Hon Chairperson, Minister, MECs, members, comrades and distinguished guests, on behalf of the Council I wish to extend our sincere sympathies and condolences to the families and relatives of Moroese Mokoatsi, Reneilwe Lesenyeho, Given Mills, Isaac Tlale and Nomvula Dumako, who were run down and killed by a car last Saturday while they were running in preparation for next month's Soweto Marathon. Khanyiswa Sthengile, who was part of the team, was fortunate to escape with her life and is recuperating in hospital. We wish her a speedy recovery.
Sihlalo ngivumele ngindlulise nasi isicelo esiphuthumayo, kuNgqongqoshe kaManzankosi, imigwaqo yonke esetshenziswa orisho eThekwini ingcono kakhulu kuneminye imigwaqo elandelayo. Umgwaqo waseMpumalanga Kapa ongena endaweni ebizwa ngokuthi kusesiDwadweni, KwaZulu-Natali eTugela Valley, umgwaqo owela umfula iTugela kanye nebhuloho lakhona elincane kakhulu, babo! Umculi uVusi Ximba wayibona le ndaba wathi "yindlu yenja." [Uhleko.]
Izakhamizi zalezi zindawo zicela uNgqongqoshe alungise lezi zimo. Sishayela uNgqongqoshe izandla ngalokhu akhulume ngakho nalokhu engizokhuluma ngakho. Ngoba okungangokuba njengoba kusondele amaholide kaKhisimusi sekuqalile ukuhelwa komama baseMoloto kanye namaphethelo. (Translation of isiZulu paragraphs follows.)
[Chairperson, allow me to say this to hon Minister Manzankosi: All the roads that are used by the rickshaws in Durban are far better than the following ones: the road that leads to a place known as Esidwadweni in the Eastern Cape and the road through which the Tugela river is crossed with its very small bridge in the Tugela Valley, KwaZulu-Natal. Geese! The singer Vusi Ximba foresaw this matter and called it "a kennel". [Applause.]
The citizens of these areas are requesting that the hon Minister correct these conditions. We applaud the hon Minister for what he has spoken about and I am going to speak about the same issue. Because the Christmas holidays are so close, women of Moloto and the surrounding areas are beginning to feel the labour pains.]
Transport plays an important dual role in the economy, both as a direct provider of services and as a catalyst for economic integration, distribution and development. In terms of the national land road strategic framework, land transport service delivery has been undergoing a huge change from the historically distorted, supply-driven system to the demand or needs-driven system that caters for the basic needs of its users.
Safety and, in particular, effective law enforcement are promoted as vital factors in land transport management and regulatory systems. The South African road network is a major asset but it is deteriorating rapidly as a result of the protracted period of underfunding. Thirty-one per cent of Gauteng roads are in a poor or very poor condition, according to the provincial MEC of transport lo baba [who is seated here].
The Department of Transport's assessment for 2010 shows that 4 248km of the total provincial road network is paved. This statistic is disturbing as a country's road network, in terms of the international benchmark, should not have more than 10% in a poor and very poor condition. In Gauteng the figure now stands at 31%. Two years ago only 15% of the province's roads were in a poor and very poor condition. The MEC said that the asset value of the current condition of the network is approximately R39 billion. If the road network had been maintained at the level of "very good", its asset value would have been R51 billion. This means a net asset loss of 23,5% in less than five years.
The high occurrence of potholes, particularly on provincial and metropolitan roads, has led to widespread concern among road users. The actual cost of potholes in South Africa in terms of damage to vehicles and accidents caused directly by the presence of potholes and other road-user effects has not been quantified. Through the wise use of preventive and proactive maintenance the incidence of potholes can be reduced significantly.
The ANC government considers transport to be the heartbeat of our economy, hence, the contribution of the public transport sector towards the economic growth of the country and meeting the various needs of our people cannot be overemphasised. The ANC's 2009 manifesto policy framework has therefore indicated that the ANC government will accelerate and expand its investment in public infrastructure. This will include, among others, the expansion and improvement of the rail networks, public transport and port operations and, in the process, will meet the basic needs of society. It further stated that while an effective public transport system is required to address the legacy of apartheid planning, which forced our people to travel long distances to their places of work and spend a large share of their income on transport, government will continue to pursue the roll-out of a public transport strategy that addresses the needs of working people.
In this regard the ANC's 2007 national conference also resolved that the developmental state should maintain its strategic role in shaping the key sectors of the economy, including the national transport and logistics system. It is therefore laudable that the Treasury and Department of Transport will create a robust and responsive single transport economic regulator within the next 24 months to oversee the pricing of all transport infrastructure, including roads, aviation, maritime and rail.
As government, our mandate is to ensure safe, efficient and affordable public transport. In this regard I regret to mention that from an analysis of the Railway Safety Regulator's state of safety report it would appear that urgent intervention is required to improve safety in the critical occurrence categories of derailments, collisions, security-related occurrences, level-crossing accidents and people struck by trains. Collisions and derailments continue to be the highest combined incident costs for Transnet Freight Rail and the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa, Prasa. An improvement in the safety performance is a critical element for ensuring that the government realises its objective of building a viable and sustainable rail transportation system in order to effectively drive both the country's economic growth and social development. I am glad to note, however, that progress has been made in the 2010-11 period in the strengthening of the railway safety regulatory regime through the development of appropriate regulations and safety standards.
According to the Road Management Corporation's 2009 road traffic report, the number of fatal crashes increased to 10 860 in 2009. In 2008 the conservative cost to the country of these accidents was approximately R13,3 billion. Why are there still so many deaths on South Africa's roads? The report reveals that there were more than 293 000 unlicensed vehicles on the country's roads at the end of December 2009. To make matters worse, the number of vehicles that were not roadworthy increased by 13,7% to almost 429 000 vehicles at the end of December 2009.
Another problem that causes serious road accidents is fatigue experienced by long-distance drivers. Few people seem to realise the danger associated with driver fatigue. In fact, drivers who become drowsy or fall asleep at the wheel contribute to thousands of crashes each year. A driver who falls asleep is much more likely to cause death and serious injuries.
Fatigue-related accidents are three times more likely to result in serious injury and death compared to other types of road accidents. I will therefore propose that it be made compulsory for taxi drivers who transport commuters over long distances to have relief drivers, as is the case with buses. Ngiyabonga. [Thank you.] [Applause.]