Ngqanga neentsiba zayo! Ndivumeleni ndicamagushe ... [Protocol observed! Allow me to greet you all ...]
... in the name of Jesus and my ancestors.
Roads are the primary mode of transport in Africa for both freight and passengers. We all know, however, that road transport has several constraints. This is not only a South African phenomenon. On the entire African continent countries are experiencing constraints that limit their socioeconomic growth and development. The constraints I am talking about include the unavailability of sufficient funding to develop and expand their roads. Funds to maintain the existing roads, to restore drainage, to fill potholes and cracks, and to maintain edges are not always available.
The consequence of the lack of investment in the road infrastructure results in the deterioration of all our roads. This affects the rural poor even more as it limits their chances of participating in the mainstream economy and accessing basic services, even limiting their mobility. These constraints also impact on the overall macro economy of our country and, subsequently, impede all our efforts to alleviate poverty.
Frequent and continual investment in transport infrastructure is required in all modes of transport to ensure an adequate transport infrastructure network that supports economic growth and development. Subsequently, this will contribute to poverty alleviation, thereby increasing the day-to-day living standards of our people. If roads are not repaired timeously, costs can rise seven-fold. According to some experts, transport infrastructure will require additional funding of approximately R40 billion annually to manage this crisis.
While funding remains a continual challenge, the lack of skills remains the biggest challenge at all levels in our country. It is, however, more acute at provincial and municipal levels. The enormous shortage of civil engineering staff in the municipal sector means that municipalities are failing to meet the delivery expectations that their communities have of them. The South African economy needs municipalities to play their part in ensuring a well-constructed and well-maintained engineering infrastructure if the country's economy is to achieve the ultimate GDP growth target of over 6% per year.
Another concern is the small number of graduates and diplomats that are being trained and mentored in municipalities. There is evidently a need for the municipal sector to play a greater role in this regard. Our Department of Transport has made impressive strides in developing the national transport infrastructure network. In part, these were catapulted by South Africa's hosting of the 2010 Fifa World Cup.
Moreover, government has invested R18 billion in roads and R23 billion in the Gauteng Freeway Improvement Project. Perhaps the most important intervention to date in attending to the state of the country's road infrastructure has been the introduction of the S'hamba Sonke [Walking Together] programme. This is a new and innovative nationwide maintenance programme of South Africa's secondary road infrastructure using labour- intensive methods of construction and maintenance.
ENgquza, eMpuma Koloni, eMaMpondweni, kukho ilali esezantsi, Mnu Farrow. Xa unyuka usiya kwiziko lezempilo okanye esibhedlele kukho umthi apho abantu bafika baphumle khona kuba bayagula kwaye badiniwe. Abanye babo bayasweleka bengayanga kufika esibhedlele okanye endleleni. Lo mthi ubizwa ngokuba ngumthi wokufa [tree of death].
Mamelani ndinixelele. [Kwahlekwa.] Akakho urhulumente osebenza ngathi ngurhulumente okhokelwa yi-ANC. [Kwaqhwatywa.] Urhulumente okhokelwa yi-ANC ubeke izigidi ezingama-R450 bucala ukuze kulungiswe indlela yaseMpuma Koloni ephakathi kweKomani noMthatha kuba incinci kwaye isoloko ineengozi; abantu bafa yonke le mihla kuyo. Kungoko ke sicela ukuba ikhawuleziswe igqitywe loo ndlela. [Uwele-wele.] (Translation of isiXhosa paragraphs follows.)
[At Ngquza in the Eastern Cape, in Pondoland, there is a village that is not easy to get to, Mr Farrow. When people go to the clinic or hospital, they must go uphill. When they reach the top, they rest under the tree that is there, because they are sick and they are tired. Others die before they even reach the hospital, or they die on the way. This tree is called the tree of death.
Let me tell you something. [Laughter.] There is no government that does more than the ANC-led government. [Applause.] The ANC-led government has set aside R450 billion, which will be used for the construction of the road between Queenstown and Mthatha in the Eastern Cape because it is narrow and there are always accidents. People die on a daily basis on that road. That is why we are asking that this road be completed as soon as possible. [Applause.]]