Chairperson, hon Minister, hon members, ladies and gentlemen, on building a reliable and safe public transport network, let me say that roadsafety.co.za this morning carried the following headlines: "Man hit by train in Kempton Park"; "Truck side-swiped on the highway"; "Minibus taxi overturns on the N2 highway"; "Motor vehicle collision on Viking Way"; "One dies after a bakkie overturned on the N1"; and "N2 pile- up leaves one man injured".
Chairperson, these headlines reflect the harsh reality of life on our roads. Our problems lie with the apartheid era spatial planning. Most of our people live away from cities, either in townships that are far away or in suburbs on the outskirts of the cities.
Our cities do not have continuous pedestrian plazas. We have not made biking mainstream. Trams have long been gone from our cities. We certainly need a reliable, safe and affordable transport network. That a start has been made is very welcome.
Cope is asking: Where do we go from here? In the next 20 years, 65% of the people will be living in a city. Our transport planning must begin with the remodelling of our cities. If the majority of people can travel the distance by walking or cycling, the transport network will be easier to construct and cheaper to operate. If the majority of people, however, have to be ferried into the city and ferried away each evening, the logistics will be daunting.
In Cape Town, the MyCiTi project is expected to lose millions because there are no incentives for people to take buses, or no disincentives for people using cars to work.
Mr Minister, when was it decided that the poor of this country - I refer to the rural poor - did not matter any more? Ministers want to promote multimillion and sometimes billion dollar projects for high-speed rail and train services but somehow they are not able to find money to fix potholes! These are the potholes that minibus taxis are faced with, as thousands of South Africans commute from the townships to their workplaces, day in and day out.
At this juncture, Cope finds it necessary to ask government about what is happening with regard to the bicycle project. Has this project been abandoned? Is there any pilot project in any city to gauge the viability and desirability of using bicycles on a large scale? In Europe the use of bicycles remains as popular as ever. Will the bicycle be part of the means of public transport in South Africa?
A change of mind-set is absolutely essential for public transport to take off. Modal integration will not be possible as long as those with vested interests do their utmost to stall the process. Public transport contracts need to be improved and revisited. Universal access to services needs to be researched to a greater extent. The marketing of services needs more attention. Lastly, a sustainable source of funding needs to be available. I thank you.