(SAPS) Rail Police contact point by Jeff Radebe Minister of Transport,
Durban
9 October 2007
Director-General of Transport, Mpumi Mpofu
CEO of the South African Rail Commuters' Corporation (SARCC) Lucky
Montana
Divisional Police Commissioners Tshabalala and Lamoer
Assistant Police Commissioners Naidoo, Ntanjana, Venter, Kulu, Tokwe and
Naidoo
CEO Intersite Nyame Mandini
Police officers and police on parade
Durban Metrorail Regional Manager Sisa Mtwa
Managers and staff of Metrorail and Intersite
We initiated the October Transport Month three years ago as a public
campaign to champion the transformation of our public transport system. This
campaign seeks to mobilise all our people to fight for a better and improved
public transport system that would effectively meet the demands of passengers.
This year, we are focusing our collective energies on transport infrastructure,
the important role it plays in social and economic development as well as to
showcase transport's readiness to meet 2010 expectations. We continue to raise
the level of public awareness about the strategic role that public passenger
transport continues to play in the daily lives of our people and its potential
to change the lives of the people for the better.
I am satisfied that we are already witnessing some very impressive progress
being made in the execution of some of the critical 2010 projects. Since we
started our public campaign I am particularly satisfied that all of these
initiatives confirm the correctness of our strategies aimed at the integration
and improvement of public passenger transport for the better. Public transport
is key to the fight against poverty, is essential to facilitate greater access
and mobility for all South Africans.
Public Transport is central to our socio-economic development. I am certain
that a good public transport is vital in enabling many more South Africans to
take an active part in the reconstruction and development of our society, it
will create the conditions for the ordinary men and women of our country to
take control of their lives as well as enable them to contribute to the
building of a South Africa of our own dreams.
We have over the past week begun with some of the key infrastructural
interventions being made by our government through various publicly owned
transport agencies. We launched this year's October Transport Month with the
opening of the new International pier at the OR Tambo International Airport. I
followed this, among others, with the inspection of the progress we are making
in the construction of the Gautrain Rapid Rail Project. Gautrain's potential to
serve as a catalyst for public transport transformation and bringing new
technologies has become even more relevant. We will continue to deliver on the
key milestones in the delivery of key transport infrastructure in preparation
for 2010 Fifa World Cup whilst using this period to lay the foundation for a
sustained public transport system that will support growth, development and
facilitate universal access for all South Africans.
I am encouraged to see that the rail sector is beginning to respond to the
challenges of our times. Almost two weeks ago, I joined the South African Rail
Commuter Corporation (SARCC), Crowie Projects, the Ethekwini Metro Council and
other key partners in the launch of the R5 billion Bridge City Initiative.
The decision of the SARCC to forge such strategic partnerships in order to
bring forward the implementation of the rail plan for the Greater Inanda Rail
Corridor was indeed bold and innovative.
Construction is underway for the delivery of a shopping mall, with the SARCC
expected to deliver a 3 km double line from Duff Station as well as a
world-class, underground station to cater for 40 000 passengers in the peaks.
The South African Rail Commuter Corporation will invest in excess of R350
million that will see easier and greater access to a quality public transport
services for the people of Inanda, Ntuzuma, KwaMashu as well as Phoenix. The
first phase of the project has commenced and will be completed by October
2008.
Today, we are once again witnessing the results of some of the initiatives
in the passenger rail sector.
The opening of this contact point is an important milestone for the railway
sector and a proud moment for us. It is the second contact point that we are
launching after the launch late last year of the Retreat Contact Point by my
colleague, the Minister of safety and security and myself. As part of our 2010
projects in the passenger rail sector, the SARCC through its subsidiary -
Intersite will build 29 such facilities around the country at a tune of R224
million, with seven of these located in Ethekwini. The total allocation for
this region is in the order of R38 million.
The construction of these facilities is linked to the training and
deployment of police constables around the country. You will agree with me that
we can no longer afford to look at our commuter rail sector with 1995 eyes.
Yes, it was very difficult and unsafe to use a train back in those years. The
SARCC and Metrorail were even taken to the High Court by commuters who demanded
that the entities guarantee their personal safety, culminating in a ruling by
the Constitutional Court in 2005 that both the SARCC and Metrorail were
responsible for ensuring the safety of passengers within the rail
environment.
I wish to say today that we have since the re-introduction of the railway
police seen a significant drop in crime within our trains as well as in our
train stations. Crime has been cut down by a whopping 38% in the last financial
year ending 31 March 2007. I must report that to date, the South African Police
Service has trained and deployed in excess of 1 500 constables, with 250
deployed in the Ethekwini Region.
I must thank and commend my colleague, the Minister of Safety and Security
in his absence, for the sterling role the SAPS are playing to bring to fruition
the strategic decision of the government to re-introduce the railway police.
Today, the presence of the South African Police Service (SAPS) serve as an
important deterrent to criminals who intend to enter and commit crime in our
commuter rail system and contributes significantly to the reduction of fare
evasion.
Among the key successes in the 2006/07 Financial Year, the Railway Police
made 28 000 arrests, of which 9 000 were for serious crimes. I must take this
opportunity to salute SAPS and the constables who try to keep our environment
against very difficult conditions. In particular, I wish to take this
opportunity to pay special tribute to Constable Buthelezi who was killed in the
course of duty early this year.
Again, let us commend the SAPS for the good work because the perpetrators of
this heinous crime, the murders were arrested after follow up operations by the
Railway Police. The main target remains the deployment of 5 000 members by
2010. We are on track to achieve this and I know that five Contact Points in
KwaZulu-Natal form part of 24 planned facilities that will be ready and
commissioned by the Confederations Cup in 2009. This is good news for our 2010
World Cup Preparations. The strategic partnership between the SAPS, public
transport authorities and operators is a key part of our plan to restore public
confidence in the public transport system as a whole.
The improvements are not taking place only on the security side. As you are
aware, the African National Congress (ANC) government has committed over the
next three years in excess of R16 billion to improve our passenger rail system.
A significant portion of this fund has already been committed by the SARCC to
upgrade almost 2 000 of its 4 600 coaches around the country. The SARCC has
begun to spend over R7 billion as part of its Rolling Stock Investment
Programme. Major Contracts of three to five years have been entered with all
the rolling stock suppliers, penalties put in place and delivery already
underway.
Of all the 500 coaches due in this current year, Durban has to date taken
delivery of eight of the 10M5 train sets at a cost of about R345 million, and
another six sets of the 10M5 series planned for this year at a cost of R259
million. I am aware that the SARCC plans to build on current capacity another
nine upgrades at a cost of R389 million. This delivery of coaches is aimed at
improving train availability nationally to 96% of the current fleet by
2010.
We expect that this will improve on punctuality levels, reliability, reduce
train cancellations and delays as well as reduce overcrowding. The challenges
are too many and enormous in the passenger rail sector. The service has lost
significant capacity and lost hundreds of thousands of train trips over the
past 8 to 10 years. We need to arrest and reverse this trend and damage caused
by many decades of under-investment if we expect passenger rail to respond
effectively to existing and future passenger demands.
I am confident that with the changes and turnaround strategy, underpinned by
the huge investment in infrastructure, operations and skills, passenger rail
will live to the challenges of our times. I am encouraged because we are
beginning to see some of the positive results emanating from some of the
strategic interventions we are making in this sector. We are beginning to see
improvements on some of the key corridors in terms of personal safety,
punctuality, income, reduced fare evasion and operational safety. In the case
of Durban, revenue has increased by 10% in the past year, the crime index show
a decrease in crime of 0,4, punctuality improved to 85% with passenger journeys
increasing by 20% year on year whilst cancellations have shown signs of
decreasing. I must say that Metrorail (owned and operated by the SARCC) is
achieving all of these despite the many difficult challenges, especially the
unavailability of trains to meet all the requirements.
Today's event is an indication that we are moving in the right path and will
serve to break the ground aimed at restoring passenger rail at the heart of an
efficient and more reliable public system.
I thank you
Issued by: Department of Transport
9 October 2007
Source: SAPA
