Hon Chairperson, hon members, Deputy Minister of Transport, chairperson of the portfolio committee, members of the transport family, ladies and gentlemen, transport is a catalyst for economic growth and an engine for job creation in South Africa. Principal modes of transport for people in South Africa are rail and road, with a few people using air transport. Even fewer use the Indian and Atlantic Oceans that surround us and which effectively classify us as a maritime nation.
The provision of reliable, sustainable and safe transportation of people and goods from place to place is critical to the transformation of our country. Typically, an effective, safe public transport system will reduce transport costs, create jobs and income-generating opportunities, and increase the value of real estate. Yes, an effective public transport system will increase the quality of life for all our communities.
One of the questions facing our transport sector in South Africa is that of limited funding for transport development and maintenance. It is by no means a South African problem only. This was indicated by US President Barack Obama in his state of the union address earlier this year when he called for greater private sector investment in the provision of road infrastructure.
Our shared view is that we must develop the methodologies which encourage private sector participation and investment in the provision of key infrastructure. Alternative funding models also need to be developed for consideration, just as alternative construction materials and construction methodologies need to be researched to enhance value for money.
In this regard, the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa, Prasa, held a market engagement conference on 5 April 2011, where we presented the new rolling stock programme and the business opportunities emanating from that exercise to the numerous participants. Following this, on 13 and 14 June this year the Department of Transport will host the International Investment Conference in Cape Town under the theme "Creating winning partnerships through investment". This will provide an opportunity for dialogue between investors and the department in the pursuit of alternative funding streams.
As I deliver my address this afternoon, over 600 buses are making their daily trip of 160 km from Tshwane to KwaNdebele. In the morning, they will make the return trip back along the Moloto Corridor. They carry commuters who often leave home at 3:00 am and arrive back at 9:00 pm. Government subsidises these commuters to the value of R412 million per annum, which translates into approximately R7 000 per commuter per month. Of interest is that many of these commuters earn less than the subsidised amount per month.
Having noted these challenges, the department is currently investigating an alternative and more cost-effective transport network for the Moloto Corridor, which is safe, which cuts down travelling time, and which will effectively address commuter needs.
Link 1 of the Gautrain Rapid Rail network between Sandton and the O R Tambo International Airport was opened in June 2010. Link 2, from Johannesburg to Pretoria, will be opened this month. The completion of the network ushers in a new era in public transportation, matching world standards in rapid rail transport. Travelling at 180 km/h and taking 38 minutes between Johannesburg and Pretoria, it will set a benchmark for future rail developments in South Africa.
The Gauteng Freeway Improvement Project, e-tolling and the future tolling of roads have been in the media recently and on many discussion platforms on radio and social networks around the country. However, for the debate and discussion to be constructive, it is important that the aspects of this are viewed within the appropriate context.
In 2007 Cabinet approved the project, after which the SA National Roads Agency Ltd, Sanral, was required to follow with a further proposal, that of Intent to Toll the roads which was part of the project. Sanral has been allowed to identify potential investors to raise the funds to implement the state-of-the-art system without resorting to the national fiscus for such a large budget. Sanral did this, and implemented Phase One. Funding for the project implementation was obtained through government bonds and, to repay this debt, the Open Road Toll, or e-tolling system, was introduced.
Noting the consultative process implemented since 2007, and the various decision-makers and role-players in this project currently, numerous concerns have been raised. For those hon members who have travelled on the part of the Gauteng Freeway Improvement Programme that has been completed, we must agree that we now have a state-of-the-art road network system. Notwithstanding all this, the need for further consultation to address the concerns of the public was noted.
In March I suspended the implementation of the e-tolling system and established a task team to engage all stakeholders further, in pursuit of a conducive position, on which there had been consultation, with regard to the e-tolling of the Gauteng Freeway Improvement Programme. The steering committee, chaired by the director-general, is embarking on extensive public consultation to review the concerns raised. A comprehensive report on the work of the steering committee will be submitted in due course, after which we will have a review.
Transformation of the public transport sector is a fundamental objective we are pursuing. Following numerous meetings and interventions since 2009, it is with great pleasure that I can inform the House today of our progress with regard to the Rea Vaya Bus Rapid Transit System. Earlier this year the taxi industry in Johannesburg became a 66% shareholder in the Rea Vaya Bus Rapid Transit System. The implementation and roll-out of the Rea Vaya Bus Rapid Transit System in the four identified cities is progressing well.
We also wish to take this opportunity to recognise the partnership we have established with the taxi industry over the years. We were part of the establishment of the SA National Taxi Council, Santaco, which was to position the industry for growth into the rest of the transport sector. Santaco turns 10 years old in September this year. We wish the organisation well in this, its 10th year of productive existence. We look forward to decades and decades of collaboration with Santaco towards the provision of better public transport for all.
It is generally acknowledged that over the years the underinvestment in our road infrastructure, together with the age of our roads, has resulted in the degradation of our road network. More than 75% of our current road network is 20 years old or older. Based on a road design life span of 20 years and the various report indicators, 40% of the provincial road network has reached crisis point, due to the limited maintenance that has been done.
After noting the state of our roads as highlighted by various study reports, we launched the S'hamba Sonke Programme in Durban on 18 April this year. This programme will see the Department of Transport launching a new road upgrade and maintenance initiative to fix and upgrade the entire secondary road network of South Africa. The programme will create 68 675 new jobs for emerging contractors and jobs across the country.
The ring-fenced conditional grant will be implemented in the following five key areas: rehabilitating key arterial routes in support of the rural economy through labour-intensive projects; prioritising the use of labour- absorptive construction methods; eliminating potholes in our roads; creating access roads to schools and clinics and public social infrastructure; and establishing the Road Asset Management Systems, RAMS, and introducing the Know Your Network Programme. This programme consists of regional engineers in all the provinces monitoring road conditions, including any possible overnight damage, on a daily basis.
The S'hamba Sonke Programme has been allocated R22 billion for the current Medium-Term Expenditure Framework cycle, with the allocation for 2011-12 being R6,4 billion. Business plans supported by all the MECs have been received from all provinces.
For the 2011-12 financial year the allocations to provinces are as follows: KwaZulu-Natal, R1,2 billion; the Eastern Cape, R1 billion; Mpumalanga, R1 billion; Limpopo, R934 million; Gauteng, R566 million; the Free State, R447 million; the Western Cape, R411 million; the Northern Cape, R308 million; and North West, R501 million. All provinces will submit a monthly report, and we in turn will report to Treasury every three months.
Our passenger rail system has come under serious focus and public scrutiny in the recent past due to two train collisions, in Pretoria and Soweto. This public concern about the safety of the rail system is justified, and we need to assure the public, through our actions, that we will be able to deliver safe and reliable services moving forward. These systemic failures are primarily due to a combination of old technology, decades of underinvestment, deferred and poor maintenance, and the loss of critical skills. The international norm is that a train will fail every 822 days, while it stands at an average of every 20 days in our country. This tells its own story and requires our urgent intervention and long-term solutions.
We have a bold plan for the railways. Prasa's strategy over the next three years is informed by the demand for a quality rail service, the current performance of the system, and Prasa's capital investment.
On 11 May 2011 South Africa participated in the launch of the United Nations Decade of Action for Road Safety 2011-2020. We seek to halve road deaths and end the carnage on our roads by 2015. Road deaths affect us all. Worldwide, 1,3 million people are killed annually. Chair, 14 000 people are killed and more than 50 000 are injured annually in South Africa.
Every member of society, especially those who have lost their loved ones in road accidents, will become the natural driving force in this programme. Worldwide, as in South Africa, the Decade of Action commits us to developing and enforcing legislation in regard to key risk factors, like effective managing and monitoring of speed limits, eliminating drinking and driving, and increasing the use of seatbelts.
All provinces, district municipalities and local municipalities will report monthly on road accidents, indicating the causal factors and the plans to address them. All provinces and districts will report on the implementation of the National Rolling Enforcement Plan. It was agreed by all that at least one million drivers would be stopped per month, 250 000 drivers would be stopped every week, and 45 000 motorists would be stopped each day. Where we are not doing it, we do have more than 17 000 local, provincial, and national officers, and something must be done so that the business-as- usual and lackadaisical approach to road safety comes to an end.
These targets will ensure that, within a period of six months, at least 60% of all motorists will have been checked for compliance with road traffic regulations. Also, the first National Traffic Intervention Unit is being deployed in high accident areas and hazardous locations.
With regard to traffic management and according to our Constitution, road safety and traffic management are national, provincial and local government competencies. The shared responsibility creates challenges relating to co- ordination, and results in a lack of uniformity in our law enforcement efforts. It was with this in mind that the Road Traffic Management Corporation Act was passed in 1999. The Act established a legal entity chaired by the Minister of Transport, with provinces and municipalities as shareholders. Putting the Road Traffic Management Corporation in order has been one of the urgent tasks facing the transport sector, and I am happy to say that we are succeeding in this.
With regard to maritime transport, we currently handle 4 million tons of cargo. Our maritime agency has identified that we require a total of 36 000 seafarers for deployment at sea. Currently we have 1 800.
One of the key legacies of the 2010 Fifa World Cup in regard to aviation was an investment of R17 billion in airport infrastructure. We are now expected to start the repayment of this investment. The review and improvement of the tariff determination framework will continue so as to ensure effective service delivery within the aviation sector. Airport infrastructure in the provinces will be supported, with the objective of ensuring the provision of adequate and effective infrastructure to promote air transportation of both passengers and goods. Current bilateral agreements that seek to increase tourism will be reviewed to ensure that the intervention plans being indicated will effectively achieve this.
Noting the importance of the transport sector projects, my department did an organisational review to ensure that we could effectively deliver on our mandate. The Department of Transport's key focus areas are improving our road network, public transport, investment in rail infrastructure and services, road safety, and maritime and air transport projects. To ensure that the department's mandate, as indicated, is achieved, an organisational review of the structure was done.
The approved new organisational structure reflects a departmental structure based on modes that will elevate the functions of the department from being focused on policy development, to being the co-ordinator of implementation of the transport sector programmes. This organisational structure will further ensure effective monitoring and evaluation of programme outcomes, and provide single-point accountability.
I wish to thank the Deputy Minister, Mr Jeremy Cronin, for his ongoing partnership and comradeship as we transform the transport sector. I thank the Director-General, Mr George Mahlalela, and his team for their hard work and dedication. Furthermore, I would like to thank all the agencies, especially the chairpersons and CEOs, for their dedication to the critical role they play in the delivery and implementation of our agenda. I thank the Transport Portfolio Committee Chairperson, Ms Ruth Bhengu, and the committee for the constructive way in which they engage with the department and for the diligent manner in which they conduct oversight over its programmes and projects.
Last but not least, a warm and sincere thank you goes to the transport family for their ongoing, tireless efforts at ensuring that we keep South Africa on the move, contributing to making a better life for all. Together we can do more to move people and goods for economic growth and the development of sustainable communities, at the same time transforming the transport sector.
I hereby request the House to approve the Department of Transport's budget of R36 billion for 2011-12. I thank you. [Applause.]
Hon Chairperson, hon members, ladies and gentlemen, the Department of Transport, DoT, received a clean audit report with findings on predetermined objects. The Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa, Prasa, received a clean audit report with findings. The Cross-Border Road Transport Agency, CBRTA, received a qualified audit report. The Road Traffic Management Corporation, RTMC, received an adverse audit report. All other transport entities received a clean audit report.
We commend the department for a clean audit report and want it to improve the findings so that in future they do not get any findings. We applaud all transport entities with clean audits, and urge those with qualified reports to refrain from doing things that result in their receiving qualified reports.
I have been tasked by the ANC's Study Group on Transport to focus on two issues. The first issue is transport as a tool for social development, and the second issue is transport as a tool for economic development. We are debating the budget of the Department of Transport and 13 transport entities, mandated by our Parliament to provide transport-related services in South Africa.
Transport services are aimed at providing easy and comfortable movement of people and goods in our country. The services provided should be aligned to job creation, social development and economic development.
We rejoiced at the birth of the democratic ANC government in April 1994, but soon faced a gloomy side, that of inheriting a country with uneven levels of development, a country with First World and Third World features. That situation still exists.
Correcting these imbalances remains a big challenge. A review of resource allocation, informed by backlog, would help in reducing these imbalances. Our approach on budget does not focus only on good administration of financial resources.
While we hold the department and transport entities accountable for financial administration to ensure clean audit reports, we also pay attention to how the financial resources and their programmes contribute to correcting the legacy of apartheid government and imbalances that exist in our communities. We emphasise that we get value for money and do not compromise on that. There is now a common understanding regarding these issues within the transport family.
The ANC's Study Group on Transport welcomes the resolution of the ANC National Executive Committee, ANC NEC, on reviewing the funding model for local government and deployment of more resources to rural municipalities that have no revenue base. We can only hope from this end that the local government sphere will have the interest to allocate enough resources on transport infrastructure development programmes and plans for integrated transport. We have raised this issue because it is at local government level where more challenges of a degrading transport infrastructure exist, and proper planning for integrated transport infrastructure is required.
Transport is a tool for social development. All communities have a right to access not only public facilities, but also each other. Rivers and mountains should no longer prevent communities across the rivers and beyond the mountains from interacting with each other in this era of science and technology. We should rather use rivers and mountains to link communities.
The rights of rural communities are equal to those of urban communities. They too should have easy access to community facilities. Schools, clinics, sports facilities, churches and other places of worship, pension paypoints, crches, community halls, and tribal authorities are community facilities to which communities should have easy access.
More resources need to be deployed to upgrading rural road infrastructure to support efforts of rural development and agricultural development. The Department of Transport needs to pay special attention to the issue of equal standards of services for all communities. Tarred roads should not be the preserve of urban rich communities. Provincial roads, district roads and municipal roads should be as good as national roads, which are looked after by the SA National Roads Agency Limited, Sanral.
This brings us to the issue of skills and technology. We have observed unacceptable levels of degrading of transport infrastructure, even in areas where there has been investment in maintenance and repairs. The fly-by- night type of contractors in road construction, who do not provide quality service and value for public money, should be blacklisted by all departments of transport in all spheres of government and by all transport entities.
The Portfolio Committee on Transport has engaged the Department of Transport and the Department of Public Works on this issue with a view to ensuring that there are set standards for road construction and strict quality control.
In addressing this issue of poor quality work, especially in regard to areas of pothole repairs, road rehabilitation and maintenance, the portfolio committee sourced the expertise and knowledge of the SA Bureau of Standards, SABS, the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, CSIR, and Agrment South Africa, ASA, and engaged both the Department of Transport and the Department of Public Works. We did this to facilitate a situation where the Department of Transport would become more vigilant and to ensure that all SABS and Agrment SA approved technologies and products are used to repair our roads.
We therefore urge the Department of Transport to become more hands-on and to put quality control systems in place, informed by the SABS and Agrment SA. Such quality control systems should be used in all spheres of government and be binding on all contractors. Contractors should not be allowed to use products that are not approved by SABS and Agrment SA to repair potholes and rehabilitate our roads.
A lot of public money has been wasted and a lot of damage has been caused on our roads by failure at departmental level to control quality. We commend Comrade Sbu for securing R6 billion to set up the road maintenance fund, and S'hamba Sonke Maintenance and Rehabilitation Programme. This programme will create 70 000 jobs this year alone. This will reduce poverty, and improve social and economic conditions at community level.
Transport is one of the key pillars of economic development. Investment does not happen where there are no transport infrastructure and reliable transport services. The transport industry also provides many of the needed jobs. The issue of investment in railway transport can therefore no longer be delayed. All countries have a backbone of transport, with other modes playing a complementary role. South Africa is no different!
The survey on public transport conducted in 2003 pointed out issues we need to address. These include, but are not limited to, the need to reduce congestion on our roads; time and cost of travelling; reduced transportation of goods by road; reduced fatal accidents on our roads, and expenditure on the Road Accident Fund; and easing of congestion at taxi ranks and bus ranks, where people sleep for days waiting for transport during the festive season and the Easter holidays.
We have also discussed at length a number of issues, including the unrealistic and unsustainable transport subsidies for KwaNdebele bus commuters, who are currently subsidised at R7 000 per month per commuter; investment attraction to underdeveloped areas; the role of transport in reducing informal settlements; new technology and science; unused existing railway infrastructure; use of our mineral resources and job creation in the transport manufacturing industry, in line with the New Growth Path; the relationship between Science and Technology, and Transport; and, lastly, global warming. The recent Metrorail train accident is alleged to have been as a result of a speed of 85 km per hour, instead of 30 km per hour. Passenger trains in other countries travel at a maximum speed of 470 km per hour. We are way behind.
All these issues point us in one direction - railway transportation.
The type of high-standard train such as the Gautrain should not be the preserve of rich developed communities. The same standards should be introduced for poor communities at reduced costs. The issue of moving from narrow gauge to standard gauge was resolved at SADC level long ago. We need no further debate on this issue, but only to take action.
We commend the taxi industry for realising the need for them to become masters of their own destiny, and we commend the support the department is giving to them.
We thank all members of the boards of transport entities, CEOs and staff members for meeting the challenge. Hon Minister and Deputy Minister, we want to thank you for your leadership and humbleness. You are both accessible and create a balance by approaching issues from different perspectives. We thank the DG and his team for remaining focused, with their eyes on the ball.
I want to thank the ANC and DA members of our portfolio committee in particular for their consistent participation at portfolio committee level, where the real work of the committee is hard. Other parties add no value at this level. Cope tried to, and dropped out along the way. They only come to debate here to justify their being in Parliament and the support from their constituencies. We can understand why Lionel Richie sings that, "When the going gets tough, the tough get going." The DA tries hard to influence the direction of the Department of Transport, and is usually defeated by the ANC. They, however, "never give up". So sang Curtis Mayfield.
The ANC supports the budget. I thank you. [Laughter.] [Applause.]
Chairperson, I am very humbled to be a part of this debate and we as the DA see some very positive steps in moving towards the budgetary provision, particularly in regard to road maintenance and construction, rail and public transport. It may be seen as a little too late, though.
Hansard will show that over 10 years or more I have been standing on this podium, and we have called for additional funding in these very three categories. Now we seem to see it coming, but it has been a long time. Unfortunately, time takes its toll with inflation, and the nature of these increases means you can actually buy less with your money.
If one just takes road construction and maintenance, for instance, this has increased threefold in the past five years and, despite desperate calls for additional funding for the SA National Roads Agency Limited, Sanral, it seems that they all seem satisfied with their budget. However, when funds are inadequate, then Sanral is very quick to hit the international and local finance houses for funds and when that happens, Chair, we know exactly what happens, and you discussed it here today, Minister. It leads to toll roads.
Toll roads are not new in the country and they have a minimum impact on our motorists when once or twice a year they travel down to their destinations on holiday. When it affects motorists worse is when we talk about daily commuting. We need to differentiate between these two. Urban commuters travel in their cars because there is no alternative public transport that is either safe or sufficient. So, we need to start separating them.
The Gauteng Freeway Project holds no water with me, because thousands of Pretoria and Johannesburg motorists will now have to fork out nearly R1 000, on average, per month to drive to work and back. I trust therefore that, in the interests of the Gauteng motoring public, you will not let this foolhardy tolling project proceed and that alternative funding is looked at in order to try to ensure that there are adequate funds to meet the loan requirements.
The 40/60 split that your department uses for maintenance and construction also needs to be looked at in an entirely different way, in the light of what I have just said. Right now, our greater need is to get existing roads into a reasonable state before embarking on new and upgraded road construction.
Bitumen is an expensive commodity and its cost rises with the price of oil. Although this is still the best option, I do believe there are cheaper and equally as effective road innovations that should be looked at. We as the portfolio committee are studying that and looking at various options that are available to us as alternatives.
We commend you for creating the long-awaited dedicated road fund, and in particular for securing funding of R22 billion over the next three years for it. The DA trusts, though, that now that this R22 billion has been established, clear guidelines will be put in place - you did mention a few of them - to ensure that the funds allocated are prioritised on the basis of a well-researched road classification system, similar to what we are using for Sanral at the moment.
There is therefore an imperative upon you, Minister, to start funding more sustainable choices and alternatives to the road by putting at the top of your agenda more affordable public transport options. Rail networks exist across our country, many of them moribund, and the efficiencies of rail versus road transport are well known. It takes a litre of diesel to transport one ton of goods 100 m, compared to the same litre transporting one ton on rail transport for 400 m. That is something that we should, as a starting point, think about and not even allow these continuous road freight products, which are not naturally products of rail, to go onto the road.
I need to be very frank with you, Minister. In last year's debate I referred to your Office as having - and I will get it right this time, Deputy Minister - an annus horribilis. Well, I don't know how to define this year. From many accounts, things have not got better and increased financial demands from your agencies never seem to end. They are slowly becoming a bigger and bigger burden on your department's budget as the years progress, although never intended to be so when they were initially established.
The two biggest unresolved agencies needing intensive care, as I call it, are the Road Traffic Management Corporation, RTMC, and the Road Traffic Infringement Agency, RTIA - this is different to what you might be saying - as both these agencies have far-reaching effects on the country's road safety record, and this has a direct impact on the claims that we have against the Road Accident Fund.
Both these agencies did not present their strategic plans to the portfolio committee because of their current status, which is not mandated. Our portfolio committee in its budget report to Parliament proposed that you consider putting them under your department's straight and direct administration, until certain requirements of their Acts are met and a measured turnaround strategy has been agreed to.
Much of the blame for the Road Traffic Management Corporation's, demise can rest squarely at your feet, hon Minister, for it was during the first year of your tenure, in June 2009, that the misappropriation and corruption in, and mismanagement of, the RTMC became public through the DA.
Yet, despite a delay of six months before setting up a ministerial task team ... [Interjections.] Yes, we did bring it to the attention of the Minister on many occasions. A ministerial task team was set up - six months later. After that, it was nearly 17 months before we even received the report from Ms Phiyega.
To me, taking that time was already creating problems. This is because shortly after the presentation I wrote to the Minister proposing some considerations to be put before his stakeholders committee in order to resolve the impasse - the suspension of staff, and the legality of appointment of the acting chief executive officer.
I also requested - and we all did, in fact, Chairperson - that the portfolio committee should receive a full copy of this report. We still have not seen the report. It was requested in the Standing Committee on Public Accounts, Scopa, and Scopa has still not seen this report. So, how can we as parliamentarians then do our job in regard to accountability? We need to be able to look at some of the issues there.
The RTMC recently employed 40 traffic officers, at a cost of R100 million per annum, and this is really questionable. This is not only an illegal act, as I understand it, but a waste of public funds. Despite a retrospective decision that your stakeholders committee made, which I have seen, to authorise this decision, it still does not hold water. Let me explain why.
Traffic control is the responsibility of municipalities and metros, both of which have defined boundaries which give them jurisdiction. Roads that are being patrolled by traffic police run through these wall-to-wall municipalities and metros, and are therefore fully covered by them. They are also duly appointed peace officers, Minister, as required under the Criminal Procedure Act, Act 51 of 1977, and they therefore have powers vested in them by their relevant provinces. How then, Minister, do you expect these newly appointed traffic officers to operate in these areas covered by already accredited traffic cops? It is going to be a war out there, certainly when they start crossing each other's areas of responsibility.
I don't believe enough thought went into this decision by your stakeholders committee to approve the appointment of these so-called national peace or traffic officers. I don't know whether the RTMC is, in fact, mandated to do that in its Act. It certainly also seems inappropriate and irresponsible to employ these traffic officers, knowing that in the 2010 financial year, the RTMC budgeted for a deficit of R194 million. I wonder what your stakeholders committee is going to feel about this when they are held accountable for that decision under Scopa.
Section 13 of the Road Traffic Management Corporation Act also states, Minister, if you read it, that the stakeholders committee has to provide this Parliament with, first, a directive where any change of policy or new policy is adopted. It is clearly contempt of Parliament, Minister, and something that is also becoming a worrying trend in your department.
It is "shareholders" committee.
Yes.
Shareholders.
Shareholders committee - sorry, did I say "stakeholders"? Anyway, it is a worrying trend. The RTMC, Minister, needs to go back to basics and, if it is to successfully contribute to the national road safety initiatives as clearly set out in their founding document, we need to do so.
Various additional Acts were proclaimed, like the Administrative Adjudication of Road Traffic Offences Act, which includes the Road Traffic Infringement Agency, both of which have become difficult to implement now because of the status of the RTMC.
A national roll-out of the demerit system, which we have been talking about for many years and which the DA supports, is impossible until such time as we see the reports of the two pilot projects, which have not been presented to this Parliament. So, we need to be able to establish, first of all, whether they were successful or not, and then take the problems that they had and fix them up. My own impression, as I see it at the moment, is that the department, the RTMC, the RTIA, and the National Traffic Information System, eNatis, are in a position where they are not even able to roll out the demerit system, and that is not an acceptable situation.
We also see that the relevant director in your department is failing to ensure the timeous reappointment of boards of directors. Surely, we have a diary? We put it in the diary that these boards of directors and these agencies are due to be replaced on such and such a date. We advertise. We put it into the diary. We bring it to Parliament where it should be coming - and it is not coming, I might add - and then we appoint the relevant board of directors. I say this because, de facto, those boards of directors in all those agencies where there is not a current board are operating illegally and outside of the Act. I think we need to look at that. We have the RTMC board, Airports Company South Africa, board, and the Road Accident Fund Board and it is important to be able to deal with that. I am sure the Auditor-General will be picking up on some of those issues where unmandated decisions of this nature have been taken.
We have the National Land Transport Act, NLTA, with particular reference to tourism needs, which needs serious intervention. This matter has been dragged out unnecessarily and adds to the frustration, as we say, of getting things done, and adds to the big problem of whether transport is going to drive this economy or not, as tourism plays a very big part in that. So, here is a situation we need to sort out.
Finally, let me talk about another concern relating to the gazetting of regulations. Minister, section 75 of the National Road Traffic Act says that before the Minister makes any regulation, the Minister must develop a draft of the proposed regulations that are, firstly, to be referred to Parliament ... and, secondly, to be published in the Gazette (with a minimum of four weeks' notice)
This is not happening, I might add, and the disgusting way in which the 17th amendment was dealt with, I am afraid, holds no water with me. It must have been a total embarrassment to you, Minister, when you had to take that whole regulation amendment back into the public domain to decide whether it was practical or not. Why couldn't we have done that before? Secondly, if we had brought it to this committee, I can assure you that my chairman would not have let that go without the public's scrutinising it first, and she would have ensured that that happened.
The rules of the game, Minister, are that you get your department and agencies working first, and only then will your political life fall into place, I promise you. You have much at stake, Minister, and therefore I appeal to you to get transport moving and back on the right track. Thank you very much. [Applause.]
Hon Chairperson, hon Ministers and Deputy Ministers present here, and guests in the gallery, I greet you. Hon Bhengu, your speech was excellent, but you messed it up at the end by talking about irrelevant things! We don't need permission from the ANC to participate in this debate. The other issue is that the person who participated in this committee is sick, and that is why he is not here.
I have to raise an issue and say that it does not make sense for you to boast about how you railroad the DA into decisions - you never listen to anybody. This does not work. All the same, you will never dictate to us. As Cope, we will never accept a dictatorship of the Polokwane pirates.
Chairperson, transport is the lifeblood of our economy. Just think of any product or service that you are using or would like to acquire, and see how many times transport is involved, either in its creation, or in its finding its way to your doorstep. It is truly remarkable how far the world of transport has evolved. South Africa has not been left behind and we are seeing the development of advanced infrastructure over the length and breadth of our great country. Indeed, much has been done, but in the same breath let me say that so much more needs to be done.
Unfortunately, at the end of last week it was reported that the Gauteng toll road figure had jumped from R6,22 billion to a whopping R14 billion. This amount excludes the cost of feasibility studies, the design of the toll system and the supply of e-tags. The cost of upgrading roads is estimated at over R17 billion. There also seems to be some irregularities regarding the tender and the tender process that awarded the bid to the Electronic Toll Collection Consortium.
Chairperson, how can it be that a company can do the initial feasibility studies and the costing, engineer the project, be involved in the tender process to operate the toll roads, and be involved in the management and operation of the gantries? The case in point is Tolplan. Where is the feasibility study done by Tolplan? Why was there no public participation? It must be said that this process was flawed, and in a deep way. Cope agrees with commentators that all information needs to be made public, and a forensic investigation needs to be commissioned.
Hon Minister, what is going on at the South African National Roads Agency Limited, Sanral? Chairperson, the provincial and local road infrastructure is collapsing through lack of maintenance. The department has acknowledged this. The department has made available R22 billion over the medium term to address this issue. Yet, according to the Director-General, DG, of the department, the road funding shortfall is R75 billion.
The department's self-proclaimed flagship programme, S'hamba Sonke, will be used to address the issue of provincial and local road infrastructure, a national roll-out of massive pothole patching. For the 2011-12 financial year, a massive R6,4 billion has been allocated to this programme, supposedly creating 70 000 jobs. We need to know how the money will be spent and how government intends generating the 70 000 jobs. Where does this figure come from?
Chairperson, the dedicated Road Maintenance Fund has been an issue of debate for some time now. The department needs to report on the so-called engagements with the National Treasury. Has a solution to the problem been found?
Chairperson, it seems that every time someone speaks on a Budget Vote, he or she raises the issue of vacant posts. In the 2009-10 year it was reported that the department had an almost 8% vacancy rate. The reason given was budget constraints. Yet, we continuously see an increase in the compensation to employees of more than inflation. How can this be justified? To address this issue we still need details of the initiatives proposed by the department. Where are we with the retention strategy of the department?
The Administration Programme of the department receives R274 million for 2011-12. This translates into a real increase of 6,7%. The subprogramme, Office Accommodation, increases by more than 200% in real terms. I'm asking myself how it is possible for the annual rental costs to increase by so much.
A recent independent study found that 10% of daily commuters are forced to cancel meetings because of traffic delays. On a daily basis 40% of employees are late for work due to traffic jams. Yet, we are still awaiting the national quality audit to determine the exact extent of road maintenance backlogs in the country.
Chairperson, various programmes and subprogrammes are reported to be spending large amounts of their budgets on the use of consultants. Surely the department must have the capacity to perform some of these functions internally. Let me elaborate. Does the department not have the personnel for the development of maritime industry policies? If not, what tasks do the personnel perform; and, if so, why the need for consultants?
The public transport programme sees an increase from R8,2 billion in 2010- 11, to R9,6 billion in 2011-12. This translates into an 11,13% increase in real terms. Yet, we see a 65,25% decrease in real terms in the land transport regulation programme. Why do we have this?
Chairperson, in conclusion, public entities operating under the auspices of the department need to give an account of how they will spend money allocated to them. The department, as well as entities under their control, need to give a better account of how they will address the issue of job creation, and what their contribution will be.
Chairperson, there are some people who were making a noise about Cope, and asking, "Which Cope?" Let me answer you. [Laughter.] There is only one Cope. We acknowledge that there are problems, but we are solving them. We are not like the ANC. When you have problems, you burn tyres and disrupt the lives of the people. When you have problems, ... [Inaudible.] ... your problems become the problems of the country. Thank you. [Time expired.]
Mr Chair, Minister, Deputy Minister, colleagues, the hon Minister recently stated that, and I quote:
As part of South Africa's public transport strategy ... we are moving towards a high-quality integrated mass rapid public transport network, which includes rail, air, taxi and bus services.
The Public Transport Strategy aims to accelerate improvements in public transport by establishing integrated rapid public transport networks, which would introduce priority rail corridors and the bus rapid transport system. The IFP trusts that these goals will be reached sooner rather than later.
Given the state of the roads due to heavy-duty freight trucks, it is imperative that our rail network be drastically overhauled. It is encouraging to hear you saying that there is a bold plan. We have to ensure that our rolling stock is replaced, not just refurbished. Rolling stock is at the heart of the rail operations and we dare not allow it to deteriorate at any cost.
The key, therefore, is modernisation rather than rehabilitation. At times rehabilitation exceeds replacement cost. We have to build aerodynamic trains, which will result in lower fuel consumption and an increase in speed, which will also increase productivity. We have to look at this as a long-term socioeconomic investment, in line with the objectives of the New Growth Plan. Hon Chair, the IFP wishes to encourage the department to ensure that the available capacity - human resources, and especially intellectual capacity - is utilised optimally to ensure an effective, efficient delivery process. Projects of this nature require the services of only the best professionals, and it is therefore vital that the right people are appointed in the right positions; otherwise we are guaranteed failure.
A further point, hon Chair, is that of the financial management. We have to ensure that we have reliable financial forecasting when planning for these financially highly intensive projects. We further wish to encourage the hon Minister and the government to ensure that the public transport facilities are optimally used for the benefit of all South Africans.
Greater emphasis on synergy between the development of maritime transport regulations and trade regulations is an absolute necessity. We would like to see a maritime transport regulatory framework that complements customs regulations, ensuring an outcome that is responsive to national socioeconomic objectives. The projected growth within the freight logistics programme to establish a transport economic regulator that will respond to the challenges of freight movement is of some consolation in this regard.
Minister, the Road Accident Fund is in a bad state. Something will have to be done. I think we owe this to the people. There are so many deaths on the road and so many casualties.
I wish to compliment the department on its initiatives to develop both the civil aviation and maritime transport industries, as well as skills development, but I wonder if the budget allocation to these particular programmes is sufficient to truly have the desired impact, considering the magnitude of these industries and their long-term employment potential.
The IFP is concerned about the introduction of the toll gates, which will add to the cost of living. It is also tantamount to a high cost of transport and the cost will eventually be passed on to the consumer.
May I also mention, Mr Minister, that most of us were very disappointed at the removal of SAA from the route between Durban and Cape Town. I must say it's not very pleasant and I wish we could do something about that. The IFP supports this Budget Vote. I thank you.
Chairperson, Minister, chairperson of the portfolio committee, Sis Ruth, hon members, friends and colleagues from transport, there was a wonderful headline in yesterday's Business Report and it reminded me of a story that the late Joe Slovo liked to tell. It was probably an apocryphal story, but he liked to tell it.
In 1956 there was the 20th congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. Its then General Secretary, Nikita Khrushchev, launched an absolutely unprecedented attack on the Communist Party during the previous Stalin years. He spoke to a hushed audience of delegates of several hundred strong, he condemned the Stalin personality cult, and he began to uncover some of the horrible crimes that had been committed against Soviet citizens.
Three quarters of the way through his speech an anonymous voice from amongst the delegates called out: "But where were you, Comrade Khrushchev, when these crimes were happening?" Khrushchev stopped in his tracks, put his speech down, looked up with a hard glint in his eyes, and said: "Who said that?" There was absolute silence in the auditorium. After a minute Khrushchev went back to his speech and, gesturing out there, said: "Yes, that's where I was, in those years." [Laughter.]
I was reminded of that by the headline of the story in yesterday's Business Report: "Where was everyone at the start of the toll gantry talks?" I am referring, of course, to the Gauteng Freeway Improvement Project. The story goes on, and to quote briefly from it ...
Where were you? [Laughter.]
I will come to that in a moment. Presumably ... [Interjections.] Who said that? [Laughter.] This is the Business Report:
Presumably those making the calls [for the entire process to be stopped] don't envisage halting the road works. To interrupt the operations would be a logistical nightmare and would extend the period in which motorists have to risk their lives on highways both in poor repair and under construction. The time to have raised all these issues was when the project was first mooted in 2002. Where was everyone then? The consumers, the DA ...
That's them saying it, not me -
... the trade unions, transport economists, motorist bodies and others? Why did everyone only wake up to the implications a few months ahead of the proposed launch?
The Business Report is absolutely correct, although they fail to mention where the journalists are who are now criticising the project, and who at that time were praising it to the sky. I remember The Star, for instance, having enthusiastic double-page spreads about speeches by the Gauteng MEC for Transport, and the provincial Premier at the time who is now a member of - I'm not sure - Cope or one of the Copes, but anyway you know who am I referring to. [Laughter.] Not only were we told that there was going to be a Phase 1 - which is what we now have - but that there would be a Phase 2 and a Phase 3 that were going to turn Gauteng into a world-class city- region.
So, where were we? I include myself in that question, along with Stewart, and Lucas, who was a little bit unfortunately handled, I thought, by the Chair. We were sitting here in the portfolio committee and we were receiving regular reports. This was not a secret project; we received regular reports from Nazir Alli about the tolling project for the Gauteng Freeway Improvement Project. When you check the Hansard you will probably find Stewart saying a few mild things. He's very mild. I certainly also raised a few questions around whether this was the right priority, and whether it was not public transport that we needed to look at as a priority, rather than tolling, and so on. Frankly, I would have to admit that I was not strong enough on this matter.
But in many other quarters there was an enthusiastic reception for this, particularly from those who are now shouting the loudest about it. What did these enthusiasts imagine? Probably that because we call them "freeways" they come for free! Well, they don't! [Laughter.] One way or another, whether it is tolled or it is something else, public infrastructure gets paid for by the public.
Well, we can all now throw stones at each other, but the fact is that we are facing a challenge. I think the first issue is to deal with the challenge we've got, and Minister Ndebele has stepped in very effectively to appoint a task group to look at what we can do. I think he will report soon from the task group. We need to be realistic about this. We are sitting with the near-completed Phase 1 of the Gauteng Freeway Improvement Project, GFIP, and R20 billion in public debt. So, there is not a huge amount of manoeuvring space for the Minister, who was not involved in any of this, let me add as well. He has now inherited all of this.
We need to do certain things and certainly we will look at ameliorative measures, but there is not a huge amount of wriggle-room and I think we need to be very honest with each other about that. We can throw stones at each other and complain, but the more useful thing, I think, is to try to learn lessons. I want to suggest some lessons that we can learn from it.
The first one is at the most basic and perhaps banal level. It is that as portfolio committee members, as politicians in government and as the public, when we are told that a project is going to cost X amount, let's make damn sure that Value Added Tax, VAT, is included. [Laughter.] I say that because this is the second time that I've encountered this. Hon Farrow will remember. This is exactly what Gautrain did to us. They said, "Oops, sorry! It's gone up, as we forgot to include VAT." Now, again, it's with GFIP. I spoke to Nazir Alli, the chief executive officer, CEO, of the South African National Roads Agency Limited, Sanral, and he said: "That's what we do in my trade as civil engineers." It's inexcusable. Maybe it could come from second-hand car dealers, but we should not have this. [Laughter.]
But more importantly, the second lesson is that we need to think clearly about funding models, Minister - I know that's what you're looking at. Tolling of roads is widely used throughout the world, and there are many important debates as to whether tolling is the most useful way. It's part of a broader user-pay principle approach to funding public infrastructure. Clearly, with the GFIP tolling there was an attempt in the original tariffs to provide for some developmental balance by way of targeted reductions, for example, charging less for public transport.
Should there be tolling or a larger dedicated fuel levy? I ask this because the fuel levy that we've got isn't going to pay for the roads that we need and maybe we need to increase it. Or should it be direct financing out of the budget? What is the best way? That's a debate that we need to have. There is no single answer either. Different answers are appropriate. Hon Farrow was suggesting that tolling some things is different from tolling others, and things like that. At the end of the day we cannot run away from the fact that public infrastructure doesn't come for free.
This leads to the third question: what are the public interest priorities when it comes to transport infrastructure? What, for instance, are we seeking to achieve when we expand freeway networks? Very often, and this was certainly the case with the GFIP, it was said that we needed to expand our freeways because of growing congestion on the existing network. But does the ever-increasing, widening and building of freeways solve congestion? International experience suggests that very often, perhaps most often, it doesn't. More freeway lanes alleviate congestion for a few years, but they simultaneously encourage more townhouse developments, more golf estates, and so forth, and within a few years you are back to the same situation that you began with.
Fourth lesson: this is not to say that we should never expand or build freeway networks, or that we should never toll them when they happen, or that we should never, perhaps more interestingly, introduce congestion charging like they do in London or Manchester to discourage car use and to encourage public transport use, and so on. This is the fourth lesson: If we use tolling to encourage public transport or an increased switch to rail freight, as we are trying to do, then we had better first provide affordable, accessible and safe public transport infrastructure and operations, and better rail freight. This is obvious, but we need to do that.
Fifthly, I have talked about public interest. But, of course the "public" - now I put my red hat on - is a diverse social and class reality. In many United States, US, cities an electronic tolling system on freeways may well largely impact upon upper middle-class households living in distant green suburbs somewhere out in the countryside. In this case the tolling is a way of making them pay for taking their four-by-four to work and shopping mall lifestyles. Likewise in Gauteng, many of the people that are complaining the loudest about the GFIP programme, are precisely those who pushed the hardest for more freeways, more expansions and so on, so that we could support their First World lifestyles.
However, in urban South Africa there is always another reality. This is because apartheid and persisting land use patterns have forced - these are people without choice - the great majority of the urban working class and poor into distant, dormitory townships. The question which arises is: Why and how could they possibly pay for other people's freeway-based First World lifestyles?
Lastly, the other important lesson is that over the past 17 years a number of major and arguably very poorly conceived mega-projects on the transport front have emanated from provinces and then, when it's clear that the scale of ambition is not going to be met from within provincial budgets, they get escalated up to the national level.
Going forward we need to ensure that we have a much more coherent, strategic approach to these infrastructure programmes, ensuring that national priorities - public transport and rail freight, for instance - and local challenges, like some poor access rural roads, are not overwhelmed and financially crowded out by costly provincial projects.
There are many things to be learnt from the GFIP experience going forward, and I hope that we will do it collectively and not just in the spirit of trying to score cheap points.
I believe that in the budget that we are tabling today, Minister, and in the work that we have been doing over the past several years as the Department of Transport, DoT, you will see that in fact all of these lessons that I've referred to are precisely the approaches that we have been trying to take. We need to prioritise, to phase, and to integrate different projects appropriately, and we need to learn by doing. We are all going to make mistakes, but let's not just dwell on those mistakes; let's also learn from them. That's what I'm trying to do now regarding the Gauteng Freeway Improvement Project.
Let me say a few words about other things. The Public Transport Infrastructure and Systems Grants are not actually part of our budget as such, but are a very important part of our work. They go directly from Treasury to cities in South Africa, but while working closely with the Department of Transport and the Treasury. These are multibillion rand multiyear grants, which were originally basically for Soccer World Cup transport. Treasury has agreed to sustain these so that we build Integrated Rapid Public Transport Network Systems in all of our major cities.
Johannesburg, with its Bus Rapid Transit, BRT, System, Rea Vaya, has been the star performer in this regard. Rea Vaya recently won two international awards for its BRT system, and it's still in Phase 1A, but it's transporting 30 000 passengers every single day.
What is very heartening is the wonderful public support we are getting from the Sowetans in particular for this, and also from the taxi sector, which was originally sceptical and which, as the Minister mentioned, is now very much part of it, as the shareholders and operators of this publicly regulated but privately operated system.
Cape Town has now also launched the first phase of its MyCiti BRT operation. I'm not going to get electoral here, or maybe a little bit! It's experiencing some inevitable teething problems - it's in its first or second week at the moment. The new mayor-elect of Cape Town, Patricia de Lille, was out of order when she said that this was the first of its kind in South Africa; it's not.
One did appreciate the other point she made in the midst of the election campaign, that she wants to prioritise a different route, a trunk route out into the south-east of the City of Cape Town, which is Khayelitsha, Mitchells Plain and Nyanga. That's where the needs are; that's where it is. Regarding its going north to Milnerton, as it does, I think the Mayor-elect was implying that a wrong choice had been made by the City of Cape Town. I think she is right. I want to assure our colleagues that in the City of Cape Town they will continue to enjoy our support as the department, in the spirit of critical co-operative government, but support nevertheless. Important progress is also being made in a number of other cities.
On the Road Accident Fund, there are critical interventions that we are making. Hon Lucas, you'll remember that last year we brought a discussion document about transforming the fund into a no-fault benefit scheme. We are moving rapidly in that direction. We produced the discussion document, which we tabled here in the portfolio committee. We received comments, we worked on them, and we are going to Cabinet in the next few weeks with a revised version. We hope to draft legislation in the course of this latter part of this year and we will come to Parliament early next year to get us into a no-fault system. That's the critical thing.
The problems in the Road Accident Fund have to do with the fact that it is fault-based, it's highly litigious, it takes forever for claims to be realised, and there are false incentives, perverse incentives, because people are going for big one-off payouts. They are not encouraged to rehabilitate and get back to work if possible, as soon as possible. They hold out for the big "Zama Zama" payout. We've got to change that and we are going to do it. On the Road Traffic Management Corporation, RTMC, and Road Traffic Inspectorate, RTI, there are structural problems there. I corrected you, not to score a cheap point, but it's a shareholders committee and the shareholders include all the provincial MECs. So, it is not just the Minister; it's the shareholders, including the MECs and obviously including the MEC from this particular province as well. It's a challenge and we do need to look at it.
The final point, as I'm running out of time, is that at the end of this year we as a country are hosting the Conference of the Parties, COP 17. As the Department of Transport we are very actively involved in this with our colleagues at the ministerial level. We are working very closely with our colleagues to develop South Africa's negotiating position.
Transport worldwide, but also in South Africa, is the second culprit when it comes to greenhouse gas emissions. The good news for us as South Africans is that all the things that we have to do in any case - public transport, rail freight rather than road freight, mixed income, more compact towns and cities overcoming apartheid geography and all of the other things that we have talked about, all the things that we have to do in any case - are precisely the things that will contribute to transport's diminishing and mitigating its carbon emissions.
We also have to use the hosting of COP 17 as a way collectively, with the support of the portfolio committee and all of our colleagues from the transport family, to sustaining and adding new oomph to the challenge that we all face to really produce qualitative transformation in the transport sector. Thank you very much, Chairperson. [Time expired.] [Applause.]
Sihlalo weThutyana, [Kwahlekwa.] Mphathiswa wezoThutho, sihlalo wekomiti, zindwendwe zethu ezibekekileyo, neNdlu iphela, nibahle nonke. [The temporary Chairperson ... [Laughter.] ... the hon Minister of Transport, the chairperson of the committee, our distinguished guests, and the House at large, I greet you all.]
Let me just take one minute of my time to try to explain what the chairperson was saying. In this portfolio committee we collectively solve our problems. We don't use the approach of lashing out at each other, but we use the policies and visions of all political parties. That is where the ANC usually knocks out other parties with a technical knockout, TKO. [Laughter.] [Applause.] On that day the DA went "ding-dong" and, when they recovered from that shock, they joined us, the ANC. Small parties like the UDM and MF are usually spectators. Cope tried to join us up to Round 2, and thenthey fell. The IFP - shame! - usually participates. That's all.
Out of 22 000 kilometres of rail infrastructure, we use only 7 000. Technology in signalling is outdated and our train speed is limited. Transporting of goods is also delayed by traffic congestion. There are usually accidents, with up to 14 000 people dying every year.
Ndicela nje ukuthi, umntu ongalwaziyo uxinano oluba sezindleleni akazi nto. Kwelinye icala iba ziiloli ezinkulu, kwelinye ibe zezinye izithuthi. [I just want to say, a person who doesn't know traffic congestion doesn't know anything. In the one lane there are big trucks and other vehicles in the other one.]
It is very difficult to drive these days. The roads are bad because of trucks. They take time to arrive wherever they are going. We welcome the commitment of the government.
Ndifun' ukuthi ndinethamsanqa kuba ngoku ndiza kuthetha ngoololiwe; ndiza kuhamba ngqo ngesiporo. Ndiza kuthi ndisakuphuma esiporweni ningakhathazeki kuba akukho magosa endlela apha esiporweni. [Kwahlekwa.] Ndiza kusuka ndivuthulule, ndiphinde ndibuyele esiporweni. [Kwahlekwa.]
Ekuncediseni ukulungisa iziporo konyuke izinga loololiwe, sineziporo ezininzi. NdingowaseMpuma Koloni, eDikeni. [Kwahlekwa.] Sineziporo ezininzi, nam ndazalwa zikhona. Uyandibon' ukuba ndingakanani? Azisebenzi. (Translation of isiXhosa paragraphs follows.)
[Let me say that I'm lucky because I will talk about the trains now; I will travel on the railway line. When I'm derailed, you mustn't be worried since there are no traffic officers on the railway line. [Laughter.] I will just brush the dirt off and go back to the railway line. [Laughter.]
If we assist with improving the railway lines, there will be an improvement in respect of our trains. We have many railway lines. I'm from Alice in the Eastern Cape. [Laughter.] We have many railway lines; they were already there when I was born. Do you see how old I am? They are not functioning.]
Goodness knows why.
Kuza kwenziwa ntoni ngezi ziporo zikaloliwe? Nifuna ukuba kwenziwe ntoni? Into esiyifunayo kukuthuthwa ngoololiwe. [What is going to be done with these railway lines? What do you want to be done? What we want is to be transported by the trains.]
It is safe, fast, and cheap.
Ixabiso esilibhatalayo liza kuba ngcono, kwaye siza kukhawuleza. Sithi ke xa sikhumsha, thina bantu baye esikolweni ... [Uwelewele.] [The amount that we will be paying will be less, and we will travel faster. We, who are educated, say ... [Interjections.]] ... we must improve rail from narrow to standard gauge.
Utsho urhulumente. Loo nto yenza ukuba impahla ikhawuleze. Impahla yimpahla. [The government says so. This makes the transportation of goods faster. Goods are goods.]
We need speed in rail infrastructure development, because that is going to create jobs. It is going to create jobs. [Interjections.]
Musani ukundincedisa. [Kwahlekwa.] Iza kuncedisa ngale ndlela ukuze abantu bafumane imisebenzi. Besele nditshilo ukuba iziporo zininzi kakhulu. [Do not help me. [Laughter.] It will help that people to get jobs. I've already said that there are many railway lines.]
You go east, west or wherever.
Xa ujongisisa uza kufumana isiporo sikaloliwe sakudala. Nokuba niyazilungisa okanye niyazikhupha nifake ezitsha, into ebalulekileyo kukuba ngokwenza njalo abantu baza kufumana imisebenzi. Abantu baza kufumana imisebenzi ngokukhupha iziporo ezindala bafake ezitsha. Yile nto sifuna urhulumente ayenze. [Kwaqhwatywa.] Kukhe kulungiswe ukuze kubekho ubungcono. (Translation of isiXhosa paragraph follows.)
[If you look around carefully you will find old railway lines. Even if you improve or remove them and build new ones, what is important is that by doing that people will get employment. People will get employment by removing the old railway lines and building the new ones. This is what we want government to do. [Applause.] Improvement must be done so that things can be better.]
In South Africa there's a need to develop an integrated transport infrastructure as far as roads are concerned, especially gravel roads in rural areas.
Uyabona ke nina bezoThutho sele nindazi ukuba ndingumntu weelali. [You see, people from the Department of Transport already know that I'm from the rural areas.]
I'm a rural person, and you do these things because most of you don't know about rural areas. Let me tell you.
Nanku umntu uyagula, uhlala apho kungafikeleli mntu khona; apho kungekho ndlela iya khona. Uza kufumanisa ukuba ilali inkulu kodwa ayikho indlela yokuhamba iimoto eziya kule lali. Xa ethe wagula uza kuya njani phaya ezantsi kuhola wendlela okanye, umzekelo, kula ndlela isuka eMthatha iya eNgcobo. Uyamazi ukuba uza kuya njani? [Uwelewele.] Siyaya ekiriveni, okwangoku sisasebenzisa izileyi. Niyasazi isileyi, a sledge?
Ukhumbule ukuba lo mntu uyagula. Kuthathwa umatrasi ubekwe phezu kwesi sileyi, abotshelelwe ukuze kuthi xa kugingxigingxiza angawi. Uyagula, akafuni nokuphathwa, kodwa nantsi indlela iza kumgingxigingxiza. Uyaphi? Uya kwinqwelo yezigulana ehleli phaya ezantsi emlindileyo engenakukwazi ukunyuka okanye uya ekliniki. Ufika ekliniki sele egula nangakumbi ngoba sele exhikizeke wonke umzimba.
Ekliniki uza kufika ahlale alindiswe emgceni. Ngelo xesha athe wabe uyafika ngalo kugqirha, ufika kungekho mayeza. Uza kunikwa ntoni? Uza kubuyiselwa ekhaya. Uya kuba unethamsanqa ukuba unikwe iPanado. Uninzi lwabantu lubuyela ekhaya.
Ngokubhekisele kwizikolo, kukho umntwana ofuna ukufunda naphantsi kweyiphi na imeko. Uza kusuka phaya aye esikolweni esikude. Uza kufika nini? Uza kufika enjani? Xa sithetha ke ngeendlela zegrabile nangeendlela zasemakhaya, sithetha izinto ezinjalo. Rhulumente siyacela, khawusibonelele thina bantu basemakhaya ngeendlela nathi size sikwazi ukufana nabanye abantu. [Kwaqhwatywa.]
Andifuni ukuyibaleka le ndawo yokuba apha ecaleni kwedolophu kukho iindlela, ezintle kunjalo nje; kodwa hayi ezilalini. Kutheni kukho umahluko? Umahluko phakathi kweelali needolophu wenziwa yintoni kanti kuhlala abantu kuzo zonke ezi ndawo. Mphathiswa, uyijonge loo nto. (Translation of isiXhosa paragraphs follows.)
[Here is a sick person who stays where no one can reach him; because his house is not accessible by road. You will find that the village is big, but there is no road for the cars to drive to this village. If he is sick, how will he reach the main road or, for example, the road from Mthatha to Ngcobo? Do you know how he will reach the main road? [Interjections.] In the near future we will use the wheelbarrow, but right now we are still using sledges. Do you know what that is, a sledge?
You must remember that this person is sick. They must put a mattress on top of the sledge, and tie it to the sledge, together with the sick person so that he doesn't fall off when the sledge is unstable. He is sick, and he doesn't want to be touched, but the uneven road will brutally shake him. Where is he going? He is going to an ambulance which is waiting for him in the main road because it cannot go up to the village, or he is going to the clinic. When he finally gets to the clinic, he feels even worse because his whole body has been brutally shaken.
At the clinic he will have to wait his turn in the queue. When it is his turn to see the doctor, there will be no medicines. What will he be given? He will be sent back home. He will be very lucky if he receives Panado. Most of the people go back home empty-handed.
With regard to schools, there could be a child who wants to study under any circumstances. He will leave his village to attend a school that is far away. When will he arrive at school? What will he look like when he arrives? When we talk about gravel roads and roads in the rural areas, we mean these things. We appeal to the government to provide us with road infrastructure in the rural areas so that we become equal to other people. [Applause.]
I don't want to shy away from the fact that in urban areas there are well- developed roads; but nothing like that in the rural areas. Why is there a difference? What makes the rural areas different from the urban areas, since there are people living in all these areas? Hon Minister, please, consider that.]
The agenda of having no good roads in rural areas came from apartheid spatial planning based on racial divides.
Injalo, asinakuyibaleka. Injalo, kwakufuneka kwasekuqaleni sisokole ukuze sifumane izinto ezisebenzisekayo. [It is like that, we cannot run away from it. It is like that - in the past we were meant to suffer; we had to struggle to get things that were user-friendly.]
The ANC has committed itself to reversing this situation to ensure that all communities have access to quality services.
Iyazama, ndiqinisekile ukuba urhulumente uza kuphumelela ngoba kwangoku sele kukhona noko okubonakalayo. Ndithetha nje ukhona laa loliwe ebesele engasekho. Ukukhula kwam, Mam'uNjobe, kwakukho uloliwe owayesuka eMthatha esiya eMonti. Andimazi ukuba waphelela phi. Uhleli ithuba elide engekho loo loliwe; wabuya ngoku sele eyi-four coaches. Uthath' unyaka maan, uyazithanda laa loliwe. [Kwahlekwa.] Uyazi xa ehamba - linenekazi manditsho. Linenekazi le-four coaches kaloliwe. [Kwahlekwa.]
Thina siyi-ANC sithi malunyuke kancinci uhlahlo-lwabiwo-mali lweendawo zasemakhaya, kujongwe okusilelayo kunye nokushokoxeka kwe-bitumen eyenza i- asphalt. Iiprojekthi zokwakha umgaqo ziyacotha, nto leyo yenza izinto zihambe kancinci kugqibele sekuxabisa kakhulu ukwenza iindlela.
Siyi-ANC sithi iSebe lezoThutho malisebenzisane nelezaMandla ukulungisa ukuhlelwa kwe-bitumen. Siyi-ANC siyaluxhasa uhlahlo-lwabiwo-mali lwezoThutho. Enkosi. [Kwaqhwatywa.] (Translation of isiXhosa paragraphs follows.)
[It is trying, and I am certain that the government will succeed because we can see a slight improvement. As I am talking, a train that was no longer running is running now. When I was growing up, Mrs Njobe, there was a train that was travelling from Mthatha to East London. I don't know where it is now. A very long time has elapsed without this train running; when it returned it had four coaches only. It is too slow. [Laughter.] You know when it is travelling, it is like a lady, let me put it that way. This four- coach train is a lady. [Laughter.]
We, as the ANC, are saying there should be a slight increase in the budget for rural areas. Look at what is lacking and consider the shortage of bitumen that produces asphalt. Road construction projects progress too slowly, and that slows down the processes, which eventually leads to road construction being too expensive.
We, as the ANC, are saying that the Department of Transport must work with the Department of Energy so that it can get assistance with the refining of bitumen. We, as the ANC, support the Budget Vote of the Department of Transport. Thank you. [Applause.]]
Mohlomphegi Modulasetulo, mohlomphegi Tona ya t?a Dinamelwa, Motlat?a Tona, Maloko a Palamente ao a hlomphegago le bahlomphegi bao ba tlilego lehono, madume. [Hon Chairperson, hon Minister of Transport, Deputy Minister, hon Members of Parliament and distinguished guests present here today, I greet you all.]
According to the World Bank, more than 1,17 million people die in road crashes around the world every year. About 70% of these deaths occur in developing countries. It is estimated that developing countries lose in the region of $1 billion every year to road accidents.
South Africa is not immune to this unpalatable state of affairs. This brief seeks to establish what the state of road traffic management is in the country, as well as to ascertain whether there are measures in place to curb this worldwide phenomenon and ensure that there is safety on the country's roads. There are over 7 million licensed drivers and over 8 million registered vehicles in South Africa. Pedestrians account for 50% of road crash fatalities. More than 16 000 people are killed yearly due to road accidents, and this costs the country more than R56 billion annually. It is estimated that if nothing drastic is done to curb this scourge, road crashes will be the second largest cause of deaths by 2020, which is higher than HIV and Aids and malaria-related deaths put together.
Available evidence suggests that the primary risk group, as far as road infringements are concerned, are men between 18 and 45 years. Included in this broad group is the high level of public transport and heavy vehicle crashes, as well as noncompliance with driving permits in these categories of drivers. Other contributory factors include, but are not limited to, driving while a person is intoxicated; lack of compliance in respect of seat belts; speed; vehicle conditions; fraud and corruption.
The vehicle population on the country's roads is increasing every year, posing a peculiar danger to motorists who drive recklessly. While the production numbers are on the increase, the driver's attitudes do not improve, and in most cases motorists fail to comply with the rules of the road.
It was against this backdrop that two entities were established through Acts of Parliament: the Road Traffic Management Corporation, RTMC, and the Cross-Border Road Transport Agency, CBRTA. Unfortunately, both entities have enormous challenges to meet and could not optimally fulfil their mandate. It is a pity that some of the committee members who claim to have been in Parliament for the past 20 years, and who were part of the establishment of these entities, did nothing to support them or make sure that they functioned effectively.
Of the two, the CBRTA has improved a lot. It presented an impressive turnaround strategy which indicates that given time, support and adequate financial resources the CBRTA can fulfil its mandate. It is important to indicate that the CBRTA can sustain itself by spearheading social and economic development within the SADC region through facilitating unimpeded cross border transport movements. Our view in the portfolio committee is that the CBRTA should be given a chance to implement its strategy and also that a close eye be kept on it, as an entity that has not done well for some years.
The RTMC has two challenges. There is a need to review the National Land Transport Act in order to address its institutional arrangements and its relationship with metro and municipal traffic structures. Another challenge is that of management and governance, which compelled the Minister to intervene and institute an investigation within the entity. The unfortunate part of this scenario is that it delays the process of transformation at road traffic management level. The Department of Transport presented an intervention proposal to the portfolio committee and the committee concurred with it. The portfolio committee views the Road Traffic Management Corporation very seriously. It recommended in its report to the department that it must consider taking over the operations of the RTMC until such time these challenges are addressed.
Another tool established through an Act of Parliament to curb road crashes is the Administrative Adjudication of Road Traffic Offences, AARTO. The objective of AARTO is to promote road traffic quality by providing a scheme to discourage road traffic contraventions. There will be little or no attitudinal change unless people are held individually and collectively accountable for their actions.
The implementation of AARTO will provide the following: swift adjudication of infringements, enforcement of penalties, a points demerit system, effective policing of offences, and providing education and awareness.
Administrative Adjudication of Road Traffic Offences was first piloted in Tshwane on 16 June 2008, and later extended to Johannesburg. It was however postponed in 2010, subsequent to representation from various sectors, including certain provinces, municipalities and organised labour. Challenges with communication and educating the public on their rights, duties and obligations were also identified during the pilot implementation phase. Other issues of concern were training people to use the system, and effective performance of the system when uploading infringement information. It is intended to be rolled out as soon as the challenges are addressed.
On 1 October 2010 the Department of Transport inaugurated the new National Rolling Traffic Law Enforcement Plan, NREP, which enables law enforcement officers to stop and check no less than one million vehicles every month. The NREP is a direct intervention to end the daily carnage on South Africa's road networks and will become a permanent feature of life in the country.
In less than 3 hours on 14 October 2010, 783 vehicles were stopped and checked in East London in the Eastern Cape. Drivers were fined for 438 various traffic offences; 32 vehicles were discontinued from use; 17 public transport vehicles were impounded due to their not having transport permits, and one stolen motor vehicle was recovered.
Sihlalo Lohlon, ngalokuba khona kwalomtsetfo, Litiko Letekutfutsa likholelwa ekutseni kutiphatsa kahle kwebashayeli, nekuhlonishwa Kwemtsetfo Wetekuphepha Emgwacweni, kutaba ncono. [Hon Chairperson, with the availability of this Act, the Department of Transport believes that the discipline of drivers, compliance with the Road safety Act improve.]
This major law enforcement drive in South Africa reflects government's commitment to reducing road carnage by half by 2014, in line with the Millennium Development Goal and the UN Decade of Action for Road Safety.
There is also, hon Minister, Aviation Traffic Management. South Africa is doing well in this sector and is recognised all over the world for having the ability to manage air traffic. The process of transforming this sector started in 1995, and we had our first black pilot by the name of Mpho Mamashile. He is one of the many successful people from a poor background. He played a crucial role of father and councillor to black crew members who were exposed for the first time to the heavy demands of this sector. Today we have black female CEOs for the Airports Company South Africa and South African Airways, Monhla Hlahla and Siza Mzimela. These are the products of our democracy.
Unfortunately, we cannot say the same about the South African Maritime Safety Authority, SAMSA. It was an unfortunate situation in 1993 when the apartheid government, at the dawn of our democracy, decided to sell all its fleet, 57 of them, closing opportunities to participate in the transportation of cargo and job opportunities at sea. The South African Maritime Safety Authority has colleges that train youth from poor backgrounds to participate in this sector. Unfortunately, after completion of their programme, they don't get employment. They are placed on foreign ships which expose them to difficult working conditions.
Ndvuna, kukhona lijaha lelashona kulemikhumbi yalabantfu betive. Kubalulekile, Ndvuna, kutsi hulumende wetfu ayibukisise lendzaba futsi alubuyekete ludzaba lwekutsi sibe nayo yetfu imikhumbi, njengelive. (Translation of Siswati paragraph follows.)
[Minister, there is a gentleman who died on one of these foreign ships. Minister, it is important that our government pays more attention to this matter and review the issue of we as a country having our own ships.]
Chairperson, the unacceptable traffic conditions on South African roads, especially the accident and casualty rates, must not continue. There should be a univocal condemnation of irresponsible road users' behaviour and attitudes. All South Africans should join hands and ensure that road safety is everyone's responsibility. The improvement of road user knowledge, skills and attitudes, as a road traffic management function must be targeted as a priority.
The ANC supports the Budget Vote. Thank you.
Chair, the very root of our problems in road safety and the deaths and crashes on our roads keeps being ignored, whilst expensive, meaningless campaigns that produce no improved results are implemented, and deaths increase annually.
For example, the Department of Transport has repeated what it has done previously with Christmas season statistics. It compared last Christmas season's preliminary toll of 1 551 to that of the 2009-10 finalised toll of 1 582. The Department of Transport, DoT, now claims that the figure announced on 26 January 2010 was, in fact, preliminary and that the actual death toll for last year's holiday season was 1 761. Now, where does this figure come from? We've never seen it before and it's never been announced publicly.
These figures are all taken from the DoT directly. The department's own official figures therefore have no credibility. The bottom line is that vehicle accidents cost the South African economy more than R56 billion annually. I predict that the crashes and deaths on our roads will continue to increase in future, unless causes such as those I will highlight today are addressed.
A number of simple things can be done that will provide immediate, improved results. Minister, I again highlight and present to you and your Deputy our Six-Point Plan, which I did last year. I will do it again this year, and I ask you to read it this time round.
The first point in the plan proposes the updating of the K53 licences by making this test more relevant for today, thus reducing crashes, fatalities and deaths. A few things need to be removed from this 30-year-old, outdated test.
An example is the yard test, which is a pointless formality that adds nothing to road safety. The yard test takes 20 minutes, as does the road test. In 1998, the last year for which figures for all fatality types were available, the number of fatalities which took place in reverse gear was a total of 16 out of the 9 068 crashes for that year. Doesn't it strike you as bizarre that half of the time is spent on driving practices responsible for 0,2% of fatalities? These tests need to be updated post-haste.
My other concern is law enforcement and penalties. Allow me to provide you with some examples of high speedsters caught and their penalties:
A Mr Amith Sookraj was fined R35 000 for speeding in March last year. His licence was suspended for six months.
In November 2010, a Mr Farouk Patel was fined R20 000 for doing 197 km/h. The DoT claimed that it would suspend his licence automatically for six months.
However, in December 2010 a certain gentleman in an expensive motor vehicle clocked one of the highest recorded speeds ever, a speed of 235 km/h. His fine was a mere R20 000 and nothing else. A mere tap on the wrist! Why? This motorist happened to be Dan Kgothule, the Free State Member of the Executive Council, MEC, for Sport, Arts, Culture and Recreation. This is an example of how a sentence is not commensurate with the offence. Examples like these demonstrate one of the reasons for our road carnage, and do not act as deterrent.
Another concern for me is rail. Since 1994 government has systematically emasculated the railways. Rail transport has floundered, recently reaching an all-time low when the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa, Prasa, shut down the Shosholoza Meyl service between Johannesburg and Cape Town. This was allegedly due to profitability issues, but it was widely reported - never denied by the department - that the rolling stock was actually unsafe for mainline usage. The rail crisis reaches even lower depths with the recent fatal crash, where over 850 commuters were injured. This is the second crash this year. The ANC's indifference to rail transport, which should be the backbone of public transport by the way, caused a massive swing towards trucking, and it is no coincidence that the road fatality rates went in an upward direction, starting in 1998, as the number of trucks on our roads exceeded the traffic police's resources and competence. For example, the paucity of weighbridges and the preference to enforce speed instead of moving violations were directly responsible for the complete destruction of the N3 to Durban by overloaded trucks, resulting in its being rebuilt and, of course, tolled so heavily that it's now cheaper to fly to Durban than to drive. The solution is to make sure that we include public partnerships, because Prasa in its current budget cannot continue in the way it is doing.
Although I applaud the plan for a new face of rail, an interim rail plan is needed. The Railway Safety Regulator reports that 5 307 - I'll repeat that, 5 307 - train crashes occurred between 2008 and 2009. The report indicates that these crashes left 434 people dead. We now have the distinction of having the most dangerous rail system in the world.
And yes, Minister, something can be done in the meantime until we completely fix our rail system. For example, train drivers can be properly trained, and disciplined should they contravene safety regulations, and security systems can be beefed up to prevent infrastructure vandalism and theft. So, Minister, I'm pleading that you stop the pointless campaigns, which actually don't bring down deaths, and start with the basics. Searching a million vehicles every month hasn't brought down the numbers. That's the bottom line. Until our figures come down, I'll remain unconvinced about searching these vehicles and all the other campaigns. I say, do the basics, and by starting with the basics you'll be pleasantly surprised at how quickly deaths, on both our roads and rail tracks, will start dropping. Thank you very much. [Applause.]
Chairperson, Minister and Deputy Minister, hon Ndebele and hon Cronin respectively, fellow Ministers and Deputy Ministers, hon Members of Parliament, the Director-General, Mr Mahlalela, chairpersons and CEOs of the different entities, guests and friends, the Budget Vote on Transport is being tabled just a few hours after the launch of Youth Month in Parliament under the theme, "A Caring Parliament that Advances Youth Development to Achieve Economic Freedom".
This launch signifies the events of 35 years ago, on 16 June 1976, where more than 20 000 pupils from Soweto engaged in a protest march against the directive of the apartheid government to have Afrikaans used on an equal basis with English as the language of instruction in secondary schools.
Thirty-five years later we commemorate this day, guided by the words of political wisdom of President Mandela, when he said, and I quote:
Youth are the valued possession of the nation. Without them there can be no future. Their needs are immense and urgent. They are the centre of reconstruction and development.
I will today be speaking on public transport, covering areas that relate to integrated public transport, scholar transport, Bus Rapid Transit, BRT, and broad-based black economic empowerment as an imperative in the advancement of small bus operators, the taxi industry, and co-operative development.
The Department of Transport has committed itself to the development of integrated public transport by advancing, amongst others, the following objectives and measures.
The first is to improve public transport access and reliability by developing norms and standards to support the development of integrated public transport networks in 12 cities by 2020 and to monitor and evaluate progress in this regard.
The second is to ensure that there is efficient and effective public and tourism transport, by establishing the National Public Transport Regulator by 2011-12, as required by the National Land Transport Act of 2009. The third is to increase the equity ownership and broad-based black economic empowerment in the public transport sector, by implementing the industry development model to empower 20% of taxi operators and 20% of small bus operators by 2014.
The last is to align and integrate the taxi recapitalisation programme with national and provincial rail services, metropolitan and rapid public transport corridor services and provincial bus services by redefining the taxi recapitalisation project by 2013.
We welcome these noble objectives of the department and, working together, we hope that they will get implemented in the projected time frames.
We also call for the subsidisation of the taxi industry, especially as they now compete with other modes of transport such as buses and rail, but also because they are the largest carrier of public transport passengers.
We are aware that the transformation of the public transport system integration of the taxi operation into mainstream public transport is under way, as your department has committed itself to the following.
Firstly, there exists a need to move from mode-specific subsidies, rail and bus, to public transport subsidies. Secondly, all new designs and redesigns will be reviewed to ensure that they are integrated. Thirdly, no new tender or negotiated contract will be approved if it does not subscribe to integration. Lastly, the taxi industry must be assisted to prepare for this transformation, that is, to organise itself into entities that can compete in this space. [Applause.]
We as the portfolio committee support and acknowledge the contribution of the taxi industry to the country's GDP, job creation, and economic and social development, and we wish to assure them that we take very seriously the work they do as the largest transporter of millions of the previously disadvantaged and marginalised communities in the country.
Let me deal with scholar transport. South Africa currently lacks an integrated approach to the transportation of scholars, and this is largely because there is the absence of a policy to address the transportation of scholars. Provincial departments are currently providing scholar transport assistance, and because there is no national policy framework, there is therefore no uniform way of managing and operating scholar transport in provinces.
In some provinces the provision of scholar transport has been transferred from the Department of Education to the Department of Transport. We as the portfolio committee support this move, because we believe that the core business of the Department of Education is to educate the child and not to transport the child. [Applause.]
It has taken the department more than four years to develop a national policy, and that delay has contributed to the fragmentation of this operation, because there are no uniform national norms and standards for the implementation of scholar transport provision in all nine provinces.
We have witnessed huge inconsistencies in the mechanisms for payment of scholar transport service providers from one province to the other. This has negatively affected service providers, especially small bus operators, preventing them from adequately executing their work to establish a favourable infrastructure that will address the safety of pupils.
There is absolutely no justification for government to continually award contracts to monopoly players and thereby defeat the noble objectives of promoting SMMEs and broad-based black economic empowerment entities, as outlined by policy.
We applaud the strides made by the department in establishing a technical and steering committee, as well as the draft policy to address the many challenges in scholar transport. However, we can no longer delay the question of a fully-fledged policy that will speak specifically to vehicle type and mode, roadworthiness, eligibility of beneficiaries and access for children with disability, amongst other things.
The Shova Kalula programme is being well received and provinces must be encouraged to continue with its roll-out if it is to make the noble interventions that we all envisage.
Let me deal with BRT. The Department of Transport made a commitment that BRT would be crucial to the success of South Africa's transport system and would yield positive results. I recall that the taxi associations at the time expressed their discomfort with the implementation of the BRT, as they felt there should be further engagement on the matter. Other taxi owners felt they could not compete with BRT, because the system was to have its own dedicated lanes.
Despite these challenges and concerns, the Department of Transport, under the stewardship of Minister Ndebele and his capable director-general, Mr Mahlalela, have been able to diffuse this discomfort by addressing the concerns of the taxi industry, particularly by ensuring that the industry moves towards being a major player in the transport sector, as was evident in the handing over of 66% of Rea Vaya, the majority shareholding in the controlling Johannesburg Bus Rapid Transit system, to the taxi industry. This is indeed a huge success for broad-based black economic empowerment.
We will not be apologetic about, or hesitate in our oversight role of often reminding the department of its obligation towards broad-based black economic empowerment, and where we can trace success stories, we will not hesitate to applaud you. [Applause.]
It is in the interests of this government to ensure that public transport monopolies are transformed in favour of SMMEs. Monopoly players cannot continue to be major beneficiaries of this government, lest we do not take very seriously the objectives of government, as outlined in policy, of correcting the economic imbalances of the past.
We as the National Executive Committee of the ANC Youth League will convene our 24th National Congress in the next two weeks, in which we will be looking broadly at the whole question of attaining economic freedom from the hands of the minority, and monopoly capital in favour of the previously disadvantaged majority.
It is for this reason that we support the diversification strategy of the taxi industry, to expand its scope of business operations from the taxi industry to transport, in order for them to participate in other transport modes such as in the bus industry, rail, and aviation. It is in the best interests of development and achieving economic freedom for the taxi industry and other BEE groupings to own airlines, because if it is not they who own the airlines, who better qualifies to own them. We as the portfolio committee have already expressed our support for the consolidation of individual taxi business operations into co-operative entities that will harness bargaining power and create efficiency in business management operations.
We cannot afford to turn a blind eye to the taxi industry and small bus operators, as they were the ones who supported the country during the dark days of apartheid and provided the necessary means of movement of our people. The ANC supports the budget. Ngiyabonga kakhulu. [Thank you very much.]
Hon members, thank you for the very, very constructive contributions, which I can assure you will always be taken into consideration. We welcome all the proposals as we traverse this important task of moving our people and goods.
We want to first emphasise that what is coming out of the budget that is being tabled here is, number one, a programme that is going to see unprecedented job creation and infrastructure development in our country. The allocation of an amount of R22 billion - R6,4 billion from last month to March next year - is something that should energise us to create jobs and new infrastructure, as well as repair failing infrastructure, something which has been recognised by this House over a very long period.
Mobilising the funds takes time, but they are now available. They might not be enough, but they are enough for us to begin, because R6,4 billion is not something to be pooh-poohed; it's something that we know we are going to make an important start with.
We have indicated the allocation to the different provinces, which is quite significant, over and above the allocated budgets. S'hamba sonke. Re sepela ka moka. [We move together.] I'm happy that members support this programme. We will welcome the participation of members in the different provinces as it is being rolled out, because that is where it addresses the provincial and local road infrastructure. That's where it is, and all of us are welcome to participate in that and give direction where it will be felt best.
Similarly, the rail infrastructure programme, which is claiming an amount of R30 billion in the next three years - R10 billion per year - should be able to inject a significant amount into our economy in manufacturing and local procurement. All this will be there for all members to see, interrogate and put proposals forward for.
With regard to the issue of road safety, I'm sure that members spoke for all of us here, particularly regarding the carnage on our roads, where the rates are now overtaking those for HIV and Aids and all those ailments and deaths that are difficult to prevent.
On road safety, we know of countries that have a vehicle population that is similar to ours. It's no use saying that we are going to have European cars here, but not have European laws to govern those cars. You are not going to have a computer and say, "I'm going to use it in my own way." It works in a particular way, whether you are in Japan or the United States or Zambia.
Similarly, on the road the level of negligence and of the skills of our drivers - those people who hold licences - make us question how they got them in the first place. The level of disregard for human life is quite astounding. There are people who are professionals, who would normally be very caring, but once they get onto the road it is something else.
That is why the national enforcement programme that we have embarked on is going to be merciless. We are going to be ensuring that you first of all have a driver's licence, because there are certain assumptions that you want to make about a person on the road. How are you going to make those assumptions? First of all they must have a driver's licence, which they must carry at all times, and then they must be sober. There is no way that you can say, "Look at me! Even if I've drunk so much, I can contain my liquor!" And so forth. We don't know that. Perhaps the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development and that of Correctional Services will know. You can rest there while you convince them that it doesn't matter how much you have drunk, and you can actually carry your liquor very well!
This is going to bring us in line with other advanced civilisations, as we call them. First of all, if we are going to be democratic, how democratic are we going to be? Democracy doesn't just mean voting every five years. Democracy means that this is our land - we share it. The road is shared space - we share it. It's not yours alone. If you are alone on some farm somewhere, perhaps you can knock down trees and so forth. But, once you are on the road, it's shared space. It's used by other people.
Therefore there should be strict regulations regarding how you use that shared space. The enforcement is going to be very strict. We assure you that, as has happened elsewhere, we are strict and will enforce things. Later on there will be voluntary compliance, but we are now still very far from voluntary compliance, and therefore it's going to be enforcement and more enforcement.
On 13 and 14 June we are going to attend an investment conference. It's a very important conference, and it will be held here in Cape Town. It's very important that we are actually able to answer for ourselves how we are going to fund transport infrastructure. That's a question that, as I indicated earlier, even the United States is still asking.
How are we going to fund transport infrastructure? Do you toll, or do you find other ways? How do you build roads? Do you say to those who already have roads, that they are lucky to be in Cape Town, lucky to be in Johannesburg, and lucky to be in Durban, but that you are sorry for those at Qumbu, and sorry for those somewhere else? How do we ensure that the road infrastructure is actually available to everybody else?
What kind of freedom is there if someone who is asked to vote and does vote, gets a road and public transport infrastructure, but someone else does not - even though they both voted?
I want to take this opportunity to thank, first of all, the members of the portfolio committee, led by Ms Bhengu - all the members from all the parties. We have enjoyed tremendous support throughout the years. To Deputy Minister Jeremy Cronin, the department led by Mr George Mahlalela, and the entire transport family, as well as the agencies, thank you very much. Let's take this department to new heights. Thank you. [Applause.]
Debate concluded.