Hon Chairperson, hon Minister, hon Deputy Minister, hon members of the NCOP, members of the public and guests, the one and only factor that will bring the South African economy to a standstill, especially in the rural areas, is the bad conditions of the roads in the country. But this is also a factor for growth and a means to job creation in the country.
If we look at the statistics of roads in South Africa it is shocking to realise that South Africa is one of the upcoming countries in the world and yet still has 140 000 kilometres of unproclaimed roads.
In the Western Cape 70% of the roads are in a good condition, while in the rest of South Africa - in all other provinces - 40% of the roads are in a good condition. The provinces with the worst roads are Limpopo, the North West and Mpumalanga - and in my province it is especially the roads between Wolmaransstad and Schweizer-Reneke, and between Lichtenburg and Koster.
It is good to host the Department of Transport Investors Conference on 13 and 14 June in Cape Town, but it is too late to rescue the roads in South Africa. The DA will support you, and let's believe there will be local and foreign investors that are willing to invest in major transport infrastructure and flagship projects in the rail, road, maritime and aviation sectors.
To keep the roads in a good condition it is always better to be proactive in the rehabilitation of the roads. On 20 April 2010 I said that 80% of the roads in South Africa had exceeded their lifespan of 20 years. According to the SA National Roads Agency Limited, Sanral, and the Automobile Association, the AA, this is still the case. It will cost the taxpayers, road users and investors R35 billion a year for the next 10 years to maintain and rebuild the roads in South Africa.
Of the 279 municipalities in South Africa, 100 do not have engineers and people with technical skills to do the necessary maintenance on local roads in towns and cities. The DA wants to know what has happened to all the tax paid by vehicle owners of South Africa. Is this money well controlled and managed by the department?
We also want to know if all the control mechanisms are in place to see that tender processes are above board and that skilled people get the tenders who are then able to build quality roads and maintain roads in a professional way. However, it is absolutely necessary for the public to get involved and report bad roads in their areas to the relevant departments and to keep on reporting until maintenance is done. We should all pull together to make our public transport system safe, efficient and affordable.
Toll roads are not new to our country and have a minimum impact when once or twice a year the public pay toll road fees on their way to and from a holiday destination. But when it affects the motorist's pocket on a daily basis, it is quite a different story. We need to differentiate between the two. Urban communities travel in their cars because there is no alternative public transport that is safe or efficient.
So the Gauteng Freeway Improvement Project, the GFIP, holds no water at all. I trust, therefore, in the interests of the Gauteng motoring public, that you will not let this foolhardy tolling project proceed.
Regarding air travel tariffs, permanent regulators are needed for this aviation sector. For some time now the DA has been concerned about the ad hoc arrangements currently in place to determine how many tariffs are set by the Airports Company SA, Acsa, and the Air Traffic and Navigation Services, the ATNS. Owing to the nature of the Acsa Act and the ATNS Act, the tariffs are determined by the bottom line of these two agencies, rather than through rational economic planning based on international best practice.
The DA wants to congratulate the Department of Transport on the launch of the new roads upgrade and maintenance initiative to fix and upgrade the entire secondary roads network of South Africa. The S'hamba Sonke programme has been allocated R20 billion for the current Medium-Term Expenditure Framework cycle.
The main purpose of the programme is for the rehabilitation of roads, but it must also create new jobs for contractors and also jobs all over South Africa. In order to create 70 000 new jobs in 2011, there must be a balance between maintenance and construction of 60%/40% in terms of the international benchmark.
South Africa cannot afford one more person to die on the roads because of potholes that have not been sealed. Two people died last week on the road between Northam and Thabazimbi when their car hit a pothole and rolled over. We can mention many more accidents as a result of potholes.
The N14 between Ventersdorp and Krugersdorp has been closed since 2006. At that stage, the road was part of the North West. Since then the boundaries have been moved and that part of the road is now in Gauteng. The road was reported and questions were also asked, without any success.
Public transport is more important than ever for road users in South Africa in order to get to school and work safely and on time , and also to get the economy of the country on track.
As the Minister and the Deputy Minister mentioned in their foreword to the National Land Transport Act, Act 5 of 2009, the new National Land Transport Act ...