Question NW2165 to the Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure
07 January 2025 - NW2165
Reddy, Mr VG to ask the Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure
How does he account for the visible decay of critical infrastructure across the
Reply:
The Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure:
In accordance with Section 14(1) of the Government Immovable Asset Management Act 19 of 2007 (GIAMA), the Accounting Officer of a user is required to compile, in accordance with Section 8, a user Immovable asset manageable plan (UAMP) that will form part of the strategy plan of that user and submit their UAMP to National Treasury in accordance with Section 9 of the Act.
The object of GIAMA include, inter alia, ensuring accountability for capital and recurrent works, the acquisition, reuse, and disposal of an immovable asset and the maintenance of existing immovable assets.
The Minister of Public Works is aware of the maintenance challenges and the decay of critical infrastructure across the Republic.
The Department of Public Works and Infrastructure (DPWI) has comprehensive maintenance programme measures in place to ensure that the immovable infrastructure is sustained and refurbished. The DPWI maintenance approach is a blend of both Preventative and Corrective aligned to the National Immovable Asset Maintenance Management (NIAMM) Framework. Under Corrective maintenance, there are two asset renewal programmes that ensure up keep of facilities, namely Repairs and Refurbishments (R&R) and Capital programmes which are carried out on a regular basis.
The department’s infrastructure is refurbished regularly, the process of which is triggered by the Facilities Condition Assessment (FCA) that is regularly carried out by the department. The FCA is the requirement of the Government Immovable Asset Management Act (GIAMA). The FCA output is a comprehensive report that details the maintenance plans for both preventative and corrective measure that encompasses Capital, Repair and Refurbishment.
The department’s Property Portfolio Management prioritise the projects based on compliance, age, wear and tear and other relevant criteria, which is carried out on an annual basis aligned to the Medium Term Expenditure Framework. Furthermore, the department has a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Development Bank of South Africa (DBSA), Coega and Independent Development Trust (IDT). There are in implementing agents (IA) and assist DPWI in fast tracking some of the maintenance implementation.
Furthermore, in pursuit of the long-term strategy in the management of government properties, DPWI is introducing a Refurbish, Operate and transfer (ROT) Programme to be implement for DPWI’s High Priority Facilities. The plan is to collaborate and form partnerships with private sector, wherein the private sector will invest their resources to refurbish, operate these facilities for a period of twenty (20) to twenty five (25) years (including maintenance) and handover the facilities back to government after this period. The government will repay the private investor for the duration of the lease through the User Accommodation Charges collected from the Client Departments.
The Department has capital and refurbishment projects in various stages ranging from planning to implementation and are available in the procurement plans from the National Treasury for your perusal and the department’s Programme Implementation Plan (PIP).
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MR. D MACPHERSON, MP
MINISTER OF PUBLIC WORKS AND INFRASTRUCTURE
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