Hon House Chair, Minister of Transport, Chief Whip of the House, the representative from the SA Local Government Association, Salga, members of the NCOP and my colleagues from the provinces, it is an honour for me to debate the theme "Moving South Africa safely on time" in this Council, especially during Transport Month. The 2010-11 financial year marked an era of accelerated service delivery to the masses of our people in the Eastern Cape, with particular focus on the poor and previously disadvantaged. It was a period of enhanced, multi- agency collaboration towards the improvement of the infrastructure of our province. Through this, we have been able to make visible and decisive advances to present future generations with a place to live, work and invest in. Our approach as the province was in line with the objectives of the provincial growth and development plan, the Accelerated and Shared Growth Initiative for South Africa and the Expanded Public Works Programme.
This debate therefore highlights our key achievements during the period under review with regard to the improvement of our internal capacity in order to respond promptly to the transportation needs of Eastern Cape communities; the promotion of cost-effective, sustainable road upgrading and maintenance technologies; and the strengthening of traffic and road safety through a community-based approach. As an integrated, community- based transportation solution, the programme supported all other programmes in promoting a labour-intensive and community-based approach, as outlined in our policy framework in facilitating community-based transportation solutions. Central to our efforts was the strengthened co-ordination of our work with various spheres of government and resource mobilisation for the maintenance of our infrastructure.
The final draft assessment of the rural transport plan, which pays attention to rural development and, in particular, rural areas of our province, has been tabled with the Portfolio Committee on Transport. This is indeed a very important plan with regard to the process of developing the integrated transport plan as required by the National Land Transport Act, Act 5 of 2009, which has not been completed due to capacity constraints. These are now being addressed.
During this period, the following numbers of passengers were transported by bus operators that receive subsidies from the department: we have Algoa Bus Company, which operates along Nelson Mandela Bay, transporting about 15,8 million passengers; Africa's Best 350 Ltd, popularly known as AB350, which operates in the former Transkei area, carrying about 5 million passengers; and Mayibuye Transport Corporation, which operates in the former Border area and transports up to 1,8 million passengers.
Algoa Bus Company operated a peak-time fleet of 295 buses, while AB350 operated 296 buses. All the buses planned for phase 1 and phase 2 of AB350 have now been implemented. AB350 is now operating from depots in the Alfred Nzo District in the areas of Mbizana, Mt Frere and Matatiele, the O R Tambo District in the areas of Mthatha and Lusikisiki, the Chris Hani District in the area of Queenstown and the Amathole District in the area of Butterworth.
On the issue of Kei Rail, we will mention that due to inadequate funding the Kei Rail commuter train between Mthatha and Amabhele temporarily suspended its operations in November 2010. A report on the unhealthy financial and operational performance of the Kei Rail service was delivered to the management meeting held in August 2010. The report indicated that the Kei Rail operations would not be sustainable up to the end of the financial year, based on the inadequacy of the budget. However, it is operating now because the Kei Rail service was sustained through the budgets of other programmes, particularly that of roads, which was transferred to the department of public works effective from April 2011 with clear terms of reference.
As the Eastern Cape, we have afforded 29 taxi drivers the opportunity to upgrade their licences from Code 8 to Code 14. The programme will be completed during the last quarter of this financial year. A total of 15 taxi associations attended a workshop on grievance and disciplinary procedures.
Regarding traffic management, the department of transport received 48 new vehicles to improve traffic law enforcement performance. For a long time, provincial traffic officers have been experiencing challenges due to the shortage of vehicles for traffic law enforcement. There are 719 provincial traffic officers with 110 vehicles.
The Participatory Education Techniques programme is a national project that was successfully piloted in our province in 2009. On 1 December 2010, the Road Safety Directorate took a team of 10 learners and one educator to compete at the national level. The department was placed first with learners from Focused High School in Matatiele.
The National Driver of the Year Competition normally forms part of the October Transport Month activities. Eight provinces competed in Gauteng. Of the 13 Eastern Cape delegates, 6 were triumphant, winning awards and holding the Eastern Cape's name high.
During this period, the department improved on law enforcement and yielded the following results: 233 vehicles were seized for not being roadworthy, 158 drivers were arrested for drunken driving, 3 150 hours were spent doing speed checks and 9 488 invalid or fraudulent driving licences were suspended. Audits were conducted with the assistance of the Special Investigating Unit.
In conclusion, in March 2011 the province took two strategic decisions. Firstly, the scholar transport function was transferred from the department of education to the department of transport, effective on 1 April 2011. Secondly, the services of Fleet Africa for the management of the provincial fleet were terminated and the province is to manage its own fleet with effect from 1 February 2012. The envisaged model is that a new trading entity will be established, where departments will source the use of motor vehicles. The department of transport is working with all relevant stakeholders in this regard with the aim of meeting the deadline of February 2012. We will not mention any achievements in taking these two decisions because we are still observing what is going to take place. [Applause.]