T Mhlahlo: 2010 Fifa World Cup Transport Plan Summit during Transport
Month

5 October 2007

Let me first take this opportunity to commend all of you for your
attendance, which gives us hope that we will collectively pull together all our
resources and energies to ensure that we present a successful African World Cup
in 2010.

As we celebrate the national Transport Month (October) 2007, we have a duty
to gauge the progress that we have made as the Eastern Cape in preparation for
this international football showpiece and beyond.

This approach seeks to ensure that we use the opportunity presented to us by
the tournament to build our transportation infrastructure and systems, which
will leave our people with a lasting legacy.

Government has identified transport and roads infrastructure as critical
areas of intervention in order to present our people and visitors with a
successful tournament.

The Eastern Cape Department of Roads and Transport is committed to ensure
that the required state of readiness of the transport system in the province is
achieved.

Public transport

We all know that Nelson Mandela Bay will be our host city, while Buffalo
City and King Sabata Dalindyebo will be used as base camps. The department
serves on all three metropolitan transport advisory boards to provide the
necessary leadership in transport planning.

The Integrated Transport Plans of these municipalities form part of our
updated Provincial Land Transport Framework and the Integrated Transport Master
Plan, which are our guiding documents for 2010 transport planning.

On 23 October 2007, I will host the first sitting of TransMEC, which is a
forum where I interact with councillors and officials responsible for transport
and infrastructure in the province. Some of the issues to be discussed include
the Nelson Mandela Bay Bus Rapid Transit in relation to the operations of Algoa
Bus Company and South African Rail Commuter Corporation (SARCC) Metrorail, the
Public Transport Plans of Buffalo City and King Sabata Dalindyebo.

Our main intension is to ensure that by January 2008, we start the
implementation of the Provincial 2010 Public Transport Operational Plan, which
links air, road, rail, maritime, taxi and bus operations.

Already, progress is being made in the Buffalo City through the integration
of Mayibuye Transport Corporation bus services with the municipality's Public
Transport Plan. We will further recapitalise the fleet of the corporation in
order to meet the new transportation demands.

I believe that we need to emulate that exercise in the King Sabata
Dalindyebo, when we introduce the first new 55 buses from Africa's Best 350
Ltd, which is a 100% black owned company established by small bus operators
from the former Transkei region.

Taxi recapitalisation

The province of the Eastern Cape is leading in the country in the
implementation of the Taxi Recapitalisation Project. Since the provincial
launch of the process of scrapping old and unsafe taxi vehicles in December
2006, more than 2 000 vehicles have been brought to the provincial Scrapping
Centre in Zwelitsha for scrapping, of which 1 936 vehicles have been scrapped
and R102,7 million has been paid out to operators, who received their incentive
of R50 000,00 per operator.

Airports

A R100 million upgrade is underway at Bhisho Airport and more than 100
people from nearby villages are working on the project. The upgrade will end in
March 2008 and we expect the airport to operate in full swing very soon, as it
has been identified for receiving international flights during the World Cup.
Mthatha Airport will also undergo an upgrade as soon as we get the required R35
million. The airport's traffic volumes have now increased from 23% to 30%.

Last year, airports such as the Port Elizabeth Airport grew by 10,4 percent
on average, reaching total passenger volumes of 1,4 million passengers for the
year. The current consolidated terminal capacity is 2 million passengers. East
London Airport grew by 16,7 percent on average, reaching a total passenger
volume of 698 000 passengers for the year. The current consolidated terminal
capacity is 700 000 passengers.

Back to Rail

Having obtained a testing and commissioning permit from the Rail Safety
Regulator, the Eastern Cape Department of Roads and Transport is currently
undertaking line inspections as well as driver testing on the Kei Rail line.
These are just two of the requirements that need to be satisfied during the
testing and commissioning phase – which extends to 16 November 2007 - before an
operations licence can be considered by the Rail Safety Regulator. The
Regulator has accepted our final submissions and is awaiting our final report
of the testing and commissioning phase. In a letter received on 6 September
2007, our submission has been generally accepted.

We have leased 20 coaches from Shosholoza Meyl to operate the service. In
addition, the Department is concluding the acquisition of refurbishable coaches
for use on the Kei Rail line. Sheltham Grindrod Group has provided two 33 Class
200 General Motors Diesel locomotives with 2 000 horsepower each. The
department is currently concluding the acquisition of further additional 33
Class Diesel locomotives, for refurbishment to the latest technology available
internationally. This means that Kei Rail will be operational before the end of
the year and link our base camps (Buffalo City and King Sabata Dalindyebo).

We intend to link our rail renewal strategy with tourism development,
because our railway lines pass the most scenic parts of our province. Kei Rail
will support tourism projects such as the Nelson Mandela Cultural Precinct,
Nelson Mandela Cultural Corridor, Tsitsa Falls Nature Reserve, Greater Kei
Holiday and Cultural Village Development.

We have allocated R10 million for the upgrading of the Narrow Gauge line
from Port Elizabeth to Avontuur, as we intend to commence the operations in
2008 and promote tourism. We are investigating the possibility of introducing a
train tourism service further up the Langkloof and in Somerset East and
Graaff-Reinet. The department has allocated R3 million for the compacting of
these tourism projects along our railways into a Rail Tourism Plan, which will
assist in the provision of entertainment for soccer fans in 2010.

We are further looking at introducing a rail passenger service to the
Western Suburbs of Port Elizabeth and services to KwaZakhele and Motherwell
before the 2010 World Cup.

Maritime transformation

With our 2010 Provincial Freight Transport Plan nearing completion, we
believe that we can build the capacity of our seas in an effort to create jobs
for communities living along these natural resources and grow the tourism
industry. With the assistance of the Provincial Freight Logistics Forum, we
further want to have a Maritime Passenger Transport Strategy, which will enable
people to commute between Durban, East London and Port Elizabeth to watch the
matches in 2010.

As members of the National Port Security Audit Team, the Eastern Cape will
start auditing the safety and security aspects of our provincial ports as from
February 2008. We have identified the Port of East London as a starting point,
and we look forward to contributing to the safety and security of our ports.
When all the safety requirements are complied with, the sea can be a safest
mode of transport than any other and contribute in our tourism development
strategy, which is the main pillar of our Provincial Growth and Development
Plan.

Roads infrastructure

We are currently spending R1,97 billion per annum on our routine road
maintenance on 42 000 km of provincial roads. These include roads that link the
three declared cities. One of the main strategic priorities in our
infrastructure investment strategy is to make our coastal route available as a
natural resource. More attention will be given to the coastal road between East
London and Port Elizabeth (R72), which runs through the Ncanarha interchange on
the N2 to the Nahoon interchange on the N2 in East London. This is a vital
arterial road that supports both industry (East London and Coega IDZs) and
tourism, and is also of importance for the 2010 Fifa World Cup.

This road is similar in length to the N2 through Grahamstown, but is
favoured by truckers due to the fact that it has fewer gradients. Traffic
volumes on the R72 have increased significantly over the past three years. This
is by far the highest trafficked Provincial Rural Road. Through our routine
maintenance programme, we will ensure that the R72 is trafficable, while we are
weighing various options. These options are highlighted in the feasibility
study undertaken by the department through South African National Roads Agency
Limited (Sanral) on the possibility of tolling certain strategic routes,
including R72.

This study includes economic, funding, traffic and operational viability.
Presently, the department is doing the following:

* East London Airport - Lilyvale: Rehabilitation of this section will
commence in January 2008 and be completed by 2009 at a cost of R20 million

* Bushman's River and Kasouga River Bridges: the 2 bridges at Bushman's
River as well as the bridge over Kasouga River on R72 will be widened starting
in January 2008 and be completed by January 2009 at a cost of R5 million

* Ncanarha - Fonteinskloof: Planned commencement of rehabilitation of this
section is during 2008 and completion early in 2010.

Traffic management

We have allocated R398 million to be spent on traffic law enforcement and
road safety in order to provide safe passage for all road users during the
tournament. We have already embarked on a massive recruitment drive of young
men and women as traffic officers through our learnership programme. In an
effort to ensure that our public transport operators comply with the National
Land Transport Transition Act of 2000, we have started a new unit of Public
Transport Inspectors and 25 members have already been employed.

The new unit, which complements our traffic law enforcement programme, will
monitor taxi operators' compliance to their operating licences, checking of
public transport vehicles (buses and taxis) conditions etc.

In conclusion, I would like to once more express my sincere gratitude to all
of you for your support, hoping that you will continue to do that when I host a
Provincial Summit on Safety and Security for 2010 to be held here on 1 and 2
November 2007.

Thank you

Issued by: Department of Safety, Liaison, Roads and Transport, Eastern Cape
Provincial Government
5 October 2007