Sihlalo weThutyana, [Kwahlekwa.] Mphathiswa wezoThutho, sihlalo wekomiti, zindwendwe zethu ezibekekileyo, neNdlu iphela, nibahle nonke. [The temporary Chairperson ... [Laughter.] ... the hon Minister of Transport, the chairperson of the committee, our distinguished guests, and the House at large, I greet you all.]
Let me just take one minute of my time to try to explain what the chairperson was saying. In this portfolio committee we collectively solve our problems. We don't use the approach of lashing out at each other, but we use the policies and visions of all political parties. That is where the ANC usually knocks out other parties with a technical knockout, TKO. [Laughter.] [Applause.] On that day the DA went "ding-dong" and, when they recovered from that shock, they joined us, the ANC. Small parties like the UDM and MF are usually spectators. Cope tried to join us up to Round 2, and thenthey fell. The IFP - shame! - usually participates. That's all.
Out of 22 000 kilometres of rail infrastructure, we use only 7 000. Technology in signalling is outdated and our train speed is limited. Transporting of goods is also delayed by traffic congestion. There are usually accidents, with up to 14 000 people dying every year.
Ndicela nje ukuthi, umntu ongalwaziyo uxinano oluba sezindleleni akazi nto. Kwelinye icala iba ziiloli ezinkulu, kwelinye ibe zezinye izithuthi. [I just want to say, a person who doesn't know traffic congestion doesn't know anything. In the one lane there are big trucks and other vehicles in the other one.]
It is very difficult to drive these days. The roads are bad because of trucks. They take time to arrive wherever they are going. We welcome the commitment of the government.
Ndifun' ukuthi ndinethamsanqa kuba ngoku ndiza kuthetha ngoololiwe; ndiza kuhamba ngqo ngesiporo. Ndiza kuthi ndisakuphuma esiporweni ningakhathazeki kuba akukho magosa endlela apha esiporweni. [Kwahlekwa.] Ndiza kusuka ndivuthulule, ndiphinde ndibuyele esiporweni. [Kwahlekwa.]
Ekuncediseni ukulungisa iziporo konyuke izinga loololiwe, sineziporo ezininzi. NdingowaseMpuma Koloni, eDikeni. [Kwahlekwa.] Sineziporo ezininzi, nam ndazalwa zikhona. Uyandibon' ukuba ndingakanani? Azisebenzi. (Translation of isiXhosa paragraphs follows.)
[Let me say that I'm lucky because I will talk about the trains now; I will travel on the railway line. When I'm derailed, you mustn't be worried since there are no traffic officers on the railway line. [Laughter.] I will just brush the dirt off and go back to the railway line. [Laughter.]
If we assist with improving the railway lines, there will be an improvement in respect of our trains. We have many railway lines. I'm from Alice in the Eastern Cape. [Laughter.] We have many railway lines; they were already there when I was born. Do you see how old I am? They are not functioning.]
Goodness knows why.
Kuza kwenziwa ntoni ngezi ziporo zikaloliwe? Nifuna ukuba kwenziwe ntoni? Into esiyifunayo kukuthuthwa ngoololiwe. [What is going to be done with these railway lines? What do you want to be done? What we want is to be transported by the trains.]
It is safe, fast, and cheap.
Ixabiso esilibhatalayo liza kuba ngcono, kwaye siza kukhawuleza. Sithi ke xa sikhumsha, thina bantu baye esikolweni ... [Uwelewele.] [The amount that we will be paying will be less, and we will travel faster. We, who are educated, say ... [Interjections.]] ... we must improve rail from narrow to standard gauge.
Utsho urhulumente. Loo nto yenza ukuba impahla ikhawuleze. Impahla yimpahla. [The government says so. This makes the transportation of goods faster. Goods are goods.]
We need speed in rail infrastructure development, because that is going to create jobs. It is going to create jobs. [Interjections.]
Musani ukundincedisa. [Kwahlekwa.] Iza kuncedisa ngale ndlela ukuze abantu bafumane imisebenzi. Besele nditshilo ukuba iziporo zininzi kakhulu. [Do not help me. [Laughter.] It will help that people to get jobs. I've already said that there are many railway lines.]
You go east, west or wherever.
Xa ujongisisa uza kufumana isiporo sikaloliwe sakudala. Nokuba niyazilungisa okanye niyazikhupha nifake ezitsha, into ebalulekileyo kukuba ngokwenza njalo abantu baza kufumana imisebenzi. Abantu baza kufumana imisebenzi ngokukhupha iziporo ezindala bafake ezitsha. Yile nto sifuna urhulumente ayenze. [Kwaqhwatywa.] Kukhe kulungiswe ukuze kubekho ubungcono. (Translation of isiXhosa paragraph follows.)
[If you look around carefully you will find old railway lines. Even if you improve or remove them and build new ones, what is important is that by doing that people will get employment. People will get employment by removing the old railway lines and building the new ones. This is what we want government to do. [Applause.] Improvement must be done so that things can be better.]
In South Africa there's a need to develop an integrated transport infrastructure as far as roads are concerned, especially gravel roads in rural areas.
Uyabona ke nina bezoThutho sele nindazi ukuba ndingumntu weelali. [You see, people from the Department of Transport already know that I'm from the rural areas.]
I'm a rural person, and you do these things because most of you don't know about rural areas. Let me tell you.
Nanku umntu uyagula, uhlala apho kungafikeleli mntu khona; apho kungekho ndlela iya khona. Uza kufumanisa ukuba ilali inkulu kodwa ayikho indlela yokuhamba iimoto eziya kule lali. Xa ethe wagula uza kuya njani phaya ezantsi kuhola wendlela okanye, umzekelo, kula ndlela isuka eMthatha iya eNgcobo. Uyamazi ukuba uza kuya njani? [Uwelewele.] Siyaya ekiriveni, okwangoku sisasebenzisa izileyi. Niyasazi isileyi, a sledge?
Ukhumbule ukuba lo mntu uyagula. Kuthathwa umatrasi ubekwe phezu kwesi sileyi, abotshelelwe ukuze kuthi xa kugingxigingxiza angawi. Uyagula, akafuni nokuphathwa, kodwa nantsi indlela iza kumgingxigingxiza. Uyaphi? Uya kwinqwelo yezigulana ehleli phaya ezantsi emlindileyo engenakukwazi ukunyuka okanye uya ekliniki. Ufika ekliniki sele egula nangakumbi ngoba sele exhikizeke wonke umzimba.
Ekliniki uza kufika ahlale alindiswe emgceni. Ngelo xesha athe wabe uyafika ngalo kugqirha, ufika kungekho mayeza. Uza kunikwa ntoni? Uza kubuyiselwa ekhaya. Uya kuba unethamsanqa ukuba unikwe iPanado. Uninzi lwabantu lubuyela ekhaya.
Ngokubhekisele kwizikolo, kukho umntwana ofuna ukufunda naphantsi kweyiphi na imeko. Uza kusuka phaya aye esikolweni esikude. Uza kufika nini? Uza kufika enjani? Xa sithetha ke ngeendlela zegrabile nangeendlela zasemakhaya, sithetha izinto ezinjalo. Rhulumente siyacela, khawusibonelele thina bantu basemakhaya ngeendlela nathi size sikwazi ukufana nabanye abantu. [Kwaqhwatywa.]
Andifuni ukuyibaleka le ndawo yokuba apha ecaleni kwedolophu kukho iindlela, ezintle kunjalo nje; kodwa hayi ezilalini. Kutheni kukho umahluko? Umahluko phakathi kweelali needolophu wenziwa yintoni kanti kuhlala abantu kuzo zonke ezi ndawo. Mphathiswa, uyijonge loo nto. (Translation of isiXhosa paragraphs follows.)
[Here is a sick person who stays where no one can reach him; because his house is not accessible by road. You will find that the village is big, but there is no road for the cars to drive to this village. If he is sick, how will he reach the main road or, for example, the road from Mthatha to Ngcobo? Do you know how he will reach the main road? [Interjections.] In the near future we will use the wheelbarrow, but right now we are still using sledges. Do you know what that is, a sledge?
You must remember that this person is sick. They must put a mattress on top of the sledge, and tie it to the sledge, together with the sick person so that he doesn't fall off when the sledge is unstable. He is sick, and he doesn't want to be touched, but the uneven road will brutally shake him. Where is he going? He is going to an ambulance which is waiting for him in the main road because it cannot go up to the village, or he is going to the clinic. When he finally gets to the clinic, he feels even worse because his whole body has been brutally shaken.
At the clinic he will have to wait his turn in the queue. When it is his turn to see the doctor, there will be no medicines. What will he be given? He will be sent back home. He will be very lucky if he receives Panado. Most of the people go back home empty-handed.
With regard to schools, there could be a child who wants to study under any circumstances. He will leave his village to attend a school that is far away. When will he arrive at school? What will he look like when he arrives? When we talk about gravel roads and roads in the rural areas, we mean these things. We appeal to the government to provide us with road infrastructure in the rural areas so that we become equal to other people. [Applause.]
I don't want to shy away from the fact that in urban areas there are well- developed roads; but nothing like that in the rural areas. Why is there a difference? What makes the rural areas different from the urban areas, since there are people living in all these areas? Hon Minister, please, consider that.]
The agenda of having no good roads in rural areas came from apartheid spatial planning based on racial divides.
Injalo, asinakuyibaleka. Injalo, kwakufuneka kwasekuqaleni sisokole ukuze sifumane izinto ezisebenzisekayo. [It is like that, we cannot run away from it. It is like that - in the past we were meant to suffer; we had to struggle to get things that were user-friendly.]
The ANC has committed itself to reversing this situation to ensure that all communities have access to quality services.
Iyazama, ndiqinisekile ukuba urhulumente uza kuphumelela ngoba kwangoku sele kukhona noko okubonakalayo. Ndithetha nje ukhona laa loliwe ebesele engasekho. Ukukhula kwam, Mam'uNjobe, kwakukho uloliwe owayesuka eMthatha esiya eMonti. Andimazi ukuba waphelela phi. Uhleli ithuba elide engekho loo loliwe; wabuya ngoku sele eyi-four coaches. Uthath' unyaka maan, uyazithanda laa loliwe. [Kwahlekwa.] Uyazi xa ehamba - linenekazi manditsho. Linenekazi le-four coaches kaloliwe. [Kwahlekwa.]
Thina siyi-ANC sithi malunyuke kancinci uhlahlo-lwabiwo-mali lweendawo zasemakhaya, kujongwe okusilelayo kunye nokushokoxeka kwe-bitumen eyenza i- asphalt. Iiprojekthi zokwakha umgaqo ziyacotha, nto leyo yenza izinto zihambe kancinci kugqibele sekuxabisa kakhulu ukwenza iindlela.
Siyi-ANC sithi iSebe lezoThutho malisebenzisane nelezaMandla ukulungisa ukuhlelwa kwe-bitumen. Siyi-ANC siyaluxhasa uhlahlo-lwabiwo-mali lwezoThutho. Enkosi. [Kwaqhwatywa.] (Translation of isiXhosa paragraphs follows.)
[It is trying, and I am certain that the government will succeed because we can see a slight improvement. As I am talking, a train that was no longer running is running now. When I was growing up, Mrs Njobe, there was a train that was travelling from Mthatha to East London. I don't know where it is now. A very long time has elapsed without this train running; when it returned it had four coaches only. It is too slow. [Laughter.] You know when it is travelling, it is like a lady, let me put it that way. This four- coach train is a lady. [Laughter.]
We, as the ANC, are saying there should be a slight increase in the budget for rural areas. Look at what is lacking and consider the shortage of bitumen that produces asphalt. Road construction projects progress too slowly, and that slows down the processes, which eventually leads to road construction being too expensive.
We, as the ANC, are saying that the Department of Transport must work with the Department of Energy so that it can get assistance with the refining of bitumen. We, as the ANC, support the Budget Vote of the Department of Transport. Thank you. [Applause.]]