Hon Deputy Chairperson, hon Minister of Transport, hon members of the NCOP and hon guests, especially our hon members of the legislature from the North West province sitting in front of me, we welcome you. "Moving South Africa safely on time", "Keeping South Africa's economy on the right track with Transnet" and "Transport is the economy" - all these slogans and many more mean nothing to South Africa if there is no political will to achieve these goals.
A few years ago, South Africa had one of the best developed rail tracks in the whole of Africa - 18 000 km. But with a lack of interest and investment from the government in the past 30 years, the whole system is busy breaking down to nothing.
What a pity that a country like South Africa, which has taken the lead on many occasions and had so much to be proud of, allowed its rail infrastructure to be destroyed and vandalised. South Africa needs opportunities for its people and desperately needs more housing. But what happened to the old railway stations? They are falling apart and become hiding places where beggars and criminals can stay.
On an oversight visit to the Dundee area in KwaZulu-Natal it was shocking to see the poor condition of roads. Many of the roads in the mountainous areas were very narrow, with no railings on the side to protect vehicles from going over the edge.
The roads in most of the rural areas in South Africa are in a poor condition. Although budgets are in place, corruption and fraud play a big role in tender processes. The acting head of the North West's roads and transport, Sandile Mbanjwa, was suspended. She was investigated for illegally awarding a construction tender of millions of rands. A trend that seems to be common practice in the North West's provincial departments of public works, roads and transport was again on display a week ago. Minutes before the director of property could be served with a letter of suspension and a list of charges brought against her, she resigned with immediate effect. Last year, the very same modus operandi was followed by the head of the transport department, Mr Nick van Staden.
Growing public transport is a jobcreation priority. In the latest publication of Mobility, it is made very clear that when commuters are attracted to public transport, jobs can be created:
If 200 000 more people caught taxis, this would mean an increase of 1,8% on current passenger numbers. This would require an additional 4500 more taxi workers.
If 500 000 more people caught buses to work and education, this would mean an increase of 14% on current passenger numbers. This in turn would translate into the need for an additional 3 500 buses and 7 000 more workers in bus operations.
If 800 000 more people caught Metrorail trains, this would mean a 28% increase in the current 2,8 million people who catch trains. An additional 113 train sets would be required over and above the current 403 train sets in service ... The current Metrorail staff of 8 500 would have to increase by 2,380.
In sum, if 10% of car commuters (1,5 million people) could be attracted to public transport, and those numbers were distributed between taxis, buses and trains in such a way that progressively favours the mass modes, then 13 880 direct transport operational jobs would be created.
As the host country of COP 17 South Africa has a unique opportunity to trigger movement in the climate policy arena. The South African Minister of Transport should be able to use the momentum created by the meeting to promote sustainable transport policies as mitigation and adaptation to climate change and leverage funds for low-carbon projects.
With regard to cycling out of climate change, if the current cycling population could be increased by just 10% it would mean 40 000 additional bicycles on South Africa's roads. This, too, would create additional employment. The building of cycling lanes for all communities as part of road infrastructure is therefore a significant job creator. Cape Town has already implemented it and can be used as an example for the rest of South Africa.
The S'hamba Sonke programme is a massive job creation drive to fix, upgrade and maintain South Africa's entire secondary road network. The programme will create new opportunities for jobs and emerging contractors throughout the country. In partnership with all these provinces, it will repair potholes and improve access to schools, clinics and other social and economic opportunities. The programme sets out to create 70 000 jobs this year and a total of 400 000 jobs by 2014. The government has set aside R22,3 billion for this project.
The DA supports the Moving Together programme of government, because there will be job creation; the rehabilitation of key arterial routes in support of the rural economy through labour-intensive projects; the elimination of potholes on the roads; the creation of road access to schools, clinics, and public and social infrastructure; and the establishment of the Road Asset Management System, Rams.
As stakeholders we should all pull together to make our public transport systems safe, efficient and affordable. Let us also believe that the political will be there to achieve these goals. [Interjections.] [Applause.]