Hon Chairperson, hon members of the Cabinet present here, hon MECs, hon chairperson and members of the Portfolio Committee on Public Works, heads of departments, acting director-general and senior officials from the department, heads of state-owned public entities, members of the business community, distinguished guests, and ladies and gentlemen, today, as the international community celebrates International Children's Day, we are reminded once again that the world we all live in is actually not ours, but an asset borrowed from our children for safekeeping. Our father and struggle icon, former President Nelson Mandela, once stated that "(t)here can be no keener revelation of a society's soul than the way in which it treats its children."
It is my pleasure this evening to dedicate my maiden Budget Vote speech to all the children of South Africa, for whom the work we are committed to doing as the Department of Public Works is finally intended. The mandate of the government of the day is to build a solid foundation of development, whose dividends must be handed back to their rightful owners - the children of South Africa.
I am compelled by mothers and caregivers like Mama Angie Saula, who is with us here today. Mama Angie Saula once said:
Even if you have to feed children starch with starch from the nothing you have, we are duty-bound to look after vulnerable and orphaned children as mothers of South Africa.
It is my privilege to table this Budget Vote two weeks after successful local government elections. Seventeen years into our democracy, the political outlook remains exceedingly positive. A solid foundation has been laid with the adoption of our deep, modern and widely respected Constitution and a firm commitment to the national priorities of government. We also continue to enjoy good standing in the global community because of our ongoing commitment to sustainable peace and development, particularly on the African continent.
Yet, this government and all South Africans need to do much more to ensure that our hard-won democracy is translated into tangible and significant improvements that will yield a better life for all South Africans.
His Excellency President Jacob Zuma, in his January 8 Statement, stated that 2011 will be a year of jobs through meaningful job creation. He was actually saying this to Public Works. This is the way we have approached the translation into reality of the budget which I present today.
In essence, the budget reflects the policy focus of government through the detailing of financing and expenditure programmes. It mirrors the necessity of accelerated service delivery, the promotion of economic growth, job creation, infrastructural development and the state's asset management by contributing to the realisation of, amongst others, the following government outcomes that are informed by a shift towards outcomes-based monitoring and evaluation. They are the creation of decent employment; an efficient, competitive and responsive infrastructure network; an efficient and effective development-oriented Public Service and an empowered, fair and inclusive citizenship; a skilled and capable workforce to support an inclusive citizenship; and sustainable human settlements and an improved quality of household life.
In October 2010, the New Growth Path was launched as a policy framework to provide the economic trajectory of government. The New Growth Path is identified as one of the key drivers for economic growth, job creation, and infrastructural development through the development of public goods.
This growth path found emphasis in the state of the nation address of 11 February 2011. His Excellency the hon President Jacob Zuma reminded all of us that:
We want to have a country where millions more South Africans have decent employment opportunities, which has a modern infrastructure and a vibrant economy and where the quality of life is high.
In reflecting these policy directives, the strategic plan of the national Department of Public Works over the next three years gives a renewed sense of enthusiasm and direction for the provision of official accommodation for all national departments and all Members of Parliament, providing construction and property management services to client departments at the national level, and leading the successful implementation and management of the Expanded Public Works Programme, EPWP.
An amount of R7,8 billion has been allocated to the Department of Public Works in the fiscal year 2011-12. Of this allocation, almost R1,4 billion has been allocated for the improvement of state buildings and infrastructure, with up to 60% of it allocated to current commitments, while the remaining 40% is allocated to prioritised new projects which are at the core of service delivery.
Let me just mention that this morning the MEC for Public Works in the Western Cape and I were speaking at the Red Cross War Memorial Children's Hospital, where we also committed to using some of this money to improve the state of the hospital. It was a wonderful opportunity, which unfortunately Members of Parliament missed.
The strategic planning and implementation of the Department of Public Works' plans are framed within the vital context of the statutory framework provided for in the Government Immovable Asset Management Act, which is commonly known as Giama, of 2007. The objective of the Government Immovable Asset Management Act is to ensure efficient and effective planning of immovable asset management in government, as well as to improve service delivery.
It is no coincidence, therefore, that one of our strategic priorities is to provide strategic leadership in effective and efficient immoveable asset management, while continuing to invest in infrastructure development through the delivery of essential public facilities and other amenities calculated to improve the quality of life of all South Africans today and in the future.
As the custodian of state immovable assets, the department has committed itself to using the state immovable asset footprint to realising government's key national priorities and the prescripts of the New Growth Path and the Industrial Policy Action Plan 2, Ipap 2.
In this regard, allow me to add emphasis to an increasing need for sufficient capacity for the continuous management and enhancement of the immovable asset register. To this end we will soon launch an amnesty campaign, aptly called Operation Bring Back, in order to encourage South Africans to restore lost and/or missing immovable assets. These properties, we believe, were insincerely wrested from the state in the turbulent transitional period following the demise of apartheid and have been unlawfully occupied. The significance of the state-owned real estate as a major revenue generator for government cannot be overemphasised. Upon recovery, these properties will either enhance our disposal programme or contribute positively to our inner city regeneration programme in revitalising the economy and allowing the value of state-owned properties to appreciate.
The leasing portfolio is costing the state a lot of money. The department has in the past year spent billions on leases and functional accommodation for client departments. Investment in repair, continuous maintenance and construction of new government buildings could generate major savings for the state, a process we will be embarking on in the next three years. This will also include ensuring the relocation of national departments to state- owned buildings where it is feasible to do so. We acknowledge that our lease portfolio will take a while to reduce, but in the interim the department will continue to find ways to structure its current leases so that the socio-economic goals of government are realised, including the economic empowerment of blacks, women and youth.
With regard to our own stock, we shall invoke the National Infrastructure Maintenance Strategy and the National Contractor Development Programme to target investment in this sector, much to the benefit of our small and emerging contractors. Linked to leasing management is the rehabilitation of underutilised and unutilised public buildings for alternative usage or utilisation. Hon members will have read that there are buildings in one of our areas in the Western Cape where we think that the buildings are being exploited, and this should be attended to with immediate effect. One will remember that just two days ago we saw that in Bishopscourt there is that kind of abuse of our buildings.
With many of our tertiary students around the country being exposed to accommodation that is not conducive to fair living, while being at high cost, the department, in collaboration with the Department of Higher Education, decided to convert unutilised and underutilised buildings to provide affordable student accommodation where it is possible. In Tshwane, the upgrading and refurbishment of the H G De Witt Building will yield accommodation for approximately 180 students. In Bloemfontein the upgrading and refurbishment of the Pelonomi Hospital will yield accommodation for approximately 700 students. Through this intervention the department is seeking to alleviate the problem of lack of decent student accommodation, whilst creating job opportunities.
We are currently drafting a disposal policy that embraces the social needs of a developmental state. This also requires the review of the State Land Disposal Act of 1961, and its alignment to current constitutional imperatives.
In addition to this there is the Immovable Asset Vesting Master Plan, a plan driven by an Interministerial Cabinet Committee chaired by the Department of Rural Development and Land Reform. The vesting of state immovable assets in the correct sphere of government is critical, not only for proper identification, ownership and geographical location of the assets, but for responding to the social objectives of the country. Chairperson, whilst I continue with my speech, I'm sure you'll allow someone to bring me a tissue. Proper vesting of state property will ensure that these assets are used optimally for service delivery. They can be accounted for in accordance with the prescripts of the Public Finance Management Act and the Government Immovable Asset Management Act.
We are mindful of the fact that we will always be judged by the standards according to which we treat our valued clients. In-depth consideration for the accommodation needs of our clients remains a top priority for the department in order to arrest the fast erosion of our mandate. This issue has encouraged the department to proactively engage with our clients, as successfully demonstrated by our recent visits to and continuing work at the military bases of the Department of Defence and Military Veterans. We are working with the Department of Defence and Military Veterans to rehabilitate selected military bases.
The department is also paying attention to the deteriorating state of the infrastructure in the harbours, beginning in Cape Town.
Facilities for Justice were recently completed and handed over at places like Galeshewe, Colesburg, Pietermaritzburg and Butterworth. The Department of Public Works needs to ensure that the client departments function in proper, decent facilities in discharging their constitutional mandate.
The accommodation needs of the SA Police Service in the year under review will be extensive, given the need to fast-track the goal of a safe and secure South African society. The communities of Botlokwa, Jane Furse, Chatsworth and Tsakane became witnesses of their development when facilities in these areas were officially handed over and opened, joining a long list of similar facilities being either built or renovated by Public Works.
Although very rarely covered by the media, these infrastructure projects and hundreds of others in our building programme stand as concrete beacons to the service delivery track record of government, and we take pride in them.
Furthermore and still with respect to the SAPS portfolio, I wish to announce that in the current financial year the department will complete the first ever state-of-the-art forensic laboratory for the SAPS in Cape Town.
With this realisation, we have recently embarked on an aggressive drive to intensify collaboration with the other spheres of government.
Also, supported by our public entities, we have sought to streamline new technologies aimed at delivering basic but essential social infrastructure and other services. Through one of the entities of the department, the Independent Development Trust, we are overseeing the implementation of an intensive programme for the construction of safe schools. The school building programme in the Eastern Cape has seen the rapid delivery of no fewer than 10 schools in the last six months in an effort to eradicate the lingering problem of mud schools and schools built from other inappropriate materials.
With us today as a witness to the success achieved in the Eastern Cape is the chairperson of the school governing body of Willowvale Senior Secondary School, uMakhulu [Grandmother] Nomandla Nongwane, whose leadership and relentless prayer saw the transformation of Willowvale Senior Secondary School from a mud structure to a state-of-the-art 18-classroom school. It is fully furnished, with 26 toilets, a resource centre, an administration office, sporting facilities, and a kitchen from which to feed pupils. Chairperson, in my past life as a presiding officer, Members of Parliament would usually be very excited to hear of such developments. I don't know what is happening now. [Applause.]
I am compelled by Grandmother Nongwane's testimony, and the testimony of Phathiswa Langeni, a Grade 12 learner at Willowvale Senior Secondary School, saying that more schools should be built in terms of the fundamental constitutional right children have to adequate access to education. Phathiswa is here with us today. Phathiswa, please rise. Thank you so much for coming. [Applause.]
Phathiswa, in her own words, said:
For years we learnt under the heat of the sun or got wet when it rained. But today we want to bury those old memories and get the best education from our new school.
We promised that if Phathiswa did well in Grade 12, she would have a bursary to further her studies in engineering, which is her passion. She already had this commitment, which she got earlier. [Applause.]
The budget I table today is about burying old, painful memories like the ones we have spoken about, as well as memories of many children who have lost their lives crossing flooded rivers trying to get to school. Our continued partnership with the Department of Defence and Military Veterans has meant that more bridges were built in the 2010-11 financial year. We have just opened a bridge in Cofimvaba - that was in April this year.
Madam, 72-year-old Makhulu Nosizwe Mxhaka broke down and cried when a bridge was unveiled in her village. She said to me that earlier this year she had lost her 9-year-old grandchild, who drowned while crossing the river on his way to school. Makhulu said she was grateful. She said:
We are blessed with a bridge today. I wish my grandchild was still alive to cross the bridge. I thank Nelson Mandela for shaping this government to work for its people.
[Applause.]
In partnership with provincial governments and municipalities, Public Works has also launched a Pothole Rehabilitation Programme in response to loud cries by our public road users about the poor state of our roads. The programme is aimed at reducing unemployment, beginning with the metropolitan municipalities and extending to the district and rural municipalities. The department has committed itself to creating 400 job opportunities per metropolitan district throughout the Pothole Rehabilitation Programme.
We will be going further and assisting in township rejuvenation plans, which include the fixing of street lights and fighting crime, as well as cleaning cemeteries. Our cemeteries are a disaster, ladies and gentlemen. I don't know when you last attended a funeral, but you are fortunate if you can navigate your way across the cemeteries! All this will be undertaken through labour-intensive methods to maximise job creation. We can announce that this project has long commenced in Tshwane.
Underpinning our building programme is the provision of accessibility of public buildings to disabled people in order to promote the letter and spirit of the Constitution. The programme is receiving priority attention from the department.
Energy efficiency in state buildings is central to the building programme for this fiscal year. As a strategic programme, it will respond to the energy shortage facing the country. It is already being implemented in all 11 of our regional offices.
Our maintenance record leaves much room for improvement. We are aware that as we make progress with our maintenance record, we continue to experience challenges brought by the ageing stock we own, most of which is of heritage value and this compounds the costs associated with maintenance. This has forced us to reconsider other options, which will be rolled out in this fiscal year.
Our contribution towards Africa's reconstruction remains on course. In this regard, in the current financial year we will begin with the construction of the Matola Museum and Interpretation Centre in Mozambique. Acting in collaboration with the Department of International Relations and Co- operation, we will also be proceeding with the construction of the South African Embassy offices in Kigali, Rwanda.
Ahead of the country's hosting of the 2010 Fifa World Cup Soccer tournament, the department successfully implemented massive infrastructure development projects at key land ports of entry, including Lebombo, Golela, Vioolsdrift and Skilpadhek in Botswana. With the work complete at the other ports of entry, the department introduced a facilities management initiative where unemployed local youth will be assisted to form co- operatives which will undertake cleaning and horticultural services on an ongoing basis at these border posts. The youth co-operative initiative is already under way at the Lebombo border post. Not only will the intervention contribute to job creation, but it will also encourage entrepreneurship and promote youth economic empowerment.
The New Growth Path expects the public investment to create 250 000 jobs a year in energy, transport, water and communications infrastructure, as well as in housing, through to 2015. We want to contribute the majority of those jobs.
It is with this compelling undertaking in mind, to create decent employment opportunities, particularly among the youth, that I present this budget to you here today. For us, infrastructure development and job creation lie at the centre of the mandate and the strategic plan of the national Department of Public Works. As the department leading the job creation efforts of government, Public Works took a strategic decision earlier to implement all its programmes, including the labour-intensive Capital Works Programme, to boost employment in South Africa.
Phase 2 of the Expanded Public Works Programme has just completed its second year. I know that hon members have become accustomed to hearing about the delivery milestones of the programme in job creation. The commitment is to upscale the programme in participating sectors and create new job opportunities through innovation and ingenuity. The partnership with nonstate entities continues to bear fruit, as nonprofit organisations are participating actively in the programme.
Chair, I must say that the removal of the clock has disturbed me. I don't know whether you were informed that the Deputy Minister is not available.