Written by      : Yanga Yiba

Picture by      : Thapelo Siqheza

Date                : 09 April 2025

MEC Siphokazi Lusithi tabled the 2025/2026 Policy and Budget Speech of the Department of Public Works and Infrastructure at the Eastern Cape Provincial Legislature on Tuesday 08 April 2025, making a commitment that this financial year construction of the Bhisho Office Precinct will start in earnest.

The Precinct which will be located next to the House of Traditional Leaders and Khoisans along the Independence Street, will house seven government departments.

Delivering her speech, MEC Lusithi also identified nine priorities which she said the Department will have to deliver despite the ever-shrinking fiscal envelope, saying she regards “this moment as more than just a procedural obligation. It is an opportunity for us as a Ministry to engage meaningfully with the people of the Eastern Cape. It is a time for reflection on our progress, our challenges, and our collective vision for the future.”

For the 2025/2026 financial year, the department’s budget allocation has remained almost stagnant at R2 654 billion.

In aligning with the Provincial Medium-Term Development Plan, the Department has identified the following 9 Prioritiesthat would position it as a ‘Nerve Centre for Infrastructure Delivery, Coordination and Investment:

• Strengthening of Integrated Infrastructure Delivery through Capital infrastructure and Maintenance projects
• Accelerating the coordination of infrastructure development through Transversal Infrastructure Coordination (TIC)
• Enhancement of Revenue Generation
• Providing support to MSMEs through procurement and building Material manufacturing and supply.
• Sustainable Work Opportunities through EPWP Availing of land and properties to private investors for economic development and investments
• Use of Government land and buildings as a catalyst for spatial transformation and social justice
• Availing / Releasing of coastal land parcels and properties as a contribution to the Ocean’s Economy and Eastern Seaboard initiatives
• Continuation of building DPWI capacity and capability, focusing on Mainstreaming, Business Modernisation and Built Environment Skills Pipeline

MEC Siphokazi Lusithi further pronounced that to ensure that infrastructure delivery and coordination in the province is given greater impetus as a lever for socio-economic growth, the collaboration between Public Works and Human Settlements will be achieved through the implementation of the nine (9) tangible Areas of Collaboration that would maximize the synergies and impact of Infrastructure development in the province.

For further information on these nine (9) areas of collaboration and pockets of success stories that the department has achieved in the last financial year and commitments on the plans to improve the lives of the people of the Eastern Cape, you are encouraged to read up on the 2025/2026 Policy and Budget Speech document circulated.

 
MEC Siphokazi Lusithi delivering her Policy and Budget Speech for the 2025/2026 Financial Year.

MEC Siphokazi Lusithi showing Premier Lubabalo Oscar Mabuyane the Artist’s Impression of the Bhisho Office Precinct project.

 
DPWI exhibition stall buzzing as Premier Mabuyane interacted with the officials.

MEC Siphokazi Lusithi with DPWI Head of Department, Phucuka Penxa.

From left; Chief Director: Strategy and Systems, Qengeba Quinton Mageza, Head of Department: Phucuka Penxa, MEC Siphokazi Lusithi, Nelson Mandela District Director: Olona Njotini and Sarah Baartman District Director: Andile Mazwi displaying the Artist’s Impression of the Bhisho Office Precinct.