Chair, firstly, let me congratulate you, Minister, on your appointment and also our previous portfolio chairperson, Jeremy Cronin, as your Deputy. Transport is not new to either of you, and I certainly believe that your collective knowledge can only be good for transport in general. It is in this light that my colleague and I will look forward to working with you both.
Minister, your role in KwaZulu-Natal as a no-nonsense, zero-tolerance practitioner against road traffic infringers and perpetrators is well known. I trust you will continue to impose the same tough policies at national level in an attempt to bring down what must be one of the worst road death rates in the world.
Minister, we have to take back control of our roads and highways before the World Cup and even beyond that. To do so, you need to take heed of what the DA has been calling for, for as long as I have been in these debates, which is over 10 years - that is, to increase the number of traffic officers on the road. The effect of visible policing is well known, and I won't go into details here. But, if they are not to be seen, motorists will "thatha a chance", and they will end up being the cause of road fatalities and injuries that drain the Road Accident Fund, RAF, and the country's resources.
The over 350 000 claims backlog is not moving quickly enough, despite the injection of two tranches of R5 billion specially appropriated funds from this Parliament. It's like putting water into a bottomless bucket. Despite the number of interventions by this Parliament to amend the Act, the RAF is still being subjected to constitutional challenges and increased litigation.
Although the department is investigating the no-fault system as a possible solution, the impact of the system needs to be carefully investigated and debated. More urgently, Minister, we need to find a solution to a suitable funding model. We cannot afford to continue with the present bailouts. The system is flawed. As an interim measure, we need to look at these high litigation costs. The arbitration model or pilot model which ran for many years here in the Western Cape is a consideration which needs to be relooked at. This actually avoids litigation and tries to find settlement on the steps of the courts. At the same time - this was mentioned to me by your colleague - it could also relieve some of the clogging up of the courts. If one can look at the rolls of the courts, they are just full of RAF cases. Furthermore, I suggest that we also look at investigate funding the Arrive Alive campaign as a possibility, which will save lives in future, because accidents, of course, have a cause and an effect.
The other pressing issues that I would like to address relate to the persistent underfunding of two other programmes in your department. The first one is my perennial favourite, road and rail, but I am going to leave it to my colleague here to discuss and debate. The other one relates to the issue of public transport subsidies - the Bus Rapid Transit, BRT, system and the taxis - and the impact they have on the coming World Cup, which is only 342 days away now.
The previous Minister, Jeff Radebe, was not the best correspondent with me for some reason, and much of my important correspondence went unanswered. Frustrated motorists with long-outstanding concerns have raised concerns and have even resorted to writing to me on toilet paper now because he apparently just wiped away their concerns. [Laughter.] This particular case has been going on for over a year and relates to a simple problem of driving licences. I would like to ask you, Minister, to have a look at that, because you mentioned in your speech that you were going to investigate Prodiba and their role in this whole thing.
As far as the bus subsidy is concerned, we run out of money every year. We know about that. We need to find a system that can multiticket and embrace all modes of transport and offer the subsidy to the commuter and not the operator. This is a DA policy, and I am aware of that. I am prepared to give you a document to show you what we are thinking about regarding this. It is used universally and it works, so let's not try and reinvent the wheel.
The current contractual system for buses and concessionary systems for rail continue unabated and without proper research and I think we need to look at this very specifically. The programme needs urgent overhauling and is not sustainable. Just like private transporters who fund themselves whilst using state infrastructure, so should Metrorail.
When I first became part of this portfolio committee some 10 years ago, the South African Rail Commuter Corporation, SARCC, was enacted to fund itself, but for some reason, they withdrew that arrangement. I think it needs to be reinstated, because capital is a very scarce resource in the particular economic climate that we are in. If funds can be sourced externally, we can in fact save something like R14 billion on the current budget over the medium-term and put it back into rail infrastructure in order to meet the demands there.
I want to raise another issue relating to the BRT system and taxis and the stop-go relations that took place between the President and the SA National Taxi Council, Santaco, which you have come to inherit. I am glad you said that you were now in a postconflict phase, but there are certain things which we need to get straightened out here, sir. I appeal to you not to get sucked in by this "fat cat" body, Santaco, for heaven's sake. I have worked with these people for a long time. With due respect to you, hon Bhengu, this is exactly how they held the department to ransom for many years - by giving them pieces and pieces of cake. We must talk to the associations that are at the coalface. Those are the people who should be getting the benefits of all the particular issues you raised. I am very much in favour of that happening, but it is not happening. I think it is important too that we understand some of the retorts they have been making. We need to make sure about these responses and make a very big and strong statement about them.
There are disgruntled taxi associations laying claim to certain demands in the industry. I just want to quote our previous portfolio committee chair when we had the same situation. He said:
The routes and ranks don't belong to you but to the ratepayers who pay for them, keep them and maintain them.
I think that is the starting point we should be considering here. The taxi operators are not a law unto themselves, and they must fit into the overall plans of the government. The BRT system is a part of the Fifa World Cup bid, and we would like to see this legacy here for future generations. We owe it to the commuting public to provide a safe, efficient, clean, reliable and sustainable service in our cities.
I, therefore, urge you, Minister, to challenge the utterings of some of the taxi associations who claim that they are going to make Cape Town another Baghdad, and that they want full ownership of the BRT system. They should be seen as partners in this thing. It is paramount that you get negotiations with these taxi associations back on track.
Rea Vaya has already caused wasted expenditure to the tune of millions of rands. The so-called "retirement" of Bob Stanway, who was leading this process in the City of Johannesburg, at a crucial stage is of major concern to us together with stadia strikes that have now been threatened.
The BRT system is only one component of our integrated transport system. Buses, taxis and rail play a major part in this system. The cake is big enough for all to share.
We are very concerned about timeframes. I am glad that you have put together this co-ordinating committee which I picked up from the website this morning. We note that after the Confederations Cup trial, there are still inadequate funds from the Public Transport Infrastructure Fund, PTIF, going into the cities. There needs to be co-ordination of these various modes of public transport, and we need to look at a one-stop communication and information centre for people to go into and decide which bus to use to go where, etc.
Finally, transport problems were the biggest problems faced by the Confederations Cup. We cannot rest on our laurels. The World Cup is 10 times bigger, and there will be many more international visitors travelling to and from our cities who will be solely reliant on public transport and proper signage. The Airports Company South Africa, Acsa, for instance - although they are doing a commendable job in our airports - needs to ensure that sufficient holding areas exist for sufficient coaches and buses. It is estimated that some 350 000 fans will pass through our airports. If the logistics of getting these fans and their luggage - that is if their luggage hasn't been stolen, to and from their hotels and from their hotels to the venues are not looked at then we have a logistical nightmare developing.
Linked to this is the issuing of some 1 000 new operating licences for these buses and coaches. We need to look at the Operating Licence Boards. [Interjections.]
Thank you very much, Minister. We are looking forward to your interaction with us in the future. [Time expired.] [Applause.]