Women Contractor Empowerment & Mud School eradication: Independent Development Trust briefings

Meeting report

Independent Development Trust (IDT) programmes on women empowerment and eradication of mud schools
Ms Thembi Nwedamutswu, Chief Executive Officer, Independent Development Trust (IDT), informed Members that there was an IDT funded programme that focused on the empowerment of women contractors by contributing programme management expertise, and which had provided R150 million to the contractors during the period 2007-09. The IDT was also involved in another programme for the eradication of mud schools and inappropriate structures, which would be funded with R2.7 billion given by the National Treasury over the period 2008-2011.

Mr Ayanda Wakaba, Executive Head: Development Programme Services, IDT, stated that 30% of IDT programme funds would be expended on women and 40% of the programme funds would be expended on local workers and entrepreneurs. The IDT also aimed to create 1500 jobs and train 400 entrepreneurs and local workers.

In respect of the eradication programme, there were currently eight provinces involved in the programme and twenty schools were being constructed. Fourteen of the sixteen appointed contractors were female. So far, two schools had been completed and sixteen projects were under construction across five provinces. The IDT projected that all the projects would be completed by 31 March 2009.

Some of the key challenges that were encountered were that school lists and design standards were always changing, there were delays in contract finalisation and there was a slow response to requests for inputs or approval of planning. There was also repetition of planning processes due to personal changes in the Department of Education (DoE) and the Department of Public Works (DPW), and there were technical project challenges.

The IDT stressed the need for joint proactive initiation and planning of projects, prompt responses with respect to approvals, improved inter-departmental relationships, the need for effective support by IDT in upstream value-chain functions and the need for service delivery accountability by client departments.

In 2007 the IDT developed a concept paper on the elimination of mud schools in conjunction with the National DPW. The programme was identified as a Presidential Lead Project and was allocated R2.7 billion by the Treasury to be spent over the 2008/09 to 2010/11 Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF). This became the National Treasury funded programme. The IDT was appointed as the implementing agent for five provincial programmes, with a budget of R158 million to be spent in 2008/09. Fifty-eight projects were identified by five provinces for implementation and four projects were currently under construction. The key challenges here too included the changing schools lists and design programmes, delays in finalisation of contracts and slow responses to requests for inputs or approval of planning.

Discussion
Mr B Radebe (ANC) noted that the IDT faced a lot of challenges. He asked how many mud schools there were in South Africa and when they would be eliminated. He stated that the mud schools had to be eliminated by 2011, as it was embarrassing that the country still faced such problems after fourteen years of democracy. He added that many engineering students found it difficult to get experience and training, and he wondered if the IDT was going to give them the opportunity to train so that they could become part of the institution.

Mr Wakaba answered that research done by the Department of Education (DoE) showed that there were 8000 mud schools and inappropriate structures in South Africa. He added that the R2.7 billion that the Treasury had allocated to the IDT for the period 2008 to 2011 would not be sufficient to eradicate these mud schools and inappropriate structures. More resources were needed to deal with challenges faced by provinces. There had also been a communication breakdown between the Treasury and some of the provinces where funds were made available, and advice had not been forwarded in time.

Ms Nwedamutswu added that the IDT was very interested in giving engineering students internships. The IDT was involved in the Joint Initiative on Priority Skills Acquisition programme (JIPSA) and participated in sending some students abroad. The IDT was interested in employing students within the IDT and in other institutions. Currently, the IDT had about twenty interns and they hoped to expand this number over the next year.

Ms N Sibhidla (ANC) asked if there was a link between the IDT’s programmes and the National Youth League programmes.

Ms Nwedamutswu replied that the IDT was not very involved in the National Youth League. The IDT’s main focus was to target women, but it could look at getting some resources from the youth. 

Mr L Maduma (ANC) noted that the IDT stated that 1500 jobs would be created. He wondered if this job creation took into account disabled people, as they must also benefit from job opportunities. He also noted that there was a challenge with the planning cycle. He wondered if the IDT was in a position to develop planning methodology to address these issues.

Mr Wakaba stated that there was consideration given to the disabled. The IDT was not always lucky when it came to finding employment for the disabled, as many of the jobs were considered to involve hard labour. However, the IDT was always aware of the need to create employment for the disabled. 

Mr Wakaba added that the IDT was taking steps to assist the Department of Public Works with the planning cycle for projects. The IDT made the decision to hire staff with skills in planning and to place them in certain departments where they would assist with planning processes.

Ms P Mokoto (ANC) asked if the IDT had been able to resolve some of their challenges. She wanted to know how long it took to complete the restructuring of one school, as it seemed like far too lengthy a procedure.

Mr Wakaba stated that the resolution of challenges was a continuous process. He added that it took seven to eight months to complete a five-classroom school. He said that construction of the schools did not take much time, but the planning process and the project closure process took the most time to complete. A fourteen to eighteen-classroom school would take between twelve and sixteen months to complete.

The Chairperson informed the IDT that the Committee had gone to Mpumalanga and found that some of the IDT’s targets would not be reached by their targeted dates. Members also found that there was no clear coordination between national departments, provincial departments and local municipalities, as well as coordinators who could monitor the restructuring on a daily basis. The IDT would not meet their deadlines if there was no project management. She noted that if some of the provinces were still in the planning stage then the money allocated for the schools would not be spent. She noted that there were only sixteen schools that were in the planning stage and was concerned that because of this the IDT was not going to reach targets. The Chairperson also wondered how involved the IDT was in projects in Mpumalanga, and was worried about DoE’s role in the projects. She suggested that the Committee, the IDT and the Department of Public Works meet to discuss the issue.

Mr Wakaba answered that the IDT was still in discussions with certain provinces such as North-West and Gauteng to see how the IDT could assist them. He stated that the Northern Cape had not been allocated any funds for the current financial year. The Free State indicated that they would use the funds that had been allocated to them for planning projects that would take place the following year, as the funds were not enough for a complete school.   

Ms Nwedamutswu added that there was not really a working contractor development programme in place even though there was one being driven by the National Department of Public Works. The IDT had, however, tapped into some of the principles within the programme and formed their own contactor development programme. The IDT also partnered with institutions such as the National Empowerment Fund (NEF) so that they could provide funding to contractors.

Ms Nwedamutswu stated that one of the challenges that the IDT encountered with female contractors, specifically in Mpumalanga, was that when they abandoned projects the IDT found that the compelling factors were beyond the contractors’ control. There were economic factors involved, such as the increase in prices of goods and important materials that were needed for construction. These women seemed to think that they themselves had failed and therefore would abandon their projects. The IDT’s contractor development programme would assist these women in executing their contracts until their exit from the project.

The Chairperson was still worried that the provinces would not finish their projects on time and that the funds would not be spent. She wanted to know how much of the R150 million had been spent.

Mr Wakaba stated that out of the R150 million allocated for this year, about R22 million had been spent. The IDT planned on spending the entire R150 million by the end of the financial year. Very little spending occurred in the planning stages, but spending would increase in the implementation phase.

The Chairperson commented that the Committee and the Department of Public Works needed to have serious discussions about the challenges experienced in spending funds.

Mr Maduma wanted to know if the IDT had encountered problems such as complaints from contractors and how it overcame such obstacles.

Mr Radebe stated that he understood that the R150 million came from the budget of the IDT, however the largest part that would go toward eradicating mud schools would come from the Treasury. If the Committee looked at the IDT’s report they would see that, in the National Treasury’s funded programme, there were only four projects that were in the implementation phase and fifty-four projects that were still in the planning phase. This was a serious problem that might have stemmed from the agreement between the DPW, the DoE and other provincial departments.

The Chairperson stated that this particular matter needed to be discussed with the DoE and the Department of Public Works, as only they would know what the problem was. She asked what the role of the DPW was in the Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP).  

Ms Nwedamutswu answered that the Committee and the IDT should be discussing whether the DoE should be given the responsibility for infrastructure. There was no technical understanding of infrastructure within the DoE. Therefore, there were many delays in concluding certain programmes. When the IDT worked with the DPW, there was the technical capacity to approve the drawing up and planning of projects. The biggest challenge was to get the DoE to focus on education rather than infrastructure, because they did not have the capacity to focus on infrastructure.

The Chairperson appreciated Ms Nwedamutswu’s comment and agreed that the DoE did not have the capacity that the DPW had to deal with infrastructure issues.

The meeting was adjourned.