Chairperson, hon Minister, hon Deputy Minister in absentia - I wish her a speedy recovery - and members of the committee, I greet you.
Hon Minister, this year, 2011, was declared a year of job creation by the President in his state of the nation address earlier this year. However, six months down the line it does not look like this year will be any different to all the other years as far as job creation is concerned.
The way the President said it in his address created hope for many unemployed citizens of this country. Unfortunately, it appears to be another year of shame for fellow South Africans who pinned their hopes on what the President said.
It is, however, important, Madam Minister, given the challenges that are facing the department, to first fill the vacant posts in the managerial areas so as to have the machinery going full steam ahead to enable the department to be equal to the challenges that it faces in order to successfully call this year the year of creating jobs.
There is also the challenge of 350 mud schools in the Eastern Cape, the worst case being that of a principal using a toilet as an office in one of the schools. It shows how crucial it is for this government, through this department, to fill all the vacant posts and then tackle the challenges.
The Expanded Public Works Programme, EPWP, which is supposed to be the face of the department in creating jobs, also has the challenge of municipalities' not being unable to claim the grant that is aimed at creating jobs on the ground. This is not happening because our municipalities are not capacitated enough to be able to claim this grant and create jobs.
Potholes are killing motorists as a result of the failure of our municipalities to provide skills to empower our people to repair our roads and have jobs. In other parts of our country, especially in the North West, bridges that were swept away by floods are still not being repaired, causing havoc in the lives of the people living on the other side. I feel that this budget must reflect the challenges that our people are facing out there.
This department is the custodian of all state buildings. Even though something is happening in this regard, it does not reflect what the President said in his address about work being better, faster and smarter - this is related to the maintenance of state buildings. Most of these buildings are very old and in a state of disrepair, especially in Pretoria, Bloemfontein and Johannesburg, but also in many other areas of our country.
With regard to rural development, even though we have a department to deal with this, the EPWP is not really visible in most rural areas of our country. Madam Minister, you are from Pretoria yourself, and it is an area that neighbours a lot of rural areas which I feel are being neglected by your department. I urge you, Madam Minister, to drive to these rural areas and witness what I'm saying.
Expecting municipalities like Madibeng to take advantage of the opportunities created by this department is impossible, given their track record of managing the affairs of government. Something serious needs to happen in your department to enable municipalities to fully claim the EPWP grant in order to give our people skills and deliver the most needed services provided by this department.
According to the strategic plan of the department, it has a baseline budget of R7,8 billion, including EPWP transfers to provinces and local government to spend on job creation, which entails both EPWP work opportunities and permanent jobs that will be created from the implementation of the building programme. An Artisan Development Programme that will train young people in boilermaking, fitting and turning, and welding, amongst others, is a step in the right direction and I would like to commend the department on this in particular.
Regarding legislation, the mandate of the department is provided for in the Government Immovable Asset Management Act of 2007, Giama. The objective of the Act is to ensure efficient and effective planning of immovable asset management in government, as well as to improve service delivery. The department is responsible for the provision of official accommodation to all national department services, to client departments at the national level. The department is also responsible for providing leadership for co- ordinating the Expanded Public Works Programme, not the contrary.
This department, as a custodian of all government properties, in the previous financial year failed to manage 780 state-owned houses in Gauteng, which were being occupied by friends and relatives of government officials. This is according to the report of the department on infrastructure and the development of its immovable assets that was, presented to the legislative oversight committee in October last year. The report goes further, to say that some of the occupants had paid bribes to senior officials to gain access to the houses. The provincial government owns 826 state houses across six regions, but only 46 tenants have signed lease agreements according to the report.
The friends and relatives are also accused of defaulting on rates and taxes, as well as on rent. Also, occupants of the houses are paying less than market-related rentals for the properties. Most of the houses are in a state of decay and may cost an estimated R5 billion to restore. This is just the tip of the iceberg.
Without ruling out the fact that there is some good in the work that the department is doing, management seems to be a challenge. [Applause.] Madam Minister, the management of the department is really failing the people of South Africa in regard to discharging its responsibilities, because of incompetency that leads to poor management. The DA strongly believes that no organisation or government will survive if competency and merit are compromised. I thank you, Chairperson. [Applause.]