T Mhlahlo: Umzimvubu Vehicle Testing Station opening

18 October 2007

Today, we are demonstrating our commitment as government in the promotion of
road traffic safety through opening the Umzimvubu Vehicle Testing Station. For
many years, our rural communities have been subjected to a public transport
system that undermined their lives and integrity. As a result, there have been
many accidents, which involved unroadworthy vehicles in this region. The
situation became even worse when it involved schoolchildren.

We are all aware of our past experiences with regard to the N2 that passes
this town (Mount Frere), where our people were killed in numbers by accidents
causes by trucks and buses. The contributing factors to these accidents,
included failure of vehicle breaks and the limited space between the main road,
and shops, which made it difficult for pedestrians to use the road
freely.
The Department of Roads and Transport has spent R5,7 million on the
construction of this Vehicle Testing Station, which will ensure that we
strengthen of capacity to deal with unroadworthy vehicles in this part of our
province. We are further spending R700 000 on the paving project on the Mount
Frere's Main Street (N2) and 50 local people have been employed.

More vehicle testing stations will be constructed in Lusikisiki, Mbizana and
Butteworth. As from today, we expect the Umzimvubu Municipality to take full
control of this facility and ensure that it operates 24 hours. As we speak,
government is preparing for a massive investment in this region through the
Umzimvubu Water Scheme. Furthermore, the Umzimvubu Municipality has been
identified as a "Gateway to the Eastern Cape" during the 2010 Federation
International Football Association (Fifa) World Cup, especially for football
fans, who will be coming from KwaZulu-Natal.

This means that we need to start working on our transportation system and
infrastructure in order to facilitate the movement of people and goods, with
road traffic safety as a major area of focus. The municipality council needs to
urgently take decisive political positions on how to turn around the chaotic
traffic situation on the main street of Mount Frere. Councillors need to
institute by-laws that would minimise the congestion in this town. The
department has recently opened a new permanent Traffic Control Station in Mount
Ayliff to augment our road traffic safety efforts.

I would like to appeal to the officials, who will work in these stations to
be more vigilant against individuals that would want to bribe them. We must
take a collective responsibility against elements that undermine our efforts of
providing safe and reliable transport system in this province. The department
has recently trained and appointed 25 Road Transport Inspectors, who will
monitor the compliance of public transport (buses and taxis) operators and they
have been deployed in all districts, including Alfred Nzo.

Road infrastructure intervention

As we speak, there are regravelling works that are underway in this district
in the following areas:
* Sibi Administrative Area to Sihlabeni Administrative Area in Mount Frere at a
cost of R4,1 million.
* Ntsizwa Administrative Area towards Gogela Administrative Area in Mount
Ayliff at a cost of R4,9 million.
* Mandileni Administrative Area to Luyengweni in Mount Frere at a cost of R5
million.

We will soon start the regravelling of the road from Luyengweni to Nkorweni
towards Mt Fletcher at a cost of R4,7 million. Work is underway on the
construction of DR08015, which is a 31 kilometres stretch widely known as T15.
The road will effectively link Mount Frere and Matatiele. The first phase of
the project is costing the department R347 million and is expected to be
completed by December 2009. Already, 133 local people have been employed, of
which 42 are men, 10 women and 81 young people. At the peak of the project, we
will be having over 350 labourers on site. Phase two and three have already
been designed and each is approximately 32 kilometres long and the construction
expected to commence in 2009.

Sakha Isizwe

It is a known fact that the Alfred Nzo District is dominated by poverty due
to lack of alternative means of economic survival. We have realised the
importance of extensive government intervention in the fight against poverty,
unemployment and underdevelopment. As a result, the Department of Roads and
Transport has initiated a new programme last year, which is underpinned by the
principles of Expanded Public Works Programme.

Since the inception of our Sakha Isizwe Community-Based Transportation
Programme, more than 3 000 households have been employed by the department
throughout the province, of which 501 are in the Alfred Nzo District. We have
further received 413 more Sakha Isizwe households from the Department of Public
Works to work for us in this programme.

All these households work together in road maintenance projects, upgrading,
construction, roadside animal management, fencing, pedestrian safety, footpaths
building, non-motorised transport, gabion basket manufacturing, as rangers etc.
The targeted roads will assist in improving accessibility to economic
activities, tourism opportunities, schools, clinics and other government
services.

Already, there are projects that are underway in this district, such as:

1. Surfacing and Fencing of the Mount Ayliff airstrip
No. of beneficiaries: 28
Location: Mount Ayliff
Budget: R1,2 million

2. Construction and Fencing of Mount Ayliff and Matatiele Junior Traffic
Training Centres
No. of beneficiaries: 10
Location: Ayliff and Matatiele
Budget: R200 000

3. Upgrading of animal pounds
No. of beneficiaries: 45
Location:
45 Mt Frere, Matatiele, Mt Ayliff

Matatiele Budget: R2,1 million

4. Construction of five kilometres sidewalks
No. of beneficiaries: 45
Location: Maluti
Matatiele Budget: R900 000

5. Two kilometres paving
No. of beneficiaries: 50
Location:
Mt Frere
Matatiele Budget: R700 000

6. Upscaling by household contractors
No. of beneficiaries: 500
Location:
Umzimvubu and Matatiele Local Municipalities
Matatiele Budget: R3 million

7. Fencing of roads
No. of beneficiaries: 195
Location:
Phuti to Ntabankulu Maluti towards Qashasnek Pakade to Phepheni
Mt Ayliff to Tela N2 to Sirhoqobeni Mtsane to Mvenyane Matatiele
Budget: R4,8 million

Future Projects:

1. Upgrading of Airstrip
No. Of Beneficiaries: 40
Location: Matatiele
Budget: R3 million

2. Surfacing of the street leading to the Mount Frere Vehicle Testing
Station
No. Of Beneficiaries: 40
Location: Mount Frere
Budget: R2 million
3. Construction and fencing of the Cedarville Junior Traffic Training
Centre
No. Of Beneficiaries: 10
Location: Cedarville
Budget: R200 000

4. Up-scaling by household contractors
No. Of beneficiaries: 500
Location: Umzimvubu and Matatiele Local Municipalities
Budget: R200 000

Bus passenger service

In an effort to improve the bus passenger services in the former Transkei
Region, the department has assisted local small bus operators to establish
Africa's Best 350 Ltd, which is a single legal entity established by the
operators themselves.

The department has allocated R43 million for this project and the rest of
the funding will come from private financiers, which include the Industrial
Development Corporation, the Development Bank of Southern Africa, National
Empowerment Fund and Eastern Cape Development Corporation. There have been
delays in the signing of contracts by some of the financiers, which affected
the delivery of buses.

We hope that before the end of the year, we will receive the first 28 buses
from the supplier, which are ready to operate in Mbizana and here in Mount
Frere. Already, 28 bus drivers are being trained in preparation for the start
of these operations. This will be a major injection of quality public transport
services into a poverty-stricken area by enhancing accessibility to economic
opportunities through improved mobility. It will further enhance the access of
the communities to job opportunities, health and education centres.

The second phase will take off in April 2008 with 56 buses that will be
distributed to the Amathole and Chris Hani districts. The last phase of
distribution of another 55 buses is expected in April 2009 with more buses for
the Alfred Nzo and OR Tambo districts. The buses will be operated from seven
depots in Mbizana, Lusikisiki, Mount Frere, Matatiele, Mthatha, Queenstown and
Butterworth. A total of 166 routes have been identified for this project.

Taxi Recapitalisation

The province of the Eastern Cape is leading in the country in the
implementation of the Taxi Recapitalisation Project. Since the launch of the
process of scrapping old and unsafe taxi vehicles in December 2006, a total of
2 757 vehicles have been brought to the Provincial Scrapping Centre in
Zwelitsha for scrapping, of which 2 311 vehicles have been scrapped and 2 265
operators have received their R50 000 scrapping allowance. This means that a
total of R113 million has been paid out to operators to date. In our midst, we
have the officials from the Taxi Scrapping Administrator.

Back to Rail

In the recent past, it has become evident that the high economic growth rate
of the Eastern Cape continued to put pressure on government to invest on road
infrastructure and rail. Presently, there is a huge imbalance in the use of our
infrastructure for the carriage of goods within the supply chain, as the
volumes are largely biased towards road usage. In response to this challenge,
we have resolved to invest in an integrated multimodal transport system leading
to various destinations, including railway lines.

Our stakeholders, including delegates who attended the Alfred Nzo District
Growth and Development Summit, have expressed an interest in certain railway
links and this is very encouraging to us as a department, as we seek to reach a
balance in the use of our sea, air, rail and roads. We have appointed
consultants to develop a 10-year Rail Plan, which will look at the feasibility
of certain lines, including the link between Mthatha and Kokstad.

We expect to start implementing that Rail Plan in June 2008, which will
serve as a launching pad of our offensive for the massive revitalisation of
rail infrastructure in the province. The proposed link between Mthatha and
Kokstad augurs well with the Kei Development Corridor initiative, which
encompasses a variety of mega projects within the area between East London,
Mthatha and Umzimvubu. Some of the socio-economic benefits identified by the
Kei Rail feasibility study included 28 000 jobs to be created over 20 years and
a 10% reduction in total unemployment in the corridor.

The bio-fuel industry, which is planned around the Umzimvubu River project
and form part of the Kei Development Corridor projects, will change the face of
this area. This link will be investigated as a rapid rail link, which will
ultimately allow a link between East London and Durban within the next 10
years.

In conclusion, I would like to reassure the community of the Alfred Nzo
District that government remains committed to the emancipation of our people
from any form of oppression, including poverty-stricken conditions. Let us
continue to work together to reconstruct and develop this region and our
province, while simultaneously pushing back the frontiers of poverty.

Thank you.

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