Premier Rasool

Cabinet colleagues

Honourable Members of the Legislature

Friends and guests

Comrades

ON TUESDAY, 15 August 1967 - almost 40 years ago - a true son of Cape Town and South Africa died in a gun battle on a Bulawayo farm ? in a country then known as Rhodesia .

His name was Basil February - and he was just 24 years old.

Friends, comrades - February could have been many things. In fact, he SHOULD have been helping to build the South Africa that all of us dream of.

And he should have been helping to build it TODAY.

He was a keen sportsman - and a gifted intellectual and writer - but he knew that his talents would never be recognized by HF Verwoerd's apartheid government of the early 1960s.

And so he chose ... to fight for freedom.

In 1963, he joined the South African Coloured People's Congress; a year later, he and a close friend, James April, "disappeared" without saying goodbye to their family and friends.

Convinced that real political change would never come about by peaceful means in South Africa , they joined Umkhonto we Sizwe , the armed wing of the African National Congress.

In 1967, as members of the Luthuli Detachment, February and other South African freedom fighters fought shoulder-to-shoulder with Zimbabwe African People's Union (Zapu) soldiers in a joint campaign that began in the Wankie Game Reserve in the then Rhodesia.

Their plan was to set up a "Ho Chi Minh Trail", a secret route and supply line for MK soldiers - running all the way from Rhodesia to South Africa .

February, though, would never see his home and family again?.

The great American Civil Rights leader, Martin Luther King Junior once said: "He who passively accepts evil is as much involved in it as he who helps to perpetrate it. He who accepts evil without protesting against it is really cooperating with it."

These words could have been especially composed to celebrate February's courage ... and his life.

Honourable Speaker -Basil February refused to accept evil - and so he paid for his courage ... with his life.

February contributed many articles to Dawn , the MK journal. I would like to read an extract from one of them to this House. It is entitled "A revolutionary dedicates himself to the cause of a better life ...."

"A revolutionary loves life and he knows that life does not end when he himself dies. He knows that life, the life that he loved, will go on in the smiles [and] laughter of happy children. He knows that life will go on in the smiles of beautiful girls for their youthful lovers. He knows that life will go on in the hearts of a nation that will remember him. This is the life for which he gladly gives his own."

Honourable Speaker, Members and guests I would like to dedicate this Budget Vote speech to Basil February.

It is a privilege - and an honour - for me to welcome Basil's brother Terry and sister-in-law Colette, as well as his friend, James April to this Legislature today.

It is crucially important that we always remember the sacrifices made by so many of our patriots - sacrifices that paved the way for you and I to be free persons today.

Honourable Speaker, Comrades - Basil is buried in an unmarked grave somewhere in Zimbabwe. I can't accept that the memory of our heroes should be trifled with like this - especially those who fell for the noble cause of freedom. And so, I would like to make an urgent call to our National Government - and to all others who have the influence to right this wrong - to step up efforts to identify Basil's grave, and to bring him back home.

In tribute to Basil and all the other fallen heroes and heroines, I would like to read a verse from Laurence Binyon's famous poem, " For the Fallen ".

"They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:

Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.

At the going down of the sun and in the morning,

We will remember them."

Honourable Speaker - There's a delightfully expressive Afrikaans word, which I hope will give special meaning to the intentions of the Department of Transport and Public Works as it looks towards next week ... next month ... next year ... the provincial elections of 2009 ... the football World Cup in 2010 ... and the Millennium Development Goals of 2014.

The word is "wikkel" - and for those who speak only English, it means "hurry up!" In Xhosa, it translates as "khawuleza!"

Colleagues, Members - all Budget Vote speeches promise service delivery. And, certainly, between the last provincial elections in 2004 and the next one in 2009, the plans that my Department have put in place - and the actions that have followed these plans - have ensured that (by and large) the commitments we've made to the citizens of the Western Cape are being kept.

I believe that my Department has done much that it can be pleased about in terms of service delivery to the various communities of this province.

I will list some of these successes later in my address.

But what we've achieved so far is just a small part of a work-in-progress. We know there's much more to do.

And what HAS to be done - in other words, the collective needs of the future rather than the achievements of the past - will always make up the most important consideration of a Budget Vote speech.

In the global village of the 21 st century - and yes, our province is part of that global village - service delivery revolves around speed ... it revolves around efficiency ... and it revolves around crafting a clear, unambiguous message in response to what is being done (and will be done) - and delivering this message with a due sense of urgency to the people.

Honourable speaker , the Department of Transport and Public Works has dedicated itself to a service delivery plan built on a commitment to "Action - Now" - and that is why I started this address by emphasising the need to "hurry up" ... to "wikkel" ... and to "khawuleza".

I want to give the following assurance to the people of the Western Cape today....

I want to say to the communities of Bitterfontein and Rietpoort in the far north-west, Ebenhaezer, St Helena Bay and Doringbaai in the north-west, Beaufort West, Merweville and Leeu-Gamka in the north, Plettenberg Bay, George and Knysna in the south-east, Mfuleni, Paarl, Stellenbosch and Kayamandi in the Winelands of the Boland, Mitchells Plain, Langa, Khayelitsha, Gugulethu and Bellville in the Cape Town Metropole and the vast range of towns and townships in between: "My Department is committed to providing you with the facilities - and the opportunities - that you need, and crave for.

"We are determined to make the Western Cape a true home for you, and for all who live in this province."

Honourable Speaker, friends, members, comrades - in his State of the Province address of 16 February this year, Premier Ebrahim Rasool set an agenda for reaching the United Nations Millennium Development Goals in 2014, which, as you know, are:

• Halving poverty;
• Eradicating hunger;
• Achieving universal primary education; and
• Halving unemployment.

The Premier said that we needed to reach these goals "in order to ensure a different Western Cape by 2010 when we host the football World Cup and to ensure that in the upcoming financial year, 2007-08, we have used our resources to intensify the struggle against poverty".

Premier Rasool said, and I quote: "Today, this Government presents to our citizens 10 programmes of concrete, on-the-ground delivery, designed to make differences for people and phased over what is to be achieved in 2007, by 2010 and towards the 2014 Millennium Development Goals."

Honourable Speaker - the Western Cape government concluded some time ago that transport holds the key to the future growth of this province. But even so, the confirmation that at least seven of the 10 programmes mentioned by Premier Rasool touch directly on the activities of the Department of Transport and Public Works, has set the hearts of some of my officials beating at ... let's put it this way ... a rather rapid rate.

And I'm not surprised. What we're sitting with here is a daunting challenge.

But don't misunderstand me, Members, Friends and Comrades - it's a challenge that I accept with humility ... and with a strong determination to succeed.

My Department is ready ... willing ... and more than able to help steer the Western Cape into a new era - an era of action, of quick, efficient delivery, and of dialogue with the people we serve.

Our budget allocation for 2007/08 has been set at R2.207-billion, which is 10.66 percent of the Provincial budget.

But when it is compared with the revised estimates of 2006/07 (from R2.064-billion to R2.321-billion), it is, in fact, a reduction of 4.7 percent.

We launched a number of programmes, created thousands of job opportunities and offered skills training to thousands of unemployed workers, women and youth. I will provide details a little later.

In 2006/07, despite a number of difficult challenges, we spent more than 97 percent of the amount we received.

Our under-spending included a portion of the national Provincial Infrastructure Grant for repairing flood damage to roads infrastructure and nature conservation facilities.

If we exclude the unspent portion of the grant from the total amount that was under-spent, our overall under-spending for 2006/07 amounted to just ONE PERCENT.

Honourable Speaker - the intentions that I will be making known today for the budget for this Financial Year, will be built on a number of strong foundations.

Let me start by saying that earlier this year, my department put one of the last building blocks of iKapa Elihlumayo , the Provincial Growth and Development Strategy, into place.

We launched our R30-billion Strategic Infrastructure Plan - or the SIP, as most people who know something about it, refer to it.

The SIP, as many will be aware, is a plan that has identified the critical infrastructure needed to move our province forward - and to achieve the objectives of shared growth and integrated development.

Many of its key elements fall within the ambit of my portfolio - from public transport, to promoting the sustainable use of resources ? from ensuring that we have the skills in place to deliver on the mandate entrusted to us, to strengthening our resource base in order to manage and maintain our assets.

Today I can say to you with confidence - that as far as our responsibilities as a Department lie, we have a plan to deliver?.

These are our key deliverables:

We will refine and start the roll-out of the SIP;

We will make a significant contribution towards the fight against global warming

We will launch our Project Portfolio Management programme, which will enable us to keep an accurate, up-to-the-day record of all our projects, across all divisions; we will also launch an unemployment database (whose purpose is self-explanatory)

Our 2010 World Cup division will, among other things, contribute to critical infrastructure, such as the Airport Interchange and public transport priority lanes on the N2, which will link the Airport and the southern part of the Metro with the City; it will also play a role in the planning and design of the Koeberg Interchange. It will be working with a budget of R1.34-billion (although there will be some overlap with the budgets of some of the other divisions)

Our Public Transport Division, which has a budget of R202.47-million) will implement its Public Transport Transformation Programme; this will start with service contracts on the Klipfontein Corridor for the provision of subsidized public transport; other elements of the plan include the implementation of an integrated fare management system and a safety and enforcement strategy; the division will also establish a public transport operating entity. The division will implement the George Mobility Strategy in the Southern Cape, and begin with the design of the Cape Winelands , Central Karoo and West Coast Mobility strategies

Our Roads Division, which has a budget of R1.23-billion) will complete the Potsdam Interchange, surface a number of tourist routes and implement a maintenance, resealing and gravelling programme; it will also implement a number of safety improvements, such as street lighting, bridge handrails and pedestrian bridges

Our Expanded Public Works Programme will strengthen its capacity to provide technical support and will establish institutional frameworks (sector and district forums)

Our Traffic Management Division will implement an electronic licence booking system

In terms of scarce skills, we will expand our Masakh'iSizwe Programme by increasing the number of external bursaries from 127 to 230; and we will refine and build on our Learnership 1000 Programme

Our Public Works Division will complete 11 schools and 11 extra classrooms; it will complete the Worcester Regional Hospital and will continue with the construction of the Paarl Regional Hospital ; it will continue with maintenance and construction of general buildings

Our Property Management division will develop an Immovable Asset Management Plan and implement a Central Business District Office Accommodation Plan

Honourable Speaker - I would like to speak on a topic which, on the face of it, seems to have little to do with Transport and Public Works - global warming.

We all know that rampant consumption of fossil fuel is the chief cause of greenhouse gas emissions.

In 2002, the International Energy Agency (IEA) forecast that the global demand for fossil fuel would increase by 1.6 percent per annum between 2000 and 2030.

The IEA predicted that the transport sector would be responsible for almost three quarters of this demand - and that developing countries would emerge as the world's biggest fuel consumers.

The implications of pollution, greenhouse gas emissions and climate change are frightening.

I'll give you just one example: in 2000, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) reported that respiratory infections caused by air pollution (and for that read wood fires and petrol emissions) made up the fourth largest cause of death (6,000 per year) among South African children under the age of five.

Today, in 2007, there are even more motor vehicles on our roads than in 2000 - and this means even more harmful emissions?.

In the past few years, we've sweltered through excruciating summer heat waves ? we've had throat-parching periods of drought ? and we've been lashed by incredibly vicious winter storms.

Older Kapenaars say they cannot remember such wildly temperamental weather patterns occurring in previous decades.

Honourable Speaker, friends, comrades and members of the broader Western Cape community - Time is ticking by for our generation. We need to ask ourselves: what type of legacy do we want to leave for our children - and their children? In trying to answer this question, we need to remind ourselves that it is no longer sufficient for us to hide behind our sun-block, sun-hats and long-sleeve shirts.

And it just won't do to wring our hands in anguish.

It's time for ACTION - Now!

We believe that there are several courses of action open to us?.

Public Transport

• In the area of Public Transport, we will work on technology that will lead to the use of low emission fuels. Indeed, the 500 or so buses, which we will be purchasing for the 2010 football World Cup, and for which we will be inviting tenders soon, will be low-emission vehicles.
• We will encourage the use of non-motorized transport. Over the next year, we will promote the use of bicycles - starting at schools level, outside the bigger cities.
• We will promote the use of clean diesel fuel.
• Once we've sorted out safety issues on Public Transport, we will look at implementing a congestion charge for private vehicles.

• We will minimise municipal water use in buildings by rainwater collection or grey water recycling
• We will introduce water saving sanitary and water fittings
• We will introduce passive design principles which result in buildings that are essentially self heating and self cooling through the control of natural heat flows.
• All new building projects will be evaluated in terms of the check-list and retrofitting of existing buildings will take place on an incremental basis.
• Integration of our built environment with the wider community and accessibility for our people to services will also play an important role in ensuring environment friendly principles.

• To give some examples, the housing development on the Somerset Hospital precinct will be "green friendly". It will be developed at a time of increasing awareness of the impact of global warming. The "business-as-usual" approach to building construction is fast becoming less acceptable. We will ask all tenderers to submit detailed statements of their sustainability proposals regarding this development.
• Our new Public Transport Service Centre, valued at R110 million over two years, will be built in Athlone, next to the N2 human settlement, will also be fitted with various energy-saving devices.
• In the area of sustainable human settlements, we will ensure that houses fit the standards I've just mentioned and that transport is always within walking distance of people's homes.
• Our transport precinct initiatives will enable people to move from one mode of transport to the next, from one drop-off-and-go point, using smartcard technology.

I mentioned the 2010 FIFA World Cup earlier. This extravaganza brings with it many exciting possibilities and opportunities for our province, and our people.

It also brings with it many challenges and complexities. Of all the preparations required from us to host the event, my Department, the City of Cape Town, the South African Rail Commuter Corporation/Metrorail and the Airports Company of South Africa have been charged with providing a transport system with a "zero probability for failure".

This is an exciting challenge.

While most attention has been on the Green Point Stadium, from which the Provincial Government has provided R212-million, we have been working steadily and quietly on putting the key elements of the transportation system in place.

The reconstruction of the N2 from Borcherds Quarry to the Black River Parkway, construction of the new Airport terminal and the behind-the-scenes implementation of the smartcard-based integrated fare management system are all signs that we are taking care of the business.

We have already allocated about R1.4-billion in our current medium-term expenditure framework for World Cup 2010 projects. These include:

The upgrade of Somerset Hospital ;

• The construction of Granger Bay Boulevard ;
• The Koeberg Interchange, the east-bound carriageway of the N2 from Vanguard Drive to Borcherds Quarry and the Airport Interchange;
• The reconstruction of Sandkraal Road , George, and the upgrade of non-motorized facilities and infrastructure in the Cape Winelands District Municipality .
• The upgrade of Athlone and Philippi stadiums as practice venues;
• The building of fan parks and other public viewing areas;
• Transformation of commuter public transport, including the construction of park-and-ride facilities;
• Preparation for the event and public transport, including the introduction of a shuttle public transport service between the key centres and the City and Airport.

In addition to these projects, the South African Rail Commuter Corporation/Metrorail are set to spend about R1.2-billion on upgrading infrastructure, refurbishing coaches and buying new train set.

The Airports Company is set to spend R1.5-billion on building a new terminal.

Honourable Speaker - and members, as I've said .... We are taking care of the business.

Honourable Speaker - New Age technology thrills me and, let me not be shy to admit this, it sometimes scares me too.

But I'd like to give those of you who share my views on this subject a useful tip: computer technology works very well when the experts create programmes that allow the rest of us to get all the information we need by pressing one - or, at the most, two keys.

My Department has some excellent programmes in the pipeline....

The first one I would like to tell you about is our Rational Portfolio Manager (RPM Project) or Portfolio Management programme.

And I would like to start by asking you to imagine a programme that can tell you at the click of a key - on a daily basis - the number of projects (and their names) that are on the go in the Eden Municipality ... or how many work opportunities are available in Breederivier ... or what percentage of the Expanded Public Works budget has been spent in Bitou ... or which projects are ahead of schedule and on budget in the City ... and which are battling to keep up.

And the list could go on and on.

This little beauty of a programme will be able to give an inquisitive person like me all these answers and more. It's been tested and tested ? and tested again. All the little glitches are being found - and eliminated.

I've been assured that within four months this programme will be working like a charm. It will save us time .. and money ... and serve as an early warning system, when things look as if they may be going off the rails.

Honourable Speaker - Finding funds for infrastructure is NOT one of the greatest challenges faced by Government.

A far bigger test for us is managing the implementation and integration of projects across branches in our departments ? and across departments and spheres of Government.

The shortage of skills, as well as the constant migration of experienced staff in and out of departments, creates many challenges and risks to the successful completion of projects and the spending of our capital budgets within the required timeframes and financial years.

Over the last two years, we've worked quietly at introducing a project and portfolio management system for all our divisions.

At any given time, we manage up to 4,500 projects across all branches. With these projects ranging in value from R2,000 to R200-million, it is often extremely difficult to extract management information at short notice ... let alone at the push of a button.

Government departments, municipalities and state-owned enterprises cannot afford to work in isolation any longer.

A sustainable housing development cannot be planned and constructed without public transport as the path-breaker.

By the same token, schools for current and future residents, municipal streets, road-based public transport ranks and interchanges and many other functions require the participation of a number of equally important stakeholders.

The Rational Portfolio Manager (RPM) has improved coordination and integration across our branches and our client departments responsible for the funding of schools and hospitals.

Within the context of a diminishing pool of professional and technical expertise and resources at our disposal, it is by working smarter and introducing the use of new technology and systems, that my Department spent 99% of its budget in the 2006/07 financial year.

Honourable Speaker - I have more great news...

One of the challenges that my Department recognized when we started identifying our Renewed EPWP mandate was that we did not have accurate information on unemployed persons in the Western Cape .

Depending on which sources are used, the number of unemployed persons in the province could range anywhere from 300,000 to 600,000.

But now we are setting out to develop a comprehensive electronic database of unemployed people and their skills - which we believe will help job-seekers find employment ? and employers find qualified workers.

The key initial focus will be on beneficiaries of the Expanded Public Works Programme and other Public Works Programmes.

The database will use existing Internet-enabled public access infrastructure (for example the City of Cape Town's Smart Cape Centres, which were launched by the Premier in 2006, to allow people to do a number of things, including:

Getting information on programmes;

• Registering;
• Developing and updating CVs;
• Getting access to the Internet and email; and
• Applying for jobs.

Through training Community Development Workers (CDWs) in the use of the system, and calling on volunteers to assist at access points, unemployed persons will have the opportunity to develop their CVs on the database as they participate in EPWP projects or any other short-term employment-creation initiatives.

Potential employers will also have an opportunity to register themselves on the system and to source employees who meet their requirements for specific skills.

My department, together with e-Innovation in the Department of the Premier, is developing a strategy and a proposal for extending the network of Internet-enabled public access points to areas where they are currently unavailable.

We have identified 114 access-points throughput the Western Cape , where the unemployed can register themselves on the Opportunities portal.

The success and frequency with which the Smart Cape access points are being used in the poorest communities of Cape Town have shown that, given the opportunity to access information technology, the innovativeness of unemployed persons can be harnessed to not only access employment for themselves, but also to create employment within their communities.

On the 26 June, I will be launching the first phase of going live with the portal. Seven sites in some of our poorest communities, including Khayalitsha, Mitchells Plain , Delft and Bitterfontein, have been identified.

In capturing the first round of data of unemployed persons and projects, we are making use of a service provider offering employment to people with physical disabilities.

The Re-Able Centre in Athlone has already captured some 15,000 complete records of individuals who are unemployed or under-employed in the Western Cape .

EPWP opportunities on all my Department's projects, as well as EPWP projects identified by the Department of Local Government and Housing, and other departments, are currently being loaded.

Persons registered on our portal - for example, from townships close to the location of these projects - will be selected for interviews and possible placement.

I urge all unemployed persons to watch this space and to speak with their CDWs on where and how to register themselves on the EPWP Opportunities Portal.

Honourable Speaker - I would now like to speak about Public Transport.

I have no doubt that the World Cup tournament will boost our efforts to create an integrated public transport system for the Western Cape .

The idea of such a transport system fills me with excitement (for obvious reasons) - but also with a great degree of trepidation (for even more obvious reasons).

I am not going to deny that my Department is wrestling with enormous challenges. Not surprisingly, it is the minibus taxi industry that is providing us with the most - and biggest - headaches.

Honourable Speaker - I have a very simple message for the minibus taxi industry...

"The Department of Transport and Public Works welcomes the support that the majority of you have given to the government's taxi recapitalisation programme.

We want you to be part of our proposed integrated public transport system.

But there are two other things that I want to make clear - and I want the taxi industry to listen very carefully to what I have to say?.

Firstly, this government will not allow mayhem in an industry that purports to offer a service to communities of our province.

So, let me say this slowly: We DO NOT speak to thugs who murder rivals. And we want nothing to do with those who hire other thugs to kill to quote protect unquote routes.

Thugs and murderers should NOT have contact with decent members of society. They should be in jail - and we will cooperate with the South African Police Services to ensure that justice prevails.

Our duty is to Mr Ndlovu of Gugulethu, Mr Cassiem of Lentegeur, Mrs Mkhize of Khayelitsha, Ms Smith of Claremont , and tens of thousands of their fellow commuters, who have just one simple need - a public transport system that will take them to and from their destinations in comfort - and, most of all, in safety."

Honourable Speaker - we intend creating - and maintaining - such a public transport system for the people of the Western Cape .

But we will not use only the stick to bring order to the minibus taxi industry. We would be delighted to offer them some carrot too. We know that human beings do not always act rationally - and that desperation (to protect routes) and anger (when there's a perception that others want to muscle in on these routes) can be a volatile combination.

We support the observation by American civil rights leader Jesse Jackson that "jaw-jaw is better than war-war". In order to create a stable and peaceful industry, well set to focus on the business of providing a world-class public transport service to our communities, my Department is implementing (or will soon be implementing) the following actions:

The establishment of the Dispute Resolution Unit, in line with the recommendations of the Ntsebeza Committee of Enquiry into minibus taxi violence, to bring together people who in the normal scheme of things would prefer shooting one another. It is critically important for the industry to accept that the days of resolving an argument with a gun are long past.

• Tomorrow, I am presenting to Cabinet for approval a set of fees to govern the registration of Taxi Association and operators in associations; together with schedule of fines to be assessed for non-compliance with regulations. Once approved, the fees and fines will form part of the Regulations for the Office of the Registrar, which I intend gazetting before the end of this month.
• The office of the Registrar will be further strengthened with the appointment of Assessors who will be critical in the finalization of the registration of Associations and their members, as well as in monitoring compliance of those Associations with the requirements of the National Land Transport Transition Act (NLTTA).
• The taxi recapitalisation programme will be intensified this year. This program was launched in the Province during February, and already the Taxi Scrapping Agency (TSA) has established its offices, identified a scrapping yard and is getting on with the business of scrapping old vehicles. In the next few weeks the TSA and my Department will launch a roadshow to inform the taxi industry about all aspects of the recapitalisation program.
• A draft Safety and compliance Strategy, which is currently going through a public participation process, will be presented to Cabinet for approval within three months, after which its implementation will commence. This strategy has six main focal areas - Education, Enforcement, Engineering, Emergencies, Legislation and Institutional arrangements. Its implementation will be driven by a multi-agency unit, which will involve all of the enforcement and intelligence agencies, South African Revenue Service, transport authorities and the Directorate of Public Prosecutions.

Over and above these activities designed to "normalize" the public transport environment, my Department is working tirelessly to create the type of public transport system, which the residents of our Province want - and deserve.

I am pleased today to report that the vehicle to realize this system is in place; it is our Public Transport Improvement Program. This program rests on four key pillars:

• Institutional reform to improve alignment and co-ordination between the different spheres of government in dealing with public transport;
• Restructuring of public transport operations to promote integration between rail, minibus taxi and bus modes;
• Integration of land-use and public transport planning to promote financial, environmental and social sustainability of the system, and marketing.

The implementation of the PTIP has already begun:

As far as institutional reform is concerned, a ground-breaking Inter-governmental Transport Agreement between my Department, the National Department of Transport and the City of Cape Town has been drafted and will be signed shortly.

This Agreement, which is a product of a Transport Steering Committee, which is chaired by myself and the Mayoral Committee member responsible for transport in the City, paves the way for the establishment of a Transport Planning Advisory Council to be chaired by the City of Cape Town; and a Public Transport Operating Entity (PTOE) to be driven by my Department.

The PTOE will be responsible for coordinating and managing all public transport operations in the Province. Similar arrangements for the District Municipalities are under discussion, with the Eden District and George Municipalities being the first ones to be engaged.

As part of the restructuring of public transport operations the following activities are underway:

• Integrated Fare Management (IFM) and Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) are currently being implemented to form the back-office and back bone of integrated operations. The IFM will make it possible for fares to be collected electronically, through the use of smartcards. It will also enable proper subsidy and fleet management. The testing of the systems will start before the end of the year.
• The operational service level designs for the public transport system in the City of Cape Town have been completed and are under discussion with the National Department of Transport. Designs for service in George will be completed within a few months. These operational designs together with plans for upgrading infrastructure on key rail and road corridors will form the basis of rapid public transport networks.
• A Business Case for the restructured Public Transport system in the Province, which sets out detailed costs and subsidy requirements for this system is being prepared for discussion with National Treasury and Department of Transport.
• A total of R29-million is being spent on the construction of Phase 1 of Sandkraal Road in George.
• Training of previously disadvantaged public transport operators on business management has already begun.
• Discussion with the different public transport operators and industries on how they can participate in the new system will begin soon.
• Marketing and further consultative processes around the PTIP will feature prominently in the remainder of this year.

The National Travel Survey has revealed that more than 3-million learners are walking to school for one hour - one way, every day.

To address this problem, National Transport Minister Jeff Radebe announced that one million bicycles would be distributed to learners over the next eight years. My Department has entered into the spirit of this intention - and, since October 2006, has distributed 645 bicycles to learners. And this is just a foretaste?.

In conjunction with the National Department of Transport, we will distribute 3,000 bicycles in this Financial Year.

Honourable Speaker - I would like to touch on the issue of rail - with some great news....

In a welcome effort to tackle the problem of overcrowding on trains, Metrorail will launch a pilot service on the Khayelitsha - Langa - Cape Town line.

It will be known as the "Khayelitsha Express" - and it will be a first-class only service that will ferry passengers in comfort and with speed (it will stop at only two or three stations) between Khayelitsha and Cape Town .

Honourable Speaker, I can vouch that Metrorail and the South African Rail Commuter Corporation are sincere when they say they want to create a rail service that all its commuters in the Metro (especially) can be proud of.

Metrorail intends increasing the number of its train sets to 93 by next year and to 108 over the next few years. The additional train sets will include a number of new rolling stock. In 2007/08 124 rail coaches will be refurbished; 181 in 2008/09 and 220 coaches in 2009/10.

The cost of an improved rail service along three corridors - Cape Town to Simon's Town; Cape Town to Bellville; and Cape Town to Khayelitsha - is expected to come to a massive R1.2-billion.

Of course, the burning issue with rail over the past few years has been commuter safety - and in this respect, I have more good news.

Last week, national Transport Minister Jeff Radebe told the National Council of Provinces that (and I quote) "in terms of commuter rail infrastructure, a short-term three to five years funding requirement of R4,5 billion, which relates to an annual requirement of R1,8 billion has been identified to fund specific infrastructure interventions on priority commuter rail corridors.

"We want these services to be felt by the majority of South Africans so that their social well-being is improved and they have access to economic opportunities. These regional rail plans were developed in consultation with provinces and metropolitan authorities, taking into account strategies set out in the metropolitan authorities' Integrated Transport Plans.

"The regional rail plans clarified the role that commuter rail should play in the context of an integrated approach to public transport.

Special attention is also given to the improvement of security measures within the railway environment. The strategy includes a co-operative agreement with South African Police Serve (SAPS) to invest in security related infrastructure required for the establishment and rollout of a dedicated Railway Police Unit.

The rollout of SAPS members is on course with 700 Rail Police currently active and 5,000 members being in place by 2010.

So far, police stations have been built in Cape Town , Retreat, Bellville and Phillipi Stations."

The Cape Town network has experienced a 31,6 percent reduction in crime related incidents, while fare evasion has been reduced from 9 percent to 4 percent.

There's one other thing: in a development known as the Khaylelitsha Extension, an additional 4.5km of rail is being constructed at a cost of more than R400-million.

Over the next few weeks, I will be accompanying rail officials on a "meet the people" mission - to tell them what rail has planned for them over the next few months and years.

I strongly believe that rail could prove to be the biggest beneficiary of the 2010 World Cup. If all the talk about its second coming translates into action ? with, for instance, new rolling stock being commissioned ? improved security ? and a better communications service, rail will become a more-than-efficient mass mover of people.

Here's something else that an MEC for Transport, who's eager to reduce the number of private vehicles on our roads, drools over: a full coach can transport almost 120 people. Multiply this number by eight or 10 coaches and you have about 1,000 people being efficiently moved from Point A to Point B.

The South African Rail Commuter Corporation and Metrorail will add another couple of pluses to what I've just mentioned - and yes, I will probably find myself agreeing with them.

"Train travel", they will say, "helps reduce congestion." And when they add that a full train is equal to having 300 fewer cars on the road, it enhances their argument.

Then there is also the matter of pollution: rail lovers will argue that the 300 fewer cars that I've just mentioned amounts to an 80 percent reduction in gas emissions because trains are powered by electricity.

I welcome the fact that the South African Rail Commuter Corporation has budgeted R1.2-billion to upgrade the railways system in the Western Cape .

Honourable speaker - whenever we speak about motor vehicles, we have to speak about roads.

Let me start by saying that, by and large, the roads of the Western Cape have served our motorists well. But stresses and strains are beginning to appear...

The three spheres of government - national, provincial and local - will spend more than R1.9-billion on improving Cape Town 's transport infrastructure.

But let's look at what we have planned in greater detail - and let's begin with Roads Infrastructure....

In the City of Cape Town, a joint effort between the Department and the City has led to the conceptual planning for improvements to the interchanges linking the N1 corridor and the Port of Cape Town .

"Sort out the Koeberg Interchange", is a cry that has gone out for several years now. Honourable Speaker, attention will be given to it in the coming Financial Year, as well as to the Lower Church Street and the Marine Drive interchanges. When completed, vehicular access to the Port will be improved, which will, in turn, reduce the cost of doing business.

Regarding the Koeberg Interchange specifically, upgrading will consist of the introduction of directional ramps between the M5 and the N1.

It hasn't always been plain-sailing in the past Financial Year - and the coming Financial Year will be no different.

Honourable Speaker, our biggest challenge is overcoming spiralling construction costs. Over the past year, these additional costs have severely impacted on our ability to reduce backlogs in maintenance, as originally envisaged.

We have, however, made steady progress - through rehabilitation, reconstruction and resealing - in addressing critical links in the Provincial network. We have recently completed the following projects:

• The rehabilitation of the second phase of the N1
• The rehabilitation of the N2 and construction of BMT lane inbound between Borcherds Quarry and Vanguard Drive interchanges. (The contract for the outbound carriageway and upgrading of Airport Interchange has recently been advertised.)
• Rebuilding of Trunk Road 1 Section 1: George-Outeniqua Pass
• Installation of street lights on the N7, at Piketberg N7

Honourable Speaker - we have identified a number of flagship projects for 2007/08. These include:

• Construction of the Potsdam Interchange
• Directional ramps for the Koeberg Interchange; construction of these will begin in this Financial Year.
• The rehabilitation of the N2 and construction of BMT lane outbound between Borcherds Quarry and Vanguard Drive interchanges.
• Work on the upgrading of the Airport Interchange will also begin in this Financial Year.

All road-related EPWP projects have been transferred from the Community-based Public Works Branch to the Road Infrastructure Branch.

There are 22 of these projects, of which half are already in the construction phrase. The largest of these is at Ebenhaezer near Vredendal, where R8-million will be spent on upgrading the access road.

We will spend R464-million on construction costs in 2007/2008.

As usual, maintenance will form an important part of the activities of our Roads Division in the new Financial Year, with 410 km of re-gravelling and 340 km or resealing planned.

The three District Engineers' offices in Paarl, Ceres and Oudtshoorn are responsible for maintaining the road network. They use the services of the five District municipalities - to act as our Agents.

We have transferred R217-million to these District Municipalities for this purpose.

The Flood Damage in the Southern Cape was the biggest single maintenance event of the past year, with R90-million being spent on repairs to our network.

There's one other crucially important issue that I would like to raise: currently, the backlog in the maintenance of provincial roads stands at more than R2-million; the municipal roads backlog is even higher - at more than R10-billion.

I believe that it is possible for us and the municipalities to make a strong joint case to the National Treasury for additional funds.

I would like to thank to all the engineers, technicians, artisans and labourers, who did such sterling work in restoring the roads so quickly to a usable standard for passing motorists.

The Roads Division has budgeted R606-million for maintenance work in 2007/08.

Honourable Speaker - the Western Cape Department of Transport and Public Works has been meeting its EPWP goals.

It wasn't all that long ago that the EPWP set itself a target of 120,000 job opportunities over five years (24,000 a year) - starting from 1 April 2004.

By 30 June 2006, we had already reached 41 percent of that target - and that is when we decided to push up the target to 40,000 job opportunities per year.

We took this decision because we believe that the poor of our province need hope - and jobs provide hope.

I'm proud to be able to say: the Western Cape's Expanded Public Works Programme is the second highest contributor to work opportunities in the country. Only KwaZulu-Natal has come up with higher figures than we have.

Of course, in moving from a total of 120,000 to 170,000, we are also looking at upping the percentages of various designated groups - to 40 percent women, 30 percent youth and two percent physically challenged people.

Honourable Speaker - in his State of the Nation address, President Thabo Mbeki touched on the EPWP, saying: "?there is no question that this programme can and must be ratcheted upwards quite significantly."

"Having surpassed the 10,000 target we set ourselves, we will increase the number of young people engaged in the National Youth Service by at least 20,000 through 18 of our departments which have already developed plans in this regard, enrol 30,000 young volunteers in community development initiatives, and employ 5,000 young people as part of the Expanded Public Works Programme in the maintenance of government buildings"

The Western Cape Department of Transport and Public Works will be using the old De Nova site - which I suggested be called the Solomon Mhlangu Centre - for youth development.

We are offering our youth the opportunity to acquire skills in labour-intensive construction, agricultural development and computer training at De Nova.

We will also be launching a Basil February Team, which will offer skills training to young people, at a Youth Day celebration in Paarl on Thursday.

This ties in with the Western Cape Government's decision to "massify" the EPWP; it also fits in strongly with one of the United Nations' Millennium Development Goals - of halving poverty by 2014.

Primarily, public sector budgets are being used to reduce and alleviate unemployment in 4 Sectors:

• The Infrastructure Sector (such as the building of roads.)
• The Social Sector (such as Early Childhood Development)
• The Economic Sector (such as New Venture Creation Learnerships)
• The Environmental Sector (such as "Clean the Nation")

Although the Western Cape is performing at an acceptable level in most sectors, a strategic decision has been taken to prioritize EPWP in the following sectors to realize our stated "massification" strategy:

The Infrastructure Sector (in which we are looking to create a minimum of 20,000 work opportunities).

This includes:

• Spending R31-million on the upgrading of access roads in the Province
• Spending R40-million on maintenance of Provincial Roads, targeting poor families identified through ward committees and CDW structures
• Continuing major construction projects, such as the Gansbaai-Bredasdorp road works
• Expanding labour-intensive construction methods, such as the MIG projects
• Expanding the NYS Programme, starting with the one involving 500 youth in a building maintenance programme

The Western Cape EPWP unit has undergone a strategic shift in terms of its core deliverables. Instead of operating as an implementing agent for EPWP, it will now play a supportive role through Co-ordination, Monitoring and Evaluation, Contractor Development and Training Development and Innovation, by ensuring the following:

• That a Provincial Institutional Framework will be up and running by the 1st quarter of 2007/08
• That Lead Sector Departments and District Municipalities will be prioritizing EPWP in their planning processes
• That Implementation plans will be corresponding with set targets
• That there will be sufficient Provincial Capacity to drive EPWP and provide technical support
• That the EPWP will be marketed much more effectively at local government level, through CDW and ward committee structures
• That there will be increased community participation
• That an unemployed database will be set up to keep a record of available labour - and their skills levels
• That skills levels will be linked to exit opportunities in growth sectors as identified through MEDS / LEDS
• That the private sector will play a role in the implementation of the Programme - and its exit strategies
• That the 2007/08 Implementation Plan will be launched by the end of April 2007 (which, I'm pleased to say, we did)
• That the NYSP in Building Maintenance will be launched in this month
• That an EPWP Unemployed database will be set up
• That an EPWP Summit will be held in July 2007
• That an EPWP impact analysis will be undertaken.

We believe that the EPWP must serve as the stepping stone - the bridge, if you will - between the second and first economies. And in this respect, we are making excellent progress.

Honourable Speaker - we put a lot of work into job creation initiatives - in the EPWP, as well as in other programmes run by the Department.

And sometimes things occur that put broad smiles on our faces and move us to say: "This makes it all worth while."

Here's one such story: A few weeks ago, we held a Learnership 1000 Breakfast to encourage construction companies to become more involved in our skills development initiatives.

Last week, my Department and a company called Power Construction forged a Mentorship Agreement that will enable two young Emerging Contractors from our EPWP to be given valuable experience by Power Construction.

I'm thrilled - and more convinced than ever that this is just the beginning...

Honourable Speaker - I would now like to touch on the difficult subject of youth development.

It is one of our country's biggest challenges - and a solution will be beyond us if we try to deal with it in a piecemeal and uncoordinated manner.

The Youth Commission and Umsobomvu Youth Fund are important government vehicles that co-ordinate and drive the work on youth development.

They have been able to guide government to develop youth-centred and youth-friendly programmes.

The parastatals and, to a limited degree, the private sector have embraced and are responding positively to the challenge of bringing our youth into the economy.

In this month, my Department will work with young people to draw up a strategy framework that will encourage the development of young entrepreneurs.

This youth and business reference group will be asked to work towards a youth seminar, which will be hosted by my department to go with Umsobomvu Youth Fund and the provincial Youth Commission on 28 June as part of the Youth Month celebrations.

This seminar will provide a platform for established entrepreneurs and aspirant entrepreneurs to share their experiences - and to develop a comprehensive approach to the development of youth entrepreneurship.

Through this seminar, we hope to establish a youth and business network that will provide an organised voice through which government and the private sector can interact.

My Department will provide infrastructure development to ensure that young people will benefit.

On 14 June last year, we launched Learnership 1000 at part of Youth Month celebrations.

"The response was overwhelming. More than 35,000 clamoured to be included in the programme, which had room for only 1,000.

Over the next three years, we will invest R52.5-million into the Learnership 1000 Programme.

Honourable Speaker - People want to work; they want to better themselves; they want to be able to compete for the same opportunities that many of their compatriots have been given.

There have been challenges - the chief of which has been getting the Construction Education and Training Authority (CETA), the South African Federation of Civil Engineering Contractors (SAFCEC) and the Master Builders of South Africa (MBSA) to sing from the same sheet.

"We cannot have contractors running a bursary programme totally isolated from the consulting engineers, the architects and the government.

"We must say jointly that we need skills.

We need to acknowledge that we have a problem acquiring and retaining scare skills. To meet this challenge, it is imperative that we come together to strengthen our Learnership 1000 partnership - and ensure that as a province and, indeed, as a country, we develop the skills we need.

And I think that we are doing this.

In September this year, we will enter the next phase in our roll-out of learnerships to address the socio-economic inequalities that still dominate our society - especially in our rural communities.

In last year - and at the start of this year, my Department and I, in partnership with the Western Cape Youth Commission, the Department of Labour, the national Department of Public Works and the SETAs called for applications for New Venture Creation Learnerships in growth sectors that benefit significantly from Government procurement.

The learnerships include ventures for vegetable gardens, electrical projects, IT companies, Cleaning projects, project management, events management and more.

Applicants have been through rigorous tests conducted by the SETAs and Government contracts are being ring-fenced by all departments for the practical component of each learnership.

Learners in this programme will be granted a minimum contract of R800 000.00 to a maximum of R1,5 million over 15 months.

Honourable Speaker, I would like to turn now to Traffic Management - and to motor vehicle licencing specifically?.

During the 2006/07 Financial Year, some 90,000 additional motor vehicles were registered in the Province. On 31 March 2007, the total motor vehicle population for the Western Cape was 1,449,644.

This growth has been recorded despite the tendency of some businesses to register and licence their vehicles in other Provinces, where annual licence fees are substantially lower. In the last year the Department took 12 of the companies to task, and successfully re-licensed their vehicles in our Province, at a cost of R32,000.

A number of similar cases are being finalized.

Altogether, we collected R797-million for licence fees - approximately R22-million more than the target we set ourselves. Most of the over-collection was for arrear licence fees.

Over the past four years only two percent of the Western Cape motor vehicle population was not licensed. Even though our licence fee structure is still the highest in South Africa, our unlicensed motor vehicle population is the lowest in the country.

I am therefore confident that we will meet our revenue target of R776-million for the current Financial Year.

We have not increased our licence fees for four years in a row.

To change the subject - personalized licence numbers still seem to be a popular method of vehicle identification. Contrary to the predictions made in 1999 that the demand for such numbers would decrease with time, sales are continuing at an increased level on a daily basis, with close to 28,000 sales recorded at a total income of some R44-million.

Much publicity has been given to the long waiting times for persons in mainly the Cape Town metropolitan area to write learner's licence tests, or to be tested for a driving licence. In April 2007, two new testing centres - in Philippi and Khayelitsha - were opened. A further two centres, in Ottery and Mitchell's Plain, will be opening soon.

Unfortunately, the issuing of learner's and driving licences continues to offer lucrative opportunities for corrupt officials to receive bribes for the issuing of these licences without the prescribed procedures having been honoured.

With the former NaTIS and the now new eNaTIS, it is fortunately easy in some instances to trace these fraudulent activities and prosecute the perpetrators. Regrettably some of the participants were found to be political office-bearers, but the Department, with my co-operation, will not allow any person - irrespective of the office he or she may occupy - to escape the vigorous auditing actions of our Compliance Monitoring Unit.

I'm pleased to report that the Compliance Monitoring Unit has formed a close partnership with the Special Investigation Unit (SIU), which was established by President Mbeki to help the Provinces detect fraud and corruption in the testing of drivers.

In the past year, I have cancelled about 300 learners' and driving licences that were issued in Swellendam, Stellenbosch, Robertson, Worcester and Ashton. The Department is currently auditing seemingly false licences issued in Stellenbosch, Worcester, Khayelitsha, Vredenburg and Caledon.

I have given approval for the registration of four traffic officers or examiners of driving licences to be cancelled as a result of fraudulent activities in the issuing of learner's and driving licences.

The Department is currently corresponding with four others. If they are found to be involved in fraudulent activities, I will cancel their registrations and bar them from performing any road traffic-related duties.

During the year, pending the stability of the eNaTIS, the Department intends to introduce the national Electronic Booking System for learner's and driving licences that will, to a large extent, eradicate the possibility of issuing licences to persons who had not been subjected to the prescribed testing requirements.

In addition to this, the Department, in consultation with the CSIR's Business Against Crime component, will introduce the Best Practice operational procedures and structural changes at two pilot sites, which will further enhance the authenticity of documentation and tests.

Government Motor Transport

Honourable Speaker - Government Motor Transport, as a strategic business unit within the Department, is responsible for the delivery of cost-effective motor transport services to government departments and institutions. These services are streamlined and upgraded on a continuous basis in support of the programmes of delivery towards the 2014 Millennium Development Goals.

I would like to mention the following GMT initiatives:

• Implementation of a Vehicle Tracking Project will be completed across the total fleet within the next few weeks. The facility will be managed within a Management Bureau that is committed to the operational efficiency of the fleet. The Bureau will also coordinate recovery operations during hijackings and theft.
• Risk modelling and reporting will be rolled out to proactively highlight driver behaviour and other risk areas for follow-up by clients.
• The sophisticated electronic fleet management system developed by Government Motor Transport will be enhanced further and fully utilized to the benefit of all client departments. The system will also be shared with other organs of state, which will mean a saving on development costs. Two African countries have expressed interest in the system.
• The implementation of service level agreements with all clients will be introduced to monitor and continuously improve service levels, as well as institute remedial actions where necessary.
• Business processes will be streamlined to ensure that fleet repair and maintenance work are distributed equally - to increase BBBEE market share.

The Masakh' iSizwe Centre of Excellence has is a significant provincial initiative in support of JIPSA with a unique engineering skills development programme.

The vision of the Centre goes beyond the offer of bursaries in the fields of quantity surveying, architecture and electrical, mechanical and civil engineering fields. An essential element of the programme is to develop a cadre of "nation builders" - a 'high road' to addressing priority engineering skills needs.

It is a route which is underpinned by the recognition of two categories of beneficiaries: financially disadvantaged learners and resource poor communities.

Our aim is to develop students into constructively critical patriots. In order to become such patriots they need to understand the socio-political context in which they live. To this end we've negotiated with the engineering faculties to provide appropriate modules outside of the usual engineering courses.

I have already referred to our relative success with the throughput rates.

Masakh' iSizwe targets financially disadvantaged learners - especially women and learners from rural areas for its bursaries.

With regard to graduate placement, last year of the 27 that graduated, 16 were employed by my department, five were placed with SARCC, four have proceeded to post-diploma and degree studies, one is gaining experience overseas and one is being developed as a contractor through our Women in Construction programme.

What is particularly pleasing is that of the 213 bursary holders this year, 44% are women (up from 35% last year) and 54% are from rural areas (up from 43% last year).

Honourable Speaker - I can report some successes on the strategies pertaining to the recruitment and retention of people with scarce skills, which we initiated in the 2006/07 Financial Year.

In this regard, we employed 13 young graduates who studied with bursaries awarded by the Department.

In addition, we hired 12 retired professionals to help with some of the operational functions relating to engineering and architectural work, while at the same time acting as mentors for the young graduates.

This year, we awarded 215 bursaries at a high profile awards ceremony in the Jameson Hall of the University of Cape Town. The ceremony was addressed Prof. Njabulo Ndebele, Dr Mamphele Ramphele, Premier Ebrahim Rasool and myself.

The Centre will soon announce a Bursary Collaboration Venture with state-owned entities and private sector companies, which will see the establishment of a coordinating centre, sharing of costs for bursaries, the implementation of leadership and life-skills programmes and the consolidation of workplace learning opportunities, mentorships for students and employment contracts.

In collaboration with the Department of the Premier, we embarked upon an intensive process of restructuring. The first phase of this process involved a comprehensive review of the macro-level of the organization in order to align with Ikapa strategies and to absorb an infrastructure growth path.

Honourable Speaker - our Public Works branch continues to make an important contribution towards the accelerated delivery of social and administrative building infrastructure in the Western Cape.

In so doing, it is making a valuable contribution to the creation of sustainable communities and to the capacity of governance institutions to operate effectively.

I'm proud to report that our Public Works division has taken on the scourge of poverty by creating a number of jobs, work opportunities and learnerships.

Here are some facts and figures - and I'm sure you'll agree with me that they make impressive reading (and they are for the period up to March 2007):

• We created 9,988 direct jobs through conventional construction contracts;
• We created 2,274 work opportunities through the Building Maintenance Pilot Project, of which 1,564 of the recipients were women in poor townships and rural areas.
• We created 241 Learnership opportunities, of which 81 were for professionals and 161 for trade persons.

Honourable Speaker, Public works has also fought against poverty by broadening economic participation?.

Consider this (and once again these figures are applicable until the end of March 2007):

• Public Works advertised and awarded 713 tenders worth almost R877-million;
• of the 713 tenders, 631, worth more than R627-million, went to enterprises run by Previously Disadvantaged Individuals. This constituted 71 percent of the total monetary value;
• 526 of these tenders, worth more than R261-million (or 30 percent of the total monetary value) went to enterprises represented by women.

Contractors registered with the Construction Industry Development Board were productively engaged, in particular those from Grade 2 to Grade 8 in the General Building, Electrical Engineering and Mechanical Engineering class of work.

• Sixty-eight percent (or 110) Western Cape General Building registered contractors were awarded work.
• Fifty-eight percent (or 20) Western Cape Electrical Engineering registered contractors were awarded work.
• Sixty-three percent (or 25) of Western Cape Mechanical Engineering registered contractors were awarded work

We awarded 18 contracts to Professional Service Providers to a total professional fee value of R8.8-million to enterprises with BEE representation.

Public Works has also maintained the momentum of delivery in the area of Education Infrastructure. We have completed six new schools and added classrooms to various other schools, to the extent that we have now provided learners throughout the province with 8,400 additional classrooms.

Last year I reported in my Budget Speech that we had started with the construction of 11 new schools. I am happy to report that work on all is progressing excellently. In fact, all will be completed in the 2007 calendar year.

These are:

1. Table View Primary School - September 2007
2. Samora Machel Primary School - August 2007
3. Khayeltsha Senior Secondary 1 - August 2007
4. Khayelitsha Senior Secondary 2 - August 2007
5. Khayelitsha Senior Secondary 3 - August 2007
6. Khayelitsha Primary School 1 - August 2007
7. Khayelitsha Primary School 2 - August 2007
8. Khayelitsha Primary School - August 2007
9. Delft South Primary School - August 2007
10. Sedgefield Smutsville Primary School - September 2007
11. Khayamandi Senior Secondary - December 2007
12. 11 Additional classrooms - May 2007

The safety of our learners and educators is a priority of this government - and I would like to think that our Department has played an important role in this regard.

Over the past year, we carried out maintenance work on 506 schools - and fenced another 65.

Honourable Speaker - We maintained the pace of delivery in health infrastructure over the past year. Among the facilities we maintained, upgraded, designed and constructed are:

• Mowbray Maternity Hospital rehabilitation - completed
• Vredendal Hospital Phase 1 - completed
• Vredendal Hospital Phase 2 - planning started; construction to commence in this Financial Year
• Worcester Hospital - still under construction. It will finish later than planned because of increased Client Department requests
• Paarl Hospital - currently under construction, and progressing well
• Mitchells Plain and Khayelitsha District hospitals - planning has commenced. They are likely to go out on tender in this Financial Year
• Five new Forensic Pathology laboratories are currently under construction
• Four New Community Health Centres are currently under construction and will be completed in this Financial Year
• Three new ambulance stations are currently under construction and will be completed in this financial year.

All maintenance projects scheduled for the past Financial year were completed. All minor construction and rehabilitation works scheduled for the Financial Year were started, with some still being in progress.

Honourable Speaker - as far as General Buildings Infrastructure is concerned, we've made progress in a number of areas:

We've started the construction of the Beaufort West Traffic Centre, including the ambulance station and Disaster Management Centre. This centre will be a hub for the Western Cape Provincial Administration's services in the Central Karoo Region, and will be completed in July 2007.

• We started renovations at the Gene Louw Traffic Centre in Brackenfell - and these will be completed in June 2007.
• The Shared Service Centre for Public Transport in Athlone will be procured and construction is scheduled to begin in October 2007.
• Planning for office accommodation for various departments has been a major challenge - and will, in all likelihood, continue to be so for the foreseeable future
• We completed 323 maintenance projects and conducted 6,000 instances of day-to-day maintenance on Provincial Government buildings in the past Financial Year.
• I would like to give the assurance, too, that all buildings controlled by the Provincial Public Works will be made wheelchair-friendly.

Honourable Speaker - In 2006, my department and I took stock of the role that women are playing in the construction sector.

In August last year, we hosted a "Women in Construction Summit", where close to 800 people shared many of the concerns and frustrations that they face in their efforts to increase their participation in an industry that has historically been dominated by men.

We made a number of firm commitments, including a pledge to award contracts worth at least R112-million to women.

We are also reviewing and amending our provincial procurement policies.

In partnership with the Construction Industry Development Board (CIBD), we are increasing training- and capacity-building for women contractors.

We've established Regional Forums for Women in Construction in each district of the province - and I am pleased to welcome the chairpersons of seven of the regional forums in the House today.

Minister Thoko Didiza, our national Minster of Public Works, honoured us with her presence at the Summit. She handed over the first Awards for Excellence for Women in Construction in the Western Cape.

Winners and runners-up in categories of small, medium and large contractors received trophies, certificates and sponsored cash prizes.

Honourable Speaker - as the custodian of the provincial property portfolio my Department has started the process of developing a Total Immovable Asset Management Strategy.

This will guide the department in the strategic management of the province's Immovable Asset Portfolio.

Honourable Speaker, the Property Management component of my Department is currently busy with an exercise to ensure that the Property Register is up to date. We are also coordinating an effort to create a provincial record of all state-owned properties.

Together with our national Department of Public Works, we will also conduct an audit of all state properties - to ensure that our properties are, in fact, registered in our records.

I would like to reiterate the call of Public Works Minister Thoka Didiza to all those who know of any state assets to come forward with such information.

The Minister has already announced an amnesty in this regard to those who may currently be using our assets without the proper permission to come forward within six months (starting 1 July 2007). After this period, we will take strict action against illegal occupants of our properties

The Property Transformation Charter aptly describes the dilemma in the property market. It states: "Black people continue to be significantly under-represented in ownership of property, whilst administrative, legal and financial constraints restrict the ability of black people to participate in the property market.

My department will promote the leasing of office accommodation in pursuit of the spirit of the Property Transformation Charter. To this extent, we are developing a leasing-in strategy that will guide us on how to procure office accommodation, with specific reference to Broad Based Black Economic Empowerment principles. This will assist us to achieve empowerment targets as enshrined in the Property Charter.

In support of local economic development and empowerment of previously disadvantaged individuals, we have identified properties in Beaufort West, Mossel Bay, George and Plettenberg Bay for tourism-related activities, arts and culture and business process outsourcing (BPO).

Thanks

Honourable Speaker - a department is only as good as its generals and foot soldiers - and I am fortunate in having an extremely good team at my disposal.

I would like to thank my Head of Department Thami Manyathi for his insight and energy - and all the senior managers of the Department of Transport and Public Works, who have taken on some extremely tough deadlines without flinching. I would like to welcome Lizzie Ramncwana and Hannes Mouton, two senior managers who joined the Department in the last year.

I would like to acknowledge the Western Cape Metered Taxi Association, the Western Cape Provincial Taxi Council, the Provincial Operating Licensing Board and the Property Committee.

My thanks also go to the Masakh'iSizwe Board, run so expertly by Dr Ramphele Mamphela.

Finally, I would like to thank all staff at the Department of Transport and Public Works, especially my staff in the Ministry

Conclusion

I started out by dedicating this Budget Vote address to the memory of Basil February, a brave and gallant son of the Western Cape. He sacrificed his life and limb for a dream of freedom, justice and democracy. He truly sacrificed so that the place of his birth can be a home for all-so that "South Africa could truly "belong to all who live in it."

His memory and sacrifice is echoed in the battle cry of Khawuleza that rings through every corridor of my Department; His memory and sacrifice is honoured as the spades, trowels and wheel barrows spring into action on every construction site in the Western Cape; his lifeblood pumps in the veins of hope that runs through our youth and women as they strive for a better tomorrow; his visionary action transport and inspire us along the dusty roads, the winding highways, and bustling railway lines that is the heart beat of our economy.

His memory spurs on the battle cry Khawuleza as we rise up to wikkel and intensify our actions to entrench democracy and empower the marginalized women, men and youth and disabled in our country; and as we strive for safety, peace and prosperity for all citizens of the Western Cape and South Africa, I want conclude by invoking those powerful words written by Comrade Basil February calling on us to dedicate our lives to "the cause of a better life"?a life that "will go on in the smiles of children"?A life that "will go on in the hearts of a nation".