Address at the launch of Southern Africa Owner Drives Empowerment Federation (SAODEF) Women in Transport, Director-General (DG), Mpumi Mpofu

Programme Director
Ekurhuleni Mayor Duma Nkosi
President of SAODEF, Lennox Magwaza
Members of SAODEF National Executive Council (NEC)
MAN Truck and Bus representatives
Absa representatives
Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) representatives
Distinguished guests
Members of the media
Ladies and gentlemen

Let me begin by saying that government is committed to a South Africa that brings together the talents of every citizen and the maximisation of the potential of every individual, gender equality, the prohibition of discrimination and the celebration of diversity being the core principles of our goal.

I recognise and applaud the important work that your initiative has played in seeking to make this shared vision a reality. Your work in relation to the position of women in transport is most valuable and I congratulate you for that.

I'm sure you already know that South Africa's overarching challenges for transport relate to the regulation of the overall transport sector in relation to modes of transport, transport infrastructure, maritime, civil aviation and freight logistics, etcetera but also in lowering the cost of doing business in our country.

You will certainly know how vital these challenges are for women and how seriously they're taken by women. There can be no doubt that the contribution made by women is vital to our continuing economic growth and prosperity.

I have a sense of relief and some pride at what has been achieved by South Africa in heightening the role of women in these areas, but we must recognise where more work is required. We must face the reality that not enough has been done, gender equality has not really been achieved. We are still on our way there.

One of the key areas is the central importance of institutional mechanisms to consolidating and expanding gender equality. Public and private sectors as well as civil society together need to make the case for gender mainstreaming and we must be able to explain what gender mainstreaming is. How do we make the case for it in transport policy or even in transport funding for that matter. I would like to believe that this approach will contribute immensely in achieving a transport sector that is dynamic but also importantly, socially inclusive.

For a very long time, transport planners and operators have usually been men. As such women's specific transport needs and aspirations have often not been identified or addressed, even though some operators in recent years have taken steps to employ women in key positions and consult women as users. However, much more has to be done. And to that end, I would like to see far more women enter the transport industry.

And we need voices to articulate on every possible occasion the distinct differences in men's and women's attitude towards and experience of transport.

Ladies and gentlemen, in the same breath let me also say that the good news is that steps to address this problem are taking shape. Particularly as the Department of Transport, through our National Household Travel Survey we have been able to understand the demographic issues and transport needs of our diverse society and we are starting to apply the solutions required.

Let me talk a bit about the strides we have made so far, but also to highlight some of the green fields for women in the transport sector.

Our government has put in place socio-economic legislation that is amongst the most progressive in the less developed and developed countries, particularly with reference to the Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) Strategy and the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) codes of good practice on Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment (BBBEE).

Our much heralded draft Transport Sector BBBEE Charter is another example of initiatives by government through the Department of Transport to address the legacy of inequality in our society in order to make a significant contribution towards economic growth, job creation, skills development, poverty alleviation and BBBEE. All these elements are embedded in the indicators of ownership and control, management, employment equity, skills development, preferential procurement, enterprise development and socio-economic development targets adopted from the DTI Broad Based BEE Strategy and the BEE Act.

Thus women empowerment cannot be viewed in isolation only from the perspective of ownership. It has to be seen as only one prong in a holistic strategy to achieve BEE and thus implemented alongside employment equity, skills development and other human resource development initiatives as well as corporate social investment and affirmative procurement. This Charter is set to change the South African landscape substantially. The advent of the BEE Charter in the transport sector will in some areas have a positive impact in promoting women entrepreneurs.

The pillars of the Transport Sector BBBEE Charter are job creation, skills development and economic opportunities. The guiding principle for job creation shall be related to growth in the overall South African economy, industry and at enterprise development level. To this end a certain percentage in economic growth should at least create a significant number of jobs in our industry.

Across all sub-sectors of transport there are set targets to ensure gender equity. The Transport Sector BBBEE Charter process aims to have a 50% sub-target for women in all indicators of empowerment. But, one of the challenges is also to ensure the empowerment of women in order to participate effectively in sub-sectors such as Aviation that requires highly skilled individuals. As a medium to long term goal, we are therefore committed in the training and development of women through Transport Education and Training Authority (TETA), particularly for the Aviation, Rail and Maritime sub-sectors. This effort will assist women to participate in these highly skilled sub-sectors.

Upon the completion of the BEE Charter for the transport sector, all stakeholders will use sub-sector scorecards to assess performance of BEE. The Charter will enhance practical empowerment of the disadvantaged individuals particularly black people, black women, black youth and people living with disabilities in order to ensure their active participation in our economic and social development.

Programme Director, let me also take this opportunity and share some of our planned development initiatives with an intention to generate interest from women to join us in locating the transport sector at the centre of our economic growth. Let me start by indicating that it is well known that the South African government is driving investment with a R400 billion infrastructure development commitment over the next five years, a commitment which the transport sector is a major contributor to.

Starting with road infrastructure, government is investing in excess of R70 billion over the next three years for the development, upgrading and maintenance of road infrastructure across the spheres of government.

This includes the non-toll strategic national road network, strategic secondary roads, regional roads, access roads and public transport routes. Furthermore the South African National Roads Agency Limited (SANRAL) intends to raise an additional R8 billion from private investors for the development of concession toll roads under public private partnerships (PPPs). Opportunities lie in many areas including engineering, construction and consultancy.

The labour intensive, Community Based Roads Maintenance Programme such as Zibambele has also presented rural women especially 'women headed households' with major opportunities for their involvement in road maintenance. In the 2004/05 financial year alone, Zibambele awarded 23 451 contracts to households maintaining in excess of 15 000 kilometres of roads. The current number of contracts in KwaZulu-Natal is about 32 500, maintaining about 16 250 km of the KwaZulu-Natal road network. The Siyatentela Programme with similar principles is also showing results in Mpumalanga with 55 contracts already awarded to rural women in that province.

Turning to aviation, the Airports Company South Africa is currently rolling out R19,2 billion investment in airport infrastructure expansion, which is intended to expand airport capacity ahead of 2010. All these plans bring opportunities for all of us in terms of airport design, construction and in investment.

Rail infrastructure is also receiving major investment over the medium term. Passenger rail infrastructure and rolling stock will be improved with R16 billion over the next three years in order to modernise infrastructure and signalling systems and recapitalise rolling stock.

The involvement of companies owned by previously disadvantaged individuals in infrastructure upgrades, technology enhancement and rolling stock refurbishment and acquisition will go a long way in re-establishing rail as a preferred mass mover and backbone of mobility in South Africa. Attention will also be targeted at promoting inter-modalism, thus inter-connectivity with other modes is of great importance.

In terms of freight transport, the government utility Transnet will be investing in rail and port infrastructure through its subsidiaries Spoornet and the National Ports Authority (NPA). Spoornet will spend R31,5 billion on rail improvements over the next five years, while the NPA will invest R18,6 billion on port infrastructure capacity enhancement. Again black companies will benefit in the areas of infrastructure, refurbishment, signalling system improvement, rolling stock recapitalisation and port infrastructure expansion.

We are also investing R9,2 billion in transport infrastructure improvement for 2010. Each of the host cities has been allocated money to improve public transport infrastructure and systems including the design and development of Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) systems. Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) are also being rolled out in high traffic areas to enable traffic flow management, incident management and information sharing with motorists. Investment will also be made in Travel Demand Management (TDM) measures to manage road space usage and prioritise public transport. Black companies can play a significant role in introducing innovative technologies to government for successful implementation of these important interventions.

Let me encourage you to look at these plans and identify opportunities particularly for black businesses. The transport industry is a strategic and significant contributor to our country's well-being and we would like to ensure that this industry is aligned with the country's values and its socio-economic imperatives. The challenge is to carry through the transformation of the industry to alter the skewed ownership and control patterns that we have inherited. The issue of economic empowerment of previously disadvantaged individuals and organisations is therefore high on the agenda of government.

Government will encourage strongly the entry of black empowerment firms particularly those owned and managed by black women into the transport industry. The industry should therefore actively seek to create opportunities for empowering previously disadvantaged individuals, especially women as well as small and medium enterprises (SMEs) through enterprise development and procurement. Employees should also be empowered by ensuring equitable recruitment practices, adequate and appropriate training, a systematic transfer of skills and by encouraging employee equity in the ownership and management of transport companies. The track record so far, from government's perspective, is not as strong as it should be, indeed, we would urge SAWITRA to be the mouthpiece of women to address all of these transformation issues much more energetically than has happened so far.

It cannot be business as usual.

With those words, I challenge all of you, to make sure that the transport sector becomes truly representative. Let us diversify the representation of this industry by targeting and recruiting the emerging black transport entrepreneurs and particularly black women.

I thank you!

Issued by: Department of Transport
20 July 2007