To: All Media

Att: News Editors

For Immediate Release

19 October 2016

Gauteng partners Stats-SA in using data to improve infrastructure delivery

The Gauteng Department of Infrastructure development (DID) is partnering with Stats-SA to tap into its rich experience on data management to move closer to becoming a modern and smart organisation when it comes to the delivery of infrastructure.

DID Member of the Executive Council (MEC) Jacob Mamabolo held a joint press conference with Statistician General Dr Phali Lehohla on the sidelines of a workshop at the Innovation Hub in Pretoria , today, the 20^th October, 2016. The workshop is one of several engagements between the institutions as they combine efforts to ensure that the Gauteng Provincial Government (GPG) uses data such as project information, the government’s immovable assets among others, for better planning in the delivery of infrastructure in Gauteng.

Mamabolo says: “We have to use credible, reliable, reputable data to inform our planning so that we make the right impact on our communities.” Mamabolo adds that since 1994 our country has achieved much but has not yet mastered the art and science of working efficiently and effectively.

Dr Lehohla echoed the MEC’s comments saying: “From 1994 up to the present we have had some wasted opportunities. We must reorganise our tools to determine the impact on individual citizens. How do we use space as an effective instrument of transformation? Lutsinga Infrastructure House is the visible manifestation of how data can be harnessed to show these tangible gains.”

DID took the first step towards what Lehohla calls a “data revolution”, when it built a first of its kind a high-tech, state-of-the-art project nerve centre known as Lutsinga Infrastructure house, which manages GPG’s assets at a press of a button. Through Lutsinga the provincial government is now able to track developments across its built programme and its R31 billion property portfolio.

Stats-SA led by Dr Lehohla has committed to help the province track the impact of infrastructure development programmes on communities, including jobs and economic participation.

“The GDP is a terribly underutilised instrument. Yet if we understood it would help us to chart a better path to a better future in a faster way,” says the Statistician General.

Mamabolo says the workshop will assist government in making evidence based decision making in ensuring that every cent that government spends makes an impact where it is most needed, especially in skills development and job creation.

DID is the custodian of immovable assets of GPG and also responsible for the construction and refurbishment of public schools, hospitals, community health centres, libraries, recreation facilities and heritage sites, amongst others. The province has also adopted a radical transformation, modernisation and reindustrialisation programme.

ENDS

Issued by the Department of Infrastructure Development

For more details contact Theo Nkonki (Spokesperson, Gauteng Department of Infrastructure) on 082 7196404 or theo.nkonki@gauteng.gov.za