Honourable Deputy Speaker, as we consider this Budgetary Review and Recommendation Report of the Portfolio Committee on Public Works and Infrastructure, it is the view of the ACDP that infrastructure is not just about roads, bridges, and buildings; it is about whether citizens can access schools, clinics, safe housing, and reliable services.
This Department’s Annual Performance Plan highlighted the Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP) as a cornerstone of job creation, with targets to provide some 1 million work opportunities in 2025/26, repositioning the works programme from a temporary job relief measure to a structured, skills-based employment pipeline, with a R7.2 billion rand allocation over the MTEF period.
The ACDP has long recommended the EPWP must evolve to offer long-term, dignified employment. We also welcome the establishment of a special technical construction team to fast-track the 10 year-long delayed completion of the historic Ohlange Institute—an institute built by the brother of my Great Grandmother, Dr John Dube. Also the establishment of a new national database that can name and restrict dodgy contractors and consultants who fail to deliver.
Noting the amplified frustrations around stall construction and accountability gaps, the ACDP supports the introduction of the SA Construction Action Plan (SACAP,) that includes blacklisting defaulting contractors, ring-fencing infrastructure budgets, mandatory project tracking and enhanced accountability in procurement and audits—as well as the brave intention to rid the country of the so-called “construction mafia”.
As Kingdom builders, the ACDP repeats the call for the prioritisation of the completion of bridges.
Thank you.
