Chairperson, Ministers, colleagues, public transport and infrastructure is provided by government in a context. We must not pretend to live in a country cut off from the world or in a timeless void without any reference to our difficult past or a promising future. The people of South Africa live in cities and towns built in the context of apartheid geography, where many, through no fault of their own, were forced to live very far from work, social amenities and tertiary education opportunities.
Today, people still live far from work. Transportation is one of the key areas in which the DA believes the state can provide a form of redress by providing fast, safe and inexpensive transport facilities to bring people closer to those opportunities that are sorely needed. In that context, does the money we are spending in this year's budget help provide fast, safe and cost-effective transportation solutions to the people of South Africa? [Interjections.]
Unfortunately for us, the previous Minister of Transport, Mr Jeff Radebe, left the current Minister, Mr Ndebele, a serious can of worms to deal with. [Interjections.] We have, firstly, the highway robbers in Sanral, with the world's most expensive toll collection system ever. We have the pirates in the Transnet National Ports Authority with the most expensive harbours in the world; the skyjacking Acsa, who build new international airports and then just up their fees, driving tourists away; and finally those two bankrupt twins, the Road Traffic Management Corporation and the Road Traffic Infringement Agency.
The Radebe legacy was to bequeath South Africa a transport system that had no overarching plan to connect our complex entities with the future infrastructure projects. We have no national mobility study telling us where people need to travel now and where in the future. As a result we have no strategy for moving people in a cost-effective, speedy and environmentally friendly way.
The DA government would first establish the country's transport needs objectively and then provide a national transportation strategy to link all future infrastructure roll-outs to that plan. In that way, we could ensure that we have the right form of public transport, in the right place, at the right time. What we have instead is years of neglected infrastructure and the recent rush to throw cash at every perceived transportation problem - R5,7 billion here to prop up the Gauteng Freeway Improvement Project, R123 billion on new passenger trains, etc.
The Gauteng e-tolling project is a great example of that kind of failure. The DA is not opposed to toll roads. They provide a mechanism to fund the maintenance and improvement of our national roads. However, what we have been forced into with the e-toll is the world's most expensive toll collection system. It will cost over R1 billion per annum just to collect the fees. That money will not go to upgrade highways but to the company that won the tender overseas. By comparison, a small fuel levy would only cost approximately R4 million per annum to administer, and the rest of the money could actually be put towards improving the roads.
The increased fees applicable to nonregistered users are exorbitant. If someone from Umlazi wanders on holiday into the Gauteng freeway system, they could be charged up to six times what the e-tag users pay. Sanral billboards indicate only the cheapest prices payable, if you have an e-tag. The visitor will receive a much higher bill than was advertised on the billboard, long after they have left Gauteng. [Interjections.]
Furthermore, if a truck has the configuration of a horse and two trailers, how many e-tags must they purchase? If you do not buy the e-tag for the middle trailer, its licence plate cannot be photographed by the e-toll gantries and it will escape free of charge. When trucking companies call 0800 Sanral, they cannot find out what to do about that middle trailer: whether it will be tolled, the rate at which it will be tolled, and how to budget their Gauteng highway-robbery costs in future.
Apparent discounts of 25% to travel between midnight and 05:00 are also not practical. It means the truck driver and the assistant need to be paid three extra hours of overtime pay in order to claim a 25% rebate on the toll fee. It will actually cost companies more to travel outside peak hours.
Minister, you cannot govern by the backdoor either, pressurising people to buy an e-tag. Using regulations that are not subject to parliamentary scrutiny to create a new police force of peace officers and a hike to the price for people who do not buy the e-tag is unacceptable. Just bring the Transport Law Enforcement and Related General Matters Amendment Bill of 2010 to Parliament, where it can be properly debated and we can have an above-board process. Victory, victory, victory: At least one judge agrees with the opposition that this matter is substantive and urgent, and they are dealing with it. [Interjections.]
If the DA was in government, we would cancel the Gauteng e-toll immediately. [Applause.] In fact, we would never have implemented this wasteful collection system in the first place. [Interjections.] A small fuel levy over time would pay for the highways, as it does on the N6 to Buffalo City, and there are other options too.
What about Prasa and Metrorail, etc? Prasa has been the poor stepchild of the ANC for far too long. Minister Radebe left Prasa with a collapsing train system. Thankfully, Cabinet has finally come to the rescue, but it is throwing R123 billion at Prasa after decades of underinvestment. Again, throwing huge sums of money suddenly at this problem is dangerous if we do not have a national strategy. Where is the budget for improved security and the vandal-proof fences that will protect the new trains from vandalism? We are losing R100 million per annum to vandalism and this budget is the size of the arms deal over 20 years.
The BRT and metro buses in the country are in a terrible state. In Cape Town, we have what must be the Rolls-Royce MyCiTi bus system. I am sure when I mention the words "Cape Town" or "DA", hon Deputy Minister Cronin is getting ready to "vulgarise Marxism" - the words of Irvin Jim - and use his false dualities to rubbish an opponent. But I would urge the Deputy Minister not to vulgarise the City of Cape Town in the process! [Laughter.]
In Johannesburg, heading towards Ellis Park from Braamfontein, the painted lanes of the BRT system have long since worn off and disappeared. The first time a motorist finds out that he has wandered into a bus lane is when he arrives at the bus station and the Johannesburg Metropolitan Police Department's, Metro Police have parked in the lane in front of him.
In Pretoria, I have witnessed that more than 50% of the buses have been declared unroadworthy. I have already asked Ministers Ndebele and Cronin to intervene in this crisis, but we are still waiting for a response.
Finally, we get to the truly ugly: the Nelson Mandela Bay Integrated Public Transport System, IPTS. [Interjections.] This waste of public funds has to be seen to be believed. On Friday, I personally inspected buildings in North End that have had their faades smashed off, because traffic lanes are so narrow that the trucks cannot turn the corners there. To make matters worse, there is R100 million worth of taxpayers' money in the IPTS buses sitting rusting in the Windy City. They have not once travelled on the IPTS. The Minister must investigate that mess in Port Elizabeth.
Finally, the Rhino Card - I have here with me something that is a positive contribution the DA can make. This is a Gautrain ticket. This ticket is a smart card, which is used to access the Gautrain network. The MyCiTi buses in Cape Town also use a smart card ticket, as does the BRT bus system in Johannesburg. What the public does not know is that these cards are identical technology and Prasa, in the form of Metrorail, is busy implementing the same technology in their new-generation turnstiles at the Metrorail stations.
Minister, if you lead the way, these five or six systems can be integrated by October next year, and South Africa could have its own integrated ticketing system, known overseas as an "Oyster Card". But let us call it a Rhino Card here and use one rand from every card purchased to save our wildlife and make it a collector's item for tourists when they come here. Imagine, one smart card covering the whole of South Africa! All you need to do, Minister, is push the button to begin the integration of the databases and software, which already exist. They have the same software and the same hardware. We could start selling Rhino Cards by Christmas 2013 to tourists from Beijing! I thank you. [Applause.]