Sihlalo wale Ndlu yoWiso-mthetho, baPhathiswa beli Sebe lezoThutho, MmalLungu ale Ndlu yoWiso-mthetho abalulekileyo, magosa nabasebenzi beli sebe akhokelwa yintloko yawo, ziindwendwe nani zindwalutho esinazo, phambi kokuba ndingene kule ntetho yam endiza kugxila kuyo, ndifuna ukuthi abaPhathiswa mabangaphazamiseki ngamaxoxo aza kuxokxozela esemngxobhozweni ... [uwelewele.] ... kufuneka niqine imiqolo, madoda, nixele amaqhawe afana nooDullah Omaruma ngexesha ayekhokela eli sebe.
Le ngxoxo iza kanye xa umbutho wesizwe ugqiba iminyaka elikhulu uzelwe. Olu Hhlahlo-lwabiwo-mali lukwinyanga ebalulekileyo, inyanga yamaqhawe, inyanga yenkululeko, nto leyo iza kufuna ukuba maxa wambi sibe ngathi siyagxanya ukuphucula ubomi babavoti, ingakumbi abo basibeke kwezi ndawo sikuzo. Kananjalo, njengoko senditshilo, ndifuna sibalule loo maqhawe abeka isiseko seli sebe phambili.
Ndifuna ukuncoma eli sebe kumahlelo athile ngokubhekisele kumgaqo othe waphuculwa wafana nezitalato zaseJerusalem, ezixelwa kumaculo ngamaculo eenkonzo. Lo mgaqo ndithetha ngawo ufana nomgaqo u-N2, ophaya eMpuma Koloni, e-Wild Coast. Le mbali ke iyaziwa ngabahlala kwela phondo.
Ndiyalincoma eli sebe ngokuthi lizise iinkonzo ebantwini. Amajikojiko namagophe ancitshiswe mpela, sihamba kweso sithabazi sendlela. Yanga ningenza njalo kuzo zonke iindlela zeli loMzantsi Afrika, ukuze sehlise izinga lokubhubha kwabantu bethu ezindleleni.
Ndifuna ukwenza isicelo, esibalulekileyo apha kwisebe, sokuba xa lisenza uHhlahlo-lwabiwo-mali ngokubhekisele kwizithuthi ezifana neebhasi, isibonelelo semali noko masilingane okanye siphucuke. Ndisitsho nje, phaya eMpuma Koloni kukho le nkampani, iyi-Algoa Bus Company, efumana isixamali esikhulu semali. Xa usiya ngaphesheya kwenNciba, ukwenjenjeya ukuya kooMtata, kukho inkampani yebhasi ebizwa ngokuba yi-AB350, ukanti kweliya laseBisho kukho inkampani yebhasi ebizwa ngokuba yiMayibuye. Inene, umgangathoizinga lweebhasi zlezi nkampani zimbini zokugqibela liuyehla, kwaye awlehli nje, liuyancipha kuba aziyifumani ngokwaneleyo imali enokwenza ukuba abantu bezaa lali bathuthwe ngokulinganayo, njengoko besenza njalo abantu basezidolophini. Siyaqonda ke ukuba masiwuyizise ngaphambili lo mbandela.
Ndiza kugxila komnye umbandela wezakhona kweli loMzantsi Afrika, ingakumbi, njengoko amalungu ebesetshilo, kwezi ndawo zintathu, ezendlela, ezaselwandle kwakunye nezithuthi ezifana noololiwe. Apha siyayazi into yokuba eli setyana libizwa ngokuba yi-Passenger Rail Agency of SA, i-Prasa, lineenjongo ezinkulu yaye kukho isakhiwo kweliya laseRhawutini esibizwa ngokuba yi-Excellent Park, apho bekufanele ukuba kuqeqeshwe lolongwa kuphuculwe izakhona zabantu.
Ndicela ukuba abantu bethu abamnyama abangenazo ezi zakhono, ingakumbi ezaselwandle, baye kwesi sakhiwo - nanjengoko sekutshiwo apha ukuba asinazo iinqanawa, kwaye isizathu soko kukuba asinazo iinjineli nabachweli, kanti ke ela sebe okanye la ekuthiwa yi-Esselen ukuba bakwazi ukwenza oololiwe, ingakumbi nalapha koomama nanjengoko sisazi ukuba isininzi salapha eMzantsi Afrika ngabantu basetyhini. Abo bantu sibabeka ndawoni kolu phuculo lwezakhono zabona? Ndicinga ukuba kufuneka siphendule kulo nto xa sisonke. Apha kwezeNdlela ndifuna ukugxila kwi-SA National Roads Agency Limited, u-Sanral, kukho le nkqubo endiyithandayo, ebizwa ngokuba nguS'hamba Sonke, kuthiwa sihamba sonke. Andifuni ukuya kubuKrestu, kodwa iinjongo zikaS'hamba Sonke kukuphucula izakhono zabantu bethu. Kufuneka ke angqamane no-Sanral.
U-Sanral yenye yeenkqubo esinazo zokuphucula indlela zeli loMzantsi Afrika. Kodwa, u-Sanral makasebenzisane namaphondo kunye noomasipala bethu, ukwenzela ukuba ezi ndledlana nale milimandlela sinayo ezilalini iphele ngokuthi izakhono zithathwe kwaba bantu bakwa-Sanral bazise kumaphondo ethu nakoomasipala bethu. Kungapheleli apho, zikhatshwe yimali kuba kukho lo mthetho uthi ... (Translation of isiXhosa paragraphs follows.)
[Mr L SUKA: Chairperson, hon Minister and Deputy Minister, members of the National Assembly, officials of the Department of Transport and distinguished guests, before I deliver my speech, I want to say to the Ministers that they must not be disturbed by those who will make a noise and criticise them. [Interjections.] You men must be strong like heroes such as Dullah Omar, who laid the foundation of this department.
This debate is taking place when the peoples' party is celebrating its 100th anniversary. This budget is also taking place during the month when we commemorate our heroes and our freedom, and that requires that we speed up delivery and make the lives of our voters better, especially those who voted for us. As I have already said, I want to praise those heroes who regarded the work of this department as a priority.
I would like to commend this department on the work it has done, including the construction of the road that now resembles the streets of Jerusalem, which as many hymns allude to. I'm talking about the N2 Wild Coast N2 in the Eastern Cape. This history is known by the residents of that province. I commend this department for delivering that service to the people. The number of curves and passes has been greatly reduced. We now travel on a wide road. I wish you could do the same on all South African roads so that we may also reduce the number of deaths on our roads.
I wish to make an important request to the department: when they allocate subsidies to the bus companies from their budget, the subsidy must be equal or increase just a little. I am saying this because in the Eastern Cape there is the Algoa Bus Company, which receives a large subsidy. In Mthatha there is a company known as AB350 and in Bhisho there is Mayibuye. The standard of the buses of these companies is deteriorating, and these companies do not receive enough subsidies to assist them to transport the people from the villages, as the companies in the cities do. We have realised that we must bring this matter to the fore.
I want to emphasise another issue, which is the lack of skills in South Africa, especially in civil engineering, maritime and rail transport. We are all aware that Prasa has significant objectives and for this reason it has a building known as Esselen Park in Johannesburg, where people are supposed to get empowerment and skills training.
I would urge our black people who lack these skills, especially maritime skills, to go to this building and get training in the necessary skills. It has already been said that we do not have ships because we do not have engineers and carpenters, but the department or that ... institution can train and develop our people so that they can be assimilated into or absorbed by the economy of the country.
The second part is this: I think we also need to train some of our members of the community in that institution known as Esselen so that they can build trains especially women, because we know that the majority of the South African community is women. Where do we fit these people into the skills development drive? I think we all need to respond to that.
With regard to roads, I want to emphasise that Sanral has one of the programmes that I like the most. It is known as S'hamba Sonke, meaning "we travel together". I do not want to refer to Christianity, but the aim of S'hamba Sonke is to improve the skills of our people. This programme must be the line that Sanral will take.
Sanral is one of the agencies we have for improving our roads in South Africa. However, Sanral must co-operate with our provinces and municipalities, so that the dirt roads and footpaths we have in the villages become a thing of the past. Sanral must transfer the skills to our provinces and municipalities. However, that should not be all, as that must be accompanied by funding, for we have this law that stipulates ...]
... that funds follow function. Once you train them, you capacitate and empower them. Funds should follow, so that those skills that they have acquired can be transferred to those two spheres of government, so that our roads can be improved, nationally.
Okulandelayo, iidolophu zethu ezingqamene nolwandle azinazo izakhono ezifunekayo ekwakheni ezi nqanawa, njengoko senditshilo. Okwesibini, iinqanawa zethu ezingenayo neziphumayo kula machweba ayizo zethu. Into urhulumente ayenzayo kukurhafisa ezo nqanawa zingenayo neziphumayo ngerhafu encinane kakhulu. Ndicinga ukuba lo mba ubusele uchatshazelwe.
Uqoqosho lwamazwe amaninzi luphuculwa ngala machweba kuba enezakhono ezifanele ezaselwandle. AmaIilwandle zethu aziwasebenzisani nezothutho lwezendlela okanye nezothutho ngoololiwe. Kungoko ke, szisithi malakhiwe eli ziko lokuqeqeshwa kwabantu bethu ngokubhekisele kwizakhono zaselwandle. [Kwaqhwatywa.]
Sihlalo, xa ndiza kujika, phaya emakhaya, ingakumbi kumaphondo, kukho le nkqubo ye-Prasa yokuthuthwa kwabantwana besikolo. Ndithi andinakho ukuyishiya le indawo kuba andifuni ifane nembawula enamanxeba, kodwa lo mcimbi we ... (Translation of isiXhosa paragraphs follows.)
[Our coastal towns lack the skills to build ships, as I have said. Secondly, the ships that dock at our harbours are not ours. The only thing the government does is to impose taxes on these ships and the taxes payable are very low. I think this issue has already been referred to.
The economy of many countries is improved by their harbours because the people are adequately skilled in maritime matters. There is no correlation amongst our road, sea and rail transport. That is why we are saying an institution must be built to train our people on maritime skills. [Applause.]
Chairperson, as I am about to conclude, in the rural areas, especially in the provinces, there is this Prasa programme of transporting children to and from school. I cannot leave without referring to this issue, for this issue of ...]
... scholar transport is a very serious matter that affects the lives of our children in the various communities. The transport budget has been cut. Some areas in our rural communities do not have scholar transport. The negative effect is that there is a high dropout rate in schools because there is no transport, let alone a feeding scheme! So, I would like the Department of Transport to intervene as soon as possible on this matter of scholar transport, including its policy. [Applause.]
Xa ndiza kuyeka, ndiyafuna ukuthi kwisebe nentloko yalo maliqwalasele imigaqo-nkqubogomo okanye izinto ezithethwa nguMphicothi-zincwadi Jikelele. UMphicothi-zincwadi Jikelele uyasilumkisa. Masizame ke ukuphepha ezaa zinto zivezwe phaya nguMphicothi-zincwadi Jikelele, endingenakho ukuzithetha ngoku. Ndiza kuzithetha phaya kubo nakwintloko yesebe ngexesha elifanelekileyo. Mabalungise ukuze xa uphela lo nyaka-mali sibe nengxelo yophicotho-zimali engenaziphene. Sibe ngabanye babantu abonyuliweyo kumasebe karhulumente. (Translation of isiXhosa paragraph follows.)
[In conclusion, I want to say to the department and its head that they must consider everything the Auditor-General presented in his report. The Auditor-General has warned us. We should by all means try to avoid the pitfalls he has referred to. I will not reiterate them here. I will discuss them with the departmental officials and head of the department at an appropriate time. They must sort out all those things so that at the end of the financial year we have an unqualified audit report. This department must be one of the chosen few amongst the government departments.]
Lastly, I would not want us to be derailed by hon members like the hon Kganare. [Laughter.] I think it is "Rharinat hi". [Laughter.] [Interjections.] The issue here is that we will not follow the neoliberal approach in addressing the fundamental issues of this country. There is a particular programme that the ANC must follow via the national democratic revolution. We should not shy away from that. So, I am saying this matter of transforming the country needs level-headed people, serious people, and we should have an element of patriotism so that all of us can be winners. There should be no losers. I thank you. [Applause.]