Deputy Speaker, I'm responding to the statement made by the hon member from Cope about the matter of the tolls in the Gauteng Freeway Improvement Project. Firstly, let me say that Minister Ndebele has obviously taken note, as we all have in the Department of Transport, of the public outcry and deep public concern about the proposed toll fees.
We are particularly concerned about the impact that the tolling fees would have on the lives of working-class and poor people. We are slightly less sympathetic, but perhaps a bit sympathetic, to those who belong to the suburban elite, who are at the forefront of demanding these kinds of expansive, extremely expensive, infrastructure freeway projects. They are then the first in the queue when it comes to crying about the cost to the country of implementing these means.
We - the Minister in particular - are actively engaging the SA National Roads Agency Ltd, Sanral, around the proposed toll fees, as well as all role-players.
We are also looking very closely at the current proceedings of the Competition Commission. You'll remember that the Competition Commission is looking at serious collusion in the civil engineering sector. We have no reason specifically to say that the costs of this particular project were inflated seriously as a result of collusion, but we are certainly looking very closely at that too.
In making this statement we want to reaffirm that the Department of Transport's strategic priorities are public transport, and not car-based freeways, and road maintenance. These are where the job-intensive activities lie.
Also, an impression has been created that all this has come out of the blue. Maybe the shock of exactly what it is going to cost to toll this very expensive project is now dawning on a number of people. But Sanral has reported to this Parliament about this project, and I can vouch for that, being a former chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Transport. Sanral has come many times over many years to explain this project.
I think we should, and hopefully we will, use the current debate as a reminder to all of us from all parties, particularly those that represent suburban elites, that we need to ask very serious questions about the affordability, the transformational impact, if any, the sequencing and the correct priorities when we embark on major infrastructure construction programmes. Thank you. [Applause.]