Chair, I was a Member of Parliament since April 1994 until November last year, but this my first opportunity to speak in this distinguished Council. So, thank you very much for the opportunity. [Applause.]
Let me begin by taking my cue from the seminal writings of Prof John D Kasarda. He is an expert on the aerotropolis, this new concept of airport cities. In his book, Aerotropolis: The Way We'll Live Next, he states that the shapes and fates of cities have always been defined by transport.
Similarly, Joel Garreau, in his book entitled Edge City, states that cities are always created around whatever the state-of-the-art transportation device is at the time. So, Minister, when the transport mode is shoe leather and donkeys, the result is the hilly parts of Jerusalem. When it is men on horseback and sailing ships, it is the port of Lisbon and the canals of Venice. The central point is that the mode of transport of an age determines the nature and pattern of socioeconomic development. Logic therefore has it that if we want to create a globally competitive city, region or province, as we want to do in Gauteng, we must ask the question: What kind of transport system is needed in Gauteng to transform it into a globally competitive city region in the year 2055? That is the year when we will be celebrating the centenary of the Freedom Charter. The ANC will be doing that, not the DA. [Laughter.] [Applause.]
The theme of today's debate, "Moving South Africa safely on time", allows us the opportunity to outline what we are doing in Gauteng and link it with this vision that we have of a global city region. In our premier's state of the province address earlier this year, the hon Mokonyane spoke of the Gauteng Vision 2055. This vision seeks to create a globally competitive province that is liveable, equitable, accessible, sustainable and prosperous for all its residents. The Gauteng department of roads and transport can contribute meaningfully to this vision. It can do so by creating a reliable, affordable, safe and accessible public transport system and a well-developed road and rail network for the efficient, effective and seamless movement of people and goods.
The broad contours of this new system of transport and therefore of the Gauteng city region are already clear and visible. It will be planes and aero-cities, as well as high-quality speedrail as the backbone of mass transport, with an intricate network of bus rapid transit and minibus-taxi feeder services. Translating this vision into reality requires careful planning and therefore we have prioritised the design of a 25-year integrated transport master plan for our province, ITMP25.
A high-level committee of experts has been appointed to develop the ITMP25, and its mandate is to provide our province with two plans. Firstly, a short- term plan, which should be submitted to my office by January next year, will spell out what we should be doing in the next five years. Secondly, a 25-year plan, which should be submitted a year later by March 2013, must spell out what we should be doing in the next 25 years. I am optimistic that a quality, integrated transport master plan will serve as a road map to be followed, rather than merely an archival point of reference.
If road maintenance and construction is one of the focal points of our department, the other is public transport - as has been said by many speakers today. There is an accepted view among transport planners internationally and even in this country that we cannot build ourselves out of traffic gridlocks on our roads and freeways. Therefore we must develop an integrated public transport system composed of rail, bus, taxis and other nonmotorised modes of transport, to a point where both the working class and the middle-class would consider public transport rather than private transport as their mode of choice.
Working-class people have no choice in this country: They have to rely on public transport. If it is a weak, ailing system, there is no choice in the matter. They have to accept it. We will say that we have reached our goal when middle-class people and people from this Council have confidence in the public transport system and come to Parliament every day using public transport. [Applause.] That is what is meant by a socially inclusive public transport system.
The central question for us in the province - and I suppose for the country - is whether we have the vision and plans for this. Have we got the financial and fiscal resources to undertake large-scale transport infrastructure development? I am very pleased that the Minister has lobbied really hard to get a substantial sum of money to develop our public transport system, particularly Metrorail. Do we have all the stakeholders who share this common vision of developing a public transport system in this country? Lastly, do we have the political will and the capacity to implement and roll out the plans?
What is clear is that in Gauteng significant strides have been made to promote public transport. People might not believe it, so I will spell it out for you. As the Minister indicated, both the Rea Vaya bus rapid transit in Johannesburg and the Gautrain are initiatives that have received international and national acclaim. The Gautrain stands out as the flagship public transport project of the provincial government. It has developed a reputation for offering passengers a safe, convenient and affordable travel experience. On the airport link between Sandton and O R Tambo International Airport, over 3,3 million passengers had used this particular line by August this year. The recently opened Hatfield-to-Rosebank line already has a ridership of 28 000 passengers per day. Our target is to increase that, once we have the whole line open to Park Station, and to get 100 000 passengers a day on the Gautrain, from Pretoria to Johannesburg. That means we want to move a million people every 10 days on that line. [Applause.]
In addition, by April 2011, the Gautrain had created 110 000 direct, indirect and induced jobs through the Gautrain construction project. Minister, a public survey conducted in February this year shows that people are very positive about the Gautrain. The opinion poll shows that the Gautrain is seen as improving and transforming public transport in the province; its leadership is seen as having the ability to compete at an international level; 80% of respondents indicated that they were likely to use the Gautrain at some point in time; and that it had a positive, distinctive and recognisable brand perception.
I want to say that the Gautrain is not the answer for Gauteng. We will have to develop and upgrade Metrorail. I think Metrorail has not marketed its work, but I want to talk about one of the things they have done. I think they have done a lot of good work and we are on our way in Gauteng to spend the money that the Minister is talking about.
The Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa, Prasa, in Gauteng has also begun the process of upgrading its Metrorail system. It has constructed new stations at Rhodesfield, Nasrec and Doornfontein. It has renovated the Orlando, Ellis Park, Langlaagte and New Canada stations. Furthermore it has already undertaken operational improvements at 25 stations in the province, focusing on better lighting, platform corrections, setting up shelters and benches, strengthening foot bridges, installing closed-circuit television, CCTV, cameras and completing the painting of the whole structure. [Applause.]
Metrorail has achieved integration with the Gautrain at four stations, so if you get off at a Metrorail station, you can walk over onto a Gautrain station. Most importantly, Metrorail has started with the process of upgrading or completely revamping its signalling system, from the old copper cable system to a fibre-optic system. Within the next three to five years we think the entire network will be rolled out. [Applause.] Over the next 18 months, Prasa will focus on renovating the stations at Vereeniging, Germiston and Krugersdorp as part of the provincial government's urban regeneration of these towns.
Over the next three years, and in conjunction with the Gautrain and the Metrorail system, we will see a massive roll-out of the bus rapid transit system in the metropolitan cities of Johannesburg, Tshwane and Ekurhuleni. Johannesburg is progressing well with its second phase of the Rea Vaya, which will now be extended to the Alexandra township. It was not in the plans but the mayoral committee has just taken a decision to introduce a new phase that will go to Alexandra township.
By December next year we are expecting that the BRT system will be operational in the central city of Pretoria, and that it will be extended to Mamelodi and Shoshanguve two years after that. Ekurhuleni is planning a five-phase BRT system aimed at connecting nine disparate townships and towns in the city. [Interjections.] House Chair, that member's mind is so small that he can see through that keyhole with both his eyes at the same time. [Laughter.]
The UN Decade of Action for Road Safety was launched worldwide on 11 May 2011 by the Minister. [Interjections.] House Chair, that member should behave himself. [Laughter.]