Subcommittee Report on provincial progress: consideration

PUBLIC WORKS PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE
16 November 2004
SUBCOMMITTEE REPORT ON PROVINCIAL PROGRESS: CONSIDERATION

Chairperson of Non-Financial Cluster Sub-Committee: Ms C Ramotsamai (ANC)

Documents handed out:
Draft Sub-Committee Report (non-financial cluster) - available once finalised

SUMMARY
The Sub-Committee dealing with the non-financial cluster continued its discussion of the reports from provincial Departments of Public Works, with the assistance of a Parliament researcher. Challenges facing the North West, Northern Cape, Limpopo and Free State provinces were discussed. It was noted that the Western Cape and Gauteng's reports had still not been received

The Sub-Committee dealing with the financial cluster cancelled its meeting as the researcher was not able to be present.

MINUTES

KwaZulu-Natal
The Sub-Committee Chair, Ms C Ramotsamai, asked why the report on KwaZulu-Natal province did not contain any challenges. The parliamentary researcher, Dr Farieda Khan, answered that the province had not reported any challenges. The Chair acknowledged that this province had made good progress.

North West
The Chair mentioned that the report highlights the challenges of this province as misunderstanding of the role of the department, insufficient recruitment, and insufficient commitment and co-operation of the department's beneficiaries, co-ordination on local and provincial level and financial constraints. The Chair also asked if the issue of insufficient reporting has been covered in the report, as well as the monitoring system used in the provinces. Dr Khan answered that it receives coverage on page 11, number 12, of the report.

The Chair said that the question of financial constraints for emerging contractors keeps cropping up. They get tenders, but they do not receive assistance. Dr Khan said that they should include something about the provision of support services in the report, which would include a whole range of support services. Mr S Opperman (DA) said the issue does not only include contractors. Dr Khan said that this is how the issue was raised by the provinces. The Chair said that the department needed to look at support for emerging contractors, as they have to subcontract and the very people who are not supposed to get the tenders are the ones who then benefit. She said that people complain that it does not look like people are being given opportunities by the Department of Public Works. Mr Opperman noted that the report mentions that ABSA will give emerging contractors access to overdrafts and service and investment accounts. The Chair asked if ABSA could be asked to address the matter to help the provinces in this regard. Mr Opperman agreed.

Northern Cape
The Chair mentioned the following challenges faced by the Northern Cape: the vastness of the province provides problems for monitoring, there are budgetary constraints, and there is a lack of training services. Dr Khan said that there are not enough training service providers available in the province.

On the question of the vastness of the province, Mr Opperman said there should be co-ordination between the local authorities. The Chair agreed that the vastness should be covered by interaction between local authorities.

Dr Khan said that contractors get shorter contracts, and that this creates a problem of sustainability. She did not know if anything could be done about it. The Chair suggested that the private sector should also be involved here. Mr Opperman stressed that sustainability is a big issue. Dr Khan said it is an issue of job sustainability. The Chair confirmed that more initiative from the private sector is needed. Mr Opperman suggested that one can reward initiatives from the private sector with awards in the form of a competition. The Chair called for more interaction with the private sector and agreed that incentives to encourage initiatives for sustainability should be offered, as government could not do it alone. Mr Opperman suggested tax incentives to the private sector.

Limpopo
The first challenge mentioned by the Chair was a limited understanding of the conceptual framework of the department. Secondly, she mentioned budgetary constraints. A lack of skills to assist in development and business planning was also mentioned as a challenge. Dr Khan said that this issue was already covered in mentioning something about the development of support services.

The Chair also mentioned the challenge of unfair labour practices. Mr Opperman said that a special intervention is needed in this regard. The Chair agreed. A further challenge was delays in the finalisation of business plans of the provincial government at the turn of the financial year. The Chair said that SALGA will address this issue.

A further challenge is the shortage of properly accredited training providers. Dr Khan said that the report refers to a shortage of infrastructure. Mr Opperman suggested that this was the responsibility of the SETAs (Sector Education and Training Authorities). The Chair agreed and said that the Committee needed to meet with the Labour SETA and the Portfolio Committee on Labour, and look at the kinds of training provided.

Free State
The Chair reported the challenges provided by the Free State. The co-ordination of the various structures was problematical, training was insufficient and their monitoring and evaluation was insufficient. The Chair suggested that the national government should provide guidelines for all the provinces regarding monitoring and evaluation, as all the provinces suffer from this problem.

Dr Khan said she had only made slight changes to the conclusion of the report. The Chair asked Dr Khan's guidance on the completion of the report. Dr Khan replied that she usually made changes before sending a report to Parliament. The Chair said that the Western Cape and Gauteng's reports had still not been received. Dr Khan said she would make the necessary changes and mention the absence of the Western Cape and Gauteng reports.

The meeting was adjourned.