Address by honourable Thobile Mhlahlo, MEC for Safety, Liaison, Roads and Transport in the Eastern Cape at the opening of the Umzimvubu Vehicle Testing Station Mount Frere during Transport Month

Today, we are demonstrating our commitment as government in the promotion of road traffic safety through opening the Umzimvubu Vehicle Testing Station. For many years, our rural communities have been subjected to a public transport system that undermined their lives and integrity. As a result, there have been many accidents, which involved unroadworthy vehicles in this region. The situation became even worse when it involved schoolchildren.

We are all aware of our past experiences with regard to the N2 that passes this town (Mount Frere), where our people were killed in numbers by accidents causes by trucks and buses. The contributing factors to these accidents, included failure of vehicle breaks and the limited space between the main road, and shops, which made it difficult for pedestrians to use the road freely.
The Department of Roads and Transport has spent R5,7 million on the construction of this Vehicle Testing Station, which will ensure that we strengthen of capacity to deal with unroadworthy vehicles in this part of our province. We are further spending R700 000 on the paving project on the Mount Frere's Main Street (N2) and 50 local people have been employed.

More vehicle testing stations will be constructed in Lusikisiki, Mbizana and Butteworth. As from today, we expect the Umzimvubu Municipality to take full control of this facility and ensure that it operates 24 hours. As we speak, government is preparing for a massive investment in this region through the Umzimvubu Water Scheme. Furthermore, the Umzimvubu Municipality has been identified as a "Gateway to the Eastern Cape" during the 2010 Federation International Football Association (Fifa) World Cup, especially for football fans, who will be coming from KwaZulu-Natal.

This means that we need to start working on our transportation system and infrastructure in order to facilitate the movement of people and goods, with road traffic safety as a major area of focus. The municipality council needs to urgently take decisive political positions on how to turn around the chaotic traffic situation on the main street of Mount Frere. Councillors need to institute by-laws that would minimise the congestion in this town. The department has recently opened a new permanent Traffic Control Station in Mount Ayliff to augment our road traffic safety efforts.

I would like to appeal to the officials, who will work in these stations to be more vigilant against individuals that would want to bribe them. We must take a collective responsibility against elements that undermine our efforts of providing safe and reliable transport system in this province. The department has recently trained and appointed 25 Road Transport Inspectors, who will monitor the compliance of public transport (buses and taxis) operators and they have been deployed in all districts, including Alfred Nzo.

Road infrastructure intervention

As we speak, there are regravelling works that are underway in this district in the following areas:
* Sibi Administrative Area to Sihlabeni Administrative Area in Mount Frere at a cost of R4,1 million.
* Ntsizwa Administrative Area towards Gogela Administrative Area in Mount Ayliff at a cost of R4,9 million.
* Mandileni Administrative Area to Luyengweni in Mount Frere at a cost of R5 million.

We will soon start the regravelling of the road from Luyengweni to Nkorweni towards Mt Fletcher at a cost of R4,7 million. Work is underway on the construction of DR08015, which is a 31 kilometres stretch widely known as T15. The road will effectively link Mount Frere and Matatiele. The first phase of the project is costing the department R347 million and is expected to be completed by December 2009. Already, 133 local people have been employed, of which 42 are men, 10 women and 81 young people. At the peak of the project, we will be having over 350 labourers on site. Phase two and three have already been designed and each is approximately 32 kilometres long and the construction expected to commence in 2009.

Sakha Isizwe

It is a known fact that the Alfred Nzo District is dominated by poverty due to lack of alternative means of economic survival. We have realised the importance of extensive government intervention in the fight against poverty, unemployment and underdevelopment. As a result, the Department of Roads and Transport has initiated a new programme last year, which is underpinned by the principles of Expanded Public Works Programme.

Since the inception of our Sakha Isizwe Community-Based Transportation Programme, more than 3 000 households have been employed by the department throughout the province, of which 501 are in the Alfred Nzo District. We have further received 413 more Sakha Isizwe households from the Department of Public Works to work for us in this programme.

All these households work together in road maintenance projects, upgrading, construction, roadside animal management, fencing, pedestrian safety, footpaths building, non-motorised transport, gabion basket manufacturing, as rangers etc. The targeted roads will assist in improving accessibility to economic activities, tourism opportunities, schools, clinics and other government services.

Already, there are projects that are underway in this district, such as:

1. Surfacing and Fencing of the Mount Ayliff airstrip
No. of beneficiaries: 28
Location: Mount Ayliff
Budget: R1,2 million

2. Construction and Fencing of Mount Ayliff and Matatiele Junior Traffic Training Centres
No. of beneficiaries: 10
Location: Ayliff and Matatiele
Budget: R200 000

3. Upgrading of animal pounds
No. of beneficiaries: 45
Location:
45 Mt Frere, Matatiele, Mt Ayliff

Matatiele Budget: R2,1 million

4. Construction of five kilometres sidewalks
No. of beneficiaries: 45
Location: Maluti
Matatiele Budget: R900 000

5. Two kilometres paving
No. of beneficiaries: 50
Location:
Mt Frere
Matatiele Budget: R700 000

6. Upscaling by household contractors
No. of beneficiaries: 500
Location:
Umzimvubu and Matatiele Local Municipalities
Matatiele Budget: R3 million

7. Fencing of roads
No. of beneficiaries: 195
Location:
Phuti to Ntabankulu Maluti towards Qashasnek Pakade to Phepheni
Mt Ayliff to Tela N2 to Sirhoqobeni Mtsane to Mvenyane Matatiele
Budget: R4,8 million

Future Projects:

1. Upgrading of Airstrip
No. Of Beneficiaries: 40
Location: Matatiele
Budget: R3 million

2. Surfacing of the street leading to the Mount Frere Vehicle Testing Station
No. Of Beneficiaries: 40
Location: Mount Frere
Budget: R2 million
3. Construction and fencing of the Cedarville Junior Traffic Training Centre
No. Of Beneficiaries: 10
Location: Cedarville
Budget: R200 000

4. Up-scaling by household contractors
No. Of beneficiaries: 500
Location: Umzimvubu and Matatiele Local Municipalities
Budget: R200 000

Bus passenger service

In an effort to improve the bus passenger services in the former Transkei Region, the department has assisted local small bus operators to establish Africa's Best 350 Ltd, which is a single legal entity established by the operators themselves.

The department has allocated R43 million for this project and the rest of the funding will come from private financiers, which include the Industrial Development Corporation, the Development Bank of Southern Africa, National Empowerment Fund and Eastern Cape Development Corporation. There have been delays in the signing of contracts by some of the financiers, which affected the delivery of buses.

We hope that before the end of the year, we will receive the first 28 buses from the supplier, which are ready to operate in Mbizana and here in Mount Frere. Already, 28 bus drivers are being trained in preparation for the start of these operations. This will be a major injection of quality public transport services into a poverty-stricken area by enhancing accessibility to economic opportunities through improved mobility. It will further enhance the access of the communities to job opportunities, health and education centres.

The second phase will take off in April 2008 with 56 buses that will be distributed to the Amathole and Chris Hani districts. The last phase of distribution of another 55 buses is expected in April 2009 with more buses for the Alfred Nzo and OR Tambo districts. The buses will be operated from seven depots in Mbizana, Lusikisiki, Mount Frere, Matatiele, Mthatha, Queenstown and Butterworth. A total of 166 routes have been identified for this project.

Taxi Recapitalisation

The province of the Eastern Cape is leading in the country in the implementation of the Taxi Recapitalisation Project. Since the launch of the process of scrapping old and unsafe taxi vehicles in December 2006, a total of 2 757 vehicles have been brought to the Provincial Scrapping Centre in Zwelitsha for scrapping, of which 2 311 vehicles have been scrapped and 2 265 operators have received their R50 000 scrapping allowance. This means that a total of R113 million has been paid out to operators to date. In our midst, we have the officials from the Taxi Scrapping Administrator.

Back to Rail

In the recent past, it has become evident that the high economic growth rate of the Eastern Cape continued to put pressure on government to invest on road infrastructure and rail. Presently, there is a huge imbalance in the use of our infrastructure for the carriage of goods within the supply chain, as the volumes are largely biased towards road usage. In response to this challenge, we have resolved to invest in an integrated multimodal transport system leading to various destinations, including railway lines.

Our stakeholders, including delegates who attended the Alfred Nzo District Growth and Development Summit, have expressed an interest in certain railway links and this is very encouraging to us as a department, as we seek to reach a balance in the use of our sea, air, rail and roads. We have appointed consultants to develop a 10-year Rail Plan, which will look at the feasibility of certain lines, including the link between Mthatha and Kokstad.

We expect to start implementing that Rail Plan in June 2008, which will serve as a launching pad of our offensive for the massive revitalisation of rail infrastructure in the province. The proposed link between Mthatha and Kokstad augurs well with the Kei Development Corridor initiative, which encompasses a variety of mega projects within the area between East London, Mthatha and Umzimvubu. Some of the socio-economic benefits identified by the Kei Rail feasibility study included 28 000 jobs to be created over 20 years and a 10% reduction in total unemployment in the corridor.

The bio-fuel industry, which is planned around the Umzimvubu River project and form part of the Kei Development Corridor projects, will change the face of this area. This link will be investigated as a rapid rail link, which will ultimately allow a link between East London and Durban within the next 10 years.

In conclusion, I would like to reassure the community of the Alfred Nzo District that government remains committed to the emancipation of our people from any form of oppression, including poverty-stricken conditions. Let us continue to work together to reconstruct and develop this region and our province, while simultaneously pushing back the frontiers of poverty.

Thank you.

Issued by: Department of Safety, Liaison, Roads and Transport, Eastern Cape Provincial Government
18 October 2007