ATC130308: Report of the Portfolio Committee on Transport on its Oversight visit to the North West, Kwazulu-Natal and Eastern Cape Provinces, dated 19 February 2013.

REPORT OF THE PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORT ON ITS OVERSIGHT VISIT TO THE NORTH WEST, KWAZULU-NATAL AND EASTERN CAPE PROVINCES , DATED 19 FEBRUARY 2013.

The Portfolio Committee on Transport, having undertaken an oversight visit to the North West , KwaZulu-Natal and Eastern Cape provinces from 27 June to 1 July 2011, reports as follows:

1. INTRODUCTION AND TERMS OF REFERENCE

The Portfolio Committee on Transport, as mandated by the Constitution and Rules of Parliament, undertook an oversight visit to the North West , KwaZulu-Natal and Eastern Cape provinces from 27 June to 1 July 2011. The purpose of the oversight visit was to receive briefings from the MEC and the Provincial Departments of Transport on road infrastructure maintenance in the provinces in relation to the following:

1.1 The degree of road infrastructure maintenance in these provinces;

1.2 Adherence at local government level to road maintenance standards set by the South African Bureau of Standards (SABS), Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) and Agrement SA;

1.3 Assessing the pothole situation in targeted areas; and

1.4 Assessing the planning capacity for road maintenance as well as the relationship between the Department of Transport and the affected municipalities to ensure that the road maintenance fund benefits local government where a huge need exists.

The Committee engaged with the provincial departments on how their implementation

strategies focused on:

· poverty reduction, job creation, skills and co-operatives development;

· local economic development in line with the principles of sustainable development in a developmental state; and

· the contribution of the roads maintenance programme to the financial viability of municipalities.

As part of the provincial visit the Committee also visited the Ugu District Municipality on

29 June 2011 to study the Ugu model for pothole repairs and road maintenance. During

the visit, the municipality presented its co-operative development programme and

explained how it related to road maintenance and pothole repairs.

2. DELEGATION

The oversight delegation consisted of the Committee Chairperson, Ms N R Bhengu (ANC), Ms D E Dlakude (ANC), Ms R Motsepe (ANC), Ms N Mdaka (ANC), Mr M de Freitas (DA-first leg of visit) and Mr S Farrow (DA-second leg of visit). The Committee was supported by the following parliamentary staff: Ms V Carelse, Committee Secretary, Mr S Ngesi, Committee Researcher, and Mr S Makeleni, Committee Assistant.

3. NORTH WEST PROVINCE VISIT: 27 JUNE 2011

The Committee was joined by the North West Province Legislature’s Portfolio Committee on Public Works, Roads and Transport, the Acting Head of Department, Mrs MR Ntshabelele, and senior officials of the Provincial Department of Public Works, Roads and Transport.

3.1 Presentation by the Provincial Department of Public Work, Roads and Transport

At the meeting at Moretele Local Municipality , the Acting Head of Department presented to the Committee. In the presentation the Acting Head of the North West Province Department on Public Works, Roads and Transport, stated that the Roads chief Directorate was still in “ICU but in stable condition”. Over commitments in 2009 resulted in the budget for 2009/10, 2010/11 and 2011/12 being fully allocated .To alleviate this situation in 2010 the Chief Directorate embarked on a turnaround strategy. This strategy involved incomplete construction contracts being put on hold and terminated and more than 110 consultant appointments being terminated.

The status quo at 1 April 2011 was as follows:

• Payment certificates on hand from the 2010/11 financial year which were unpaid due to exhaustion of the allocated budget amounted to R73.6 million (capex) and R32.7 million (maintenance) .
• Since 2009 several projects have been completed with the 2010/11 budget. These projects were currently on r etention . The budget required for retention releases in 2010/11 was R26.5 million .
• Claims resulting from various delays in payment, implementation of projects and contract cancellations and other matters over the last year were dealt with on an
• ongoing basis. It was estimated that an additional R40 million worth of claims would be settled with service providers in the current financial year.

3.1.1 Road management projects since 2009

Projects originally started in 2008/9 and suspended in late 2009 have been recommenced in early 2010/11. The implementation of these projects was uncertain due to budget constraints. These projects were all subject to large variation order claims due to standing time and remedial works. These projects included road P34/2 from Koster to Lichtenburg (on tender), upgrading of road P115-1 from Phokeng to Sun City and of road D548/Z550 from Mantsho to Bierkraal to Makgope, road P117/1between Ottosdal and Delareyville and access roads and bridges to Choseng and Moretele. The required budget to complete these projects in 2011/12 was R300 million. Maintenance projects started and planned for 2011 which would be completed during the current financial year included the Mafikeng Revitalisation Programme ( R67.5 million ), emergency patchwork, resealing, regravelling and rehabilitation of various roads in the Ngaka Modiri Molema, Bojanala and Dr Ruth Segomotsi districts.

Projects that started construction in 2011 on an emergency basis were, among others, the Lichtenburg Intersection, Swart Ruggens to Koster D549, Lekgolo Road (construction in progress), Ratjiepan Road (construction in progress), the Swartdam Road was in the tender stage, but the tender could not be awarded due to lack of funds) and Madidi – Klipgat (tender stage but could not be awarded due to lack of funds). The total funds required in the current financial year for these maintenance projects amounted to R124.6 million.

Projects that had been identified for implementation through the maintenance programme and were at tender stage pending being awarded based on availability of funds were Wolmaranstad to Ottoshoop, Potchefstroom to Vandebijlpark, Potchefstroom to Carletonville and Potchefstroom to Viljoenskroon.

3.2 Challenges

The Infrastructure Programme Management Plan (IPMP) for 2011/12 was confirmed in September 2011. Appointments of consultants for planning and design of projects in 2011/12 was made in December 2011 and work was started. Contractors were similarly lined up for the maintenance programme. On 4 March 2011, the IPMP budget was reduced by approximately R90 million (Capex) and R60 million (maintenance). An updated IPMP was requested within 24 hours. This situation placed the department’s roads and maintenance programmes in disarray. This had led to additional commitments which the department had made, which it now could not meet with the current budget.

Total claims in court against the Provincial Department were in excess of R135 million. These claims were a risk, with a realistic potential for claims amounting to approximately R100 million to R150 million. Settlement of these claims was required under the Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF). These funds were not budgeted for at any stage. The current budget allowed for approximately R45 million in claim settlements.

3.3 Budget

The overall budget deficit in the current financial year amounted to R173.7 million . Additional funds would have to be sourced from the fiscus as an additional R3.5 billion was required for projects. The current available funds for road maintenance were R754 million while the min imum required budget was R928 million. The Acting Head of Department said that the Department of Public Works, Roads and Transport should be considered for assistance where there was an adjustment budget. Where funds could be sourced, it could be allocated to roads since the province’s roads would have deteriorated beyond repair within the next three years.

3.4 Site Visit to Moretele Local Municipality

Moretele Local Municipality made a presentation to the Committee on the condition of its road infrastructure and the challenges experienced in the maintenance thereof. Moretele has some 380 km of gravel roads in its network, of which most of them were not properly constructed. Moretele, as a low-lying area, also experienced many floods during rainy seasons. Two provincial roads have been left incomplete, namely P65/1 (Bedwang to Slaagboom); D614 (Bolantlhokwe – via Lebotlwane); Z619 (Tlholwe to Lebotlwane);

P66/1 (Kgomo-Kgomo to Sutelong) and D639 (Sutelong to Ga-Habedi). Around 20 km of gravel provincial roads have been earmarked of upgrading and Bojanala Platinum District Municipality was approached for assistance.

The Moretele municipality had also drafted a programme of action that aims to re-gravel and blade flood-stricken roads, initially prioritising bus routes. Implementation of this programme had already commenced. The municipality has established a committee with the national Department of Public Works and the Provincial Department of Public Works, Roads and Transport to this effect. Moretele had initiated a process of investing around R250 million into roads and storm water projects over the next five years. The challenges faced by the municipality are a shortage of machinery, plant and equipment, insufficient staff and limited funds for the entire area.

The Committee visited Swartdam Road (D623) to assess its condition. The Committee observed that the 10km road, which was used by commuters daily, was filled with potholes. Over the past months, vehicles drove in the dirt road next to the damaged tar road that leads from Makapanstad and Swartdamstad to Mabopane, north of Pretoria . Many complaints were received from commuters and bus and taxi drivers on the condition of the road. Commuters complained that the road became flooded when it rained and it therefore became difficult to see the potholes.

During the visit the Committee further observed a newly constructed paved road adjacent to road D623. The Committee requested that the Provincial Department report to the Committee on the construction of this road, the production of the paving and the number of people employed on the project. This information should be obtained from the provincial officials who were responsible for the project.

3.5 Responses by the Committee

The Committee raised the following concerns:

3.5.1 The Committee needed more clarity on the turnaround strategy and asked the Provincial Department what assistance was required from the Committee with this process.

3.5.2 Concern was expressed about the 110 consultants that were employed by the Provincial Department. The Committee needed clarity on the terms of reference for their employment.

3.5.3 The presentation lacked a job creation strategy. The presentation mainly focused on

projects, but not on the condition of the current road infrastructure.

3.5.4 The Committee inquired how villages which do not have access roads accessed services in the absence of such access roads.

3.5.5 The Committee expressed concern that, in some instances, the same roads were fixed repeatedly and noted that the standard of road maintenance needed to be addressed.

3.6 Recommendations

The Minister should ensure that:

3.6.1 The standards of maintenance are addressed.

The Committee would revisit the North West Province given that there seemed to have been a misunderstanding pertaining to how the S’hamba Sonke budget allocation (funding) is intended to be spent.

4. KWAZULU-NATAL PROVINCE VISIT: 28 JUNE 2011

4.1 Presentation by the Department

The meeting took place at the City of uMhlathuze Local Municipality . The meeting was attended by the Mayor and officials of the uMhlathuze Local Municipality , members of the legislature’s Portfolio Committee on Transport and officials from the provincial Department of Transport.

In the presentation Mr Chris Hlabisa, Head of Department of the Kwazulu-Natal Department of Transport, stated that the department had been the pioneer in various developmental and labour absorptive programmes that had lead to job creation and poverty eradication. The road infrastructure p rogramme focused on the provision of the equitable road network in the province. It further provided road access, linked communities and acted as a catalyst for unlocking economic and social development.

Schematic presentation on status of the Road Network in KwaZulu-Natal

Performance Measure	Desired level of service	Current level of service	Gap
Percentage of the blacktop roads in a poor & very poor condition	< 10%	52%	42%
Percentage of the gravel road network in a poor & very poor condition (overall condition)	< 10%	35%	25%
Extent of the declared provincial road network (excluding planned roads)	42,025km	29,965km	12,060km
• Capacity improvements (mainly paved)	13,300km	13,033km	267km
• Upgrade to blacktop (mainly gravel)	14,000km	11,305km	2,695km
• Access Roads (mainly low volume gravel)	14,725km	5,627km	9,073km

Condition of Road Network

	Condition of Infrastructure (2006)
	Very Good	Good	Fair	Poor	V. Poor
Surfaced Roads	5%	13%	30%	35%	17%
Gravel Roads	1%	19%	46%	32%	3%
Bridges with span > 2m	15%	54%	25%	5%	1%

The condition of the provincial road network was monitored using the Pavement Management System, the Gravel Road Management System and the Bridge Management System. Projects were undertaken through the following programmes:

· African Renaissance Road Upgrading Programme (ARRUP)

· Operation Kushunquthuli for the upgrading of community access roads to police station, clinics, schools and areas with high potential for agriculture activities as well as pedestrian bridges.

The KwaZulu-Natal Department of Transport had identified the various anchor projects in support of the S’hamba Sonke Programme. They were the Nongoma – Dabhazi – Hlambanyathi - Hlabisa Corridor, Eshowe – Ntumeni – Kranskop – Vryheid corridor, pothole eradication, Zibambele and preventative maintenance of economic roads. The maintenance activities undertaken on the road network includes conserving the higher order roads through rehabilitation and reseals, preventative maintenance through re-gravelling, routine maintenance through blading, drain cleaning, safety maintenance of potholes, guardrails and special maintenance.

The Department has implemented a two- year Pothole Repair Contract commencing in the 2011/2012 financial year to address the backlog of pothole repairs. A database comprising 134 contractors ranging from Grade 1 to Grade 7 has been created in Empangeni, Ladysmith, Pietermaritzburg and Durban . This programme will have the benefits of a safe road network for the road user, reduced road accidents, improved average road network condition, reduced pressure on routine maintenance resources due to improved road conditions, reduced vehicle operating costs for road users, reduced overall costs for maintaining the road network and reduced claims against the Department of Transport. These programmes support job creation and poverty eradication while stimulating economic growth in the province to support the S’hamba Sonke Programme and the New Growth Path.

4.2 Presentation by City of uMhlathuze Local Municipality

Mr Sifiso Mdakane, Senior Manager from the City of uMhlathuze Local Municipality in Richards Bay , said that the Council took a resolution to prioritise the upgrading of rural roads that link the economic hub with these areas. The municipality engaged continually with the province about funding for road maintenance.

A challenge faced by the municipality was in relation to damage caused to the local road infrastructure by trucks that were accessing the Richards Bay port. Congestion at the harbour was an issue that needed urgent attention. An additional route into the harbour would require funding. The municipality would approach the provincial Department of Transport to access S’hamba Shonke funds. The municipality was facing challenges with regard to skills development and attracting graduate engineers that would enable a sustainable workforce for road maintenance. The municipality would be starting an in-service training programme as part of its skills development programme. The municipality applied for a mining licence to mine gravel to cut the cost of gravelling roads. The municipality asked the Committee for assistance in this regard. The city owned the rail infrastructure, but the municipality did not have the skills to maintain the rail network. The municipality wanted clarity on how it could access funding for road maintenance.

4.3 Site Visit to Empageni

The Committee visited road D887, a 13 km stretch of road in Empangeni that was riddled with potholes. The Committee observed that the road served a densely populated area and provided access to public facilities such as five schools, two clinics and a tribal authority. Complaints about the condition of the road were submitted as early as 1990. The provincial Department explained that R52 million was needed to tar the road and that the issue of storm water drainage on the road had to be addressed.

4.4 Recommendations

The Minister of Transport should ensure that:

· A road maintenance model that adhere to road maintenance standards, and which address job creation and poverty reduction be considered as the preferred model for road maintenance, like the Ugu model.

· The fee payable to municipalities for trucks to use their roads and with a view to maintaining those roads was an option to consider as trucks contributed directly to the deterioration of the road infrastructure.

· There should be “cross pollination” between Ugu District Municipality and uMhlathuze Local Municipality in regard to their respective areas of expertise.

· The way S’hamba Sonke operates could be revisited and needs to be taken up with the national Department of Transport, as well as National Treasury.

5. UGU DISTRICT MUNICIPALITY : 29 JUNE 2011

5.1 Background

In 2001, Ugu was declared a presidential poverty nodal point because of the l ow skills base and education levels, poor co-ordination of social and economic activities, high unemployment rate and high prevalence of HIV/Aids. As far back as 2007, Ugu started searching for an approach towards assisting local municipalities to find a permanent solution to the problem of potholes. The first pothole repair demonstration was done in August 2007 on busy road frequented by heavy duty vehicles. In May 2008, Ugu District Municipality and its municipalities were then formally introduced to a technology and method of fixing potholes that has the following key advantages:

• It is based on a cold mix , making it possible to stock-pile the material and budget appropriately in advance.

• It lasts +/- 10 years before a fixed pothole has to be re-visited. It is considered a permanent fix if applied and surrounding road surface in satisfactory condition.

• It is labour intensive because the rehabilitation of a pothole is done manually, with minimum machinery.

• It creates economic generation potential in the form of a factory and youth entrepreneurial opportunities.

The June 2008 floods confirmed the strength of the technology, and Ugu then started to formalise the approach with which the technology was going to be applied.

The key vision and objectives of the road maintenance projects was to deliver on major government policy and key strategic job creation and infrastructure objectives, initiate

and manage a long-term sustainable, tangible and transparent road maintenance programme, continuous development and genuine skills transfer to change the current “unemployable” crisis as well as to provide a holistic model to help alleviate and reduce the burden of poverty.

A total of 53 local people were employed i n its road maintenance programme. This included 14 women and 45 people (youths) under the age of 35. Each person and each team were tested and trained in road safety and pothole repairs/road maintenance. The training has not yet been accredited. Twelve South African Institute of Civil Engineering (SAICE ) students were seconded to the programme by the Ugu District Municipality .

In terms of the pothole repair programme, m ore than 5 285 potholes or patches were repaired in the region. Nearly 5 000 m² of severely damaged roads have been repaired and over 200 roads were attended to in the region. Nearly 650 tons of material was used in three months by the teams along with over 100 tons being used as marketing and promotions by other local municipal teams in the region along with a major trial with training involving the Department of Transport. Five teams (37 people) were now averaging 20 to 30 m² of productivity per day. The usage of material was in excess of 2,5 to 3,5 tons per day. Of the seven teams that were created, five teams became well qualified, highly effective and productive pothole repair units that delivered successfully on local infrastructure to the benefit of themselves and the community as a whole.

5.2 Benefits of the Ugu model

According to Ugu District Municipality , the benefits gained from implementing this model

were:

• Critical skills development in road construction and maintenance as well as local job creation.
• This model has also lead to co-operative business development and investor confidence in tourism and logistics.
• There has also been integration of various government policy provisions in terms of local economic development, poverty reduction, Inter-governmental relations and Expanded Public Works Programme.

5.3 Site visit to Hibiscus Coast Local Muncipality and Harding

The Committee visited sites in the Hibiscus Coast Local Municipality and Harding to assess the status of the road infrastructure . Raspberry lane in the Hibiscus Coast Local Municipality was repaired in 2008 after the floods. The Committee observed that the potholes were fixed with cement, which caused further damage to the roads.

The Committee also visited road P59 in Harding to assess the standard of road maintenance in the area. The Committee observed that cement was used for patching and that the road lacked a drainage system, which lead to the formation of “crocodile cracks” on the road. The provincial department explained that the cement was used as a temporary solution. In order to address this, it undertook to upgrade the maintenance of the road by the end of July 2011.

5.4 Recommendations

The Minister should ensure that:

5.4.1 There should be accreditation for people who have gone through the road

maintenance programme.

5.4.2 Every municipality should conduct the audit of the status of its road network so that it would be easy to determine where money should be allocated.

5.4.3 There is an imperative to ensure that goods that are supposed to be transported

by rail (coal, timber, etc) are indeed transported by rail and by-laws should be enacted and enforced to achieve this end.

5.4.4 More funds have to be directed at road maintenance.

5.4.5 There is a need from municipalities to get an unequivocal explanation from the Department of Transport as to what S’hamba Sonke is intended for.

5.4.6 The road observed by the Committee at Harding be repaired within the stipulated period (by the end of July 2011).

6. EASTERN CAPE PROVINCE : 29 JUNE 2011

The meeting took place at the OR Tambo District Municipality and was attended by Ms Thandi Marawu, MEC of the Eastern Cape Department of Transport, as well as members of the legislature’s Portfolio Committee on Transport.

6.1 Presentation by the Eastern Cape Department of Transport

The Eastern Cape Department of Transport received R2.1 billion for its Roads and Expanded Public Works Programmes, which was spread over a 43 611 km provincial network. Sixty per cent of the budget was spent on maintenance, but it was still only 30% of the required budget. The balance was spent on capital projects and overheads. There was a huge backlog in maintenance and an enormous backlog in new rehabilitation and upgrade projects.

The 2009/10 assessment data confirmed that 1800km of the gravel network need to be upgraded, 12000km of gravel roads required upgrading and 90% of these roads were in the former Transkei and Ciskei . The problems were further compounded by recent flood damage in the amount of R500 million.

6.1.1 The State of Provincial Road Networks

The Department has a road asset management system in place to assess and record condition data, monitor condition trends over time, determine priority maintenance needs and optimise the impact of limited available funding. Visual assessments of paved roads were completed in 2008, 2009 and 2010. One third of unpaved roads were assessed in 2008 and two thirds in 2009. The profile measurements on paved roads were done in 2009. According to the Visual Condition Index (VCI), in 1996 12% of the surfaced roads were in a poor/very poor condition, in 2010 40% were poor/very poor.

6.1.2 The State of the Municipal Road Network

At the time, only two metropolitan councils namely Nelson Mandela and Buffalo City , had any road condition data. Only 8% of local municipalities in the country had condition data. The Eastern Cape had no data.

6.1.3 Maintenance of municipal roads

The levels of maintenance in the majority of local municipalities were regarded as poor to non- existent, particularly for rural access roads. Most local municipalities have minimal road maintenance budgets, staff and equipment. The Elundini case study shows that up to 80% of rural access roads cannot be maintained because they have no gravel.

The Provincial Department has three programmes that interact with local municipalities through its Programme on buildings, Expanded Public Works Programme and roads infrastructure. In 2011/12 the national Department of Transport introduced the rural roads Infrastructure grant. Twenty one rural district municipalities were meant to receive a grant of R1.688 million each to implement RAMS for all their local municipalities. Five district municipalities in the Eastern Cape would receive funding, excluding Cacadu. District municipalities would be responsible for setting up and running RAMS for all the local municipalities in their districts.

At the last provincial road indaba the provincial department of roads had agreed to set up road forums to co-ordinate both municipal and provincial road issues, act as the channel for citizen issues to be assessed, prioritised, addressed or referred and co-ordinate the prioritisation and implementation of new projects and the rehabilitation and maintenance of road and bridge projects. The road forums would be chaired by the local/district executive infrastructure councillor, while the vice-chairperson would be the district roads engineer. The local municipalities’ road forums would meet every two months while the district municipalities and metros would meet quarterly. A provincial meeting would be held quarterly and would be chaired by the relevant MEC.

The Department had historical service level agreements with the two district municipalities to utilise the district municipality road units to undertake road maintenance. The Department also had several other service level agreements with local municipalities for a variety of capital and maintenance projects. The long-term ideal was to see a service level agreement in place between the Department and every local municipality to ensure maintenance of all roads and upgrading of agreed prioritised infrastructure. This would require the pooling of funding and technical road staff. Term appointment contractors could also be utilised. This process would require integrated planning. The planning would need to take place at local municipality level and then fed back into district and provincial plans. Consultants would be used to prepare a structured, long-term maintenance upgrading plan. A programme manager would provide co-ordination and guidelines to all consultants.

In terms of maintenance planning capacity, district roads engineers were responsible to plan routine maintenance annually for all roads in their districts. These plans form part of the departmental annual planning processes. Plans are adjusted during the year to address changing conditions. Head office officials were responsible for allocating budgets for maintenance to districts.

6.2 Pothole maintenance

Potholes on surface roads were caused by poor drainage, stone/aggregate loss and surface cracks which allowed water seepage. The province managed 5800 km of surface roads (provincially proclaimed roads). Appropriate assessment was required to provide appropriate treatment of the problem.

There were three-year contracts for routine maintenance of approximately 4800 km of the provincial network. The Eastern Cape Department of Roads and Public Works had signed a service level agreement with King Sabata Dalinyevo Municipality of R60 million over three years to address major pothole problems in Mthatha that would also assist in putting a pavement management system in place. This would allow for a 48-hour turnaround time for fixing potholes on municipal roads within Mthatha. The contractor would be on site in August 2011 and negotiations were underway with the local municipalities to provide funding as well.

The Eastern Cape would implement the S’hamba Sonke programme and utilise the provincial maintenance grant (PRMG) through the route-based maintenance model for surface roads, a gravel maintenance model based on local municipal boundaries, and up scaling the household contractor programme (Zimbambele), the reseal programme, road signs, road marking and bridge maintenance and road enterprise development programme.

The province also had a Road Enterprise Development Programme of which R529 million would be spent on projects annually over three years. Levels 1 to 7 of emerging contractors and consultants were targeted among 700 contractors, 51 consultants, nine quarry operators and 21 plant hire companies. The implementing agent (Coega Development Corporation) was to implement a 14-day payment cycle for small contractors. Training and mentoring of contractors would be provided. The aim was to build significant additional provincial capacity by 2013/14 to support additional funding. It was projected that 3 562 jobs per year over the next three years would be created and 300 contractors would be upgraded per annum. The strategic partners were the South African Revenue Service (SARS), the Department the Labour and the Department of Public Works. Procurement would be central for mechanical and civil goods. This was done to create sustainable business in the OR Tambo and Alfred Nzo areas.

The Eastern Cape Department of Roads and Public Works had been implementing the Zibambele household contractor model since 2003. The household contractors were used to maintain both provincial but predominantly access roads. The total amount to be invested in the maintenance of access roads in 2011/12 was R265 234 million. At the time, the department had engaged 25 000 household contractors. During 2011/12, an additional 6 000 household contractors would be recruited, taking the total to 31 000. This was second only to KwaZulu-Natal . In partnership with the Independent Development Trust (IDT), the Eastern Cape department was developing exit strategies for household contractor savings clubs.

The Eastern Cape department had historically utilised part of the Expanded Public Works Programme up scaling grant to address the access roads leading to schools and the clinic. During 2011/12 the department would use the PRMG to improve access and provide all-weather access to six hospitals, 22 clinics and 55 schools. Gravel roads leading to key tourism, cultural and social amenities would also be targeted. The roads and bridges project prioritisation score-sheet uses socio-economic factors such as schools and clinics.

The department had already progressed well in the implementation of S’hamba Sonke . Substantial planning capacity exists at provincial level and the department was assisting or putting in place systems to assist local municipalities. Funding levels were, however, only at 30% of the actual provincial maintenance needs as local municipalities had little or no maintenance budget or capacity.

6.3 Recommendations

The Minister of Transport should ensure that:

6.3.1 There should be a single model for road maintenance that should be replicated

throughout the country.

6.3.2 There is a need to advocate for the establishment of the Project Management Unit

The Portfolio Committee on Transport would co-ordinate a workshop and invite provincial portfolio committees on transport, relevant officials from the provincial departments of transport, as well as the South African Local Government Association SALGA and empower all portfolio committees to have a uniform approach with regard to oversight. In this same forum, the issue of a “Backlog Grant” could also be canvassed.

7. Conclusions

The operation of S’hamba Sonke should be reviewed. This matter needed to be taken up by the Portfolio Committee on Transport with the national Department of Transport, as well as National Treasury. Every municipality should consider conducting an audit on the status of its road network so that it would be easy to determine where funding should be allocated. Bylaws should be enacted to ensure that goods that were supposed to be transported by rail were indeed transported by rail. There was a need to lobby for more funds for road maintenance. The standards of road maintenance should be addressed. There should be a single model for road maintenance that should be replicated throughout the country. There was a need to advocate for the establishment of the Project Management Unit (PMU).

Report to be considered.