Deputy Chair, hon members of the NCOP and special delegates from provinces, the National Land Transport Transition Act came into effect in the year 2000, and all spheres of our government began to implement it. Part 7 of the Act only came into effect on 1 June 2002, after the transport planning minimum requirements and guidelines had been developed by the Department of Transport to guide all provinces and local spheres on transport planning.
The National Land Transport Transition Act was a major step in the transformation of public transport in the history of our country and was enacted as a response to the many challenges, weaknesses, inefficiencies and problems confronting public transport in South Africa. It sought to establish a coherent and development-orientated approach to public transport, drawing from all spheres of government.
The main feature of the National Land Transport Transition Act is its requirement for municipal, provincial and national transport planning to be the basis on which all future public transport operating licences are awarded to operators, thus making public transport demand responsive, rather that supply-driven.
Some of the issues raised in these amendments are very urgent, to enable us to implement the taxi recapitalisation programme. In this particular regard, may I express my appreciation to the National Council of Provinces for the way in which the Bill's passage has been expedited during the current parliamentary cycle. The Bill, as we know, seeks to give national, provincial and local spheres of government effective regulatory and practical mechanisms to fast-track the transformation and improvements, while also putting safety measures in place for the benefit of all users.
Amongst other things, the following are the key issues that the amending Bill seeks to address: One, to simplify the transport planning framework; two, to make provision for the new taxi vehicle sizes, in line with the taxi recapitalisation process, to improve safety in the taxi industry; three, to rationalise functions of the Minister, the MECs, registrars and the operating licence boards; four, to regulate the conveyance of our people on adapted or modified light delivery vehicles, the LDVs, metered taxis and tourist service vehicles.
On this point, experiences on the ground in certain areas have dictated a need to regulate the conveyance of people on LDVs to ensure passenger safety. The proposed amending Bill proposes interventions to ensure that passengers in remote and resource-poor areas have access to mobility and are transported in a safe and humane manner while in the short to medium term infrastructure is being improved to cater for mainstream public transport. Lastly, to extend the subsidised contract period from five to seven years to support small, medium and micro enterprises and broad-based black economic empowerment operators.
The proposed National Land Transport Transition Act amendments represent a very significant intervention towards fast-tracking the effective planning, delivery and safety regulation of our public transport transformation in South Africa. Once promulgated into law, these amendments will give relevant authorities enabling frameworks and the necessary environment to fast-track the implementation of key projects such as the taxi recapitalisation project, and to effectively regulate the public transport system in order to ensure that it is sustainable, user-friendly and playing its desired role as the heartbeat of the South African economy.
I have, in a nutshell, outlined some of the critical challenges that we must urgently address with the proposed amending Bill to the National Land Transport Transition Act. I look forward to a constructive debate and will respond accordingly to other issues as they arise, emanating from this debate. I thank you. [Applause.]