Chairperson, the IFP congratulates the Minister and the Deputy Minister on their appointment. South Africa's road and air transport infrastructure serves millions of people each day and keeps the wheels of business and industry turning and is an integral part of our lives. The aim of the Department of Transport is to provide comparative transport costs, improve safety and security, reduce infrastructure backlogs, improve access and reduce its transit times to the general public.
Our transport infrastructure and public transport system must be improved if the department is to reach its stated aim. There are still too many problems and too many shortcomings with these. The lack of a reliable and safe public transport system, for example, prevents more South Africans from using public transport and this in turn contributes to problems such as the congestion and deterioration of our roads.
This morning the Minister of Transport said that progress has been made in the discussions with the taxi industry. The IFP appreciates this, as the taxi industry is a very important part of our transport system. However, we must acknowledge that taxi passengers are still subjected to overcrowding and unsafe journeys with this mode of transport. Taxi passengers are also subjected to harassment by drivers and operators at times.
The increased volume of heavy duty vehicles on our roads is a problem and it contributes to road deterioration. There's, however, currently no viable or affordable alternative. The use of rail to transport heavy loads should be promoted and incentives given to industries to make use of rail. This will take a major load off our roads. The state of many commuter trains is really bad. These should be refurbished and additional security measures taken so that passengers use this mode of transport more. Again, this will help ease the congestion on our roads.
Government should effectively restructure the Road Accident Fund to ensure that corruption does not persist. We find that claims take years to be settled and when that eventually happens the lawyers' fees are so exorbitant that the victims only receive a fraction of the money due to them. Government should put claiming processes in place that do not require the involvement of keen lawyers and ensure that money is paid directly to the accident victims. We need to look at our toll roads and the impact they have on the surrounding community using these roads daily.
In conclusion, I would like to thank the department for the briefings on the budget and for taking note of the committee's inputs. The IFP supports the Budget Vote. [Applause.]