Chairperson, thank you. I thank you, chairperson of the portfolio committee, for the leadership that you always provide.
I want to start with the Expanded Public Works Programme, EPWP. Yes, we are aware that there are challenges. When it became very clear that local government - some municipalities - were struggling to access assistance and were unable to deal with the wage incentives, a technical support programme was put in place. So, rest assured that that matter is being attended to.
We have had a meeting with Salga. We waited patiently for the local government elections to end, and we made sure that we could work with the new leadership in local government to speed up this process. We don't have the luxury of time, ladies and gentlemen, so we cannot waste anybody's time. We really want to get into this work urgently.
On the vesting programme, yes, I have heard that. You know that there is an Interministerial Committee, IMC, that is led by the Minister of Rural Development and Land Reform, and fortunately I also sit on that. So we will make sure that we look at the Promotion of Access to Information Act, the Giama Act, as the hon member has mentioned, with Salga, to see that the effect of the Act is felt in local government.
I am 100% in support of the fact that the Construction Industry Development Board, CIDB, should support emerging contractors, and I think in its mission statement the board also mentions how much it needs to do that.
Transformation is not something that we need to be shy about. We need to realise that we come from a past that divided us as South Africans, and we need to move on as a united force to make sure that we address the issues. If we are going to allow divisions at service delivery level, we won't be able to do anything, so let us work together.
We are all leaders of this big South Africa, and we have a country which is not poor, but does have has two faces. We see abject poverty and wealth in the same country, and I think we need to make sure that we bridge that divide.
The schools project in the Eastern Cape shows us what our intentions are and where we are headed. We know very well that the rural areas are hardest hit, and that is why our concentration is focused there.
Yes, it feels like we have been here for six years, and I know a number of people keep forgetting when I started. Just for the record, this is my sixth month. I started on 1 November 2010, and when I am quoted as having been here in July last year and so on, you must know that that is not correct. I don't have time to correct all the newspaper articles but, again just for the record, I started on 1 November. I operate with speed, and I am sure that that speed is confusing the people who think that I've been here for three years. [Laughter.] I've not been here. [Applause.]
I know very well that we are blamed for everything, but the money is not with us. We are blamed for the Eastern Cape schools but the money is not with us. The reason why we are in the Eastern Cape now is because Public Works in the Eastern Cape has asked us to come and assist.
We are showcasing the fact, ladies and gentlemen, that if we can do it in this short space of time - have 12 schools in less than 6 months - we are saying: Try us! We will be talking hundreds by the end of this year. Hundreds, ladies and gentlemen! [Applause.]
We are present in Lusikisiki. We are present in Mount Frere. We are present in Engcobo. We are present in a number of rural areas in the KwaZulu-Natal area. We are present in Mpumalanga. We are present in the Free State. We make sure that we go where people call us and, in the coming week, we are going to launch EPWP projects in the Northern Cape. We are in the North West province. I don't know where we need to be where we haven't been. We are working with Limpopo and all of these provinces because we think that when we are there - when Public Works is there - we will then be true to our own motto that people work in South Africa because of Public Works.