Hon House Chair, the NFP welcomes the report on the Department of Public Works, Budget Vote 11 tabled here today. Hon Chair, this department ... maybe I should address the Minister. Minister, I am sure sometimes in your life you might have visited an intensive care unit of a hospital. Now, if you went there, you would know what it is to be in an intensive care. Your department in my view and the view of the NFP is that it is in the intensive care unit right now.
For the last couple of years all we have been getting are all kinds of promises that they will get the house in order and very little or nothing has been happening. You speak about infrastructure and a lot more money must be spent on
infrastructure. I want to disagree there. Before you want more money to spend on infrastructure, spend the money that you are already getting on infrastructure. That is what you don't do. Infrastructure, more often than not, under spend in South Africa and that is one of the problems.
However, let me also tell you the other problem in terms of the infrastructure. If you do all the site visits, you will find contracts all over the country that are at a stand still. This is because contractors do not have the financial resources to import these goods that they import from America, India and China. As a result, these jobs just stand. You need a new model if we want to give to contractors and they are not able to get the resources, maybe, you should allow them to provide labour and government should be able to do something different in terms of providing the material. Otherwise, these major contracts just stand. That is the other problem.
Then, one of the challenges and the concerns that I have in terms of land, Minister, is that you have a very responsible department and I am of the understanding that you will make land
available. I know that the Minister of Human Settlement yesterday is looking forward to that particularly for housing. What we don't want to see, Minister, is what happened when you were the mayor of the City of Cape Town, where prime land was being sold to international developers. We need to put the poorer of the poor first before anything. That is very important.
Another major challenge we have are two things in terms of the asset register. It is my understanding that this department does not know where and what properties we own, not only locally, but also internationally. This matter has been going on for a very long time. Adding to that is the issue of the Telkom Towers, we have been dealing with this matter in the appropriations committee, called in Public Works and all kinds of promises. Very little or nothing is happening. My concern is that you are now inheriting a department with the same officials, exactly the same people, only a new Minister.
I am not convinced, but I will be objective and try to be optimistic. We will support this on the basis that you will good
and turn this department around. The NFP will support it. [Time expired.]