NELSPRUIT

07 MARCH 2007

SUBJECT: EXECUTIVE COUNCIL MEETING

The Executive Council met on Wednesday March 7, 2007 at Nelspruit for its fortnightly meeting. The South African National Road Agency Limited (SANRAL) made a comprehensive presentation of the status quo of roads in the province. The major emphasis of the presentation was to ensure that maintenance of roads is of crucial importance in the planning process of the construction of roads. Failure to do results in the serious degradation of our roads and in some cases total destruction of these roads. Coal trucks in the Gert Sibande District Municipality are the biggest challenge in this regard.

The Executive Council discussed and approved a presentation by the Department of Finance on the Provincial Policy on Public Private Partnership (PPP).The objective of the policy is to ensure uniformity in approach throughout departments. It is envisaged that the policy will contribute to the speeding up of service delivery and thereby contribute to the attainment of the goals of the Provincial Growth and Development Strategy (PGDS).

Furthermore the purpose of the policy is to ensure empowerment, poverty reduction, capacity building and facilitation of private sector investment in projects identified as suitable for public-private-partnerships.

The Provincial Cabinet also discussed and approved the Mpumalanga Agricultural Development Corporation Bill, 2007. The purpose of the Bill is to repeal the Mpumalanga Agricultural Development Act 6 of 1996 so as to bring it in line with statutory framework of similar public bodies and Public Finance Management Act of 1999. The Bill will be published in the Provincial Gazette and a notice will be published in the newspapers to allow for public comments.

The Department of Local Government and Housing made a comprehensive progress report to the Executive Council on the de-establishment of cross boundary municipalities between Mpumalanga and Gautengs provinces and between Mpumalanga and Limpopo provinces for the smooth final hand over on March 31 2007.

Issued by the Communication Chief Directorate

Office of the Premier

NELSPRUIT

Contact Lebona Mosia at 082 5616465/+27 13 7662244 lmosia@nel . Mpu.gov.za