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By James Mlawu

Developing Pathways out of Poverty: The Role of Labour Intensive Road Construction & Maintenance Methods in the Political Economy of a Democratic South Africa. By James Mlawu. Presented by: Simon Oloo. Outline. Historical Perspective Funding & Prioritization of Rural Transport Needs

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By James Mlawu

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  1. Developing Pathways out of Poverty: The Role of Labour Intensive Road Construction & Maintenance Methods in the Political Economy of a Democratic South Africa By James Mlawu Presented by: Simon Oloo

  2. Outline • Historical Perspective • Funding & Prioritization of Rural Transport Needs • KZN Emerging Contractor Programme • Zibambele programme • Conclusions

  3. Historical Perspective • Apartheid & the Pre 1994 Era • 40% of households account for only 10% of total consumption while 6% consume > 40% • Blacks confined to townships & homelands lacking basic facilities. In KZN 30% of rural districts have HDI < Rwanda • Massive investment in rail & road infrastructure used to address white poverty • Dedicated fuel levy used to fund expansion & maintenance of infrastructure

  4. Historical Perspective.. • Bantu education excludes blacks for technical education. In 2000 only 3% of engineering graduates were black. • Powerful white groups emerge to lobby govt. on transport needs for urban, commercial and mining communities. No lobbies for rural blacks. Results: Poverty & poorly developed rural transport infrastructure

  5. Historical Perspective.. • Democracy & Post 1994 • National drive to create jobs & address rural poverty • National drive to address inequalities in infrastructure provision • KZN Dept of Transport puts in place strategies to address poverty & lack of transport infrastructure in rural areas

  6. Funding & Prioritization of Rural Transport Needs • Funding • 1994 R3 million (US$ 375 000) allocated for Community access roads ( 1% of budget) • 1995 – 1996 5% of budget for CAR • 2000 25% of budget for rural projects • Prioritization • 1994 – 1996 small development sub-directorate created to address rural transport needs. CARNS study initiated.

  7. Funding & Prioritization of Rural Transport Needs.. • Prioritization • 1997 – 2000 Full fledged development directorate. RRTFs created as rural development lobby groups. • 2001 on Development directorate fills client role in restructured department to address equity in infrastructure provision.

  8. Emerging Contractor Program • Aim – promote & support development of emerging contractors in the transport infrastructure sector. • Form – staged advancement • Stage 1: contract limit R200K, labour & small tools only • Stage 2: contract limit R400K, labour & some plant • Stage 3: contract limit R600K, labour & all plant

  9. Emerging Contractor Program • Growth: none in 1994 to 911 contracts worth R160 million in 2000/2001 FY. Projects R1.6 billion over next 3 years • Problems & Solutions • Lack of appropriate training. Dept. assisting with formation of emerging contractor associations to streamline training. Dept. to set aside 10% of contract value for training.

  10. Emerging Contractor Program • Problems & Solutions • Sourcing of construction plant. Dept. setting up pilot plant support schemes involving private/public sector partnerships. Dept. to guarantee repayments while manufacturer to guarantee maintenance and management of plant depots. • Lack of credit facilities. Dept. to encourage ECAs to form co-operatives through which plant and materials can be sourced. Dept. to award multi-year contracts to help build credit worthiness

  11. Emerging Contractor Program • Problems & Solutions • Lack of exposure to range of construction activities. Dept. planning to finance large contracts packaged to allow collaboration between established and emerging contractors

  12. Zibambele Programme • Zibambele “Doing it ourselves” adaptation of lengthman system of road maintenance • Households rather than individuals contracted • Poorest of the poor women headed households targeted. • Training provided on life skills in addition to labour intensive maintenance methods. • Plans underway to assist zibambele to gear up savings through investment portfolios or small enterprise developments.

  13. Conclusions • Dept. firmly committed to addressing historical imbalances in infrastructure provision. • Emerging contractor programme has had tremendous impact in nurturing black entrepreneurship. • Zibambele programme has improved prospects for rural families through access to credit, training and by extension nutrition, and schooling. • The document “Road to Wealth & Job Creation” identifies wide range of possible employment opportunities by linking provision of road infrastructure to agriculture and tourism.

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