economy has been infrastructure development. This threw up certain tasks and challenges to us since we are an infrastructure Department. It was therefore in line with this mandate that we made serious efforts to improve our organisational and technical capacity.

Infrastructure is one of the major yardsticks of economic growth and development. A well developed infrastructure will lead to a healthy and efficiently functioning economy. In our country, we have huge infrastructural backlogs arising from poor and racially inspired development planning of the past. These backlogs are in many areas, including in roads, energy, water, transport system, telecommunications and in social infrastructure such as schools, hospitals and libraries. These structural deficiencies in infrastructure constitute a very serious handicap to economic growth and poverty reduction. Our investment on infrastructure should therefore lead to the reduction of underdevelopment and poverty, and help create jobs, as envisaged in the 2014 vision.

Speaker, this budget will continue along the trajectory of placing infrastructure development at the centre of our economic growth and development. We will therefore use this budget to identify key priorities on which we must focus in a special way, consistent with the Apex of Priorities. We will use these priorities as catalysts to further accelerate progress towards the achievement of the objectives the people mandated us to pursue.

Taking queue from this year's national theme, the main theme of this Budget Vote is: Business Unusual: All hands on deck to speed up infrastructure delivery for faster development.

Budget Allocation

Our total budget allocation as the Department of Public Works, Roads and Transport is R 1,9 billion. This represents a 21% increase compared to the past fiscal year. This increase is in line with the centrality of infrastructure development in the government's policy trajectory. Roads will account for the largest portion of this budget. This is so because we need to build a logistics infrastructure for an efficient economy with reduced costs for industrial activity, as also envisaged in the Industrial Policy Framework launched recently by the national government. The R188 million that constitutes a repayment amount for our accelerated infrastructure delivery will be immediately processed from this appropriation. We will also continue to strengthen our capacity for social infrastructure delivery as part of building a better life for all. The other contributory factor to the increase of this budget has been the devolution of the function of payment rates and taxes to provinces as from this financial year, going forward.

Major highlights of progress over the past four years

Our Department has several key programmes that seek to advance the objectives of Free State Provincial Growth and Development Strategy (FSPGDS) in a concerted way. These include: Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP), Increased Infrastructure Investment, National Youth Service (NYS), Contractor Development Programme, the Taxi Recapitalisation Programme (TRP) and Road Safety.

* Expanded Public Works Programme: Over the past four years, we have implemented EPWP as our major second economy intervention measure through which we sought to create work opportunities for the unemployed as we, at the same time, empower them with skills to earn income upon completion of the programme. Through EPWP, we created a total of 64 049 jobs. With regards to skills development component of the programme, beneficiaries received training on hard skills and work experience, thus improving their chance of gaining employment in the formal labour market.

* Vuku'phile Learnership: We have trained 30 contractors and 60 supervisors. At the end of the training programme contractors were graded by the Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB) as ranging from grade one CEPE – 5CEPE. Let me take this opportunity and pay tribute to the two supervisors and two contractors who passed on during the course of the programme. May their souls rest in peace.

* Access Roads: We have used access roads as major infrastructure projects for the application of the EPWP principles of labour intensiveness, contractor development and skills development. Our experience over the years has led to the development of best and sustainable practices. Improving rural access roads provides the opportunity for a reduction in the price of consumer goods; for ensuring that cash crops reach the local market on time; that children can attend school on regular basis; and that medical attention can be accessed. The provision of access to social amenities is a prime factor in eradicating poverty and rural roads contribute significantly to the provision of access.

* Capacity for Infrastructure Delivery: The Infrastructure Summit of 2005 was instructive in mapping-out the way forward for accelerated infrastructure delivery in the province. The summit also led to the improvement of planning, coordination and supervision resulting in integrated infrastructure plans. We have, over the years, improved in shortening the cycle of delivering capital infrastructure projects. We now deliver almost all of our projects on set schedule. The improved technical and project management capacity within the Department led to the over-expenditure in the infrastructure delivery in the 2006/07 financial year. We have better integration of socio-economic goals of contractor development, job creation and developmental impact of our infrastructure delivery.

* National Youth Service: In the past financial year, we had an intake of 841 young people in National Youth Service Programme. This we did through first intake of 341 young people, all of whom have been already absorbed into the employ of the Department. The second intake of 500 participants was mainly in technical fields of the build environment.

* Contractor Development Programme: Having launched the Contractor Development Policy last year, we have already began, in earnest, with its implementation. Already we have recruited a total of 200 emerging contractors to be mentored through a contractor development plan that will be implemented in this financial year. Hundred of these contractors will be for civil works and the other 100 for general building works class of works of the CIDB Contractors Register.

* Taxi Recapitalisation Programme: The conducive environment we created over the years in partnership with the Provincial Taxi Council and taxi industry led to unity, peace and stability in public transport. These efforts gave birth to the resounding launch of the conversion of the radius based permits to route based operating licences as well as the scrapping of old unroadworthy and unsafe taxi vehicles. The relative successes of the Taxi Recapitalisation Project (TRP) roll-out process over the past two years in the province is worth noting.

* Road Safety: It is pleasing to note the drastic reduction in the rate of road fatalities in the province in the recent past. This is a culmination of our programmatic hard work waged on various fronts of our road safety. These include increased law enforcement, visibility, public education and communication.

Strengthening our departmental administration for an accelerated infrastructure delivery

The capacity and efficacy of the Department is a necessity for delivering on our critical mandate of infrastructure development. It is for this reason that we have, over the past three financial years, seriously strengthened the capacity of the Department with regards to management, planning and technical professions. We will continue to strengthen the technical capacity of the Department for effective implementation of our infrastructure development mandate. This we will do by attracting and retaining more scares skills to the Department.

Early this year, we welcomed three Cuban engineers. These engineers will contribute immensely to our technical capacity in the Department that we direly need at this stage in our process of development as a country. This therefore served to strengthen our relations with Cuba that were built in the struggle against apartheid and now under the terrain of development and reconstruction. We particularly salute the people of Cuba as we celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Battle of Cuito Cuanavale.

Speaker, informed by our desire to achieve the best we have currently advertised for 56 internships in various scarce and technical fields. There are 134 bursary holders who enrolled in various technical fields including civil and electrical engineering and some are beginning to graduate and were absorbed into the Department. The exchange programme with Germany is beginning to bear fruits since the students involved in the programme will be undertaking the second phase of the programme in Germany, in May this year.

Public Works

The programme of Public Works remains very key and central to our broad mandate of infrastructure development. The provincial infrastructure budget will encompass the construction and maintenance of social infrastructure which is key to meeting the basic needs of our people by improving living conditions through better access to basic physical and social services such as health care, and education and training for urban and rural communities.

The speedy and on-schedule delivery of social infrastructure will be in line with our vision of building a caring society. We will play a critical role in facilitating and supporting the Department of Education in the eradication of undesirable, unsafe and platooning schools. To this end, we will provide the necessary technical, project management and monitoring support in the provision of school infrastructure in the spirit of business unusual.

Speaker, we have registered commendable success in accelerating infrastructure delivery. To mention just a few; the Kopanong Secondary School, which is a new school in Bloemfontein as well as EE Monese Primary School in Senekal. We have completed 11 projects of the Education Department. And our monitoring of 28 schools projects indicates that we are on schedule and will complete within contract period. We must and can only improve on this good track record with regards to infrastructure delivery.

The economic spin-offs of our infrastructure development work should always be fully explored. Major infrastructural programmes should stimulate the economy through increased demand for input materials such as bricks, steel and cement. As part of, and in line with the Industrial Policy, Government will engage the manufacturing sector to develop new, more efficient and cheaper products to meet our basic infrastructural needs. We must create jobs, develop skills, empower small contractors and strengthen our efforts to transform the construction industry to reflect the demographics of the country.

These basic principles of our infrastructure development work are worth restating for they shall find emphatic application in all our projects as we conclude our political term this financial year.

The upgrading of the new roads offices in Bethlehem is nearing completion. We have completed the first phase of our Provincial Office Building in Bloemfontein which included demolition and site clearing. The second phase of the office construction includes bulk earthworks which will be completed during the course of this year. The investment in our asset base will also see the construction of offices in Kroonstad which process will immensely contribute towards urban renewal. We will rename major provincial government buildings with appropriate names depicting the democratic South Africa.

Roads Infrastructure

Speaker, road infrastructure is fundamental to social and economic development of this province and the country as a whole. It is an integral element of an effective and good transport infrastructure system, thus the department continues to invest the huge amount of its allocation to the road infrastructure. About 48% of the overall appropriated budget is allocated to roads, thus addressing the broader objective of minimising whole life cost through mobility.

The Department continuously focuses on rural access roads, ensuring that the communities in the depressed rural areas have access, while ensuring that the economic development in urban areas is enhanced.

Over the past four years we embarked on critical economic programmes on road infrastructure construction and maintenance. These include Expanded Public Works Programme, Contractor Development Programme, Broad Based Black Economic Empowerment, and Learnerships. These programmes shall continue to form the fulcrum of our infrastructure delivery.

Speaker, in advancing the noble objective of a better life for all it is important to highlight that during the last financial year the following projects were completed:

* Welkom-Bothaville R30
* Access to Selosesha
* Repair of the bridge at Zastron
* Rehabilitation of N1 to Parys
* Re-alignment of the intersection at Hobhouse – Wepener intersection
* Jagersfontein – Trompsburg

In our quest to deliver appropriate and qualitative road infrastructure, the following projects which were announced the previous year will continue in this financial year:

* Caledon Bridge
* N1 Sasolburg
* Vredefort Dome phase 1
* Harrismith / Verkykerskop
* Springfontein / Bethulie
* Reitz/ Petrus Steyn

Speaker, we are concerned about the huge roads infrastructure backlog we are confronted with. With the limited resources at our disposal, we are doing our best and we will even do more. The following are some of our priority roads currently in planning stage, which will make a significant impact in our fight against fast deteriorating and unsafe road network:

* The Refengkgotso Access road in Fezile Dabi
* The Bultfontein-Wesselsbron Road rehabilitation
* The Standerton-Vrede-Warden Road Rehabilitation
* Vrede-Memel Bothaspass
* Mangaung Inner - and Outer Ring Road
* Ficksburg - Fouriesburg Road Rehabilitation
* Olivershoek Harrismith Road Rehabilitation

The much awaited improvements of our roads signage will commerce in earnest during this financial year. In this regard we will begin with design, construction and replacement of inappropriate and non-compliant signage on our roads.

Property Management for Economic Development

Speaker, at the beginning of this political term, we stated the intention to use government property portfolio to transform the conservative property industry and promote investment in the historically disadvantaged individuals. We understood this to be a complex task that warranted the need to build capacity for better government property management. This process also required a clear perspective of the state of the property industry, a development of a strategy, and an elaborate programme of action.

The process of verification and validation of assets led to the inclusion of additional properties that were not in our records. This process placed us in a good position to identify properties not optimally utilised and not supportive of service delivery objectives.

The disposal strategy and the roll out plan were approved by the Executive Council. The implementation of this roll-out plan will feature prominently in our work in this financial year. The Immovable Asset Disposal Committee has been established and is in operation.

Speaker, we will be transferring all properties to relevant government departments in support of developmental objectives, pursued by the respective departments such as promotion of human settlement, agrarian reform and small, medium, and micro enterprises (SMMEs) development.

A public call was made to the occupants of government properties to come forth and formalise their occupancy. The amnesty granted expired on the 21st of April 2008 and the response we have received thus far is not encouraging, thus new radical measures will be employed.

The decentralisation of office space accommodation provides us with an opportunity to contribute and invest in economically depressed areas whilst simultaneously bringing services closer to communities. The devolution of payment of rates and taxes to the provincial government heralds a major policy shift in addressing the challenges of proper billing and timeous payment of municipalities.

In the recent past, government has been leading a public campaign for all sectors to play an active role in energy saving measures. To this end, new innovations, to curb, reduce and eliminate wastages will be piloted during this financial year.

Public Transport: Towards a 2010 sustainable infrastructure legacy

Honourable Speaker, Transport is the heartbeat of South Africa's economic growth and social development! Never has this slogan been as true about the role and status of transport in the economy as in the current conjuncture. Our work over the past four years has been and will continue to be inspired by the goal of building a safe, reliable, affordable and efficient public transport system.

The process of the TRP is still on course, supported by the taxi industry, notwithstanding the genuine challenges which government is seized with and is continuing to resolve. We have scrapped 1 540 old taxi vehicles and paid R77 million to taxi operators in the Province. Ninety three percent (93%) of all taxi operators in the Free State have applied for conversion of radius based permits to route based operating licenses.

We are pleased to announce that 621 applications have been received from taxi associations for upgrading of the drivers' licenses to bigger recapitalization vehicles. Concerns relating to the Operating Licensing Boards turnaround strategy, quantum on the scrapping allowance, and the moratorium on the issuance of operating licenses are receiving attention and we are confident that the Minister will give unyielding political leadership in this regard. We will soon be inviting the public for nominations of persons to serve on the Operating Licenses Board in our renewed efforts to improve the turn-around times for fast-tracking the TRP.

Speaker, the spectacular world cup of 2010 is only months away. In this regard, guided by the Public Transport Strategy and Action Plan, we will work closely with Mangaung Municipality to ensure the success of the integrated transport system in the wake of 2010 through the imminent rollout of the Bus Rapid Transit in Mangaung. This project offers another opportunity to integrate unsubsidized modes of transport such as taxis as partners for change.

Whilst other transport infrastructure facilities are at the infancy planning stage, the Department will construct second phase of the Setsoto Transport Centre in Thabo Mofutsanyana District and Naledi Transport Centre (Wepener) in the Motheo District.

In pursuance of our transformation agenda in the transport industry, the IBL contract has been extended for a period of three years subject to total network redesign that will include all modes of transport such as rail, bus and taxis. We are the first to admit that the Maluti Bus Service still pose challenges the Department has to rid itself of. This contract has ended and it is on a month to month extension. In bringing this matter to finality the Department together with national Department of Transport has set out mechanisms to lay this matter to rest.

The Harrismith Logistics Hub remains an important flagship project for the province. In this financial year more work will be done to give concrete meaning to the project.

In our endeavour to strengthen and restructure government to fulfil its mandate better and promote efficiency and effective service delivery, we wish to announce the Executive Council decision to transfer Traffic and Law Enforcement to the Department of Public Safety, Security and Liaison which transfer will take effect in this financial year. I also want to thank men and women in uniform who braved themselves under difficult circumstances to have won us the mantle of one the safest provinces in the country, Bon Voyage!

Fleet Management

Speaker, the two trading entities in the Department, namely the Government Motor Transport and the Road Building Equipment, will be merged and restructured in order to fulfil the objectives of government as enunciated in the FSPGDS. This process will be underpinned by the desire to achieve the following:

* broaden the scope of the restructured entity
* more cost effective operations
* better operational efficiency
* minimise duplication of assets and scarce skills

Our flagship programmes

Expanded Public Works Programme

Honourable Speaker, we respond to the clarion call that every attempt this year should revolve around the intensification of the fight against poverty. It is against this background that the implementation of EPWP through access roads in the main will be massified. In this regard, we have set aside R267, 9 million for EPWP. The following projects we announced last year and the implementation thereof has begun unfolding:

* Monontsha and Metsimaholo Access Roads (in QwaQwa)
* Vredefort Dome Access Road Project Phase
* Springfontein/Bethulie Access Road
* Koppies Dam Access Road
* Thaba Phatsoa Access Road

We will also partner with municipalities in accelerating massification measures in the construction of access roads in the rural areas of the province. These include:

* Thaba Nchu bus route-Mangaung Municipality
* Rouxville - Mohokare Municipality
* Huntersvlei in Viljoenskroon - Moqhaka Municipality
* Maluti a Phofung – access roads outside the rural area

We will replicate some EPWP massification in the transport infrastructure projects, namely the second Phase of Setsoto and Naledi Intermodal Facility. These noble initiatives will also be employed in all our grass-cutting projects and including the maintenance and upgrading of 61 testing centres.

National Youth Service

The Department has used the financial year 2007/08 as a pilot year for the implementation of National Youth Service Programme. In the process, numerous lessons were learnt and experiences were gained. We will take forward these lessons and experiences in this financial year as we engage in a thorough going implementation of the programmes again. We will recruit more youth in NYS programmes in the Department. While in the pilot year, the Department made all attempts to absorb the learners who emerged from the programme, we will strike numerous partnerships and agreements with the broader sectors, including the private sector in ensuring that ours is not only the entity that benefits from a reach array of skills to be produced through NYS.

We are using NYS to build a formidable base of artisans, given the skills needs in the economy, which will benefit the entire country. We will strengthen our engagement, coordination and partnership with Further Education Institutions and SETAS with a view of improving on challenges identified. In addition, we will also explore alternative means of delivering on this noble programme by engaging alternative accredited training service providers. It is appropriate that we restate and remind the young people who have an opportunity to participate about the service and patriotism ethos as contained in the pledge, which read thus:

"As a participant of National Youth Service, I am the change that I would like to see in my community and my country

I pledge not to ask what South Africa can do for me, but to ask this day, what I can do for my country.

I believe that I have potential to make the difference and uplift others to enjoy the fruits of our freedom.

I embrace the spirit of Ubuntu, Umuntu Ngumuntu Ngabantu: I am a person through other people. My humanity is tied to yours.

I embrace the spirit of Batho Pele and commit to serving my fellow citizens with respect and professionalism.

I will carry the spirit of Ubuntu and Batho Pele with me as I serve now and beyond.

We hope that on daily basis as you and many more who will be enrolling in the National Youth Service (NYS) programme in future will embrace this pledge as part of your daily lives.

Contractor development

Speaker, we will effectively implement and monitor the current contractor development programme that has 200 emerging contractors and ensure that we achieve the required results. We will be launching our Contractor Contact Centre in Bloemfontein, in partnership with CIDB. This centre will be operational by the end of May this year which will improve accessibility and training for contractors within the province. Routine road maintenance contracts for this financial year will enhance our contractor development programme with particular dedication to contactors who are on CIDB grading level 1 to 4.

In institutionalising, enhancing and accelerating our procurement targets we have initiated term contracts for maintenance for the duration of three years.
In implementing all of the above flagship programmes, we will be driven by the conviction and our resolve of fighting poverty, creating more job opportunities and developing skills.

Our machinery is oiled and better equipped. We are ready to overcome obstacles and discharge our tasks to achieve our mandate to better the lives of our people. We will be consistent with the spirit of Business Unusual.

Conclusion

Honourable Speaker, in conclusion, the President of the Republic of South Africa, Thabo Mbeki on the occasion of the State of the Nation Address 2008, said: "I am confident that 2008 will be one of the most remarkable years of our democracy, as we all work together to realise the core aspiration of our people to attain a better life for all. I say this because, in our own estimation, it is not often that a nation is called upon to strain every sinew of its collective body to attain a dream. And such is the injunction that history has imposed on us today".

Speaker, may I take this opportunity to thank the Honourable Premier for the able stewardship she has been providing to us in the Executive. Members of the Portfolio Committee for the necessary oversight they have provided, over the years. I express sincere thanks and appreciation to the Head of the Department, Adv Makhosini Msibi and senior management for all strategic support they have rendered.

My staff in the office also deserves a special mention and thanks. Finally to my family-Moyanda and children, my mother and the entire family, thank you very much for your understanding and unwavering support.

Honourable Speaker, I hereby table the 2008/09 budget vote for the Department of Public Works Roads and Transport.

Khotso, pula, nala!

Issued by: Department of Public Works, Roads and Transport, Free State Provincial Government
24 April 2008