Pretoria, 9 July 1999
Mayor Chamda, MEC of Gauteng,
Members of the Council,
Ladies and Gentleman,
Thank you very much for the opportunity to participate in this historic event. The opening of this road is an important milestone in the ongoing process of reversing the consequences of the skewed settlement patterns we inherited from the apartheid system . It is also a testimony to the value of cooperative governance at provincial and local levels. This project clearly demonstrates that now when Metropolitan Councils build or upgrade roads they do so through a consultative and cooperative planning process which puts the needs of our people at the centre of the picture.
We want to see all of our previously disadvantaged people enjoying continuously improving mobility and access to employment, educational and social amenities; and the successful completion of infrastructure projects like this one makes a difference to peop le's lives where it really matters.
In conjunction with the Delfos Boulevard Extension, now under construction, the road you are opening today, Mr Mayor and MEC Mosunkutu, will provide new and beneficial opportunities for all the residents of the Lekoa Vaal area. It will do so by opening up greatly improved access to the surrounding industrial areas and to the educational facilities of the Vaal Technikon and the University of Potchefstroom Campus in Van der Bijl Park.
But this road is not just about creating new opportunities for employment and higher education. In its construction it has already created work for people who would previously never have had the chance to participate directly in a project of this kind and take some lasting benefit from it for themselves. It is a matter of pride to all of us that this is also the first example of a road being built in this area using labour-based methods. In this regard, tribute must be paid to the joint developers, Michael Xaba of Africa CC and Theaco Road and Earthworks Ltd. The local community was offered the opportunity to develop crucial skills which enriched them and empowered them for future work which will be undertaken in this area.
Today we see the fruit of the first stage of a two-stage development project which will continue to maintain this momentum. This first stage was valued at 13 million Rand, and the further developments envisaged in stage 2 are already in the pipeline. We tr ust that these will not only continue to develop the opportunities and build on the skills already created but that they will be accompanied by parallel developments in the creation of an optimal public passenger transport network for the area.
This is a crucial issue for local transport planners. As you will be aware, in the first term of our new Parliament my Department will be bringing forward the National Land Transport Transition Bill. This will provide the legislative platform for Provinces and Metropolitan Councils to fulfill their planning, implementation and regulatory functions.
Central to the Bill is the creation of democratic Transport Authorities within the third sphere of government. These Authorities will, for the first time, enable transport planning across a functional transport area, irrespective of municipal boundaries.
The integrated planning process will include infrastructure investment, passenger transport operations and, equally important, proper enforcement. This will achieve better alignment between functions and ultimately enable us to put in place fully rationali sed transport systems which are sensitive to customer demand and driven by customer needs.
Finally - in conjunction with the development towards output-based contracts in the bus industry and continuing regulation and capacity building in the taxi industry - the participatory planning process based on Transport Authorities will give us one of th e key instruments we need to take the remaining tensions out of the public passenger transport system.
Today's event puts in place one building block in the many-sided process of development, empowerment and regulation. The goal towards which we are all working is clear. We want to systematically create conditions which tangibly improve our people's lives -through access to social amenities, education, skills development and sustainable job creation.
As we create opportunity, so we build hope and community solidarity. This is one of the most important contributions we can make towards eliminating the culture of violence from which our country has too long suffered.
Department of Transport
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