BUDGET POLICY AND BUDGET SPEECH FOR THE DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC WORKS
31 May 2005

Madam Speaker of the Mpumalanga Legislature
The Premier of Mpumalanga, Mr Thabang Makwetla
The Deputy Speaker of the Mpumalanga Legislature
The Chairperson of the House of Traditional Leaders in Mpumalanga
Members of the Executive Council
Honourable Members of the Mpumalanga Legislature and Members of Parliament
Your excellencies the royalty of our province, Amakhosi le Magosi
Honourable mayors, speakers and councilors
Heads of departments and parastatals
Distinguished guests, friends and citizens of this province

The year 2005 is a historic year for this country. It is the year in which we celebrate the 50th anniversary of the adoption of the Freedom Charter at Kliptown, when we, the people of South Africa, black and white, spoke together of freedom. On that day, across this wide and beautiful land, our people cried out against the darkness of oppression. Their words, ringing out over five decades, have relevance even today:

“Let us speak of the good things we make, and the bad conditions of our work.
Let us speak of the many passes and the few jobs.
Let us speak of foremen, of transport, of trade unions, of holidays and houses.
LET US SPEAK OF FREEDOM

Let us speak of the light that comes with learning, and the ways we are kept in the darkness.
Let us speak of great services we can render, and of the narrow ways that are open to us.
Let us speak of laws, and government, and rights.
LET US SPEAK OF FREEDOM.”

It is a humbling thought that, in ten years of democracy, South Africa has made such rapid strides in transforming the very fabric of its society. To quote State President Thabo Mbeki in his State of the Nation Address of 11 February 2005: “We assert that our country, as a united nation, has never in its entire history, enjoyed such a confluence of encouraging possibilities.”

However, even as we enjoy the realization of the dream held by the people who gathered in Kliptown nearly half a century ago, we know that our freedom will not be complete until all our people are freed from poverty and economic dispossession. This freedom can only be achieved if the Programme of Action set out by a government that cares for its people is effectively implemented and if all who participate in this programme, is committed to service delivery in the spirit of Batho Pele.

The Mpumalanga Department of Public Works is one of the key delivery departments in the acceleration of economic growth and development and the fight against poverty in our province. Through the Expanded Public Works Programme and the provision, maintenance and management of public building infrastructure, the department is committed to improving access to government services and creating economic and employment opportunities in the construction industry. As a custodian of government property, the department also makes an important contribution to the governance of this province by acting as the manager and caretaker of workplace-related immovable assets on behalf of the provincial government. The department further puts in place the processes and policies to govern the physical work environment of the province’s public service and has the responsibility to facilitate the transformation and development of the provincial construction and property industries.

In the assessment of government’s Programme of Action over the past two years, President Thabo Mbeki announced that government had implemented 72% of the concrete actions contained in the programme within the time frames we had set ourselves. However, 14% of government’s actions have shown delays that call for urgent attention. This announcement is cause for concern for all service delivery departments and has led to serious soul-searching within the Public Works function in this province as well.

In order for the department to consolidate its efforts towards (and I quote from the honourable Premier’s State of the Province Address for 2005) opportunities for decent work and sustainable development in a vibrant, people-centred province, the following issues will have to be addressed.

In his State of the Nation Address earlier this year, the State President raised serious concerns about the capacity of the public service to implement programmes aimed at addressing the infrastructure backlogs of the past. Amongst others, President Mbeki pointed out weaknesses in the governance system that resulted in the school building programme countrywide being implemented at a much slower pace than envisaged.

The Mpumalanga Department of Public Works has taken note of this debate with interest. As a pro-active strategy to address the core issue at stake – that of service delivery – attention will be given during the course of this financial year to substantially improve services rendered to client departments. This will be done by ensuring that service delivery agreements with client departments are in place and complied with. Service monitoring and evaluation as well as consultation and feedback systems to client departments will also be improved. The department will also be working closely with the Independent Development Trust (IDT) to assist us in dealing with the large number of projects. As part of its service delivery drive all directorates as well as the department as a whole are setting measurable service delivery standards on which the department hopes to improve in the coming year.

That said, it is however necessary to point out that the budget allocated to Public Works is not adequate for it to carry out its functions to the satisfaction of its client departments. As a result of decades of under-funding for maintenance, there is a huge backlog of repairs on the provincial property portfolio for which this department is responsible. In addition to this amount, there is an additional annual requirement for ongoing maintenance in order to prevent further maintenance backlogs. The maintenance budget for 2005/2006 is insufficient to meet ongoing maintenance, and does not include funds to address the backlogs.

Madam Speaker, members of the House, one of the core public works functions is to oversee the transformation of the construction and property industries. To this end, under the leadership of the National Department of Public Works, a draft Construction Transformation Charter is currently being refined. Consultation is currently taking place. The province has already been visited and further consultation will take place in the future. It is expected that the charter will be finalized towards the end of the year. A property industry transformation charter is also in the pipeline. The two charters will assist in achieving broad based black economic empowerment targets and a more equitable dispensation in two industries that are lagging behind as far as transformation is concerned. It is also expected that Construction Transformation Charter will address the large skills gaps amongst youth, women and historically disadvantaged communities.

As part of our efforts to implement BEE legislation, the department is aligning its systems with the Preferential Procurement Policy Framework Act and the Supply Chain Management Framework. We believe that this will ensure transparency and standardization of procurement procedures. The department is proud to report that the departmental supplier database is assisting in achieving our BEE targets.

To eradicate the scourge of fronting, the department has tightened its procurement procedures, particularly regarding the criteria according to which preference points are awarded. Despite these measures, ongoing monitoring and evaluation still uncover suppliers whose credentials are questionable. The department has pledged itself to take stern measures against any supplier that misrepresents facts with the purpose to deceive.

This year will also see the implementation of the Contractors and Projects registers by the Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB) as required by the CIDB Act. The main aim of the Contractor’s Register is to improve the performance of the construction industry. We hope that, with the implementation of the Contractors Register, there will be a decrease in the number of contracts that have to be cancelled due to poor performance by the contractor. The register will also provide a framework for the development of contractors and serve as an incentive for construction companies to improve standards of delivery, including compliance with health and safety standards. The Contractors Register will be rolled out in Mpumalanga by June 2005, with the implementation of the register nationwide by the end of 2005. However, it is a cause for concern that so few of Mpumalanga’s contractors are complying with the CIDB Act. I would therefore like to appeal to our guests from the construction industry present today, to ensure that they register when the programme is rolled out in Mpumalanga.

Madam Speaker, members of the House, one of the major achievements this year has been the launch and implementation of the Expanded Public Works Programme or EPWP, of which this department is the coordinator in the province. Despite the challenges presented by the programme, (which went from launch in August 2004 to implementation the next month), cooperation from some sector departments as well as the Nkangala District Municipality led to the province exceeding its job creation target for 2004/2005. I am proud to announce that the province created 10 744 job opportunities for the unskilled or unemployed by the end of March 2005. A more detailed breakdown of the targets achieved will be provided in my report on the EPWP budget programme.

Madam Speaker, members of this House, I stand before you today to account for the activities of the new Department of Public Works in the 2004/2005 financial year, and to indicate the way forward for the next financial year.

The Department of Public Works consists of three programmes, namely Administration, Buildings and Property Management and the Expanded Public Works Programme.

Programme 1: ADMINISTRATION

Madam Speaker, Members of the House, the year 2004/2005 saw the creation of a new Department of Public Works from the former Department of Public Works, Roads and Transport. Nowhere was the restructuring so acutely felt as in the Administration Programme.

The department approved its new structure in the last quarter of the financial year, using an interim structure until its approval. It is expected that the finalisation of the structure will solve many of the service delivery problems experienced by the department in the past nine months and that it will assist the department in achieving its goals in the 2005/06 financial year. As part of the restructuring, all departmental policies also had to be reviewed. In total, 16 policies, mainly human resource and finance related, were drafted and approved during the past financial year.

In our quest for a more service orientated public service, the department has started with a Skills Audit for Senior Management and Middle Management. The audit is being coordinated by the Office of the Premier and will assist in identifying the skills gaps in the department. Officials can then be trained accordingly.

Skills development remained high on the agenda, in particular regarding financial skills. Thirty-one officials were trained on the PFMA and 79 officials were trained on Supply Chain Management in order to comply with financial regulations.

In order for the department to build capacity, five serving officials were registered for public administration learnerships. Some 45 youth, some of whom are with us today, are also registered with PSETA on four different learnerships. The learnerships are in the following fields:
Human Resource Management
Public Sector Accounting
Project Management and
Public Administration

Bursaries for 20 full-time students and 39 part-time serving officials were awarded in order to address the skills gap in the department and the Province. In 2005/2006, the department will embark on building capacity by awarding 100 learnerships, specifically in the technical fields, as well as 60 internships for professionals. In partnership with the Construction Education and Training Authority (CETA) and the Mpumalanga Regional Training Trust (MRTT), the department will further address skills gaps by assessing officials who have experience in technical fields, but who do not have formal qualifications. Officials that qualify, will be placed on artisan learnerships with MRTT. As part of our commitment to building capacity, there has further been a considerable increase in the department’s Human Resource Development budget to an amount of R3, 6 million.

The department spent R28, 018 million on capital expenditure. The department under-collected by 46% on its budgeted revenue due to Item 28 (1) certificates from the Department of Land Affairs not being vested to the Province. The delay in the issue of the certificates – usually a process of anything up to two years - led to the holdup in the sale of surplus government houses. This revenue was included in the revenue projections.

The department continued to improve financial management measures to comply with the requirements of the Supply Chain Management Framework. To enhance the principles of Batho Pele, the department will roll out the enquiry functions of BAS and PERSAL to all districts during 2005/2006.

Amongst its measures to improve financial controls, the department embarked on a risk management process through which it identified several high-risk areas and developed a risk management strategy and control measures to manage these risks. Compliance with acts, regulations and procedures will be continuously monitored. The department has finalized a fraud prevention plan that will assist in creating a culture of zero tolerance for fraud and corruption in the department.

Programme 2: PUBLIC WORKS BUILDINGS AND PROPERTY MANAGEMENT

Madam Speaker, members of the House, as part of the department’s Public Works function, it provides an infrastructure project management and professional service to several client departments.

Madam Speaker, members of the House, as part of the department’s Public Works function, it provides infrastructure project management and professional advisory services to several client departments.

In the 2004/2005 financial year, we assisted the Department of Health and Social Services with infrastructure project management and professional services on more than 85 projects. This includes hospital projects, new constructions and the renovations of clinic, construction of nurses’ homes and doctors’ residences. Amongst others, construction of the new 150-bed Piet Retief Hospital, was completed in October 2004 at a cost of R85 million.

The Department of Health and Social Services will be one of our main client departments in the 2005/2006 financial year. It is expected that we will assist with over 40 Health projects during 2005/6. This includes the construction of a pharmaceutical depot at Middelburg. The department will also be involved with the planning, design and construction of the first E-Health Care center (ITC) or electronic clinic situated at Witbank Hospital. This will enable doctors to communicate and assist in surgery through a TV system from the base station at Witbank Hospital to other hospitals and clinics throughout the province.

During 2004/2005, infrastructure project management and professional services were provided on over three hundred and thirty (330) projects for the Department of Education. During the past financial year new classrooms were completed, toilets built, water supply and electricity provided to schools. We also fenced and renovated some schools and completed the construction of two administration blocks and a special room.

Over one hundred and eighty five (185) school projects will be implemented in the 2005/2006 financial year. This includes the building of classrooms, administration blocks, laboratories, school libraries and toilets, renovations to classrooms, fencing of schools, provision of water supply and electricity to schools, and the construction of kitchens as well as rails and ramps.

The department also assisted the Department of Culture Affairs, Sports and Recreation with the design of standard libraries for rural areas as well as the planning for the proposed Provincial Archive. The feasibility study for the Provincial Archive was submitted to the Executive Council in the 2004/2005 financial year. The planning and design of the new Provincial Archive was finalized during this financial year and the department will be able to go out on tender as soon as the funding for this facility is in place.

In 2004/2005, the department also prepared three-year period contracts to keep the live support and occupational health and safety equipment in our public facilities in the best state of repair.

In total, the department will plan, design and construct more than two hundred and twenty (220) projects for client departments.

Poor service from some contractors continues to affect the cost-effectiveness and quality of our service on capital projects. As mentioned before, the implementation of the Construction Industry Development Board regulations will start in the province during the first half of 2005/2006. The department hopes this will create an enabling environment and empower more contractors through these regulations and appended training programmes.

The department will continue to do the day-to-day maintenance of the museum town of Pilgrim’s Rest without compromising its historic value. As part of the province’s efforts to promote Pilgrim’s Rest as a tourist attraction, it will host the World Gold Panning Championships in September 2005. The department has made great strides to ensure that the event is held in a healthy and safe environment. It is currently upgrading the existing sewage plant to meet Department of Water Affairs and Forestry requirements and has purchased a refuse removal truck and an ambulance in an effort to improve municipal services rendered by the department. A new fire engine will be acquired by June 2005. To increase the capacity of the water supply, the old mine reservoir will be revamped to cope with the influx of people who will be attending the World Gold Panning Championships and also improve sustainable water supply to the town. In order to improve on our revenue collection, the department will install prepaid electric meters to ensure that electricity consumed is paid prior to usage.

The verification of all provincial government land and buildings will continue in order to have a complete, updated register at the end of the verification process. The verification process will include the collection of data and relevant documents as well as physical verification. By the end of the process, all properties will hold a Surveyor General’s diagram and title deed and will be vested to the Province. During the verification, the department will also investigate other properties that are not accounted for in the current property register. The expected number of properties that need to be verified are over 11 500. The verification process will be complete by the end of 2007.

The Regional Services of the Department are responsible for maintenance of the building infrastructure of the Provincial Government. In the past year, the split of the former Department of Public Works, Roads and Transport brought both challenges and opportunities for our regional services. The challenges ranged from shortage of staff to insufficient funds to render maintenance services, especially preventative maintenance. Although a swift response to emergency day–to–day maintenance requests was achieved, more emphasis should be placed on preventative maintenance as it forms the basis for insurance against high emergency day–to-day costs. The consequential damage due to a lack of preventative maintenance could be fatal for our provincial infrastructure.

The shortage of skilled personnel, especially in the technical fields, remains a challenge and my department will continue with its efforts to obtain these skilled people. I appeal to my sister departments to refrain from creating small technical components that will erode the technical skills that do exist in the Department of Public Works, as the Province cannot afford it.

Apart from the thousands of emergency maintenance requests, some preventative maintenance work could still be embarked upon in the previous financial year.

In the Nkangala Region some 12 projects were implemented for a total amount of R14, 2 million. These projects included some upgrading and improvements as well, like the concrete palisade fence around the KwaMhlanga Government Complex and the Siyabuswa and Kwaggafontein District Offices. Some four projects were embarked upon in the Ehlanzeni Region totaling R4, 2 million. These include the renovation of the Sabie, Lydenburg and Tonga District Offices. The Gert Sibande Region implemented renovations and repairs on four projects, which included the Ermelo and Carolina District Offices as well as the renovation of houses in Bethal and Ermelo.

These projects created a further 686 job opportunities that is so desperately needed in the Province.

In an effort to ensure that preventative maintenance receives the maximum funds available without neglecting the ever increasing demand for emergency day-to-day maintenance, the Department plans to embark on some 17 projects in the 2005/06 financial year totaling R20,5 million. These projects will further contribute to the EPWP cause in the Province as they will incorporate EPWP principles in their tender documents.

Projects include the repair of and renovations to the Standerton and Piet Retief District Offices in Gert Sibande. The upgrading of the Louieville Sewage Works, renovation of 150 prefabricated houses in Ehlanzeni Region as well as general repairs to the Ekangala offices, renovation of the library in KwaMhlanga, houses in Middelburg and Belfast and the District Office at Vaalbank in the Nkangala Region will also be undertaken.

The Department of Public Works will continue its efforts to render an outstanding service to its clients through skilled staff, thus contributing to the efforts embodied in the EPWP to create job opportunities that are so desperately needed in our Province.

Programme 3: EXPANDED PUBLIC WORKS PROGRAMME

The province has already achieved considerable success in working towards its EPWP job creation target. The provincial Expanded Public Works Programme was launched on 30 August 2004 at Ntwane Village in the Nkangala Region. I am proud to report that by the end of February, this province had already exceeded the 10 000 target for the 2004/2005 financial year by 744 jobs.

However, there is no time for the province to sit on its laurels. We have a number of tough targets to reach before 2009. According to the EPWP’s strategic plan, we need to create 20 000 jobs in this financial year, double the amount of the previous. The province faces several challenges in reaching these targets.

The first challenge is to bring all sectors on board to achieve the provincial job creation targets. Currently, the Infrastructure sector is leading job creation with 7 056 jobs created through a variety of infrastructure projects, followed by the Social sectors and Environmental and Cultural sectors. The Economic sector, which is responsible for the stimulation of SMME’s, cooperatives, incubation programmes, beneficiation and production programmes, will only come on board in 2005 through a variety of venture learnerships. There is also enormous scope for further job creation through the Infrastructure sector, in particular through municipal infrastructure projects under the Municipal Infrastructure Grant and through labour-intensive housing projects. As announced by the State President, Mr. Thabo Mbeki in February 2005, Early Childhood Development Projects also need to be increased and can add considerably to the Social sector contribution. Mpumalanga’s ECD projects will start in this financial year.

The second challenge is to ensure that both potential and actual beneficiaries of the EPWP have access to information on what they can expect from the programme and what their rights and obligations are. The department will therefore embark on a marketing, workshop and information drive during 2005/2006 to ensure that the unemployed and unskilled have an opportunity to participate in the EPWP.
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One of government’s fundamental strategies in reducing unemployment, is to improve the education system is such a manner that the workforce is able to take up the largely skilled work opportunities which economic growth will generate.

A core principle of the EPWP is therefore to combine productive work for the unemployed with training so that they can increase their capacity to earn an income. This means close cooperation with the Department of Labour in order to maximise on training programmes and putting in place well-coordinated EPWP learnership programmes together with the SETAs (such as the Construction Education Training Authority). In Mpumalanga, two learnership programmes are already in progress, namely a road construction learnership under the Department of Roads and Transport and a municipal infrastructure learnership project under the Nkangala District Council.

Under the two-year road construction learnership, 45 learners (that consist of 15 learner contractors and 30 road construction supervisors) are working and training on the construction of three low-volume provincial roads. These are the Gutshwakop-Luphisi road, the Fernie road and the Greater Groblersdal road. The Construction Education and Training Authority is coordinating the road construction learnership training through a service provider, which will enable these emerging contractors to gain the necessary skills to build roads labour-intensively. A mentor engineer appointed by the National Department of Public Works is overseeing their progress, while private sector partner ABSA is providing the necessary finance for the selected contractors.

The Nkangala District Council has offered 21 learnerships in municipal infrastructure construction under the Municipal Infrastructure Grant. This project has also provided 838 job opportunities.

The groundwork for the implementation of a third infrastructure contractor learnership in the Embalenhle Municipality was also started in 2004/2005. The 32 candidates for the 10 learnerships, namely 10 learner contractors and 22 learner supervisors, have been selected and they are expected to start work and training on a variety of municipal infrastructure projects in this financial year. The key objective of these programmes is to enable the selected contractors to emerge at the end of the two-year period as fully-fledged entrepreneurs.

However, the EPWP faces several challenges around skills development.

Firstly, there is a huge skills gap in the construction and building fields in the province. A lack of suitably qualified architects, quantity surveyors, engineers and technicians in the public and private sector makes it difficult to oversee learnership programmes effectively and efficiently. Training service providers and mentors within the province who can provide a high level of technical training are also hard to find. This is a countrywide problem that needs serious attention.

Appropriate skills development is essential if beneficiaries are to increase their opportunities to earn an income. Lessons learnt from previous job creation and poverty alleviation programmes, such as the Community Based Public Works Programme, have shown that skills development should reach much further than just the transfer of a technical skill, but should include for example the transfer of financial and self-management skills. For this reason, training on projects of up to six months will include training that covers life skills and information about other education, training and employment opportunities.

In order to develop the capacity of the construction industry to manage labour intensive projects, there is an eligibility requirement for the appointment of contractors and consulting engineers on all EPWP projects. All key staff involved in an EPWP project must undergo special NQF accredited training programmes in labour intensive construction. The department will implement this requirement in 2004/2005 as it is essential to the success of the EPWP.

A key principle of the EPWP is to provide the unemployed with opportunities to participate in the formal labour market. The EPWP has set the following benchmarks, namely 40% women, 30% youth and 2% disabled. These targets were re-prioritised from the initial benchmark of 60% women, 20% youth and 2% disabled.

As mentioned before, all contractors – both existing and emerging - are expected to register with the Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB) before the end of the year if they want to be appointed on a public sector contract. This includes the PDI, women, youth and disabled contractors that the province would like to utilise on EPWP infrastructure projects. Delays in the implementation of the CIDB registration could hold serious implications for the EPWP.

The CIDB pilot project with Limpopo Department of Public Works and eThekwini Metro Council has shown that only 11% of registered contractors with contracting capacity is black-owned. Of these, only two black-owned contractors have a tendering capability greater than R5 million, while the majority (79%) can only tender on contracts of R100 000 and less. The picture becomes even bleaker when the registered black-owned enterprises are broken down into class of works, with only 4,5% of registered black-owned enterprises operating in the civil engineering field, 2,4% in mechanical engineering and 1,2% in electrical engineering.

As Mpumalanga is expected to follow very much the same trend, the abovementioned facts have serious implications for our contractor empowerment targets on the EPWP.

The department has set the following plans and strategies in place to ensure that we improve our systems, work processes and institutional structures to make service delivery on the EPWP possible. We have also looked at ways in which we could improve our interaction and communication with both the beneficiaries of the EPWP programme as well as the internal implementers of EPWP projects.

All provincial government departments and municipalities are represented on the Provincial EPWP Steering Committee. Through this committee, job creation objectives are set for each of the sectors. Coordination through this structure will be further refined in the coming financial year, with the appointment of dedicated representatives in each department and municipalities contributing to the provincial EPWP. These key staff members will also be trained on the EPWP guidelines in the coming financial year to ensure that they can fulfill both the strategic planning and oversight role necessary for job creation in their particular sector.

Improvement in the coordination, reporting, monitoring and evaluation structures will also ensure that the province enhances the impact of the EPWP. By including EPWP projects in all departmental strategic plans and the Integrated Development Plans of municipalities, government can ensure that EPWP projects are implemented in areas of high unemployment and that duplication of services are minimised, if not eliminated. Several workshops have already been held with district municipalities to ensure the smooth implementation of the EPWP through the MIG programme. The coming financial year will see a continuation of this local government consultation and information programme.

The processes I have describe will ensure that all contributors to the provincial EPWP work to the same high standard of service spelt out in the guidelines for the programme and that proper consultation takes place.

These improvements will also ensure that the province allocates financial resources to areas that can create maximum job opportunities, such as Early Childhood Development Projects, and that the EPWP provides value for money in the assets it provides. As another part of its contribution to the EPWP, the department will implement three cluster projects consisting of 10 smaller projects in the three regions to the value of R7,9 million.

The province will continue to strengthen coordination with the National Department of Public Works, the Construction Education and Training Authority (CETA) as well as the Department of Labour to ensure that the skills development and learnerships take place. This includes the effective implementation of Memoranda of Understanding between CETA and the departments providing infrastructure learnerships as well as the Service Level Agreement between the Independent Development Trust (IDT) and Public Works. Lessons learnt from the learnerships currently in progress are being applied to new learnerships, in particular as far as the support offered to learner contractors and supervisors and improvements to the course content.

The EPWP unit in conjunction with the National Department of Public Works is working hard to refine reporting, monitoring, evaluation and feedback mechanisms. Improvements in the monitoring and evaluation systems will ensure that we reach our empowerment targets and impact positively on the unemployed. Amongst others, the Department of Public Works is in the process of beefing up its EPWP unit.

I am confident that the province will, through the continued application of the Batho Pele principles, make a significant impact on reducing unemployment in the province through the EPWP and that we will reach our targets in the coming four years.

Madam Speaker, members of the House, it is a pleasure for me to present the budget of the Mpumalanga Department of Public Works, to you as follows:

The total budget of the department for the 2005/ 2006 financial year is R272.301 million. It will be allocated as follows:

Programme 1 Administration R 55.855 million
Programme 2 Public Works Buildings and Property Management R 206.659 million
Programme 3 Expanded Public Works Programmes R 9.787 million

In conclusion, let me take this opportunity to thank the Office of the Auditor General, Provincial Internal Audit, Provincial Treasury and the Standing Committee on Public Accounts for pointing out areas of weakness than needed improvement. This has assisted us in improving our management systems.

I would also like to thank the Honourable Premier Thabang Makwetla, Members of the Executive Council, Members of the Legislature and the Portfolio Committee on Public Works for their guidance and the oversight and advisory role they played in relation to our department.

I wish to thank the HOD for the Department, all senior managers as well as staff of the department for their assistance in putting together such a goal directed and strategic budget. If this is an example of the kind of service delivery we can expect, there are great things ahead in the next year as we build a people’s contract for better public infrastructure for all the people of Mpumalanga. I would also like to extend my gratitude to the members of my family and my office for their unwavering support at all times.

To return to the quote with which I started my address today, let us work together on building our freedom as a province and as a nation so that at the end of the next decade of freedom our voices can ring out (if you would allow me some poetic freedom to adjust my original quote):

“Let us speak of the good things we make, and the favourable conditions of our work.
Let us speak of the many opportunities and the many jobs.
Let us speak of leaders, of assets, of services, of holidays and houses.
LET US CELEBRATE FREEDOM

Let us speak of the light that comes with learning, and the ways we keep on developing.
Let us speak of great services we can render, and of the many ways that are open to us.
Let us speak of just laws, good government, and human rights.
LET US CELEBRATE OUR FREEDOM.”