Chairperson, let me begin first by congratulating South Africa on the milestone achievement with the introduction of the Gautrain. It was an immense project with monetary, labour and logistical intensity as well as tight completion deadlines, as it was required to be in operation before the start of the 2010 World Cup. All deadlines were met, albeit with a few teething problems, but, nonetheless, the project was completed.
Moreover, the Gautrain project aligns itself appropriately with South Africa's stance on the reduction of carbon emissions by effectively reducing the amount of motor vehicles on the roads, as commuters will take the train. This will also alleviate the volume of road traffic congestion by, reportedly, as much as 20% along the Ben Schoeman Highway on the N1.
There have been a couple of setbacks with the project, with water seepage in certain sections and a collapse of a portion of the tunnel. But the major problem, which must be urgently addressed, is that of the copper cable theft. Not only does this disrupt service, but the replacement of this cable is immensely cost prohibitive.
Perpetrators of cable theft must face heavy criminal sanctions and this should be extended to the buyers thereof as well. It is unfortunate that the buyers are not being exposed. In the case of gold, the buyers were known, even though they were part of the Mafia and people were scared to identify them and give their names.
If there is no market demand, there will be no theft. In this regard, we would like to see a special investigative unit of the SAPS created and dedicated to the investigation and arrest of the perpetrators of this crime. As an alternative to copper cabling, we should also be conducting feasibility studies on fibre-optic cabling. This might be more expensive initially, but it carries far less attractiveness to thieves, as its resale through criminal networks will have far less demand. As such, it will not have to be replaced every few months because of copper theft.
Because of the 2010 World Cup, and understandably so, the Gautrain project needed to be completed rather hastily, which led to a few problems, the most notable being a collapse of certain sections of the tunnel. This, we are told, was due to the cement not being allowed time to cure.
Contractors must accept responsibility for inferior workmanship and not be let off the hook. Going forward with further projects of such nature, we need better preparation, less speed or more haste. But all in all, the IFP would like to see this problem being seriously attended to. I thank you. [Applause.]