Expanded Public Works Programme: Minister's briefing; Committee Annual Report: adoption

Meeting report

PUBLIC WORKS PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE
26 November 2003
THE EXPANDED PUBLIC WORKS PROGRAMME: MINISTER'S BRIEFING; PARLIAMENTARY RESEARCH UNIT: BRIEFING; COMMITTEE ANNUAL REPORT: ADOPTION

Chairperson: Inkosi M Hlengwa

Documents handed out:
The Expanded Public Works Programme (Awaited)
Committee Annual Report - draft before amendments (Awaited)
Parliamentary Information Service presentation (Awaited)

SUMMARY
The Committee met to adopt the Annual Report and discuss the expanded Public Works Programme. There was also a presentation by the Parliamentary Research Unit on services offered to Members.

MINUTES
Annual Report
The Annual Report was adopted informally. A few amendments would have to be made before the final document could be released go out.

The Expanded Public Works Programme
The Minister of Public Works, Ms Stella Sigcau, gave a brief overview on the Expanded Public Works programme before Mr Sean Phillips, head of the Public Works Programme in Limpopo Province, led the presentation. He said the programme should not be seen in isolation, but in the broader context of the government's measures to address poverty and unemployment. It was complementary to the social security programme and should not be seen as being in competition. The focus was on developing highly labour-intensive projects and move away from machine-intensive works to create more employment. Financing would fall under the normal funding for departments.

Discussion
Mr Chikane inquired about the relationship between the proposed programme and the exiting community-based public works programme.
Mr Phillips explained that community-based programmes (such as Zibambele in KZN) involved the employment of households in the vicinity of a construction site. In other cases, households along a stretch of road were given the responsibility to construct and maintain their stretch of road.

Mr Chikane then asked how the programme was to be managed and structured to ensure sustainability and continuity of employment once the project had ended.
Mr Phillips said skills and life training would also be provided to enable the workers to find other opportunities once the project was over.

Ms Chilubane asked that, as the programme affected all government departments, what role would be played by the Department of Public Works.
The Director General of the Department of Public Works said they would set up a EPWE office to coordinate, and monitor all programmes by the various government departments. They would also offer technical support to the departments, and guidelines for municipalities for their tendering processes.

Mr Chikane expressed concern that the department was going to set up problematic bureaucratic funding structures such as Khula and Ntsika that had made it difficult for the needy to access funding. Putting money into the bank might also not solve the situation as banks had their own stringent requirements that made access difficult.

The Minister pointed out that finance would be provided only for what was budgeted, so the chosen constructor would know what their payment was up front.

Presentation by the Parliamentary Research Unit
Mr Gabriel, Head of the Research and Information Unit in Parliament, made a presentation on how Members could make use of their services. They were currently understaffed and under resourced. However, all members could approach the unit to request for any information. Research could not however include field work as they did not have adequate resources.

The meeting was adjourned.