Deputy Speaker, I welcome the statement by hon Oliphant who has just given his statement about the importance that government attaches to continuing our major infrastructure spend. In some quarters it is said that the infrastructure spend has ended because the 2010 Fifa Soccer World Cup is over. It is true that the hosting of the 2010 Fifa Soccer World Cup provided us with an opportunity to fast-track many infrastructure programmes. This fast-tracking of infrastructure spend was really very important for South Africa at the time that we were hit by the global economic crisis. It was our key stimulus package and enabled us to weather the crisis relatively well as a country, but spending continues.
There are cases where we now need to slow down on construction and sweat the assets that we have built. This particularly applies to the wonderful airports that we have either refurbished or built new in our country. I think we now have enough airports, and we need now to maximise the use of those assets in a number of other areas, obviously with the energy build and in terms of communication and water infrastructure. However, I would like to talk particularly about transport.
The major infrastructure spend on transport continues, particularly on public transport. The Gautrain is not yet complete and the major second leg between Johannesburg and Pretoria will be completed next year. This financial year R3,9 billion is going to the Public Transport Infrastructure and Systems Grant to 12 key municipalities, nine of the host cities but others as well. I should add that it included a substantial sum that is going, for instance, to the City of Cape Town for public transport infrastructure in the spirit of co-operative governance. We want to see good public transport regardless of who, politically, is in the administration.
We are also looking forward to a major spend on recapitalisation, in freight rail, in terms of rolling stock and signalling equipment, and in Metrorail. So, in short, one would like to firmly endorse the spirit of hon Oliphant's statement, namely that government is deeply committed, along with the ANC, to sustaining this huge infrastructures spend. Thank you.