Hon Chairperson, hon members, ladies and gentlemen, the Department of Transport, DoT, received a clean audit report with findings on predetermined objects. The Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa, Prasa, received a clean audit report with findings. The Cross-Border Road Transport Agency, CBRTA, received a qualified audit report. The Road Traffic Management Corporation, RTMC, received an adverse audit report. All other transport entities received a clean audit report.
We commend the department for a clean audit report and want it to improve the findings so that in future they do not get any findings. We applaud all transport entities with clean audits, and urge those with qualified reports to refrain from doing things that result in their receiving qualified reports.
I have been tasked by the ANC's Study Group on Transport to focus on two issues. The first issue is transport as a tool for social development, and the second issue is transport as a tool for economic development. We are debating the budget of the Department of Transport and 13 transport entities, mandated by our Parliament to provide transport-related services in South Africa.
Transport services are aimed at providing easy and comfortable movement of people and goods in our country. The services provided should be aligned to job creation, social development and economic development.
We rejoiced at the birth of the democratic ANC government in April 1994, but soon faced a gloomy side, that of inheriting a country with uneven levels of development, a country with First World and Third World features. That situation still exists.
Correcting these imbalances remains a big challenge. A review of resource allocation, informed by backlog, would help in reducing these imbalances. Our approach on budget does not focus only on good administration of financial resources.
While we hold the department and transport entities accountable for financial administration to ensure clean audit reports, we also pay attention to how the financial resources and their programmes contribute to correcting the legacy of apartheid government and imbalances that exist in our communities. We emphasise that we get value for money and do not compromise on that. There is now a common understanding regarding these issues within the transport family.
The ANC's Study Group on Transport welcomes the resolution of the ANC National Executive Committee, ANC NEC, on reviewing the funding model for local government and deployment of more resources to rural municipalities that have no revenue base. We can only hope from this end that the local government sphere will have the interest to allocate enough resources on transport infrastructure development programmes and plans for integrated transport. We have raised this issue because it is at local government level where more challenges of a degrading transport infrastructure exist, and proper planning for integrated transport infrastructure is required.
Transport is a tool for social development. All communities have a right to access not only public facilities, but also each other. Rivers and mountains should no longer prevent communities across the rivers and beyond the mountains from interacting with each other in this era of science and technology. We should rather use rivers and mountains to link communities.
The rights of rural communities are equal to those of urban communities. They too should have easy access to community facilities. Schools, clinics, sports facilities, churches and other places of worship, pension paypoints, crches, community halls, and tribal authorities are community facilities to which communities should have easy access.
More resources need to be deployed to upgrading rural road infrastructure to support efforts of rural development and agricultural development. The Department of Transport needs to pay special attention to the issue of equal standards of services for all communities. Tarred roads should not be the preserve of urban rich communities. Provincial roads, district roads and municipal roads should be as good as national roads, which are looked after by the SA National Roads Agency Limited, Sanral.
This brings us to the issue of skills and technology. We have observed unacceptable levels of degrading of transport infrastructure, even in areas where there has been investment in maintenance and repairs. The fly-by- night type of contractors in road construction, who do not provide quality service and value for public money, should be blacklisted by all departments of transport in all spheres of government and by all transport entities.
The Portfolio Committee on Transport has engaged the Department of Transport and the Department of Public Works on this issue with a view to ensuring that there are set standards for road construction and strict quality control.
In addressing this issue of poor quality work, especially in regard to areas of pothole repairs, road rehabilitation and maintenance, the portfolio committee sourced the expertise and knowledge of the SA Bureau of Standards, SABS, the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, CSIR, and Agrment South Africa, ASA, and engaged both the Department of Transport and the Department of Public Works. We did this to facilitate a situation where the Department of Transport would become more vigilant and to ensure that all SABS and Agrment SA approved technologies and products are used to repair our roads.
We therefore urge the Department of Transport to become more hands-on and to put quality control systems in place, informed by the SABS and Agrment SA. Such quality control systems should be used in all spheres of government and be binding on all contractors. Contractors should not be allowed to use products that are not approved by SABS and Agrment SA to repair potholes and rehabilitate our roads.
A lot of public money has been wasted and a lot of damage has been caused on our roads by failure at departmental level to control quality. We commend Comrade Sbu for securing R6 billion to set up the road maintenance fund, and S'hamba Sonke Maintenance and Rehabilitation Programme. This programme will create 70 000 jobs this year alone. This will reduce poverty, and improve social and economic conditions at community level.
Transport is one of the key pillars of economic development. Investment does not happen where there are no transport infrastructure and reliable transport services. The transport industry also provides many of the needed jobs. The issue of investment in railway transport can therefore no longer be delayed. All countries have a backbone of transport, with other modes playing a complementary role. South Africa is no different!
The survey on public transport conducted in 2003 pointed out issues we need to address. These include, but are not limited to, the need to reduce congestion on our roads; time and cost of travelling; reduced transportation of goods by road; reduced fatal accidents on our roads, and expenditure on the Road Accident Fund; and easing of congestion at taxi ranks and bus ranks, where people sleep for days waiting for transport during the festive season and the Easter holidays.
We have also discussed at length a number of issues, including the unrealistic and unsustainable transport subsidies for KwaNdebele bus commuters, who are currently subsidised at R7 000 per month per commuter; investment attraction to underdeveloped areas; the role of transport in reducing informal settlements; new technology and science; unused existing railway infrastructure; use of our mineral resources and job creation in the transport manufacturing industry, in line with the New Growth Path; the relationship between Science and Technology, and Transport; and, lastly, global warming. The recent Metrorail train accident is alleged to have been as a result of a speed of 85 km per hour, instead of 30 km per hour. Passenger trains in other countries travel at a maximum speed of 470 km per hour. We are way behind.
All these issues point us in one direction - railway transportation.
The type of high-standard train such as the Gautrain should not be the preserve of rich developed communities. The same standards should be introduced for poor communities at reduced costs. The issue of moving from narrow gauge to standard gauge was resolved at SADC level long ago. We need no further debate on this issue, but only to take action.
We commend the taxi industry for realising the need for them to become masters of their own destiny, and we commend the support the department is giving to them.
We thank all members of the boards of transport entities, CEOs and staff members for meeting the challenge. Hon Minister and Deputy Minister, we want to thank you for your leadership and humbleness. You are both accessible and create a balance by approaching issues from different perspectives. We thank the DG and his team for remaining focused, with their eyes on the ball.
I want to thank the ANC and DA members of our portfolio committee in particular for their consistent participation at portfolio committee level, where the real work of the committee is hard. Other parties add no value at this level. Cope tried to, and dropped out along the way. They only come to debate here to justify their being in Parliament and the support from their constituencies. We can understand why Lionel Richie sings that, "When the going gets tough, the tough get going." The DA tries hard to influence the direction of the Department of Transport, and is usually defeated by the ANC. They, however, "never give up". So sang Curtis Mayfield.
The ANC supports the budget. I thank you. [Laughter.] [Applause.]