A grand plan to move all Eastern Cape government departments back into an expanded Bhisho was unveiled at a public-private partnership conference in East London last week.

The R600-million plan to finance the construction of office complexes in Bhisho is among a new wave of Public-Private Partnership projects that will be launched by the government, said Finance MEC Billy Nel.

"It makes business sense to bring all the departments back into Bhisho and to create a 'one-stop shop' that is more accessible to the people," Nel said.

He said another cost benefit was a reduced phone bill as the provincial government would then be able to make all internal calls free - a move that saved the Treasury R1,5m over the last two years.

Eastern Cape Premier Nosimo Balindlela supported the plan and also called on private businesses to develop the province's small towns, including Bhisho, Dutywa and Mount Ayliff.

"We must now look at loosening the binding constraints for private and public developments. People are asking about houses and roads that are lacking because of our legacy from the past. But we must not look at the legacy now. We must look for solutions," she said.

Balindlela added that the government aimed to decrease the time it took to pay creditors from 50 days to 30 days.

Nel said the Bhisho revitalisation plan was still in its planning phase, with talks between the government and the Buffalo City Municipality at an advanced stage.

He was confident that private sector developments in the form of hotels and accommodation would follow the investment in Bhisho.

DA chief whip, Bobby Stevenson, said the revitalisation of Bhisho could lead to positive spin-offs for the local economy of King William's Town.

"Over the years there has been an exodus of people and businesses from the area and there have to be incentives from government to attract them back," he said.

Stevenson said it was difficult to attract people to work in Bhisho because the location was not attractive and it lacked the necessary amenities.

"Unless there is a visionary strategic plan to attract the private sector into the revitalisation of Bhisho, it is not going to fly," Stevenson said.

Nel said the government was looking at partnering with private companies as a way to catch up on its infrastructure backlogs.

He said an example of a PPP was where a private company constructed a building and rented it to the government at a negotiated rate.

The Walter Sisulu Hospital and the controversial fleet management contract between the Transport Department and Fleet Africa are two existing PPPs in the province.

Another future PPP project includes turning the R72 between East London and Port Elizabeth into a toll road.

"Not in the next 10 years will we be able to catch up on the (infrastructure) backlogs, so we are looking at ways to shortcut the process. Provincial governments are not allowed to borrow money, but in partnership with private companies it is possible to secure funds," he said.

Only R3 billion was budgeted for infrastructure development in the Eastern Cape over the past financial year.

This figure is overshadowed by the Health Department's R3,6bn infrastructure backlog, with an additional R9bn needed for new health-related developments over the next decade.

Hot on its heels is the Transport Department which will need R5,7bn over the next three years for building new road infrastructure.

Nel said the conference, which ended on Friday, was his department's first step to create awareness of PPPs among private business and he aimed at registering three related projects by the end of the 2007/8 financial year.

The next step would be for provincial departments to come up with their own PPP initiatives, while the government was open to suggestions from private business, Nel said.

National Treasury's new PPP unit head, Taz Chaponda, said PPP projects could often take a long time, as was seen with the Gautrain mega-project that recently completed a five-year planning phase fraught with legal action and protests.

He told businesses to ensure that their project proposals had a geopolitical strategic benefit to the government and links with government planning frameworks like the Accelerated and Shared Growth Initiative of SA.

Daily Dispatch
Publisher: I-Net Bridge
Source: I-Net Bridge