Chairperson, I thank the hon Bhengu for the question. There are, indeed, technical norms and standards that have been developed to guide roads authorities on the upgrading of roads from gravel to paved. However, these norms and standards tend to be rather technical, based on the internal rate of return and also traffic counts. Apparently, the guideline is that when 200 vehicles per day use a gravel road, it can be upgraded to a tarred road.
Now, I think this is a general indicator, but technical indicators like this do not take into account a whole range of social and economic factors. We all know of examples where a gravel road is tarred in order to take vehicles to a place of interest for tourists. What happens is that it often then attracts a considerable amount of traffic, often way beyond the anticipated volumes. We have also got very large numbers of gravel roads in our country that do have more than 200 vehicles on them but which are not tarred, for the good reason that there is not enough capacity, there are not enough resources and there are all kinds of challenges.
So, in short, yes, there are norms and standards, but this matter is best left to the relevant authority - whether municipal or provincial - to link decisions around road upgrades and road maintenance to integrated development plans. There are some good examples in our country of provinces, for instance, doing this. The Eastern Cape Department of Transport, Roads and Public Works is one case. The Deputy Minister, Mr Hanekom, said I should be statesperson-like, like the Deputy President, so let me say the Western Cape Department of Transport and Public Works is also a good example. In both cases, these provinces look at the technical requirements in regard to vehicle counts, but also bring to bear social and economic factors, which are then weighted in a consultative process with various stakeholders and role-players.
In the case of Gauteng province - and I think it is important also, in response to the hon Bhengu's question - the problems of poor roads are not just rural. It is often in a rural area, but it is also often in urban areas. The standards are very unequal and many townships suffer from very poor roads. In the case of Gauteng, they have prioritised 20 townships in the 20 Priority Townships (2 OPTP) Programme, and that programme has been taken over and is now run by the Johannesburg Roads Agency. Thank you.