Department of Public Works regional workshops resuscitation

Meeting report

Ms Lydia Bici, Account Head: Property Management Trading Entity (PMTE), head of the delegation from the Department of Public Works (DPW), said the presentation would focus on the resuscitation of the regional workshops, with specific attention to empowerment policies. The Department had asked the Minister to sign off the property empowerment policy, and she hoped Committee Members would be invited soon to the launch of the property empowerment policy.

DPW on resuscitating workshops

Mr Sifiso Mdakane, Head: Facility Management, DPW, said that Pretoria and Cape Town were the two main priority areas targeted for the workshops due to the large population of the cities. He also talked about the number of workshops in each region in relation to the country-wide spread, as well as the effectiveness achieved by the workshops, and the critical activities associated with each region. He described the challenges experienced by client departments.

Mr Mdakane said there were no workshops in Mthatha, Johannesburg, Mmabatho and Nelspruit. All workshops in Cape Town were attached to military bases, except one., Cape Town had five workshops, Polokwane four, and Bloemfontein, Durban, Port Elizabeth, Pretoria and Kimberley had one each. The total size of the workshops, in square meters, were Bloemfontein 7 340, Cape Town 2 949, Durban 16 574, Port Elizabeth 13 244, Pretoria 3 897, Polokwane 4 423 and Kimberley 16 171. The targeted trades for the workshops included electrical, mechanical, bricklaying, plumbing, painting, carpentry and water treatment. He also talked about the development of enterprises, particularly in relation to capacity building. The Department had no adequate capacity for the workshops in respect of the infrastructural requirements and technical support.

He gave a breakdown of the properties allocated to the workshops in various regions. In Cape Town, the number of properties without land parcels, and the average breakdowns reported per year, were 9 001 and 2 198, respectively. Across all regions, the number of properties without land parcels and average breakdowns reported per year were 117 042 and 103 469, respectively.

The DPW only handled works that were above the threshold of R100 000. Works below the threshold were handled by the client departments through contractors in order to reduce the workload on workshops co-ordinated by the DPW. The classes of work, which were consistent with the built environment and in line with the Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB), included general building works, civil engineering works, electrical engineering works, as well as mechanical engineering works.

Mr Mdakane described the maintenance and capital needs associated with each class of work. The maintenance and trade components of general building work required bricklayers, carpenters, painters, plumbers and tilers. The maintenance component of civil works required boiler makers, piping artisans and water management technicians, while the capital component of civil work required only civil technicians. The maintenance and capital components of electrical works (building) both required electricians (artisans and technicians), while the maintenance and capital requirements of mechanical works involved technicians in charge of air-conditioners, refrigerators and pumps.

Vehicles for transportation, equipment and machinery, working tools, workshops, fuel and protective clothing, were needed to operationalise the workshops.

Mr Mdakane acknowledged the challenges associated with material management and maintenance. He suggested a two-pronged approach, which included term contracts and stockpiling. Sometimes stockpiling by the DPW may not be recommended due to cost implications and regulatory policy. In such cases, management and maintenance of materials were handled by contractors as the need arose.

Cape Town and Pretoria had been identified as pilot regions. Subsequently, Mthatha and Durban would be prioritised. Cape Town and Pretoria had been prioritized due to the huge expenditure involved in the day-to-day operation of workshops in these areas. This ensured that the limited financial resources were focused on regions with major issues.

The Department, through its artisan development programme, had produced 110 newly qualified artisans who had been acknowledged by the Minister of Public Works in January 2018. The number of new artisans were plumbing (22), electrical (35), carpentry (26), bricklaying (eight), fitting and turning (three), air-conditioning and refrigeration (one), welding (three) and painting (12). These figures included males and females. He acknowledged, however, that there was still more to be done as the Department continued with its programmes. Forty artisan trainees would be qualifying in the first quarter of the new 2018/2019financial year.

He stressed the importance of collaboration between retired professionals and unemployed youths, as this formed the basis of empowering the youths. Artisans would be recruited based on open market policy, as well as through the conventional human resource process. There would be up-scaling of certain artisans, especially those who had on-the-job experience and demonstrated special capabilities. This set of artisans would be further empowered through registration with Further Education and Training (FET) colleges for Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL). The goal of the programme would be achieved through collaboration between the DPW and other entities, like the Sector Education and Training Authority (SETA), the Construction Education and Training Authority CETA, FETs, the Department of Labour, Department of Higher Education and Training, as well as Department of Water and Sanitation. The Department aimed to introduce unemployed young people into the world of work through the implementation of the Extended Public Works Programme (EPWP), of which the National Youth Services (NYS) was an important component. The Department also tried to engage workshops as term contractors. Calls for maintenance would be directed to appropriate artisan foremen for execution.

In conclusion, he confirmed that the Minister had pronounced the resuscitation of the workshops as a flagship programme, and that relevant people would be recruited to fill critical workshop positions. The The Minister had also recognised the need for maintenance work in January 2018.

Discussion

The Chairperson suggested that the DPW should update the Committee every quarter, and promised that money would be made available for the programme in line with the State Of the Nation Address (SONA).

Mr M Filtane (UDM) expressed concern that people in homelands and regions like Mthatha and associated districts had not benefited from the DPW’s empowerment programmes. The presentation confirmed the often-denied statement that the ANC government did not do anything significant to improve the lot of people in the homelands, using Mthatha as an example. Most of the districts affected were not too distant from those who had benefited. The DPW had not shown any urgency in the creation and maintenance of service stations in most of the affected areas since 1994. He expressed concern about the marginalisation of regions like Mthatha.

He pointed out that safety had not been addressed in the DPW’s presentation. Safety should be considered for artisans, especially those in building and engineering works, as they handled dangerous chores. Often, private contractors did not provide artisans with scaffolding and first aid kits. Worse still, contractors or foremen may be absent from a site. Absence or inadequacy of healthcare facilities around sites may also constitute risks to the lives of artisans. He therefore urged the DPW to make safety an important component of their programme. The programme was incomplete without a safety component in place.

He asked if the DPW and other client departments had appropriate budgets for maintaining the buildings and properties used in the DPW’s programmes.

He wanted to know why the DPW recruited retired professionals at the expense of unemployed youths. Retired professionals should be engaged only when experience was critical. College curricula should be designed to equip artisans with the necessary skills and capacity to make them function optimally in the workspace. The DPW should give a quarterly update on the programme to the Committee.

What was the response time of the DPW, especially with respect to urgent repair works? There had been an instance where a boat owner had found difficulty in landing at the harbour. The boat owner had contacted the DPW but had not received any appropriate response. The boat owner had then threatened to file a formal complaint against the DPW due to the spoilage of goods. Such incidents could be avoided if the DPW had a standardised response time that was strictly adhered to.

Mr Filtane said there were currently 200 000 artisan students throughout South Africa who could not complete their tertiary education due to the non-availability of experiential learning. Did the DPW already have a plan to incorporate this set of youths? They could be attached to experienced artisans within their localities in order to complement their theoretical knowledge with experiential learning. How long would it take to train these youths if they were eventually incorporated into the programme? How many people would get employment through this programme?

He complained that the DPW had not given a specific answer to his question regarding number of artisans that would benefit from the programme, and was dissatisfied with the answer given on the safety component of the programme. He suggested that the DPW give a concrete response to the Committee regarding the number of beneficiaries and the safety component of the programme.

Ms P Adams (ANC) asked if the programme had been budgeted and planned for in the new financial year. If yes, then there should not be financial constraints in the implementation and execution of the programme.

How many positions were available at the workshops, and were people with disabilities considered? Who was responsible for programme’s budget and management? She also asked why certain regions were not beneficiaries of the programme. Why had the lack of human resources not been addressed for a long time?

Ms Adams said that the budget should be considered when discussing the operational requirements of the programme. She also suggested that supplies should not be restricted to big companies, but small enterprises should also be given the opportunities to supply materials needed for the programme. How would the DPW curb the risk of stockpiling? The Department should give a breakdown of the beneficiaries of the programme in terms of the number of people, age groups, gender and associated impacts.

Mr M Figg (DA) asked if there were plans to maintain dilapidated structures. If there were, what was the cost of the maintenance? How were works allocated in projects, and how were the programme’s participants selected? He said there was no correlation between the number of artisans and vehicles required for operational purposes. What was the cost of training an artisan? Recruitment of unemployed youths should be prioritised, and retired professionals should be recruited only where experience was needed.

Mr D Ryder (DA) complained that the presentation was not comprehensive. He asked how the DPW intended to make a difference in the smaller areas and create employment opportunities. He questioned the role of “other artisans” referred to in the presentation --  were they meant to engage in emergency maintenance? He suggested that planned maintenance was better than having emergency maintenance plans. There should be planned maintenance in order to keep government and public facilities and structures in shape. Why was there a disparity in the number of properties without land parcels reported in DPW’s presentation (117 042), and the figure known to the Committee as at the end of 2017 (90 000)?

Costing and budgeting should be considered in the operational requirements of the DPW’s programme. It should have concrete plans that would ensure the success of the programme. He was concerned about the despicable state of some government properties. Some government lands were being infested with weeds and bushes, while others had been turned into dumping grounds. The DPW should take concrete action to fix this challenge.

Regarding the financial management of processes, systems should be in place for the collection and filing of invoices in order to ensure accountability, for example. Would this be an additional cost to the DPW, or would it need to increase the budget for this purpose?

Ms E Masehela (ANC) acknowledged that regional workshops would help the DPW to achieve its goals at a reasonable cost, as opposed to out-sourcing, which was usually more expensive. She spoke about the importance of effective advertisements, especially to unemployed youths in rural areas who may not have access to modern information technology.

She also asked about the number of vacancies that were available in the programme and how selection was made. She questioned why only two regions had been prioritised, as this meant that other regions may not have active workshops for a long time. She suggested that attention should be given to other regions as well.

She asked how the workshops achieved service delivery to the ordinary citizens or the community. What were the costs associated with the breakdown of government properties? She pointed attention to the lack mechanics who used to engage in the repair of government vehicles. Making the workshops active and successful would help the DPW achieve its goals. It would help to empower unskilled and unemployed youths and further strengthen those who had achieved a certain level of skills.

Ms L Mjobo (ANC) supported Mr Filtane suggestion that the DPW should give updates to the Committee on a quarterly basis.

The Chairperson sought clarity on the status and budget allocation for the programme. He advised the DPW to be transparent on spending and to ensure that money was spent for the intended purposes in order to achieve the goals of the programme. Also, ‘old’ money should be accounted for before ‘new’ money was spent. The Committee would fail in its duty if it did not ensure that the DPW presented a quarterly update. He acknowledged the constraints the distance may impose, however.

He added that a comprehensive plan for rural or marginalised areas would ensure the programme cut across all the regions in the country, instead of focusing on just Cape Town and Pretoria.

DPW’s response

Ms Bici agreed that the DPW would update the Committee on a quarterly basis, and promised that future presentations would be more detailed compared to the current one.

The task of determining the number of people that would be involved in the programme had been given to the CIDB, in collaboration with other relevant departments. She promised to consult with the CIDB to get the specific number of people who would benefit from the developmental programme, and the average information would be made available at subsequent meetings. She had noted the comments of Members and said that the DPW would present in-depth content as well as accurate statistics at the next quarterly meeting.

Mr Mdakane responded on the importance of planned maintenance, as opposed to emergency maintenance. The budget allocation for maintenance was R1.2 billion, which really limited the sustainability of planned maintenance. However, he stressed that the DPW also carried out planned maintenance, where necessary, through term contractors and skilled personnel from both small and big companies, depending on the complexity of the work. Also, workshops were engaged at the regional level to carry out maintenance work, since they had a good grasp of most situations in the specific regions.

The prioritisation of Cape Town and Pretoria was as a result of limited resources. Available resources should be focused on regions with the most expenditure and properties. Other regions like Mthatha and Durban would also be considered in the next phase of the programme.

A safety component would be incorporated into the programme and would be reported on in the next quarterly meeting.

He said there was budget for the maintenance of properties. The Director General (DG) aimed to liaise with the DGs of other departments on the maintenance of properties. Maintenance works that cost more than R100 000 would be budgeted for by the DPW, while those below R100 000 would be handled by term contractors. The DPW would have a special team in each region to ensure effective performance of contractors. In this manner, its budget would be well spent. The inclusion of retired professionals would be properly explained at the next quarterly meeting.

Artisan trainees who demonstrated capability would not be engaged in the Phase One of the programme. They would start at Phase Two and then move on to Phase Three, where they had to be registered with FET colleges for RPL in order to gain the theoretical background.

He said the Department only approved payment to contractors after the work was certified as being complete. Works were broken down into smaller components and contractors, both big and small, were awarded contracts based on their capabilities.

The DPW had a programme to take care of both experiential learning and mentoring. The workshops were designed to give effective training to trainees, who could then be responsible for training subsequent trainees. He said mentoring was essential in critical areas, like water treatment.

Most of the programmes were attached to military bases to ensure cost effectiveness and the safety of workers. Costing and budgeting were based on historical information, and resources needed to be channelled appropriately. There would be an improvement in costing and budgeting moving forward.

Mr Mdakane said the allocation of trade in each region was based on needs specific to those areas. Each area was asked to give a breakdown of the maintenance needs, and this informed the decision of the DPW with respect to the selection of trades and relevant artisans. The DPW would focus on balancing assets and trades going forward. As part of the matching order given by the DG, the DPW would ensure the incorporation of the EPWP component in all projects.

Mr Frederick Johnson, Cape Town Regional Manager for the DPW, assured the Committee that the Department would ensure the presence of safety officers at buildings and workshops. He promised to give a detailed report on safety in buildings and workshops at the next meeting, as well as the number of vacancies in workshops. He said that the projects given to term contractors were properly examined at the end of each project.

Mr Reuben Mahlatjie, Director: Organizational Development, DPW, said the statistics of the programme’s beneficiaries would be available at subsequent meetings. This would include the gender, as well as the number of those living with disabilities. The essence of employing retired professionals was to provide mentorship for young artisans. Reaching unemployed youths in the rural areas was of paramount importance to the DG. The DG emphasised the need for practical service delivery and information dissemination to youths in rural areas that may not have access to modern technologies of communication.

The DPW had a branch that drove capacity building. Designated mentors were currently used and the approach was outcome-based. Youths recruited for the programme were in different categories. Appropriate training was given to each category. This enabled the youths to qualify and get their certification. There were additional programmes that helped youths to be trained in critical scarce skills. The trained youths could then be mentors to other trainees.

The Chairperson urged the DPW and the Committee to work together in a cooperative manner in order to achieve the desired goals.

Outstanding Committee Minutes

13 June 2017
The Chairperson tabled the minutes for consideration.

Mr Filtane corrected a few minor grammatical errors in the report. He said the minutes clearly reflect what happened at the meeting.

Mr Filtane moved the adoption of the minutes with minor amendments.

Ms Adams seconded the proposal.

The Committee adopted the minutes, with amendments.

22 August 2017.

Ms Masehela noted some errors in the minutes.  She suggested that resolution four had to change to “The Committee raised its concern…”

Mr Figg pointed out that resolutions had not been included in the minutes.

Ms Adams moved their adoption, and Mr Filtane seconded.

The Committee adopted the minutes subject to the inclusion of the resolutions, preferably within a week.

5 September 2017

Mr Ryder said that the use of the word “daft” to describe people was wrong.

Ms Masehela moved the adoption of the minutes, and Mr Figg seconded.

The Committee adopted the minutes with minor amendments.

3 October 2017
Ms Masehela moved the adoption of the minutes, and Mr Filtane seconded.

The Committee adopted the minutes without corrections

4 October 2017

Mr Figg said the Committee could welcome entities, but it was inappropriate to congratulate them. The Committee should ensure that entities embraced good governance and management.

The Committee’s Acting Secretary agreed to effect the corrections.

Ms Adams said there were grammatical errors in paragraphs 4 and 5 on page 5. She particularly pointed out the excessive use of commas.

Mr Ryder said that the minutes did not reflect the mood of the meeting. The entity involved had fallen short of its mandate and its effective governance was not effective. The minutes should be re-visited. He recommended that MPs read the report by the Parliamentary Monitoring Group (PMG).

Ms Masehela said that the presentation by the Independent Development Trust (IDT) needed amendments, after which it could be re-submitted. She asked if there were any follow-ups to ensure that the amendment and re-submission were being effected. She expressed concern that the Committee may lose track of the resolution if the resolution were not treated as recommended.

The Committee adopted the minutes with amendments.

5 October 2017
Mr Filtane referred to a minor error on line 2, last paragraph on page 4. He said the right word was “manner”, not “manners.”

The Committee adopted the minutes with minor amendments

10 October 2017

Mr Filtane moved the adoption of the minutes, and was seconded by Ms Masehela.

The Committee adopted the minutes without corrections

17 October 2017
Mr Figg said that the appropriate phrase on line 3, paragraph 2, page 3 should be “Top Management.”

Mr Filtane moved for the adoption of minutes, seconded by Ms Masehela.

The Committee adopted the minutes with minor amendments

7 November 2017

Mr Filtane pointed to the wrong placement of the section on attendance.

Mr Figg sought clarity on “transformation of the built environment” in paragraph 5.1, page 4, and moved the adoption of the minutes.

Mr Ryder seconded.

The Committee adopted the minutes with minor amendments

8 November 2017
 

Mr Filtane said he would like to know if responses to resolutions had been submitted. If they had, were they part of the minutes?

Mr Filtane moved the adoption of the minutes, and Mr Ryder seconded.

The Committee adopted the minutes based on the inclusion of resolutions

14 November 2017

Ms Maseheda suggested that the minutes should be arranged in a systematic order.

The Committee adopted the minutes with no amendments

6 February 2018

Ms Masehela said that “Communications Officers” was not spelt well. She also said that SAPS was not the acronym for the Department of Police (Paragraph 3.2, page 3).

Ms Adams expressed displeasure at the non-inclusion of resolutions in the minutes.

The Chairperson said the resolutions had been e-mailed to the Members.

Ms Masehela maintained that the resolutions should be attached to the minutes.

Mr Figgs moved the adoption of the minutes. Mr Ryder seconded.

The Committee adopted the minutes with amendments and submission of resolutions.

The meeting was adjourned.