Date: 10/09/2009
Source: Department of Transport
Title: SA: Ndebele; Speech by the Minister of Transport at the memorial Service for South African National Taxi Council (SANTACO) Deputy President; in Johannesburg

We are gathered here today because the soul of a great human being and
leader has passed on. We are here to mourn the death of Mr. Mthuthuzeli
Molefe, first deputy president of the South African National Taxi
Council (SANTACO), whose life was squashed by the hand of a human-being
without a soul, the hand of an assassin.

We want to re-iterate our outrage and disgust at the cold-blooded
murder of Mr. Molefe. We wish to again convey our condolences to his
family and relatives as well as SANTACO.

We would also like to use this opportunity to correct the mischievous
and incorrect media reports, which claim that Mr. Molefe was killed
after he had a meeting with the Minister of Transport last Friday (4
September 2009). This is not true. Mr. Molefe did not meet with the
Minister of Transport at Gallagher Estate in Johannesburg last Friday.
Mr. Molefe attended a report-back meeting with SANTACO and officials
from the Department of Transport, led by Deputy Director-General: Public
Transport, George Mahlalela, at Gallagher Estate. The Minister of
Transport was not present at this meeting. Let me say, however, meeting
with government is not a death sentence! Meeting with the Minister of
Transport, or any government official, should never lead to any death.
We, therefore, call on the media to report on such sensitive matters
accurately. As Minister of Transport, I will continue to meet any person
I want to meet. As Minister of Transport, I will not be threatened, or
stopped by anyone, in carrying out my departmental mandate.

We have worked hard to bring peace to the taxi industry. I know that
the majority in this industry have turned their backs on violence. Those
who wish to continue with violence must know that they do not belong
here, they belong in jail. We have absolute commitment from the
Department of Police, including Commissioner Bheki Cele, that no stone
will be left unturned in bringing Molefe's killers to book. Regardless
of where the killers are, the long arm of the law will search for them.
We have no doubt they will be arrested very soon.

These criminals must face the consequences of their actions in a manner
that sends a clear message to others that society will no longer
tolerate this type of behaviour. Violence must cease forever to be a
tool for power. Negotiations are the only means through which we have
chosen to resolve our differences with the taxi industry.

On 11 June, when we launched the National Joint Working Group (NJWG) on
Public Transport, we started a CODESA of the taxi industry. We want to
re-emphasize today that our agenda is very broad, deliberately so, so we
can table everything and any issue for the NJWG to discuss.

From this platform, we call on all stakeholders in public transport -
taxi owners and operators, the associations, the community of commuters,
civil society and all levels of government - to work tirelessly towards
the success of the NJWG. Mr. Molefe's death must spur us on, and not
deter us, to complete the mission of broadening the role of the taxi
industry in our transport sector and our economy.

We must recommit ourselves today that we will address, with even
greater gusto, all the issues on the agenda of the NJWG. These include
the implementation of the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system and other
integrated public transport network projects, taxi subsidization and
Taxi Recapitalisation, legislation, licensing and regulatory issues,
enterprise development and communication and stakeholder engagement.

We must pursue a common agenda with determination to provide a
sustainable, effective, safe and affordable public transport system to
our people and ensure that the legacy of apartheid planning is
reversed.

Our biggest question, as the Department of Transport, is: Where are
Blacks, and particularly Africans, located in country's mainstream
economy? We want the taxi industry to move into the centre of the
transport sector, into the centre of our economy. For that dream to
become a reality, we must work together, with men and women of vision,
and together banish all violence and victimisation.

To friends and colleagues, we say only in conditions of peace can we
can all prosper. Let us, therefore, banish violence. Let us promote
peace. We must do this for the sake of Mr. Molefe, and countless others,
who senselessly lost their lives.

To the family, we say Akwehlanga Lungehliyo! Mndeni wakwaMolefe bekani
lonke usizi lwenu kuJehova. Iyasho iNcwadi eNgcwele ithi: "UJehova
ungumalusi wami angiyukweswela. Ungiyisa emadlelweni aluhlaza... Noma
ngihamba ethunzini lokufa, angiyukwesaba okubi ngoba wena unami njalo.
Intonga nodondolo lwami kuyangiduduza. Ulungisa itafula lami phambi
kwezitha zami. Ugcoba ikhanda lami ngamafutha indebe yami iyachichima.
Umusa nesihawu kuyakungilandela yonke imihla yokuphila kwami.
Ngiyakuhlala endlini kaJehova kuze kube ngunaphakade" (Psalm 23:1).

THANK YOU.