Programme Director
Executive Mayor of Mopani District Municipality, Cllr Joshua Matlou
Mayor of Ba-Phalaborwa Local Municipality, Cllr Nomvula Anna Sono
councillors present
Head of the Limpopo Department of Roads and Transport, Ntau Letebele
Invited guests
Members of the media
Ladies and gentlemen
Thank you for affording us this opportunity to mark the launch of October Transport Month in Phalaborwa. The theme for this month is “Year of Job Creation and Service Delivery in the Transport Sector: Moving South Africa to a Better Tomorrow.”
Transport Month is about people. It provides us with an opportunity to travel across the length and breadth of Limpopo and hear the concerns of our people. During this month, we will be doing precisely that, starting here at Ba-Phalaborwa and ending the programme in Tubatse where we will officially open the Mankele Bridge with the Honourable Minister of Transport, Comrade S’bu Ndebele on 31 October 2011. There, we will unveil the end of the pain endured by the people of Mankele and others; of having to cross the crocodile infested Oliphant’s River which exposed our people to very horrendous and risky conditions.
As we launch this month, a dark cloud is hovering over us nationally as road accidents have robbed many families and friends of loved ones. In Limpopo alone, we lost 23 people in three crashes within 24 hours. It is regrettable that we lost so many lives in such a short period, and untimely so. The senseless and unnecessary loss of human lives has to stop now!
To stop this senseless loss of lives, I have ordered traffic officers to conduct high impact roadblocks on all routes entering and leaving our province. We are also implementing the national public transport enforcement programme. Here, we are focussing on vehicle fitness, driver fitness, loads management, driver’s licences and vehicle registrations documents. In one week alone, our officers stopped and screened 1 488 public passenger transport vehicles, as well as 815 freight transport vehicles. 848 notices were issued with 16 buses, 52 taxis and 5 freight vehicles being either impounded or discontinued. I have also instructed that all buses that fall under the department’s subsidy scheme be tested for roadworthiness. We will also go to bus depots and taxi ranks to test the vehicles there. Un-roadworthy vehicles will be impounded or discontinued. Through these measures, we will widen the net and tighten the screws so that we can totally remove un-roadworthy vehicles and irresponsible drivers from our roads.
I will also be meeting with taxi operators and bus associations, together with the Department of Education on Wednesday to discuss amongst other issues the bus associations of our schoolchildren.
We call on all public passenger transport operators and motorists in general to join us in this drive towards safer roads. Let us prove that our vehicles are not “moving coffins”. Together, we will stop the carnage on our roads.
Programme director,
In my budget presentation to the provincial legislature, I announced that approximately R2 billion will be allocated to transport infrastructure. But what does this mean to the people of Limpopo in terms of the provision of decent roads and jobs? This means that we are upgrading about 180km of roads from gravel to tar and constructing three bridges at a total cost of about R770 million. We are also implementing 22 preventative road maintenance projects at a total cost of around R320 million. The R424 million budget for the Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP) is being used towards the implementation of 27 household-based road maintenance projects, upgrading 7 access roads as well as 8 pothole patching projects. These projects are spread across all our municipalities. We are giving meaning to what we committed doing which is access, social development and improving the quality of the lives of our people.
Programme director,
Guided by this year’s theme and through our forward planning we are way ahead in the creation of job opportunities in the transport sector. Through the labour intensive Expanded Public Works Programme we have given hope and relief from the claws of poverty to thousands of our people. All over the province young men and women clad in orange overalls provide tangible evidence to our commitment. Out of over 62 000 jobs that have been created in the province during the first quarter of this year, the Department of Roads and Transport leads with the creation of over 19 000 jobs.
Programme director,
The construction of this road alone has created many jobs to the benefit of the local community. We have seen people being able to keep the wolf away from the door with the money that they earned from this project. The road itself will play a leading role in unlocking the economic development and potential of this area as there will be a hive of activity of goods entering and leaving the area. Roads connect people and communities, and are catalystic in ensuring prosperity.
Programme director,
We promised our people that we will strengthen the skills and human resource base. With this in mind, a total of R99 059 376.46 has been spent to construct this road. The contract made provision for the employment of local labourers by the contractor during the period of reconstruction. The amount that had been earmarked for labour utilisation was R7 273 604.93. The local labourers also benefited from the accredited training which was offered. For this purpose an amount of R175 721.48 was spent on training 57 local people. We hope that the skills acquired during the construction of the road will give them an edge and put them at the forefront in their search for employment. The appointed contractor empowered the local SMME’s by appointing them as sub-contractors on this project. By this we also hope that the lives of those who benefitted one way or the other will improve.
Programme director,
As we declare October Transport Month 2011 open we will be working tirelessly throughout the province conducting monitoring and inspection sessions of the work being done on our roads. Just recently we had a meeting with all the contractors doing work for the department and we openly told them we expect nothing but the best workmanship. Failure to do so will leave us with no other option but to terminate their contracts and blacklist them.
In conclusion, let me announce the formal programme of activities for October Transport Month 2011, which began here today as follows:
- 6 October: Stakeholder engagement with bus operators and taxi associations, together with the Department of Education.
- 13 October: Our Department’s Service Excellence Awards
- 20 October: The launch of the Provincial Transport Forum
- 27 October: Site handover in Thabazimbi (Dwaalboom Road)
- 31 October: The official opening of Mankele Bridge, together with the National Minister of Transport.
I am making an appeal to all people of this province to join me in living up to the commitment of the ANC of delivering a better life. This is living a testimony.
Thank you.
