Chairperson, hon members and comrades, today's assembly of the National Council of Provinces will mark a turning point in the history and development of the built environment professions. It marks both the end of a policy-making process and the beginning of a process to retool the professions.
The process started in 1994 with the appointment of a built environment forum to review the regulation of the professions that are active within the built environment. The legislation before us embodies all the work that has flowed from the initial appointment. The passage of this historic legislation will enable us to mobilise the significant resources embodied within our professions, in order to meet the challenges of our emerging democracy and infrastructure delivery in all our provinces. This is particularly important in view of Government's commitment to increased funding for both infrastructure and maintenance, a commitment confirmed by the R8 billion allocation announced by my colleague the Minister of Finance in his Budget Review on Monday.
The review undertaken by the built environment forum identified a number of deficiencies in the existing regulation. The seven Bills before the House aim to overcome these deficiencies, create a framework for the ongoing transformation and development of the professions and maximise the contribution of the professions to the social and economic challenges that are at the core of Government's delivery and development commitment.
The first Bill establishes an overarching Council for the Built Environment in order to ensure co-ordination with Government and between the different professions. Four of the Bills re-enact the laws on the existing professional councils for engineers, architects, quantity surveyors and property valuers, all of which are currently administered by the Department of Public Works. The remaining two Bills establish new councils for two professions, that is project and construction management and landscape architects.
Professional expertise in our country is a national asset and should be managed as a scarce resource of high value. The intrinsic value of the built environment professions lies in their essential role and function in social and economic development. The enabling legislation before members today seeks to promote this potential and unlock the creativity of our professions for the improvement of the quality of life of all South Africans. Members should pardon my voice, I am in trouble today.
Previous government policy limited the role of the professions to the service of an elite and subordinated it to the agenda of segregation that has degraded our built environment, an environment which today is a physical barrier to our objective of nation-building. In a society in which blacks were to remain poor and subordinate, there was never a need to consider access by the majority of the population to basic infrastructure, let alone to adequate professional services.
Bantu education and job reservation also ensured that blacks would never enter professions such as architecture and engineering, let alone project management. It is in this context that all key public and private sector stakeholders came together in the built environment forum in order to oversee and engage in a comprehensive study called the Investigation into the Statutory Regulation of the Professions Active in the Built Environment in South Africa. This report, commissioned by the Department of Public Works and undertaken by the Human Sciences Research Council, informed the policy that underpins our new legislation and that has engaged the full participation of stakeholders. Because of the significance of the professions as an essential asset in our development agenda, it is important that I highlight the extent of our investigation and the care that we have taken in finalising Government policy and draft legislation.
Invitations for submissions were sent to 228 stakeholder organisations. A total of 88 submissions were received and analysed. Requests for information were sent to 116 organisations in 23 countries. An analysis of preliminary results was presented and debated at five meetings of the forum. With regard to policy and draft legislation, the debates of the forum informed the final report and provided the basis for the policy framework that was approved by all key stakeholders last year.
The draft Bills were individually discussed with the relevant professions. In July 1999 we published the policy framework and the draft legislation for public comment. Public hearings were conducted and the constructive co- operation of all political parties made it possible for the portfolio committee and the select committee of the NCOP to effect meaningful improvements to the Bills. This enabled the National Assembly to approve the legislation on 29 September this year.
I will now address the intentions of the 7 Bills, the shortcomings they aim to overcome and the principles that have guided the finalisation of this legislation.
Some of the shortcomings in the inherited regulatory system of the past included the following: the independent and isolated operation of the existing councils for the professions; inconsistencies in the execution of the core functions of the different statutory councils; lack of proper co- ordination between the different professions with respect to national development priorities; insufficient and, in some cases, no recognition of different categories of professions; inability to respond to innovation and to recognise new professions; exclusive governance by registered professionals as manifested in their representation on the council; and lack of transparency, particularly in regard to the disciplinary procedures against registered professionals.
This enabling legislation before the House addresses these shortcomings while maintaining the strength of the existing legislation. It creates a framework for the ongoing transformation and development of the professions and structured co-ordination and improved accountability to the public. The new Council for the Built Environment will advise Government on matters impacting on the built environment as a whole, and will act as a vehicle of communication between Government and the professions. It will enable the recognition of new professions and promote registration of different categories within a profession, effectively opening up the professions to wider access. It will also ensure consistent application by the different councils of policy and principles in relation to matters that they already regulate, such as identification of work that requires the competence of a specific profession and the ensuring professional standards, health and safety and the protection of the public; accreditation of professional training programmes and institutions; registration of professionals; establishment of a code of conduct and disciplinary procedures for members of the respective professions; and, finally, establishment of guidelines on appropriate fee structures.
It will further promote a range of new priorities, and will also act as an appeal body for affected professionals, as well as for aggrieved members of the public. The councils for each of the six professions will register professionals in a manner that promotes technical and ethical standards, competence and performance, including the principle of continual professional development.
They will promote increased recognition of our professions, regionally and internationally. In keeping with the precepts of our democracy, the need for transparency and for people-centred development, the new legislation opens up the professions to the public. It promotes partnership through representation by the professions, the state and the public on the principle of a 60:20 proportional representation. It further requires representation in terms of race, gender, disability and regional distribution.
Recognition of the different categories of the professions will enable greater access to professional service by the public. Linked to the required recognition of prior learning, the legislation creates new opportunities for access and career path development within each profession. In response to the request of certain of the professions, we have moved boldly to establish new councils for landscape architects, as well as for project and construction management. We are convinced that this will indeed promote enhanced delivery, promote value for money for public and private sector clients and promote our socioeconomic objectives.
In conclusion, I would like to thank the Select Committee on Public Services, the department's drafting team, and all the stakeholders, for bringing to fruition this exciting product embodied in this legislation before us. Their effort has ensured that the Bills before the House will genuinely promote the growth and development of the built environment professions to the benefit of all South Africans. [Applause.]