Hon Chair, Minister, Deputy Minister, hon members and guests, I wish to begin by focusing on the issues of our passenger rail service. While South Africa has the largest rail network in Africa, there is no denying that long-distance passenger travel has declined substantially in South Africa. This means that the Prasa, is playing a continually decreasing role in integrating the economic and social development of our country.
In South Africa, of the nation's 20 000 km of track, about 10 000 km are fully utilised, while 7 000 km of track carry little or no traffic at all. Our railways must perform the dual role of functioning as a commercial undertaking and also as the provider of a public utility service. Social service obligations, through targeted subsidies, can encourage farmers to bring produce to market.
There was a time in the old South Africa when rail was one of the biggest employers of poor whites. In present-day India, the railways continue to be one of the biggest employers and houses tens of thousands of people in so- called railway colonies, which are housing estates run and owned by the railways. In respect of the hardly used 7 000 km of railway track, government should perhaps appoint a panel of experts to determine how this asset can be better utilised. If needs be, these tracks should be given over to private enterprise to utilise and, most importantly, create new jobs.
One of the department's priorities for 2012-13 is to build a rail network by promoting investment in the rail commuter service and developing a policy for rail. Across all areas of government, the narrative is one of intentions followed by intentions. What we need are road maps, timetables and progress reports. Hon Chair, could the Minister inform the House how often this year he intends to release progress reports on the above- mentioned matter?
I now wish to turn my attention to the Taxi Recapitalisation Programme, TRP. After 10 long years of talking, the government gazetted the requirements of TRP-compliant vehicles on 4 September 2008. A scrapping allowance of R50 000 per old taxi vehicle was introduced. Government, it seems, had forgotten about inflation. In February 2009, Cabinet had to correct this and approve the linkage with the consumer price index. By the end of last year, only 38 760 vehicles had been scrapped, at a cost of R1,7 billion.
The second intended incentive from government was a subsidy for the industry if it created a corporate structure. We would like the Minister to tell us whether this matter of bringing the taxi industry into the subsidy net has now been fully and finally resolved. We would also like to know the extent to which agreements have been reached with banks and other financial institutions to fund the industry.
Since transport is pivotal to economic growth, it is necessary for the department to act in a decisive manner. For a long time provinces were lagging behind in converting permits, and the million-rand question is whether all the provinces have now cleared their backlogs. If not, what is the Minister going to do about this matter?
Cope is also very keen to hear what success the government has had in prosecuting those found to have been corruptly issuing permits to illegal operators.
Let me now turn to the question of e-tolling. This has been a public - relations disaster. Until Friday last week, owners of taxis and buses were not clear on the criteria for exemption of commuter buses and minibus taxis from e-tolls. Questions were also being asked about exactly how Sanral and the Department of Transport were planning to control and manage these exemptions so that they did not apply to illegal taxis.
The Minister must also use this opportunity to explain what measures are going to be put in place to prevent hacking. Would the Minister perhaps permit MythBusters - a show on the Discovery channel - to test the system for security, trackability and reliability? The fear is that the e-tags will quickly be cloned or hacked and that measures should be in place to ensure that they are not subverted by criminal elements.
Managing such a complex system is another matter of great concern. The management of finances, in particular, is a matter of cardinal importance. Furthermore, what measures of accountability are being built to guarantee transparency?
The tariffs that are being proposed for those who do not buy e-tags are prohibitive in the first instance and a bully-boy tactic in the second instance. The one lesson that this government has to learn and learn very fast is that the majority party was given a mandate to administer the country, not to rule over the people. In recent times, the government seems to have been under the impression that it has the right to rule. This attitude is causing public protests to multiply, and the situation that is emerging in South Africa is akin to what was described in Animal Farm: The government begins to reek of the smells of the government it replaced. The political elite and the common people are clearly growing poles apart. [Interjections.] Louder, hon members.
As the tolling of roads is going to substantially increase the cost of transport, people will increasingly turn to rail and bus transport. This will require taking people from the stations to their homes. As the cost of transport increases, people will want a seamless and cost-effective system of public transport that is on hand when they want it. At present, shuttle services of that kind are not readily available. We would like to hear from the Minister whether or not the government has a policy in this regard.
Finally, I come to the question of maritime transport. Why did this segment get a haircut? A decrease of 10,6% in real terms is a matter of concern. Of greater concern is that a country with the 38th largest coastline in the world hasn't a single ship on its registry. Instead of being one of the great shipping nations on the Earth, we are actually nothing.