Chairperson, hon members of the NCOP, hon Minister of Public Works Mr Geoff Doidge, his counterpart Mr Tokyo Sexwale in Human Settlements, Deputy Minister Bogopane-Zulu, the Deputy Minister of Human Settlements, hon Kota-Fredericks, hon counterparts from other provinces, officials from the national and provincial departments, ladies and gentlemen, comrades and friends, good afternoon. I wish to start off by commending the national Minister of Public Works, Mr Geoff Doidge, for the successful tabling of his 2010-11 Budget Vote, and its accompanying Medium-Term Expenditure Framework, MTEF, under the theme, "Shifting the Paradigm for Accelerated Service Delivery". The budget speech sets the tone for how Public Works will make South Africa work during the 2010-11 financial year and beyond.
With the tone set by the national Minister, what is left for us in the provinces is to ensure that we align our priorities with those of the national department, so that we all make a meaningful impact in the endeavour to make South Africa work.
The Limpopo department of public works tabled its 2010-11 Budget Vote and the accompanying MTEF on 19 March this year. With this budget, we aim to build on the achievements of the previous financial year, and deal with new and old challenges. The main areas of focus in Limpopo budget's for 2010-11 are the following.
With regard to administration, the Limpopo department of public works is at the centre of providing leadership in provincial infrastructure planning and development. In order to stay true to the mandate, we have recently concluded initiatives aimed at redesigning the organisational structure and developing a service delivery model to align with the strategic plan of the department and the Limpopo Employment, Growth and Development Plan, LEGDP. It is envisaged that the new organisational structure and the service delivery model will ensure that the department meets its key objectives and remains the service provider of choice for government accommodation and infrastructure needs.
In terms of how we constituted our committees, this was inconsistent with the pronouncement in the state of the nation address by our hon President, Mr Jacob Zuma. The provincial government has clustered government functions. One such cluster is the infrastructure development cluster, which we have the honour to chair.
The infrastructure development cluster's main responsibility is to provide a single entry point for the delivery of high quality infrastructure. Through the pooling of specialised skills in the built environment, government will build internal strengths and skills which will enable consultants, contractors and other service providers to the department to deliver the highest standard of quality, which the people of our province can be proud of.
We have also engaged the services of a specialist engineering firm as an infrastructure delivery improvement adviser. Its limited mandate is to monitor the implementation of the service delivery improvement plan, SDIP, of the department.
The Expanded Public Works Programme, EPWP, was conceived as a government- wide initiative to alleviate poverty through job creation, skills development and the improvement of public service delivery. It is one of government's short-term to medium-term programmes aimed at alleviating and reducing unemployment and unemployability, and covers all spheres of government.
The Premier of Limpopo, Mr Cassel Mathale, in his state of the province address pronounced on the performance of our province, and on the commitment made by the President to creating 500 000 job opportunities by December 2009. According to official figures, Limpopo's contribution accounts for 49 071 job opportunities towards that target.
The national target of Phase 2 of the EPWP is to create 4,5 million work opportunities in five years. This translates to the equivalent of 2 million full-time jobs. Of this national target Limpopo has the mandate to contribute 441 993. From the lesson of Phase 1 we can confidently declare that we will reach our target as set under Phase 2 of the programme.
With regard to government housing, in order to ensure that the provincial government effectively and efficiently delivers on its mandate, the department is proud to facilitate accommodation and office space for the following provincial departments: Sport, Arts and Culture; Roads and Transport; Local Government and Housing; Education; and the Legal Services of the Office of the Premier.
Among the major government housing projects of the 2010-11 financial year are the following: addressing staff accommodation needs for the health profession for the provincial department of health and social development; the relocation of the provincial legislature from Lebowakgomo to Polokwane; and the handing over of the provincial government offices to the district municipalities of Mopani and Vhembe to enable them to function optimally.
With regard to the Government Immovable Asset Management Act of 2007, strides have been made in implementing the provisions of this Act. The minimum requirements of the Act have been met and further compliance will be attained during the course of this financial year. The major challenge in fully implementing the Act lies in the availability of adequate funding.
Regarding the memorandum of understanding with the Independent Development Trust, IDT, in our quest to deliver on our mandate, we have identified the need for strong and efficient partners to work with. We have in this regard signed a memorandum of understanding with the IDT to add impetus to our social infrastructure delivery mandate.
The Greening Limpopo campaign, which was officially launched by the Premier of Limpopo, will see over a million trees planted in the province each year until 2014. Using the EPWP principles, the employment creation potential of the project is approximately 7 000 in the period from 2010 to 2014.
With regard to property management transformation ... Thank you very much. [Time expired.] [Applause.]