Hon Minister, there have recently been many calls by you, the President, and the Deputy President, encouraging more public-private partnerships in this large-scale public infrastructure programme for the 18 Strategic Infrastructure Projects, Sips, and the 645-odd projects. It is common knowledge - we all know this - that the multitrillion rand programme cannot be funded through domestic savings alone, which is why Deputy President Motlanthe recently said that there would be countless opportunities for partnerships.
But, what we are not seeing from the department and from your Ministry is more clarity on exactly how the business community can enter into these partnerships, or what role they will play in them. Neither are we hearing anything from the Presidential Infrastructure Co-ordinating Commission, PICC, with regard to the role that SMMEs can play in partnering with the government in this.
Can you provide more clarity on the issue and confirm that the infrastructure building programme will not be dominated by public entities, and that more opportunities will be created for local businesses?