Programme Director, Mr Peter Ndoro and viewers of Morning Live,
Deputy Minister of Transport, Ms Sindisiwe Chikunga,
MECs for Roads and Transport,
Senior Management and Staff of the Department of Transport,
Leadership of our State-Owned Entities,
Esteemed stakeholders,
Fellow South Africans,
Ladies and gentlemen.

Thank you for hosting us during a very important time on our annual calendar, the October Transport Month, and allow me to add a word of welcome to all interested stakeholders gathered here this morning.

The National and Provincial Departments as well as various transport entities will over the next few weeks roll out various programmes that seek to contribute to raising awareness about developments in the  transport sector. We are acting in the spirit of working together, united under the theme of “Celebrating 20 years of delivering efficient, reliable and safe transport services.”

This theme enjoins us to both reflect on the path we have travelled since the dawn of our democracy, but also to engage and agree on the work or tasks we have set ourselves as we enter the third decade of democracy. We must clearly and unequivocally state that  – South Africa in 2013 is a better place today than it was in 1994.

Our country has achieved during the past 19 years a level of macro-economic stability not seen before 1994. Such advances created opportunities for real increases in expenditure on social services and reduced the costs and risks for investors. This has laid the foundation for sustained investment and improved growth.

We have seen progressive advances in the lives of our people in areas such as education, health and access to basic services, but also a renewed focus on the need to address the challenges confronting vulnerable groups such as youth, women, and the rural masses of our people.

Specific to the Transport sector, the ANC Government has made significant strides to transform the socio-economic landscape of our country. This we have done, and will continue to do, to meet the social and economic aspirations of our people, especially the urban and rural poor.

When the ANC was voted into power in 1994, we inherited transport policies, institutions and legislation which were antithetical to the democratic ethos. We have worked hard over the last twenty years to ensure that we improve the lives of our people, and have recorded notable advances in the transport sector. I wish to use this opportunity to reflect on some of these.

Ladies and gentlemen,

Good roads are the backbone of our economy. We have about 750 000 kilometers of roads in South Africa. Before 1994, the DoT was responsible for a road network of less than 530 km. In 1998, the ANC Government established SANRAL to look into the national road asset and is now managing over 19 700 km.
Most of our road network is older than 25 years and it has exceeded its design life and that is why we have so many potholes, which in any case, the government has dedicated funding for its rehabilitation.

In total, the maintenance backlog of our road network is more than R149 billion, a financial burden which the government cannot carry alone. You would also be aware that construction has started on the first large new rail lines since the 1980s, to help to shift transport of coal from roads to rail in order to protect the road network and enhance efficiencies in the manner that we conduct business in this industry.

We inherited a rail infrastructure network was in a general state of decay with ageing stock, inefficient signaling systems that affects operations and dilapidated stations. This sector has been characterized by no investments and needed our intervention.

In response to this challenge, we have embarked on a deliberate investment programme in the rail sector, which will see the provision of more than 3 400 new train coaches or wagons and more than 140 locomotives, many of which will now be manufactured locally to create jobs and expand industrial capacity.

Our localisation effort has had a positive impact on our country’s investment outlook, in line with the IPAP objectives. We have further invested in a major programme to integrate urban centres through an integrated public transport system, with national government providing funding and implementation happening at metro level.

In the next two weeks, President Zuma will be unveiling the new Bridge City station which is an integrated and intermodal transport facility. The investment towards this project is R1.3 billion.

Work on the Integrated Public Transport Networks model also includes the City of Johannesburg, which has launched the first phase of the BRT, called the Rea Vaya system, with Cape Town having introduced the MyCiti system which will be completed over the next few years. Similarly, construction has started with new BRT systems for Tshwane, Rustenburg, Nelson Mandela Bay and Polokwane.

Programme Director,

Under this ANC government, our country’s harbours and ports have been improved, with a brand new Port of Ngqura having been completed and its container terminal operating. The Durban and Cape Town harbours were expanded and the Port Elizabeth manganese terminal refurbished.

You will agree with me that our airports are world-class. The addition of the new airport in Durban - the beautiful King Shaka International Airport is further testimony of our commitment to the provision of world-class aviation infrastructure.

In fact, across the country, we have invested more than R22 billion in the upgrade of our airports, from Mthatha Airport to the OR Tambo International Airport.  We have improved in the provision of the integrated transport network with the addition of the Gautrain, which links Pretoria and Johannesburg with the country’s largest airport.

Ladies and gentlemen,

The transport sector is a significant enabler for economic growth and social development, and we must promote the continued and sustained investments by government and the private sector across the four modes of transport, namely, road, rail, maritime and aviation. This is aimed at wealth creation, skills development, job creation and poverty eradication, but beyond that, to redress the negative apartheid spatial development patterns and address regional integration objectives.

This work we do within the ambit of the vision of the National Development Plan – our nation’s strategic long term plan to tackle poverty and inequality – that seeks to mobilize the broadest possible national unity in pursuit of these objectives.

The ANC government cares about the huge impact that transport services have on the lives of our people, as well as on our economic growth and development. We will continue to upgrade and maintain our road infrastructure. This will be implemented through the S’hamba Sonke Programme.

The key focus areas will include the increase of investment in the maintenance of key arterial routes to support the rural economy and the increased focus in the cost-efficient use of labour absorptive methodologies in road construction and maintenance.

Central to the Programme is job maximisation through Co-operatives and Emerging Contractor Development Programmes and a focused attention on deployment of local resources to support the road network asset management.

Furthermore, the S’hamba Sonke Programme must contribute in delivering a Safe Road Environment through the eradication of potholes, and the rehabilitation of strategic routes. Through the road construction and maintenance programme, we will continue to develop skills that are relevant to the industry.

Ladies and gentlemen,

To ensure that these efforts respond to our long-term goal of socio-economic development, the Department of Transport seeks to align its work with the National Development Plan through the National Transport Master Plan.

NATMAP, as a long term plan seeks to:

• develop future infrastructure facilities;
• ensure a demand responsive socio-economic growth strategy, and sectoral integrated spatial development plan;
• maximize the utilization of existing infrastructure facilities;
• develop a central land use and transportation Databank;
• promote integrated multimodal public passenger transportation; and
• provide energy-efficient transport and reduce our carbon-footprint.

As the Transport Department, we envision a transport future that lends itself to an effective industry that is well-regulated and structured in such a way that it benefits consumers as well as industry.

We have also prioritised the following as key focus areas:

• Supply chain development for SMMEs
• Increased participation of women and youth in the transport industry
• Increasing the number of container ports, and an enhanced focus in on the potential of the maritime sector.
• Investment to improve the rail network as well as the number of carriages and locomotives
• Building rail networks around major power generating areas so as to get coal trucks off the roads
• Alternative road surfacing materials that will last longer and be cheaper to maintain
• Fixing potholes.

Programme Director,

Given the need to respond to economic growth, the ANC Government has tried to find ways to fund transport infrastructure so that we do not constrain the economy from growing to create jobs, amongst other objectives.

To this end, funding of our transport infrastructure comes in many ways:

• fiscal transfers through the Municipal Infrastructure Grant,
• the Provincial Road Maintenance Grant,
• the user pay principle, primarily for economic infrastructure use, like the Gauteng Freeway Improvement Programme, and
• lastly, the use of debt markets to borrow to construct transport infrastructure like airports and ports.

Ladies and gentlemen,

In conclusion, on 4 and 5 October, we hosted a National Road Safety Summit attended by more than 3 000 delegates, drawn from a wide range of stakeholders across the country. Two days of robust discussion generated resolutions that will assist to strengthen the National Road Safety Strategy.

These range from areas of:

• Road Safety Management,
• Safer Roads and Mobility,
• Safer Vehicles,
• Safer Road Users,
• Post-Crash Care and
• The Legal and Regulatory framework.

The plans that we developed during the Summit will inform the National Road Safety Strategy 2014-2019 and some of the recommendations made will be implemented immediately.

Fellow South Africans,

We have a good story to tell. South Africa is indeed a better place today, than it was before 1994. The trajectory that the transport sector is taking is admittedly a challenging one.

The ANC’s clarion call since 2009 has been, “Working Together We Can Do More”.

Partnerships and cooperation with all stakeholders in the transport sector are a necessary precondition to the realization of the noble plans we have in changing the face of transport in our country.

Transport remains the heartbeat of South Africa’s economic growth and development.

I thank you!