PMIG 12 April 2012
Project Management capacity building in
support of enhanced Public Service
delivery
Presented by: L Neethling
PALAMA
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Presentation Outline
1. Introduction
2. Importance of Project Management to government
3. Infra-structure plans for the country 2012
4. Projects and collaboration of key government departments
5. Effective and Efficient Project Management on government projects
6. Case studies on project failure
7. Analysis of project failure
8. Capacity building and Project Management
9. PALAMA’s project Management courses
10. Closing
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Introduction
EFFECTIVE PROJECT MANAGEMENT + COLLABORATION OF KEY
GOVERNMENT DEPARTMENTS + EFFECTIVE MONITORING AND
EVALUATION = ENHANCED SERVICE DELIVERY
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Importance of Project Management to
Government

Project Management has become a core skill in the make-up of all public
sector managers and professionals.

Recognition to this important competence has been given in the competency
profile that has been adopted for all members of the SMS in the public
service, and are also taking due cognisance of it in the extension of the
competency profile to middle and emerging managers.

Project Management is essential in developing the economic environment of
the country.
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Importance of Project Management to
Government (cont)

SoNA of 2003: The President remarked on the need for the Public Service to
develop capacity for programme and project management and actually elevate the
importance of this skill by appointing dedicated project managers in some instances.

SoNA of 2012: The President announced that projects focusing on health and
basic education infrastructure, information and communication technologies
and regional integration, have been chosen for government's infrastructure
development drive.

Transnet's Market Demand Strategy, which entails an investment over the next
seven years of R300 billion in capital projects. The strategy will not only create
more jobs, but will also position South Africa as a regional transhipment hub for
sub-Saharan Africa and deliver on the New Partnership for Africa's
development's (Nepad) regional integration agenda. A total of R200 billion is
allocated to rail projects and the majority of the balance to projects in the ports.
Among the list of planned projects is the expansion of the Iron Ore Export Channel
from 60 million tons a year to 82 million tons a year”.
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Infra-structure plans for the country 2012
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Infrastructure plans for the country
(cont)
Mpumalanga/Northern Cape: Building new universities in Mpumalanga and
the Northern Cape. A total of R300 million has been allocated for the preparatory
work.
North West: Expansion of the roll-out of water, roads, rail and electricity
infrastructure in the North West. Ten priority roads will be upgraded.
Limpopo/Mpumalanga: The development and integration of rail, road and
water infrastructure centred around two main areas in Limpopo: the
Waterberg in the western part of the province and Steelpoort in the east.
These efforts are intended to unlock the enormous mineral belt of coal, platinum,
palladium, chrome and other minerals, to facilitate increased mining and stepped-up
beneficiation of minerals. There will expansion of rail transport in Mpumalanga,
connecting coalfields to power stations. This will enable a shift from road to rail in
the transportation of coal. The eastern parts of the North West will also benefit from
the greater focus on infrastructure connected to mining and mineral beneficiation.
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Infrastructure plans for the country
(Cont)
Western Cape/Northern Cape: Expansion of the iron-ore rail line between
Sishen in the Northern Cape and Saldanha Bay in the Western Cape, which
will create jobs in both provinces. The iron-ore capacity on the transport side will
increase capacity to 100 million tons a year, which will allow for the expansion of
iron-ore mining over the next decade to feed the developing world's growing
investment in infrastructure and industrial activities.
Eastern Cape: Development of a major new south-eastern node that will
improve the industrial and agricultural development and export capacity of
the Eastern Cape region, and expand the province's economic and logistics
linkages with the Northern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal.
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Projects and
collaboration of key government departments
Example: Municipal Infrastructure Grant
Department of Sport
and Recreation SA
Department of
Housing
Department of
Transport
MIG
Provincial
departments
Department
of Corporate
Governance
Municipalities
Department
of Public
Works
National
Treasury
Department of Water
Affairs and Forestry
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Effective and Efficient Project Management on
government projects
“Major challenges facing government today is the delivery of all construction and
maintenance projects on time, within budget and in accordance with the
desired scope” – (Paper by Department of Quantity surveying and Construction
Management, University of the Free State).
The most critical challenges facing government’s infrastructure service delivery
programme are:
•
•
•
•
Infrastructure backlog constrains economic growth
Under expenditure on infrastructure budgets
Poor application of project management.
Poor time management.
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Case studies on failed projects
Project Location
Project description
Failure
Causes
Polokwane Prison
Upgrading of Civil
Infrastructure, Wet
Services & fencing
Contractor failed to
complete project on
time and within budget
•
•
•
Baviaanspoort Prison
Repair & waterproofing
of roofing
Project completed 15
months late – Heavy
penalties imposed.
Makhado Air Force
Base
Project Winchester:
•
Construction of Taxiway
•
Project completed 3
months late.
Penalties imposed.
Cost overrun
Non viability of
tendered rates
Poor project time
management
Poor project quality
management
•
Poor project time
management
•
Poor project time
management
Poor project cost
management
Poor project scope
management
•
•
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Analysis of project failure
• Poor project cost management: Contractors fail to apply effective project cost
management from the outset.
• Poor project time management: Poor planning, a lack of a consistently
updated project plan and the failure to apply critical path analysis techniques,
invariably affect the other project management knowledge areas.
• Poor project quality management: Too often, contractors take on too much
work, become over extended and become constrained due to a lack of
resources resulting in poor project quality management.
• Poor project scope management: Poor scope direction given by the client
which resulted in poor scope development by the consultant and ultimately in
project failure.
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Analysis of project failure (cont)
It is evident from the failures of the case study projects that project time
management was not a key priority for the contractors concerned.
Contractors generally ignore the legal requirement to employ project managers’
who are registered with the South African Council for Project and Construction
Management, which leads to in experienced or poorly capacitated project
managers leading government projects.
Poor project quality management: The Public Service and the citizens deserve to
get value for money and each project which fails as a result of poor workmanship
and materials represents fruitless expenditure and ultimately unnecessary costs to
the tax payer.
No robust monitoring and evaluation system.
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Capacity building and Project
Management
It is crucial for government to take a strategic view on quality management and
minimum standards based on a “zero tolerance policy”. This can only be achieved
through the collective effort of all role players, programme managers, project
managers, professional consultants, contractors and suppliers.
“Project failures caused by poor project scope management can be attributed firstly to
poor scope definition by government and secondly to the poor translation of the scope
into design and documentation by the project management team” – (Paper by
Department of Quantity surveying and Construction Management, University of the
Free State).
Capacity building in Project Management is essential to ensure effective, efficient, and
timely implementation and management of all project activities at the national,
provincial and local government level.
This includes: Capacity building (PALAMA) and general project support.
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Developing public servants who serve and deliver
I want to!
I can!
Organisational culture and
ethos define the ways
things are done:
• norms to support delivery
• supportive leadership
• value driven delivery
Building knowledge and
skills through:
• skills development
• training
• networks
• research
• sharing knowledge
• education
PERFORMANCE
Space
A supportive institutional environment
I am allowed!
Formal and informal authority, structures, regulations enable or limit
participation and engagement to move beyond policy to practice.
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PALAMA Project Management
courses
Basic Project Management in the PS
Advanced Project Management in the PS
Training alone will not result in the optimum benefit gained for the public sector from the
approach of project management.
We need to also take into consideration the procedures and systems, the structuring of
government, as well as the entire service delivery field to make sure that project
management mechanisms that we introduce will be feasible and appropriate for the highly
complex and qualitatively different contexts than those in which the private sector is
operating in.
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Closing
INPUT BY THE HONOURABLE GERALDINE FRASER-MOLEKETI AT THE OCCASION OF
THE IQPC CONFERENCE ON PROJECT MANAGEMENT IN THE PUBLIC SECTOR,
Sandton, Johannesburg, 26 November 2003
•
“We need to ensure that project management becomes integrated in our overall government
and public service approach. It must become part of the organisational culture”.
•
“The potential for entrenching project management deeper into the public sector is great.
The potential for it to result in greater effectiveness, better service delivery for the people of
this country and the rest of the continent is not in dispute. The challenge for us it to move
from having that insight, to actually realising the full potential”
•
As public sector employees we need to move from a situation where they realise the
relevance and the potential, to one where we firmly institutionalise a project management
across the South African public sector.
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Thank You
For more information on our training and services:
To speak to a consultant : Tel 012 441 6777
Written Correspondence: Fax 012 441 6054
To request a quotation: contactcentre@palama.gov.za
Or visit our web site: www.palama.gov.za
L Neethling
Director: HRM&OD
012 441 6204
Leonore.neethling@palama.gov.za
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