Report of the Select Committee on Public Services on
Budget Vote 5: Department of Public Works, dated 25 August 2009
Having considered Budget Vote 5 of the Department of Public
Works, the Committee reports as follows:
On 23 June 2009, the Select Committee on Public Services met
with the Department of Public Works to consider Budget Vote 5.
The aim of the Department is to provide and manage the accommodation,
housing, land and infrastructure needs of national departments; lead and direct
the implementation of the national expanded public works programme; and promote
growth, job creation and transformation in the construction and property
industries.
3.1 The 2009/10 – 2011/12 Strategic Plan of the Department is
informed by the following government strategic documents:
(i)
Current Medium
Term Strategic Framework.
(ii)
Fifteen Year
Review.
(iii)
2009 development
indicators.
(iv)
Medium term
Budget Policy Statement and the Budget Vote.
(v)
Millennium
Development Goals.
(vi)
May 2009 Cabinet Lekgotla decisions.
3.2 Public Works Strategic Goals
(i)
Provide strategic
leadership for effective and efficient asset management.
(ii)
Establish an
enabling environment for the creation of short and sustainable work
opportunities for the unemployed.
(iii)
Contribute
to the national goal of job creation and poverty alleviation.
(iv)
Transform and
regulate of the construction and property industries to ensure economic growth
and development
(v)
Ensure effective
and efficient implementation of project management in the construction and
property management environments.
(vi)
Effective
stakeholder management for enhanced implementation of the Department’s mandate.
(vii)
Ensure
effective corporate governance processes and sound resources management.
(viii)
Improve service
delivery to meet clients’ expectations.
The following
challenges were highlighted by the Department of Public Works:
(i)
There was a shortage
of built environment skills in the country.
(ii)
Incorrect and
incomplete data complicated the facilitation of projects.
(iii)
Limited
integration of business processes also impacted on projects.
(iv)
There was a lack
of inter-operability due to unaligned terminology.
(v)
Finalisation of
reclaiming the Department’s mandate.
(vi)
The difficulty in
attracting and retaining personnel from the professional and technical fields
due to the shortage of skills. Competition for these skills from the private
sector and global economy also exacerbated the problem.
Having considered and deliberated on the Departmental Budget
Vote 5 the Committee noted the following:
(i)
The Department’s contribution
to the 500 000 jobs and whether these would be decent and sustainable, as it is
assumed that the DPW could provide for the bulk of the jobs. The Committee also
noted that many local governments were not in a position to create jobs.
(ii)
The Department
should engage with the public and private sectors as it could play a
fundamental role with regard to skills development, especially in the building
sector.
(iii)
The condition of
the buildings, mainly schools and hospitals, lacked quality service delivery.
(iv)
Many state
buildings had been vandalised. The Department needs to do an audit of buildings
belonging to the DPW.
(v)
Insufficient
finance led to many vacancies not being filled with the Department.
(vi)
Unused funds
within departments should be spent in different spheres of government to avoid
fiscal dumping.
(vii)
Many young people
had been recruited and completed practical tests as part of the National Youth
Services (NYS). Many had not, however, completed the theory component of the
programme.
(viii)
Eight per cent
(8%) of National Government Buildings were found to be in a good condition.
Twenty per cent (20%) were reported to be in a poor condition.
(ix)
Many new Members
of Parliament had difficulty in accessing Parliamentary Villages due to former
Members not vacating the residents.
(x)
Many building
were not user friendly for people with disabilities.
The Department should present its plan with regard to the
EPWP II. In order to make monitoring possible, the Department must give a
breakdown of the expected contributions by provinces towards job creation.
The Committee, having considered Budget Vote 5 of the Department
of Public Works, recommends that Budget Vote 5 be passed.
Report to be
considered