Chairperson, hon Minister, members, this Bill is a timeous intervention in the long-standing problems of instability, poor performance, slow and sometimes discordant transformation efforts and a general situation of a lack of strategic direction in the construction industry.
The very existence of this Bill expresses both an acknowledgement of and a desire to solve these problems. This is the basis on which the North West would like to support this Bill.
We believe that this Bill, as presented, will save the industry from a situation of near collapse. It will create a stable, growing, sustainable and viable national asset. Yet it is worth applauding the fact that the Bill seeks to bring about more rapid transformation in the industry.
It is firmly rooted in the reconstruction and development agenda of our country. In this respect, whatever new animal we have will contribute substantially to our national economic development vision, empower the emerging sector, create meaningful jobs, as well as add to the workforce for a skilled, safe, healthy and environmentally sustainable country. These are not easy objectives. They are a major challenge for the envisaged board.
What we also find encouraging is the fact that the process, up to this point, has taken every interest group on board, and not only that, virtually every stakeholder is looking forward to the promulgation of this Bill into law. With such a lot of goodwill, how could we fail?
Regarding co-ordination and participation, it is worth noting that this will not be a national board of provinces on which provinces come as provinces, as in the NCOP. It will be a national board empowered to co- ordinate various state agencies, as well as spheres of government. To strengthen this there shall be stakeholder forums created throughout provinces.
However, we, as the North West, feel that much more attention will have to be paid to the functional interface between the spheres of government. Provinces and the local sphere run budgets of hundreds of millions of rand, and daily take decisions on construction matters, and therefore, we are worried that to reduce them to no more than stakeholders can create a situation in which the board lacks both presence and influence where it needs it most.
If our hope is the envisaged forums, perhaps a much clearer definition of the status, role and functions of the so-called forums and their relationship to these spheres of government, could assist in this regard. Indeed, the objectives and functions of the board will have to be the mandate of the provinces and the local sphere. If there is one area of our operation in which we need co-operative means to achieve our objective, it is here.
It is often argued that our inability to deliver, at times, is not due to financial and budgetary impediments, which we all acknowledge, but due to the performance and the capacity of the institutions that we have put in place. If one looks at the noble intentions of this Bill, and the huge responsibility it places on the envisaged board, one is bound to ask if the board will have the necessary capacity, willpower and vigilance. This is where much of the difference will be made. The continual review and evaluation of the board will come in handy in this regard.
With a committed, dynamic and focused team, this Bill will yield the results that we expect. We believe that the board will consist of people of impeccable qualities who will not be consumed by the culture of corruption.
In conclusion, the North West wishes to congratulate all who were involved in the production of this Bill. We especially congratulate the Ministry on this vision. We support the Bill and will work to see its objectives succeed. [Applause.]
Mr M V NGEMA (KwaZulu-Natal): Chairperson, hon Minister, officials of the Department of Public Works, and fellow delegates, thank you for the opportunity to make the following comments in this debate which will go down in the history of the NCOP as pioneering work.
We highly appreciate the spirit of co-operation which prevailed among the NCOP delegates in the process of negotiations with the department. Our province, KwaZulu-Natal, proposed 13 amendments to the Bill. Two of these were improved upon during the negotiations, one was explained to our satisfaction, and 10 formed part of the improvements that the hon the Minister thanked the NCOP for contributing. We also appreciate the willingness, on the part of the department, to look into the contributions from provinces with a positive attitude.
The pioneering nature of the Bill lies not only in the fact that it ushers in a new era in the history of the construction industry, but also in the fact that this is the first Bill from this committee, that I am aware of, in the history of our democratic Parliament and the NCOP, that was introduced in the NCOP before it went to the National Assembly.
We in KwaZulu-Natal will always support innovation and pioneering, because we take these characteristics as signs of progressive individuals, societies and institutions. It is true that innovation comes with teething problems, resulting from the venturing into unknown terrain by those who dare introduce new ideas.
Similarly, the introduction of this Bill in the NCOP presented us, as provinces, with a number of problems. One is that we did not have sufficient time to canvass public opinion, as the Constitution of the country entitles us to do. Certain procedural problems were encountered. For instance, two of the provinces had to request an extension of time to enable their committees to meet the deadlines imposed by the NCOP programme. If provinces are to give the best of their support to the NCOP, the NCOP programme should empower them to do so.
These challenges, however, should not prevent us from constantly looking for new ways of improving our work, and should motivate us to look positively for solutions so that with these new ideas higher levels of efficiency can be achieved. This is in the idiom of the late Nkosi Albert Luthuli who warned black people in the cause of their struggle to, ``let their courage rise with danger.''
New ways and innovations should not be allowed to undermine the overall objective of our parliamentary system, as set out in the Constitution. We hope that the hon the Minister will find ways of improving on the omissions experienced in the process by, for example, allowing the board to have provincial structures which will make its benefits more accessible to the poorest actors within the construction industry.
The North West has made a similar plea. We are looking forward to all the positive benefits for the nation that are contained in the Bill. We are happy to support the Bill as amended. [Applause.]