Date: 10/09/2009
Source: Department of Transport
Title: SA: Ndebele: Keynote address by the Minister of Transport at the Barometer South Africa Presentation, Johannesburg

Joe Bester - Head of Citadel Marketing;
Tim Modise - Host of Barometer South Africa;
Jaime Byrom - Chairman of Match;
Neil Cloete - Managing Director of Grinkaker-Lta/Aveng;
Members of the Media;
Distinguished Guests;
Ladies and Gentlemen;

Thank you for this opportunity to address this very important and
prestigious gathering - the Barometer South Africa event.

With South Africa being the first African country to host the World
Cup, it is imperative that we present an alternative view of Africa to
the world, different from what is commonly known of Africa as a
continent. We must therefore use this opportunity to market our nine
host cities in particular, but the country in general, as among the best
tourist and business centres in the world.

The 2010 World Cup is a FIFA event, but its critical success depends on
the active support of government and the people of South Africa. The
South African government has through the signed guarantees committed to
providing sufficient and safe transport operations to enable the
movement of spectators during the World Cup in 2010. The government has
identified the transport sector as one of the most important for this
event, both from a legacy and event delivery perspective. Without
sufficient transport, there can be no event. The South African
population also stands to benefit from a strong legacy of an improved
national road network, improved public transport, a rapid rail system,
which is the Gautrain, and world class airport infrastructure.

To this end, at national level the highest government structure that
coordinates preparations for 2010 is the Inter-Ministerial Committee. At
sectoral level, transport plans are led by the Department of Transport
(DoT) to ensure that Host Cities Cape Town, Durban, Johannesburg,
Mangaung/Bloemfontein, Tshwane/Pretoria, Rustenburg, Port Elizabeth,
Polokwane and Nelspruit carry out their responsibility.

As DoT we said in our budget vote speech in July this year that we are
going to better coordinate the transport preparations for the world cup.
The Department of Transport (DoT) is now taking an active lead in the
transport plans for 2010.

We are leading the coordination process, ensuring that operational
planning is conducted in a uniform and consistent manner in all the Host
Cities. It is necessary that interaction with the relevant sectors takes
place. Our transport coordinating units include the Transport Sector
Coordinating Forum, the Land Transport Task Team and the Aviation Task
Team.

We now share critical information and update progress regularly. We are
identifying and resolving critical concerns. We also want to guide on
elements such as communications, signage, licensing and inter-city
services. The task team also seeks to coordinate operational plans to
avoid duplication and ensure consistency between venues. We must work
off a common implementation programme and the buck must stop with one
person at national level.

The operational plan for the event will be signed off by all the
affected parties in order to avoid confusion and possible conflict on
site and on match day. We are pleased that DoT now has a permanent
representative in the security sector structures to ensure synergy in
our planning processes. In addition the department is responsible for
specific work streams which have been centralized and will be
implemented nationally.

LICENCING AND REGULATIONS

The National Land Transport Act (NLTA) clause 61 empowers the Minister
of Transport to make over-riding regulations for major special events.
The special regulations cater for the needs of Host Cities by regulating
Public Transport services based on the transport operational plans.

We have therefore identified the following services for regulation:
- Contracted services by host city or other authority, to carry
passengers such as from airport to event areas, must apply for a
special, temporary/special Operating Licence.
- Operators who already have permits for the area or route will also
require a special Operating licence for the 2010 Word Cup as passengers
will only be advised to use vehicles with special tags. The National
Public Transport Regulator (NPTR) will issue all special operating
licences.

EVENT SIGNAGE

The existing National Signage Design Guidelines will be extended to
ensure consistency between Host Cities and regional bodies. We will
address short-comings from the 2009 Confederations Cup such as
inadequate signs at Park & Ride facilities, transportation hubs, railway
stations and airports. There was an issue during CONFED Cup of on-street
loading and off-loading facilities in the vicinity of stadium precincts.
This work will be completed soon.

BRT

By midnight on 1 September 2009 close to 20 000 commuters in Soweto and
Johannesburg had boarded the Rea Vaya Bus system. This group joined
thousands of others who had already tested the system on August 31. In
South African terms this group is the equivalent of the first man
landing on the moon. In our terms the successful implementation of BRT
is one step for the City of Johannesburg, a great leap for South
Africa.

BRT represents our integrated public transport system which includes
minibus taxis, buses and rail. It currently takes too long to travel
from Soweto to Sandton. It takes far too long to travel through the
city. Estimates indicate that business loses R400million per year on
traffic related downtime in Gauteng alone.

BRT is part of 2010 World Cup plans but is also an immediate legacy of
the 2010 World Cup. The BRT benefits outweigh its total cost. The BRT
system addresses congestion and drives our economic growth. It is world
class and affordable. This is appropriate for the 2010 World Cup.

BRT will run for 18 hours a day from 5:00 to 23:00 and the plan is to
eventually extend this to 24 hours a day. There will be bus stations
every 500 metres, with security officers and CCTV cameras linked to a
BRT control room. Once the system is complete, no commuter will walk for
more than 500metres to a BRT stop. Minibus taxis will therefore be an
integral part of BRT and our public transport system. Minibus taxis are
an integral part of the 2010 FIFA World Cup transport plan.

By June 2010 BRT should be operational in Johannesburg, Tshwane,
Bloemfontein, Nelson Mandela Bay and Cape Town. For 2010 Cape Town will
deploy a BRT trunk and feeder system comprising 25 trunk stations and
139 feeder stops. It will utilise 156 vehicles carrying serving the CBD,
Stadia and Hotel precincts, Airport and the West Coast. Cape Town has
committed R508m and another R1bn to be spent by April 2010.

For 2010 Nelson Mandela Bay plans to implement an integrated network
across the entire city with R900m worth of infrastructure committed
until 2010. For 2010 Tshwane plans to have the first of two BRT lines
running. The system will run from Mabopane to the CBD and comprise 37km
of BRT lanes, 17 stations and a fleet of 58 BRT vehicles. Tshwane will
utilise special shuttle services running on temporary dedicated lanes
from the CBD to the stadium precinct. These developments indicate our
readiness to transport the thousands of fans in 2010.

The Financial Mail cover story on Transport which came out today
describes these developments as follows: "Though the public could be
forgiven for being highly skeptical, on the ground South Africa's
biggest public transformation since World War 2 is underway. For the
first time there is excitement and energy around the arrival of
sophisticated rapid bus services and the imminent start of the
GAUTRAIN".

RAIL
The Confederations Cup tested our capacity to move people en masse. Our
Passenger Rail agency, PRASA, moved 40 000 people to matches during
CONFED 2009. These were not just your traditional Metrorail commuters
but also non-traditional passengers. PRASA ran services from
Johannesburg to Rustenburg and from Johannesburg to Bloemfontein. In the
latter case we transported 3000 fans to the South Africa-Spain match.
Rail passed the test, our country passed the test.
We also had 28 trains operating between Coca Cola (Ellis) Park and
Loftus stadiums. The Park and Ride principle was also used for parks
adjacent to train stations and fans rode to the newly refurbished
Doornfontein station a mere two minutes to Coca Cola (Ellis) Park.
For 2010 we have refurbished 2000 train coaches and are upgrading major
train stations at Cape Town, Nasrec, Mabopane and Doornfontein. PRASA is
also building new generation stations at Bridge City (eThekwini), Moses
Mabhida (eThekwini) and Orlando Station in Soweto. Our trains carry
between 2 000 and 2 500 a trip and it is clear we will not run the world
cup without these mass-movers. We are planning rail usage in unison with
the Host Cities.
Given its capacity rail may lead the transportation of spectators to
the stadium and be the focus of park and rail solutions. Shosholoza
Meyl, the long distance rail service will provide additional trains for
Polokwane, Bloemfontein, Nelspruit, Rustenburg, Durban and Cape Town.
AVIATION

In aviation we must provide adequate airport infrastructure, ensure
adequate airline services, ensure the safe movement of aircraft and
guarantee the safety of passengers.

All ACSA upgrades at OR Tambo, Cape Town, Bloemfontein, Port Elizabeth
and La Mercy airports will be complete for the event. At the smaller,
constrained airports we will install temporary infrastructure so as to
process increased number of passengers.

As DOT we are facilitating the increase in traffic into the country
through Bilateral Air Services Agreements with a number of countries.
There will be additional frequencies on existing routes and sufficient
size and number of aircraft will be available for the event. Home
Affairs and the Baggage Handlers are members of the Aviation Task Team
to ensure that all airports are ready for additional passengers.

On the aviation side there are additional tasks including updating
operational plans by the end of September 2009, converting airport
demand into airline schedules and allocating landing slots to airlines.
In January 2010 we will review all operational plans.
The Confederations Cup was an appetizer, a taste of things to come.
Sepp Blatter, the President of FIFA, gave us 7.5 out of 10 for hosting
the Confederations Cup. This tells us we have no time to rest. The FIFA
World Cup is not merely about sport; it is about transport. Our chief
responsibility is to deliver the masses of the world to the stadiums,
homes and places of entertainment.
Brazil, Ghana, England and the Netherlands are just some of the
countries which have already qualified. Just these few countries give us
an indication of the colour and celebration that is a few months away.
Thousands will come for the tournament; thousands will come to see the
country hosting the world cup. On 4 December 2009 the FIFA final draw
will tell us where the qualified countries will play. Thereafter the
planning and communication will become easier.
COMMUNICATION

An important lesson from the Confederations Cup is that the
communications programme is central to the transport operation.
International spectators who are already researching travelling options
to and within South Africa need to be assured that there are plans in
place, and that they will be catered for. This information will be
available on a central communications portal,
www.transport.gov.za/findyourway.

We are coordinating a national communications programme through the DoT
page which has a link on the FIFA website. This programme will ensure
maximum and appropriate promotion of public transport. The information
and messages will be consistent and complementary nationally,
provincially and at host cities. This will include information on
airports and Air Travel, Inter-city travel, City and Provincial
Transport, National Road Network, Vehicle Hire and Charter, What to
expect at Stadiums, Park & Ride sites and Trip Planners. Electronic
brochures will be supported by newspapers, radio and TV campaigns to
publicise all this information.

Communication is at the centre of every world cup. Our biggest
challenge is to ensure that the event is not viewed as inaccessible to
local fans. It is not just the travelling fan who is key to the success
of 2010, but the local fan who must watch every game regardless of
whether South Africa is playing or not. As Transport our responsibility
is to move these fans, from city to city, and back home in safety. This
is why we say the world cup is about sport, but it is much more about
transport.

2010 AND NATIONAL UNITY
Recent research indicates a major shift in confidence among South
Africans with regards to our ability to pull off a successful World Cup.
During the first quarter of 2009 a FIFA commissioned survey revealed
that 88 per cent of South Africans felt a sense of pride at being the
first African country to host the world cup, while 77 per cent predicted
the tournament would be a success.
In May 2009 African Response's 2010 Barometer found that at least 89
per cent of South Africans believed the world cup would benefit the
country. It is this optimism that will ensure a successful world cup
that is distinctly African and that the South African rainbow is alive
and well. The world best infrastructure does not make a successful world
cup. It is the people who make a success of the world cup.
We are making this presentation today because we must disseminate
information about our readiness and rally our communities behind this
project. The following aspects will revitalize the passion amongst our
people so they can be part of this event of a life time:
● Let us empower our people with information so they can become
our ambassadors
● Secondly, let us all learn the national anthem. The anthem is
the centre of our unity across race and class.
● Our people must take pride in flying the national flag and
should take time to learn its colours and their meanings. The flag is a
symbol of hope and an affirmation of our belief in a prosperous future.
● Fourthly, our people must be the best hosts they can be. The
essence of this must be our spirit of Ubuntu.
The 2010 World Cup represents the hopes of a democracy that dares to
dream, a democracy that does not pray to a God of small things and a
democracy that is ready to take on the world.
In this regard let us heed the words of that famous German-born
physicist Albert Einstein who said: "There are two ways to live: you
can live as if nothing is a miracle; you can live as if everything is a
miracle".
Let us live our 2010 as the miracle of our lives; then everything else
will become a miracle.
I thank you!