Mr KD Molusi during the launch of the Barkley West sidewalks, Barkley
West
4 October 2007
Programme Director
Honourable Mayor of Dikgatlhong Municipality
Councillors
Distinguished guests
Ladies and gentlemen
Programme Director, before we come here we were in Pampierstad this morning
where we officially launched the Transport Month in Northern Cape. This will
culminate in a lot of activities raising awareness of what the Department of
Transport, Roads and Public Works stands for. Perhaps I need to be fair to the
people gathered here and explain why October has been set aside as the
Transport Month.
Transport Month was incepted in 2005 by the Transport Minister Radebe with
the objective of awarding a special attention to the transport issues because
transport is critical in service delivery. As he said last weekend when he
officially launched the Transport Month nationally, "the campaign has gone from
strength to strength and it has brought unprecedented levels of success in
showcasing our achievements."
Last year during the Transport Month, in Northern Cape we hosted the
Transport Consultative conference which saw a number of role-players in the
transport industry coming together to pledge their support in the projects that
are planned to improve transportation issues. Out of that experience, we drew a
number of lessons and we have since developed an action plan to enable us to
implement some of the resolutions. Of course, this is not an overnight
exercise; proper planning and resources are needed to deal with challenges in
the transport industry.
Ladies and gentlemen, the Department of Transport, Roads and Public Works
has a legislative mandate to provide transport networks, road infrastructure
and ensure that other government departments have well-kept buildings and
office space. Further than that, in our strategic plan we committed ourselves
to job creation, infrastructure development, and skills development and
information technology and poverty alleviation. Overall, our objective is to
better the lives of the people.
Programme Director, I must confess that Barkley West has not been a pleasant
sight to me. My colleagues will attest to this; one day I just told them that
we need to do something to beautify Barkley West. Besides the unpleasant sight,
I was more concerned about the safety of the pedestrians. This uneasiness
resulted in the initiative of constructing parking bays and sidewalks to the
tune of approximately R2 million.
As Councillor Jammer has already indicated, we entered into the agreement
with the Dikgatlong Municipality charging them with the responsibility of the
construction of 200 parking bays, 1 200 metres sidewalks and 2 800 metres of
concrete channel, in Campbell Street. Apart from creating jobs for the locals,
the project will also use the Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP)
guidelines, thereby providing training to the workforce.
For example, the site clearing, drainage facilities and pavement
construction will be done by labour intensive methods. This means that after
the completion of the project, our people will be in a better position to be
employed by other construction companies because they will be having some basic
skills. The employment of the community members would bring us joy; it would
mean we are in the right track of achieving the objective of eradicating
poverty.
Ladies and gentlemen, EPWP is aimed at the provision of additional work
opportunities coupled with training education or skills development; and as the
EPWP champion, my responsibility is to ensure that there are opportunities for
skills development and creation of jobs across all the sectors. In his State of
the Nation Address, President Mbeki stressed the importance of up-scaling EPWP
this year and we are diligently working towards that objective.
In Northern Cape, we have set a target of creating 15 000 job opportunities
across all the sectors, during the 2007/08 financial year. The department will
spend R150 million on EPWP projects during the next three years. R27 million
earmarked for job creation will be distributed equally to the five District
Municipalities; each receiving R5 million. The remaining R2 million will be
used for training and development. Currently we are busy finalising the process
of appointing EPWP regional co-ordinators to monitor and supervise projects in
the municipalities.
Recently we launched the National Youth Service programme which will see 500
youths from all parts of the province receiving learnerships in plumbing,
carpentry, paving, painting, etc. Furthermore, we will create new venture
learnerships for people who want to start businesses. The emphasis of this new
venture learnership programme would be to develop entrepreneurial and business
skills. Again, we intend to build a pool of skilled artisans within the build
sector, particularly within the fields that have declining numbers such as
technicians.
Programme Director, it is during this Transport Month that the general
public will witness service delivery as we will be showcasing our achievements.
Some of our activities include jerking up the taxi recapitalisation programme
which is steadily gaining momentum despite the teething challenges we
experienced when we launched the programme last year. I wish to reiterate what
I said earlier in Pampierstad: taxi recapitalisation programme was not
introduced to create animosity between the taxi operators and government.
Rather, it was introduced to replace the current unsafe and ageing 16-seater
taxi fleets with purpose-built larger capacity and more comfortable new taxi
vehicles.
Because safety of the passengers is our number priority, these larger
vehicles are fitted with safety belts for all passengers in the vehicle. I am
calling upon all the taxi operators with old taxi vehicles to contact the
department in order to have their vehicles replaced.
Again as part of the Taxi Recapitalisation Programme, we started two months
ago with the branding of the new taxi vehicles. We were launching this project
earlier in Pampierstad and we appeal to all the operators to have their
vehicles colour-coded. The branding or national identity for taxis includes a
uniform colour, a brand design derived from the South African national flag and
a route marker that includes the provincial logo and route number according to
the operating license. This is one of the methods that we implemented to
formalise and regulate the taxi industry in accordance with the National Land
Transport Act of 2000.
For the benefit of all of you, let me explain the importance of this
branding project like this: the markers that you will see on the branded taxis
serve as a law enforcement tool in conjunction with the new operating license
system. They are saying to you, this is a legitimate service, you are assured
of safety and over and above all; they confirm compliance to the National Land
Transport Transition Act Regulations. This branding is also a mechanism to
resolve conflicts by facilitating agreements on taxi routes, thereby reducing
violence in the taxi industry.
Throughout this Transport Month, my focus will be on taxi recapitalisation
particularly with regard to operating licenses and branding programme. There is
a team that will go to different places to deal with enquiries and applications
for recapitalisation. Be on the lookout for them and consult them for any
enquiries. During this month our focus will also be on the construction and
maintenance of roads as it is our major responsibility. We will open the access
road in Norvalspont, open the Holgat Bridge in the Namakwa and launch the
Freight Logistics Strategy.
Programme Director, all these efforts are aimed at improving the lives of
the people. We are driven by the commitment we made to create jobs, eradicate
poverty and improve the mobility of the people. In this endeavour, we need all
the stakeholders, including community members to come on board and assist where
possible. In the past community members used to be instrumental in the
development in their areas; they would build schools, churches and clinics.
We need to renew that spirit and inculcate that in our youths. Government
has got various programmes to meet you half-way with your initiatives. If we
continue to rely on government so heavily, I am sure some of you will agree
with me that the system will crash. Finally Programme Director, I wish to
convey my heartfelt gratitude to the people who have rallied behind us in this
campaign, we really appreciate it. Continue to interact with us in renewing our
pledge to better the lives of the people.
I thank you.
Issued by: Department Transport, Roads and Public Works, Northern Cape
Provincial Government
4 October 2007
Source: Northern Cape Provincial Government (http://www.northern-cape.gov.za)
