Briefing by the Economic and Infrastructure Development Clusters

Journalist: what new directions would the finalisation of IPAP bring? The successes of infrastructure development have been great; however under-expenditure and inefficient expenditure were still a concern. What was government doing to tighten up the system?

Journalist: the study which was done by the Department of Rural Development and Land Reform on the re-opening of land claim indicated that the Department would need around R 179 billion for this; was there any money from the fiscus allocated for this? How far was the Department of Human Settlements in re-building the houses which were of poor quality, has any money been recovered from these contracting companies who built these houses?

Journalist: while infrastructure delivery has been impressive, there have been numerous service delivery protests over basic services, in particular water. There was some mention made in the Budget Speech that the Department of Water and Environmental Affairs would be taking over some of the water infrastructure which was under local government. How would this be happening, and what plans did the Department have for addressing this failure at local government level? Housing delivery has slowed down quite dramatically over the last five years; what were the exact figures on this? The Rural Infrastructure Grant, which was administered by the Department of Human Settlements has been a total disaster. The programme had spent around 10% of its budget. Has there been any improvement since Minister September stepped in?

Journalist: could the Minister of Higher Education talk about the two new universities which were recently opened. How was the administration of these universities going and what time frames could the department give for when these institutions would be fully-fledged?

Journalist: could the Department of Transport talk about its expansion plans for the Gautrain. It seemed like the Department would need a lot of money for land claims. High expectations have been the reason for most of the debate about land claims. Would land claims only be processed on 30 July 2019, seeing that there was no money for this currently? What expansion plans did the Department of Transport have for the passenger rail?

Journalist: a lot of reference was being made to the Agricultural Policy Action Plan, which had not yet been presented to Parliament. Could the Department of Land and Rural Development indicate how far the plan was and when it would be presented to Parliament? Did it take the same form and structure as the IPAP?

Journalist: why was there was no mention on e-tolling in Minister Patel’s briefing. Keeping in mind all the protests against e-tolling, was this the best was the department could raise funds for infrastructure development?

Minister Nkwinti: Minister Davies would deal with the Agricultural Policy Action Plan (APAP) because Minister Joematt Petterson was not present at the meeting.

Minister Davies: IPAP has always been a three-year rolling action plan; it was not a vision document. It covers the start of the financial year and was therefore designed as the budget. The dti has prepared a draft, but the plan was that of government as a whole, and would therefore need to go through governmental processes. The dti was ready to launch IPAP at the appropriate time. The Agricultural Policy Action Plan (APAP) was still under discussion therefore government could not go into much detail concerning this. However the plan had a similar intention as IPAP but obviously focused on the agricultural sector. Information on the plan would be released at the appropriate time.

Minister Nkwiti: the regulatory impact assessment on land was an estimate which came up with the R 179 billion figure which would be required over a period of 15 years. The question around whether the Department would have that money was however misplaced because the re-opening was announced by the President; it was therefore a government policy not a departmental policy decision. This meant that it would be funded through the fiscus. Government took the decision that the process would be budgeted for. The Minister of Finance went on record to say no programme of government which was properly motivated, would go unfunded. On the question around budget cuts, the department was discussing this with National Treasury and there was agreement that over the MTEF period there would be a deduction of about R 2 billion. The department was not worried about this.

Journalist: would land claims be a continuous process.

Minister Nkwithi: there would be a five year window period in which claims would be launched. After which claims would begin to be processed. Processing of claims for 1998 and 2019 would happen simultaneously, however 1998 claims would be prioritised in terms of payments. It was however important to note that there were a lot of cases which were still in court and were being contested. This played a major part with regards to the current delays in claims research and contestation. The department anticipated that a lot of the claims would be from people who missed out during the first window because they didn’t submit claims.

Minister September: the department had an on-going programme called the Rectification Programme. In various parts of the country where houses were built of a poor quality, provinces could apply to the Rectification Fund. With regards to the recovery of money, the department working with the National Home Builders Registration Council (NHBRC) would take care of the quality of housing. The NHBRC would conduct quality investigation and/or recover any money from the contractors where necessary. The figures which were requested on the number of houses which had been built over the last years; these figures would be made available to the public. The department was however still faced with some serious challenges with regards to delivery. The Department of Human Settlements together with the Department of Health and the Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs had a ministerial committee which the departments worked jointly for the provision of sanitation. The importance of this committee was that at municipal level COGTA was there to make sure that there where proper figures and that all relevant areas where covered.

Minister Peters: indicated that the Gauteng province, through its Department of Transport and Roads have developed a 25 year integrated public transport plan. A feasibility study would be conducted to look at the possibility of expanding the Gautrain services to Mamelodi in Tswhane as well as to Soweto. However, from the initial indications and inputs from the public, there was also a call to include Fourways in this line. There was a bit of a challenge around Gautrain and parking for its commuters. The Gautrain had a feeder bus service but people where not using this service when they leave their homes; they would rather drive. But this caused a lot of congestion with regards to parking. With regards to the passenger rail, metrorail trains where more than 50 years old. The department’s intentions where therefore to first refurbish and revamp the existing trains while it was working on the new railing. The East London to King Williams town rail would be re-opened. President Jacob Zuma also opened the Bridge City Development line. The Moloto rail development was also underway. On road transport and e-tolling, South Africa had about 3000 kilometers of toll roads. There were 201 kilometers which were the ones using electronic tolling. Out of the total budget which SANRAL had, 86% of it came from the fiscus and only 14% of it came from users. An additional 1600 kilometers had been added by the Limpopo province into SANRAL and there was also an additional 1400 from North West, 1500 from the Eastern Cape. The country needed about R 150 billion to deal with the backlogs on road infrastructure, and without the user-pay principle it would take many years to achieve this objective. South Africans therefore needed to contribute to evening out infrastructures such as roads. The department was highly appreciative of the number of Gauteng road users who had already registered and received their tags for E-tolling. She said the only challenge left was that users understood their bills. 

Minister Molewa: the infrastructure record under discussion was indeed very impressive. Government was also moving towards a greener economy through the reduction of carbon emissions. On the question on the various unrests as a result of poor service delivery, it was important that we acknowledge the impressive record of infrastructure development, mainly coordinated at national level. There was however bound to be refurbishment and maintenance of every infrastructure and this was the area which leads to some challenges of water at local municipal level. However this was not the only cause of unrest, some reasons where political. In some cases the unrests where as a result of infrastructure not being maintained or upgraded, in some cases water not being available. However in some cases there was complete sabotage of processes. In the area of sanitation the department was working with Cogta in order to help provide water and refurbish existing infrastructure. Section 54 of the Constitution required that national government support and work with municipalities. There were many instances where national government stepped in to work with municipalities such as Makana, Grahamstown. There were however instances where there was no capacity at municipal level and national government would therefore be necessitated to move in or “take over”. However these would not necessarily be “take over’s” because national government would then need to apply Section 139 of the Constitution. The Minister indicated that in Limpopo national government was doing refurbishments of about 809 bore holes which were non-functional. The department had already deployed dispersed 150 bursaries for engineering studies.

Minister Nzimande: Sol Plaaitjie University opened on 15 February 2014 and the University of Mpumalanga opened on 19 February 2014. The University of Mpumalanga had an intake of 150 new students; however in total the university had 250 students. The University of Sol Plaaitjie had an intake of 127 new students. Details about the various programmes to which students where registered into would be made available to the public. The University of Mpumalanga’s main campus in Nelspruit was designed to have about 16 000 students in about 10 years time and the Sol Plaaitjie University in Kimberly was designed to have 7000 students in 10 years time. The next phase of the departments plan was to plan around the campuses because there would be multi-campus sites. The University of Mpumalanga for example was likely to have an engineering campus around Secunda, in proximity to Sasol in that area. All registered student were accommodated in student residences. With these new universities the department’s plans where that 80% of students be accommodated at university residences, given the fact that around 20% of students where living at residences. It was very interesting that a number of lectures where applying to be the first in these new universities. The department also had a plan to increase the number of Masters and PHD students in the system.

Journalist: R 2.7 billion was allocated to the Human Settlements Development Grant. When was this allocation made and which where the identified mining towns to which the grant would be allocated to?

Journalist: what did government mean by “job opportunity”; was this a permanent job? The cost of living had increased dramatically over the last couple of years. Electricity over the last 5 years shot up by about 300% and fuel has gone up by about R5 per litre. Was the country not reaching a point where people would simply not be able to afford to pay for services? Government could only subsidise people to a certain extent. The Minister of Finance in his speech said one of the big concerns concerning economic growth going forward was that of electricity infrastructure rollout and the potential that it might be delayed. How serious of a threat was this given that Medupi had not yet delivered the envisaged power supply?

Journalist: shale gas mining and exploration had gained a bit of traction since it was mentioned by various Ministers. A lot of concern was raised by environmentalists; what was the status of the talks which had been facilitated by government? Would there be any slow down on the regulations and the issuing of licensing so that all voices would be heard?

Minister Hanekom: my job essentially was not about defining “job opportunity” therefore any other Minister would probably respond to the question better. There had been an increase in a number of full-time jobs; however a lot of people still remained unemployed. A “job opportunity” as described in the manifesto of the ruling party was not a full-time job but rather an opportunity for people to work. In some cases however it was full-time in nature, especially under the community works programme. The expanded Public Works Programme had projects which were concluded with people to give some form of dignity. The department was committed to reducing the challenge of unemployment in the country. The Community Works Programme and the Extended Public Works Programme should not be overlooked, many job opportunities where being created with people obtaining training among other work experience. One of the department’s most successful programme has been the Working for Water Programme and other related programmes.

Minister Molewa: the Inter-Ministerial Committee was still meeting to process the matter of shale gas. The Committee has already issued draft regulations, and the team has heard all comments on these regulations. The Minister of Mineral Resources was ready to consolidate the final regulations which had considered external views. In addition, government was looking at issues which people where concerned about, especially the concerns raised by the environmentalists around water and the possible degradation of the environment. What Cabinet agreed that the country was at the point of exploration and not exploitation, a distinction between the two was therefore important? Only after the exploration process would government look into exploitation. The Ministry was therefore looking forward to posting the finalized regulations. The department was developing a communications strategy to the communities involved.

Minister Hainekom: SKA was a project of global significance. Shale gas, should it advance towards exploitation would not jeopardise the SKA or pose any risks.

Minister Molewa: we should not lose sight that Shale gas was a fossil fuel and would be helping the country to deal with carbon emissions.

Minister September: the money which had been put aside for the Human Settlements Development Grant would enable government to continue with the projects which had been identified, in particular the mining houses around the North West area. This was a continuous process. The department had set a target of upgrading their 400 000 units and by December 2013 it had exceeded this target with 417 000 units being upgraded. The department has further identified areas which needed to be restructured, especially around rental housing. In the rental housing, the department has been able to produce 51 000 houses. In the private housing sector, the department has made available over 10 000 units. About 27 different municipalities have been accredited which would enable municipalities to provide houses through empowerment. Through development finance institutions, the department has been able to provide various loans; 270 loans have been made available. This information would be made available to the public.

Minister Peters: one of the biggest opportunities the development of shale gas has made was that potential for storage has been increased. In 2009, the President made a commitment to the National Climate Change Response Strategy; the department was therefore consistently working towards responding to this strategy, especially around reducing gas emissions. The Department of Public Enterprises was working with the Department of Energy were engaging Eskom and the contractors to make sure that the commitment to deliver in 2014 and 2015 at Medupi and Kusile where underway. The country had made great strides around energy, and research has indicated that South Africa was one of the biggest developers around renewable energy around the world. The media was therefore invited to visit communities so they could better understand the jobs which have been created in this regard. Shale gas was a game changer, and it was therefore important that South Africa moved towards the exploration of this commodity. The work which had been done by the Department of Mineral Resources needed to be appreciated. The regulations tabled by the Minister of Mineral Resources went beyond shale gas.

Minister Nkwinti: the rising costs of living were not unique to South Africa. The global economic crises could not be ignored; every economic region around the world was affected by this. Fuel, transport, food and electricity were areas which were hitting everybody; the important thing was that the country needed to focus on the Agricultural Policy Action Plan, agricultural development was important. The extent which the country imported food in comparison to the extent of food which was locally produced was also an area which needed to be looked at. Government was therefore looking to regulate imports, especially that of sugar. Corruption and fraud were some of the main factors hindering economic growth, therefore government spend needed to be closely monitored. With the energy mix, government was trying to reduce dependence on external energy supplies by strengthening the country’s energy reserves. The world was changing rapidly and the stability if the economy was critical. Coordinate efforts between government structures was vital.

The briefing came to an end.

Media Briefing: 

 

Infrastructure Development Cluster media briefing: Speaking notes by the Economic Development Minister Ebrahim Patel

04 March 2014

It is an honour for us to be here today for the final post-State of the Nation Address briefing by these Clusters, as we approach the end of the political term that began in 2009. Given this importance, it is also a special honour to expand on the expansive evidence President Jacob Zuma presented in the State of the Nation Address of how South Africa has become a better place in which to live. It is also clear to us that we are, as the President said, “a nation at work” and that we are creating opportunities on many fronts in our war on unemployment.

We are here today to brief the nation on achievements made jointly by the Economic Sectors and Employment (ESE) and Infrastructure Development (IDC) Clusters. During our 20 Years of Freedom, South Africa has achieved a level of macro-economic stability not seen before 1994. This achievement created opportunities for real increases in expenditure on social services, and reduced the costs and risks for investors. It in turn laid the foundation for sustained investment and improved growth.

The 2008 global economic crisis presented a major challenge to the economy resulting in job losses estimated of about 1 million and declining economic activities. In 2010, the government adopted the New Growth Path, which placed job creation at the center of economic policy. This was further reinforced through the adoption of the National Development Plan.

South Africa’s labour market has continued to recovery from the 2008 global economic downturn. It is through the implementation of targeted interventions to support the economy that the economy turned around. In 2013, employment climbed by 653 000, or 4,5%. Employment now totals 15, 2 million, the highest level ever. Since 2009, employment has risen by 1,3 million. Today 43,3% of working-age South Africans are employed, up from 41% in 2010 and below 40% in 1994. While this is a real improvement, unemployment remains unacceptably high.

In the fourth quarter of 2013, the investment rate climbed to 19,2% of the GDP, compared to 18,9% a year earlier and 18,5% in the fourth quarter of 2010. The increase in the investment rate was driven above all by public investment, which reached 7, 3% of the GDP in the fourth quarter of 2013, compared to 6,7% in the fourth quarter of 2010.

Economic Infrastructure    
The infrastructure build programme has played a key role in South Africa’s recovery from the 2008/9 economic downturn. This admistration has spent over R1 trillion on economic infrastructure. The Presidential Infrastructure Coordination Commission was established to streamline the delivery of infrastructure in the economy. Critical infrastructure programmes have included investments in rural infrastructure, developing alternative energy sources, expanding access to broadband and building corridors along the backbone of our logistics systems.

Industrialisation
A further pillar of our economic programme has been industrialisation, driven by the Industrial Policy Action Plan (IPAP). The cumulative outcome of interventions under IPAP includes:

• Investment incentives have spurred approximately R143 billion in private sector investments, creating around 144 000 jobs in the process.
• Some 200 000 jobs have been retained in sectors that are either in distress or have been assisted to export through the Export Marketing and Investment Assistance, Automotive Investment Scheme, Manufacturing Competiveness Improvement Programme and Clothing and Textiles Competitive Programme.

More than 15 000 formal enterprises have been assisted by the DTI
In the past two years, we have seen substantial diversification of the auto industry, led by the recent establishment of two new minibus-taxi assembly plants. New investments and developments in the automotive sector include:

• The German auto component group, Friedrich Boysen GmbH, investing R180m in a new 10 000m2 plant;
• BMW SA introducing a third shift at its Rosslyn plant;
• Mercedes Benz SA beginning a recruitment drive for 600 new positions in preparation for production of the new C-class;
• Beijing Automotive Works (BAW) investing R196m in a taxi assembly plant for the South African/sub-Saharan markets;
• Toyota SA opening a new Ses’fikile tax assembly line in Durban along with a R363m investment in a parts distribution warehouse – the largest in Africa, and
• China’s First Automotive Work starting on the construction of a truck plant at the Coega IDZ in the Eastern Cape.

Ladies and gentlemen, key to economic diversification is the mobilisation of industrial financing for new industries. Since 2009, finance approvals by the Industrial Development Corporation more than doubled compared to the previous five years, reaching a total of R55 billion between April 2009 and March 2013. The IDC now leverages around 6% of total investment in South Africa. Moreover, it has aligned its spending with the Jobs Drivers in the New Growth Path.

Mineral Development
The mining sector remains a major contributor to economic growth and employment. Therefore, government has led an initiative, together with mining companies and unions, to ensure the implementation of key agreements that seek to stabilise the industry. Critical steps include:

• Strengthening the regulatory certainty in mining through the streamlining of authorisation processes,
• Establishing Mine Crime Combating Forums in North West, Limpopo and Mpumalanga, Free State and Gauteng;
• Prioritisation by the CCMA of mine disputes; 
• Reducing employee indebtedness. The National Credit Regulator has taken action against unscrupulous micro-lenders. Twelve microlenders have been closed in Rustenburg as a result of this initiative; and. 
• Allocating R2,7 billion to the Human Settlements Development Grant (HSDG) for identified mining towns.

Energy Infrastructure
The Government has undertaken a number of initiatives to ease the pressure on our national electricity grid. The delivery of Eskom’s build programme and integration of the private sector in electricity generation is crucial to ensure that we have sufficient generating capacity to the economy’s demand. In this regard, Eskom has completed the Return to Service Programme adding 1 700MW to the grid. The installation of the Open Cycle Gas Turbines also played a role to ease the pressure on the national grid and avoid the total collapse of the system.

The construction of the two major power stations Medupi and Kusile has progressed with both set to deliver power in 2014 and 2015 respectively.  In addition, the Ingula Pumped Storage Scheme will be Eskom’s third pumped storage scheme with an output of 1 332MW, mostly used during peak-demand periods. The total investment on these 3 projects is estimated at R250 billion and the timely delivery of these projects will continue to receive attention. 

The Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Programme has gained traction with 3 windows having being concluded. Since 2012 to date, we have concluded 47 contracts for renewable energy across 9 provinces with total investment of R70 billion. The projects will add 2 460 MW of power to the grid. This is a vote  of confidence in the policies that we have implemented to reform the electricity sector. 

These investments have also ensured access to electricity by households. In 1994 only 34% of households had access to electricity, and through the relentless efforts of this government, today 86% of South African households have access to electricity. The quality of life for many has markedly improved due to the delivery of this basic service.

In addition to adding much-needed capacity to the national electricity grid, the Renewable Energy Power Producers programme has had a further positive impact on poverty-stricken rural areas, where community members are being trained and skilled to take up jobs in previously unknown technologies.
 
Government has installed more than 20 000 solar water geysers. In line with the Green Economy Accord, the contractual model for the solar water geysers programme has been revised to include a 70% local-content minimum requirement. The revised contractual model will optimize localization benefits and create much-needed jobs.
 
Public Transport
Government has made significant strides in public transport infrastructure development. These strides are changing the way commuters find their way around our major centers for work and leisure and are creating certainty for workers and employers who rely on predictable, safe and comfortable public transport as a means to support productivity.

Our primary modes of public transport are passenger trains, buses and mini-bus taxis. We have made progress in achieving our policy objectives of an Integrated Public Transport Network through the introduction of Bus us Rapid Transit systems in several cities. In Johannesburg, the Rea Vaya Bus Rapid Transit system has been in operation since 2010 and currently transports more than 40 000 people a day.

In Cape Town, the MyCiti Bus Rapid Transit system has been in operation since 2011 and currently transports more than 10 000 people a day. Tshwane has started with the construction of Phase 1 of A Re Yeng which is 35 km long from Rainbow Junction in the North, through the central business district, all the way to Menlyn in the East. In the North West, Rustenburg has so far built 8 kilometers of BRT. In KwaZulu-Natal, Ethekwini has started with the construction of 18 kilometers from Inanda to Pinetown.

In Nelson Mandela Bay in the Eastern Cape, the Ibhongo Lethu system already operates 25 buses and 15 more kilometers are being completed from the CBD to Cleary Park. The remaining 5 cities of Polokwane, Mangaung, Mbombela, Msunduzi and Ekurhuleni are finalizing their operational plans and designs.

Rural Scholar Transport
In recognition of the challenges confronting learners who attend school far away from their homes, we introduced the Rural Scholar Transport programme. At the moment, more than 360 000 learners are benefiting nationally. Since the introduction of Shova Kalula the Department of Transport in partnership with provinces, municipalities and private sector have distributed about 177 310 bicycles.

Rail Transport
Government has begun to invest billions of rand in new rolling stock, infrastructure upgrades and the building of new depots. As rail is the backbone of our future public transport system, government will over the next few years invest more than R50 billion in passenger rail infrastructure and services.

Over the next 20 years, PRASA will implement the New Rolling Stock Acquisition Programme, which will transform and modernize passenger rail to ensure safe and reliable passenger service. The first set of new trains from this programme will start operating in 2015.

In 2006, we commenced with the construction of the Gautrain Rapid Rail Link connecting Tshwane, Ekurhuleni and Johannesburg. The current daily passenger trip number stands at more than 50 000 on weekdays. We have plans to expand Gautrain to the eastern and western extremes of Gauteng.

Road Transport
Before 1994, the National Department of Transport was responsible for a road network of less than 530 km. In 1998, the ANC Government established SANRAL to manage the national road asset and is now managing over 19 700 km. Over the last 5 years, SANRAL awarded contracts worth R49 billion for new works, rehabilitation and improvement, and various maintenance cycles. SANRAL spent a total of R12 billion on contracts with SMMEs, of which more than R8.9 billion went to 5 494 black enterprises.

The SANRAL skills development programme trained 72 064 people in road-building projects at a cost of about R112 million, with 23 200 women being trained in the process. During the peak of the Gauteng Freeway Improvement Project construction phase approximately 20 000 jobs were created.

Aviation 
We have invested billions of rand to ensure that our country has world-class airports that can help realise South Africa’s full economic potential. Between 2006 and 2010 the Airports Company of South Africa invested R17 billion in airport infrastructure upgrades, including the addition of the new King Shaka International Airport in Durban, and the OR Tambo and Cape Town International Airports.

ICT Infrastructure
To modernise communications and improve our economic efficiency, 37 000 kilometres of fibre-optic cable has been laid by private and public sectors  in the past five years. Since 2009, 1 367 schools, 234 community ICT access centres and 18 Further Education & Training (FET) colleges have been connected to the internet. Government’s broadband policy known as “South Africa Connect”, aims to have all schools, public health and other government facilities - as well as 90% of the general - population be connected by year 2020.

Infraco has invested just over R1 billion since 2009 on 13 000 kilometres of fibre-optic cable, which includes a core network linking the main cities; a regional network linking SA with its neighbours, and an interface with the EASSY submarine cable linking SA with the world.

Agriculture and rural development
Employment in agriculture grew by around 65 000 from December 2009 to December 2013, reversing a trend of job losses stretching back to the 1970s. In an effort to improve the rural economy, household income and access to nutrition  a total of 1 740 555 hectares of land were acquired, redistributed and restituted or restored from 2009 up to September 2013. About R20 billion was spent between 2009 and 2013 to implement land restitution and distribution.

To ensure sustained production on productive land, 700 000 small holder producers - including those under the recapitilisation and development programme - were supported through various initiatives including access to finance and mentoring. The Fetsa Tlala programme, which aims to support emerging farmers, was launched on 24 October 2013. Planting is taking place on 230 000 hectares of land in six provinces with half of the land set aside for smallholders. A total of 10 271 resource poor historically disadvantaged producers were supported to access water for agricultural purposes, and over 18 000 hectares were irrigated during this period.

From 1 April 2009 until 31 December 2013 a total 2 400 000 hectares of land has been added to the area of land under rehabilitation and restoration. A total of 3 486 000 hectares was cleared as part of follow-up treatment. A further 33 341 smallholder producers were assisted to access markets and 1 284 producer cooperatives and marketing depots were established in order to increase their competitiveness and take advantage of market opportunities.

An additional 22 cooperatives have been linked to the Department of Social Development’s Food for All programmes as part of procuring produce for social programmes from the very smallholders who are being supported by government.

DAFF drafted an Agricultural Policy Action Plan, or APAP, with a focus on six value chains based on their potential contribution to food security, job creation, growth potential and potential contribution to the trade balance, including by replacing imports. Furthermore, we have committed to extending the primary animal health care programme to smallholders in all provinces.

In the past year, 23 mobile animal clinics were procured and delivered to remote rural areas. The scientific committee of the World Animal Health Organization (OIE) has confirmed the restoration of the Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) free-status which enables South Africa to negotiate with the trade partners to lift the export ban on livestock products. The confirmation of the restored FMD free-status is a positive step for trade and markets access for the industry.

A total of 3 384 small rural enterprises were established in different sectors between 2010 and 2013. We were also able to link 170 196 poor and vulnerable South Africans, including recipients of social grants, to the economic opportunities.

In rural areas alone, a total of 3 422 110 work opportunities were created through the Expanded Public Works Programme (or EPWP), including the Community Work Programme, since 2010. Most of these jobs were created under the infrastructure sector of the EPWP. An additional 798 586 full-time equivalent jobs were created in different sectors from 2010 to date.

National Water Infrustructure Development and Construction
The development of key water resources infrastructure is critical for sustained economic growth. Government has completed a number of major projects to ensure security of water supply for Industrial, agricultural and domestic use. These include the completion in 2013 of the De Hoop Dam Limpopo and the Spring Grove Dam in KZN, bringing 126 million cubic meters of new water into our system; the upgrading of the Inyaka Water Treatment Works, and the Vaal River Eastern Sub-system Augmentation Project which delivers water from the Vaal Dam to Secunda in the Mpumalanga Highveld.

In addition to this, the Komati Water Scheme Augmentation Project (KWSAP) was started in January 2011. It will provide additional water to Eskom’s power stations in the Mpumalanga Highveld, including the new Kusile Station.

Sanitation
Government has made significant progress in addressing sanitation challenges. The 2011 Census report confirmed that the sanitation backlog had been reduced from 5 million in 1994 to 2.4 million in 2011.

This is further being reduced by the rapid bucket eradication programme and general sanitation rollout in a joint venture by the departments of Human Settlements, Water Affairs and Cooperative Governance. The immediate target is to eradicate bucket sanitation in formalised township/ settlements within the shortest period. Basic sanitation services contribute to the improvement of people’s wellbeing, their dignity, improved health and better human settlements and livelihoods.

Climate change
On Climate Change adaptation, the first phase of the Long Term Adaptation Scenarios (LTAS) process has been completed and technical reports have been concluded for the following sectors: Biodiversity, Marine Fisheries, Health, Agriculture and Water. The second phase is underway to support an integrated assessment of the cross-sectoral and socio-economic implications of climate scenarios for South Africa and the region.

Environmental Impact Assessment
Since the promulgation of the 2006 Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Regulations, 24 996 EIA applications have been processed by 10 Competent Authorities. As at the end of December 2013, a total of 22 497 had been finalised and 2 499 were still in process.
 
In terms of the expansion of the national conservation estate, the area under formal conservation is currently at 7.8%, with a target of 9% by this month, March 2014.

There has been an increase in the total area of our Exclusive Economic Zone under protection from 0.5 to 2% through the proclamation of the Prince Edward Island Marine Protection Area. Sixty per cent of estuaries have partial protection.

Expanding Education and Training Infrastructure
A budget of R6 billion was allocated to universities for infrastructure for the 2012/13 to 2014/15 financial years. This includes R1.6 billion for student housing of which R1.4 billion will go to Historically Disadvantaged Institutions (HDIs), as well as R1.1 billion to address HDI infrastructure backlogs through the renovation of old facilities and the building of new teaching facilities and related infrastructure. A further R6 billion has been allocated for the newly establishment of the University of Mpumalanga and Sol Plaatje University in the Northern Cape.

R2.5 billion has also been allocated from the National Skills Fund and Further Education and Training (FET) Sector Education and Training Authorities (SETAs) for refurbishing two existing FET campuses and the construction of 12 new college campuses.

In April 2013 government signed the Youth Employment Accord with organised business and labour and the representatives of a wide range of youth groups. Substantial progress has been made in implementing the accord, including expanding post-secondary education and training; establishing set-asides for youth employment in the business process service industry; the allocation of R2,7 billion in financing for youth-owned enterprise by the IDC and SEFA; expanding workplace training and internships; and Introducing an employment tax incentive for employers to take on young workers.

Science and Technology
South Africa, together with its eight African partner countries, is hosting the major portion of the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) radio telescope. The iconic SKA project will be one of the biggest scientific projects the world has ever undertaken – and is the biggest radio astronomy project in the world.

In March the first dish of the 64-dish precursor to the SKA, the MeerKAT, will be complete. In the past five years South Africa’s contribution to global scientific output has doubled from 6 000 scientific research papers per annum to over 12 000, and the impact of that output has increased by about 15%.

On the health front, a significant breakthrough was made by the Centre for the AIDS Programme of Research in South Africa (CAPRISA) in the quest to find a solution to HIV and AIDS in the country. The study discovered how certain people develop very powerful HIV antibodies. These antibodies are referred to as broadly neutralising antibodies because they kill a wide range of HIV types from different parts of the world. This ground breaking discovery provided important clues that could be useful in the quest to develop an AIDS vaccine.

Skills development
Government has to date put in place a number of initiatives to alleviate the burden of fees from poor parents and students at both public universities and FET colleges by providing loans and bursaries to students from poor and working class households through the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS).

Since its inception, NSFAS has assisted over 1.4 million students. In order to keep pace with the increasing number of students who need assistance to attend public universities and FET colleges, the budget of NSFAS has almost tripled from R3.1 billion in 2009 to just over R9.6 billion in 2014.
In our effort to ensure that rural people participate in the economic activity 94 820 people were involved in different skills development programmes including NARYSEC and learnerships.

Conclusion
There is no doubt that various infrastructure projects undertaken since the advent of democracy have changed the social and economic landscape of South Africa for the better. Through various interventions initiated by government, such localisation, in the implementation of projects resulted in major spin offs for job creation.

Other than jobs created during project implementation, delivered projects ensure a competitive infrastructure that reduces cost of doing business, promote a conducive environment for entrepreneurship to thrive, economic growth that create jobs and amenities that enhances social life.

We are indeed a nation at work with a good story to tell.

Thank you

Enquiries:
Nikelwa Tengimfene
Chief Director- Government Communication and Information System
[email protected]
082 574 5495

Media briefings

Year: 

2014

Media Statement date: 

Tuesday, March 4, 2014