Hon Chairperson, hon Minister ...
... masikubulele, i-UDM iyayixhasa le Voti yoHlahlo-lwabiwo-mali. Kudala ndikule komiti, umahluko uyabonakala, siyabulela. Sibulela nangoMlawuli- Jikelele okhoyo ... (Translation of isiXhosa paragraph follows.)
[... let us thank you. The UDM supports the Budget Vote. I have been in this committee for a while. I can see improvement, thank you. We are also grateful to the director-general, who is present ...]
However, a number of areas still need your urgent attention. Transformation in the building industry is moving very slowly. Almost 20 years since the advent of democracy, emerging contractors continue to occupy the margins of meaningful economic activity in the industry.
Another area of concern is the high level of corruption in the industry. Nowhere was this more evident than in the price-fixing scandal of the construction companies that built our 2010 Fifa World Cup stadiums.
However, in some instances, this collusive behaviour extends beyond price- fixing. The modus operandi is that big construction companies do everything in their power to ensure that their Construction Industry Development Board grades of emerging contractors do not improve, with the sole purpose of limiting the competition, so that these emerging contractors must remain at the bottom. This anticompetitive practice should be dealt with decisively.
We therefore call on the department to launch a full-scale investigation into collusive practices of major construction companies and consultants. It does not take just two to tango in the construction industry, but three. The consultants are the ones who are managing their contracts, not the officials, although they are involved. We propose that the department develops built-in skills transfer mechanisms in all government-awarded business.
In conclusion, we have also been proposing for many years that the department uses its maintenance of government buildings as an employment strategy for youth and unemployed graduates ...
... nabantu abagxothwe emigodini Mphathiswa ohloniphekileyo, abanye baphakathi kweminyaka engama-40 ukuya kuma kwi-60, abanamisebenzi. [... and, hon Minister, people retrenched from the mines who are between 40 and 60 years old.]
We must create work for those people. We are therefore hoping that this time around the Minister will consider these critical employment creation opportunities.
Mphathiswa siyabulela kodwa sicinga ukuba kufuneka senze ngakumbi ukuvelisa amathuba emisebenzi nezakhono. [We thank you, Minister, but we think we must do more to create job opportunities and develop skills.]
We need to do more to create work and we need to do more to convey skills. We also would like to thank CBE for the skills project in high schools, which is very good. We have been calling for that for years and we will assist them because our people need to be skilled. Thank you. [Applause.]