23 November 1999
Masters of Ceremonies,
Honourable Mayor of Riversdale,
Honourable Mayor of Heidelberg,
Honourable Mayor of Swellendam,
Councillors and members of the local communities,
Representatives from the SA National Roads Agency,
Members of the Media,
Ladies and Gentlemen.
Thank you for inviting me to this beautiful part of our country. South Africa's road infrastructure together with its people and natural resources is one of its greatest assets and I am in the privileged position to be the custodian of this national treasure.
The infrastructure of any country lays the foundation for its development, and an investment in its national infrastructure provides confidence in the economic, social, political and cultural growth of this country. Such confidence ensures that the image we project to the world is that of a country which boasts a world class infrastructure.
South Africa is a key player in the economy of the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) and our position in the region further enhances the need to preserve our roads infrastructure to meet the demands put on us.
Government can no longer on its own shoulder full responsibility for the building, upkeep and maintenance of our national roads. One reason being that Government does not have the finances for large infrastructure projects. This, combined with an inheritance of more than R3 billion in infrastructure backlog, makes it necessary to forge partnerships to meet the challenges head-on.
The shared vision of economic prosperity for our country gave our Government the confidence that the private sector would answer the call to show boldness and confidence in Government's commitment, so that we could together realise our vision and Build a Better Life for all South Africans.
After a spate of serious motor vehicle and bus accidents on the N2 between Swellendam and Riversdale, most notably the two major bus accidents at Riversdale, a committee consisting of the Chief Executive, Councillors and Town Engineer of Riversdale, officials from local and Provincial Traffic, the South African Police Service, the Provincial Roads Engineer, Department of Justice and National Department of Transport, Road Safety and Chief Directorate Roads (now South African National Roads Agency) convened at Riversdale on 28 November 1995, to address the road safety problems in a holistic manner.
An action committee was formed and the Two Rivers Road Safety Project was launched early 1996 (26 January 1996) by the then Provincial Minister of Transport Mr Lennox Ramatlakane with the aim to reduce accidents on the N2 between Witsand intersection, west of Heidelberg and Stillbay intersection by 20% per annum. This project was later extended up to Swellendam.
To achieve the set target, the proposals which were formulated andsolutions which had to be implemented, consisted of the following:
Roads usually are blamed for accidents. Statistical figures have however shown that the human factor is the result of 80% of all road accidents. Traffic analysis showed that some 38% of vehicles were exceeding the prescribed 120km/h speed limit, on a road which has a variable speed restriction, and a mix of vehicles of which 15% of the volume on the road comprise of heavy vehicles.
I have been informed that the road engineers identified various accident related black spots along the route and concentrated on the following aspects in their designs:
Three rehabilitation contract works, funded by the National Roads Agency, with a total value of R65 million were in progress between July 1997 and July 1998 between Swellendam and Riversdale.
These contracts in line with the South African National Roads Agency's policy to provide a road infrastructure of high quality and effective safety standards, as we can see today, did not only contribute to a safer road for the travelling public, but it was also a major economic injection for the economy and the community in the area as a whole. Chairperson, I'm also informed that this project has positive results for the local communities and businesses in that;
The project can be seen as a partnership between the local communities and the Roads Agency where the community provided manpower, SMME's, and materials. An inter-governmental partnership was also established which resulted in a financial contribution to the building of the bridge at Heidelberg. The Agency provided the engineering skills and funding for the rest of the projects. This is an excellent example of cooperative government in action.
The South Cape Incident Management System (IMS) which cover the N2 between Swellendam and Swartvlei was launched in November 1997.
The IMS consists of a multi disciplinary team of emergency services that ensure accidents are dealt with in an efficient and co-ordinated manner. The ongoing success of an IMS depends largely on training, whilst the response for training has been impressive, it is now up to each organisation to ensure that their staff are adequately trained in the practical implementation of Incident Management. I believe that there is a need for us to utilise our very limited resources to address the question of road safety on our road network in a holistic manner.
May I take this opportunity to remind you to observe the 6 Road Safety Commandments during this festive season.
These are:
In conclusion, I would like also to take this opportunity to thank the people of Swellendam, Heidelberg and Riversdale, the various emergency services, the Overberg and South Cape District Councils, the Contractors and the Consulting Engineers, for the commitment and hard work to make this a safer road.
It is my pleasure to declare the upgraded of the N2 between Swellendam and Riversdale as officially opened.