the Shell Business Forum, Westcliff Hotel
13 July 2006
Thank you for inviting me to address this Shell Business Forum and
especially for altering the time to accommodate my other commitments. The
organisers kindly sent through a number of questions they wanted covered and so
I hope that I can do justice to these now, otherwise we can deal with them in
question time afterwards. I would also urge you to use this opportunity to
bring other burning issues to my attention that, if I am unable to deal with
them here today, they can be answered by the Department in due course.
Transport systems arise mainly from social and economic imperatives and
because they reflect the diversity of activities and geographies where people
find themselves they are complex, varied and need to adapt and change as
conditions change. A primary function of any transport system is to move goods
and people efficiently, affordably, reliably and as safely as possible through
the different mediums of air, land and sea. In the modern world and as a
pre-requisite for modern economic development, transport systems must be
integrated across and within different modes.
Time factors, environment and appropriate spatial planning impact to a great
degree on the efficiency of the system as a whole as well. An efficient
transport system requires government, the private sector, parastatals, civil
society and other different sectors of the economy to pool their resources, to
meet the myriad transport challenges that enhance economic growth, job creation
and sustainable growth.
South Africaâs six percent economic growth target will be facilitated by
considerable investment in rail, road, aviation and sea transport
infrastructure and the development and growth of all relevant human resource
skills that will be the lifeblood of the systemâs sustainability in the longer
term. But whilst we focus a great deal of attention on the hard-nosed elements
such as infrastructure, we simply cannot afford to ignore what might appear to
be the soft-core issues of safety on our roads, across the rail system, and in
air transport.
If we are unable to integrate the human dimension, including operational
management systems, with infrastructure, the success of Accelerated Shared
Growth Initiative for South Africa (AsgiSA) or even the FIFA 2010 World Cup
will be severely hampered. One commentator in todayâs Business Day, writing in
the context of public transport, puts it rather well when he says that âthe
strength of the chain lies in its weakest link. All the bus lanes and all the
transport plans in the world will not in themselves ensure the provision of
quality servicesâ.
The challenges are real and are facing us right now, even as we proceed down
the road towards 2010. Road safety, driving skills and training, the control of
hazardous and dangerous cargo, the transfer of adequate and professional
technical expertise to a growing body of inspectors and professional operators,
are all as critical to building an efficient system as are the creation of
reliable public transport systems and infrastructure upgrading. As we are all
aware, since at least 2002, government expenditure towards improving our
minibus taxis, trains and buses has improved markedly, laying the foundation
for improved services and infrastructure investment, promoting business and
ensuring safety and sustainability in the transport sector. The positive role
and contribution of the petroleum, construction, motor and mining industries,
amongst others, in terms of road safety and infrastructure development assists
us greatly.
Government and the private sector depend on each other for implementation of
some of our programmes. Self-regulation is the preferred option in terms of
enforcement but if that fails, then we have no option but to intervene and deal
with those who contravene the laws of the road. These laws are put in place to
improve safety and efficiency. Our emphasis should not be the punitive element
of law enforcement, but rather the contribution such laws and regulations make
to improvements in social and economic efficiency of the transport systems
itself.
I indicated earlier that transport systems are by their nature complex. If
we just take the commercial transport sector as an example, it is easy to
identify a range of elements that either contribute or negate its greater
impact. These include the design and condition of road infrastructure; vehicle
designs and condition; overloading and weighbridge control, as well as the
damage done to our roads by overloaded vehicles, which by one estimate is over
a billion Rand annually; legislation and regulation of the industry; labour
relations, conditions of labour, including working hours; and the HIV/AIDS
pandemic and the effect that it has on the industry.
All of these areas require constant assessment and attention and the
Department, with our provincial partners and relevant agencies such as the Road
Traffic Management Corporation (RTMC), South African National Roads Agency
Limited (SANRAL) and the Cross-Border Road Transport Agency (C-BRTA) are seized
of this work on a daily basis.
Similarly, the Road to Safety Strategy 2001-2005 recommended several
measures to improve driver compliance and abilities. The first was to introduce
new alcohol limits and this has been completed and the new levels have been in
place for some years. New cell phone laws were introduced in 2000 and are
implemented by enforcement agencies. Another of the issues in the strategy was
the introduction of stricter criteria for Professional Driving Permits testing
in terms of both training and medical fitness.
Once again, we are looking at elements of the strategy to see where there
has been success and whether some areas could be strengthened. A recurring
challenge is how long does it take for trends to emerge or indeed, for new
practices to take root sufficiently to result in a change of driver
culture.
It is a horrifying fact that we are faced with about 14 000 fatalities
resulting from accidents on our roads. These accidents are caused by various
reasons, from unroadworthy vehicles, driver fatigue and unfitness, alcohol
consumption and speeding. A lot of lives could be saved if all sectors in the
transport industry and other areas could contribute significantly to the safety
and prosperity of all South Africans.
I understand that valuable contributions concerning the root causes and some
of the effects of countermeasures we have taken to date, were discussed earlier
this week at the Southern African Transport Conference in Tshwane, so I will
not go into detail now. The challenge of course is to integrate these studies
with our practice. Incidentally, I am delighted that Mr Gerrie Botha, the
director of research and development at the RTMC in Centurion, was the joint
recipient of the âBest Paperâ award at the conference, further proof that we do
have in the state sector some of the brightest analysts around.
A particular area of attention is beefing up the training standards,
curricula and certification procedures of drivers generally but recipients of
professional driving permits in particular. The South African Qualifications
Authority (SAQA) is currently assisting us to develop the standards, after
which a course will be developed. There will then be a process of accrediting
training providers in the industry to do the training.
Basically, we want to move to a situation that when professional driving
permits are obtained, it will be necessary to indicate that a course in
advanced/defensive driver training has been completed with a practical test
which will have to be passed before a permit is issued and where stricter
medical criteria will have to be adhered to. This is especially necessary in
the light of increasing trends in diabetes and of course HIV/AIDS, both of
which can affect driving ability if not controlled. We will have to find ways
to balance the need for ensuring an industry that does not discriminate against
those affected but one that also ensures safety for all road users.
The RTMC and the Department are paying greater attention to law enforcement
on our roads. Statistics tell us that 90% of crashes are caused by breaking the
law and the vast majority of accidents are preceded by a traffic law violation.
Research has also revealed that a small portion of our drivers are involved in
the majority of crashes and can be categorised as repeat offenders. We have
identified some drivers involved in more than 30 incidents in a short period of
a few years!
Another aspect of improving training, is the writing of an improved K53
driversâ licence test. This is complete and the training manuals for the
various licences (motor cycle, light vehicle, heavy vehicle etc) have been
printed and are available for distribution. The tender for the question bank to
improve the actual testing is complete and will be published shortly.
South Africa is enjoying the fruits of hard work on the economy. We are in a
robust period. This has led to increased road traffic (at least a million extra
vehicles in the past five years), and thus increased demands on a numerically
stagnant enforcement community.
Enforcement affects every aspect of the industry. Overloading is controlled
by the use of weighbridges. There is a need for improved training of officers
in this area of enforcement and for commissioning more weighbridges, both
portable and fixed. Another critical area of freight movement is of course
dangerous or hazardous materials.
Whilst the bulk of this type of cargo is transported by rail and is
subjected to strict procedures, gaps have been identified in our road
regulations. Hence, certain regulations are being finalised to improve safety
in this regard and we are in discussion with the Transport Education and
Training Authority (TETA) to accredit training bodies, materials and curricula
in this area. I have also asked the Department to speed up its recommendations
on the proper location of an appropriate Dangerous Goods Inspectorate.
Due to the inability or unwillingness of drivers to adhere to speed limits,
we are introducing speed governors on all new taxi vehicles under the Taxi
Recapitalisation Programme. It is only a matter of time before we demand the
use of tachographs and speed limiters on all heavy and public transport
vehicles, to ensure that driversâ hours are kept to reasonable limits and speed
restrictions are obeyed.
Overseas programmes to educate consignors as to savings in fuel costs and
the costs related to crashes by slower movement have been very successful in
leading to lower speeds. We are testing these findings against South African
conditions at the moment and should have proposals soon.
There are several other initiatives in the pipeline, which we believe will
assist the industry. Some of these are as follows:
1. the reinforcement of the Road to Safety Strategy imperatives
2. the implementation of the Administrative Adjudication of Road Traffic
Offences (AARTO) Act and its system of demerit points, improved fine
collection, parity of fines and easier fine payments
3. a completed tender for a feasibility study into periodic vehicle testing,
which should be implemented during 2007
4. discussions with organised labour and industry regarding more appropriate
and realistic driving hours
5. improved enforcement through the co-ordination bodies of the RTMC and an
increased number of officers being trained and deployed throughout the
country
6. the Taxi Recapitalisation Programme, taking out the oldest and most
unroadworthy of the fleet and replacing them with new vehicles with set safety
standards.
We endeavour to have regular communication and engagement with the heavy
transport industry and will continue to do so. Without knowledge of your views
and perceptions, we cannot regulate the industry to the advantage of the entire
society.
We depend on you to move people and goods safely around the country, to
self-regulate your industry and make recommendations to us for improvements. I
am pleased to have had the opportunity to meet with you today.
Thank you.
Issued by: Ministry of Transport
13 July 2006
Source: Department of Transport (http://www.transport.gov.za)
