Transport Mr Jeff Radebe, Park Station
25 October 2007
I'm greatly honoured to join you celebrate the best in South Africa's
transport. It is always a unique challenge to keep the country moving. But
everyday, you rise to the challenge. Your professionalism; your hard work; your
commitment and character has made passenger rail what it is today. I will
therefore not attempt to steal your precious moment of dancing and celebrating
your achievements and your anniversary. You can be assured that my input will
be brief.
Let me just indicate that tonight is not the night of analysis of how we got
where we are. My input will focus mainly on how we can improve our performance
towards a better and safer passenger rail. Our point of departure should be the
delivery of the national Passenger Rail Plan. Let's concentrate on making
improvements where they are needed most. We need to convert the very
substantial investment going into passenger rail into visible results and
improvements. The objective is to achieve a stable passenger rail to move our
people.
The legacy of years of under-investment is very apparent, but we are turning
the corner. We have provided South African Rail Commuter Corporation
(SARCC)/Metrorail with the powers and the financial certainty to do the job.
With our investment for passenger rail more than doubling since 1994 to over
R16 billion this year, it is a clear commitment to locate passenger rail at the
centre of our public transport system. We're doing this because we are of the
firm view that passenger rail is the essential part of the economic fabric of
our country.
We are therefore in the middle of a programme that will see over a third of
our rolling stock replaced and a huge infrastructure upgrade, one of the
biggest programmes ever which is visible evidence of huge investment. The
consolidation process has also been a crucial and sound footing for our
passenger rail. And I'm grateful for the welcome most of you gave it. We are
grateful that it has already brought cohesion to long-term planning of
SARCC/Metrorail. The new management is also making a real difference to operate
the Passenger Rail in the public interest. The consolidation has also marked a
new spirit of co-operation and working together. And as government we believe
that we have delivered on our objectives of putting the right structures in
place and securing the funding we need.
But let us not forget that it is your job to manage and to deliver an
improved passenger rail system. We will not sign blank cheques. You've got to
show us results. You need to bring in the flair and efficiency you promised and
also point to some successes. Of critical importance to Intersite is the
acceleration of your station upgrade programme particularly for those projects
critical for the hosting of the 2010 soccer world cup. Let us ensure that the
R2 billion which has been set aside for this work is utilised as a matter of
urgency. The long-term plan for the upgrading of flagship stations such as Park
and Durban stations is also critical in ensuring that we attract more
passengers to our trains.
The R15 billion set aside for this work is indeed a corner stone in
transforming our passenger rail to a mass-mover of our people. It must also be
indicated the re-introduction of the railway police has been a great success.
It has led to a remarkable drop of 38% in crime activities within our trains
and stations. The South African Police Service (SAPS) has so far trained and
deployed in excess of 1 500 constables and we are confident that once we have
deployed a full complement of 5 000 police personnel in all our facilities,
crime and fare evasion will be the thing of the past.
As Intersite, you need to ensure that you utilise the R224 million allocated
for the 29 contact points so that our police personnel have proper facilities
to execute their function. It is important that you look at the passenger rail
through the eyes of your customers. They are the ones demanding to see trains
running on time. They are the ones concerned about safety and they want to
travel in comfort. This is not rocket science. And it is within our grasp and
I'm glad that you have already started doing some work to achieve this
goal.
But your bigger challenge is to ensure that people use the passenger rail
because they want to. Not because they have to. You should therefore set high
standards for yourselves. We need more innovation. We need to give the customer
proper choices. Reflecting the way they want to travel. Basically, you need the
vigour and the imagination of a new passenger rail. You need to stand in your
customers' shoes. Ask yourselves what matters to them. Let us therefore set our
sight on a passenger rail that is consistently reliable and accessible to its
passengers.
But let me not lose sight of what we are here for tonight. I think the
celebration we are having is also critical in the motivation of the staff
members. These awards aren't just about refurbishment of coaches and
infrastructure renewal. They're about you. The face of passenger rail. The
people who work on the front lines and make passenger rail happen. It is you
who deal with the public everyday. It is also you who work behind the scenes,
keeping the system working in a reliable and efficient manner.
I must say that you continue to show immense pride in what you do. These
awards are well deserved because you have shown the sort of dedication that's
shared by so many of public transport operators working to keep South Africa's
transport services running. Passenger rail works, because you work in
partnership right across the public transport system. Nowhere will this
partnership be more effective than when it will be tested in 2010. But I'm sure
even then you will also rise to the occasion. I believe that South Africa's
passenger rail is about a "lets do it together" attitude, which is exactly the
spirit that won us the Rugby World Cup.
By adopting a "lets do it together" approach, transport becomes a vital part
of the 2010 soccer world cup. In 2010, you will help the country stage the most
successful World Cup ever. The benefits will be felt way beyond 2010 - marking
a new era for South Africa's passenger rail. By showing the same commitment and
professionalism as those on tonight's nomination list, anything is possible. We
build on what's been achieved and let's put ourselves in the passengers' shoes.
If we do that I believe we can make a real difference to the passenger rail in
this country.
As you celebrate your 15th anniversary, I want to emphasise that you must
maintain a strong and undivided focus on improving performance. That's what
matters most to passengers. It must remain your first priority. The point is,
it can be done and in many places it is being done but it requires commitment
and painstaking attention to detail from everyone involved. It needs an
unwavering focus at every level. This must be everyone's over-riding priority.
We should therefore provide passenger rail with the long-term stability it has
been asking for. Let us operate passenger rail in the public interest. With
those few words, I wish you a happy 15th anniversary but we also share the
victory with those who have won tonight.
I thank you.
Issued by: Department of Transport
25 October 2007
