The Minister of Transport, Ms Dipuo Peters
The Premier of Gauteng, Ms Nomvula Mokonyane
The MEC for Roads and Transport in Gauteng, Mr Ismail Vadi
The CEO of SANRAL, Mr Nazir Alli
The Chairperson of SA National Roads Agency Limited, Ms Tembakazi Mnyaka
Members of the SANRAL Board
Ladies and gentlemen.
It gives me immense joy to join you today to celebrate the official opening of South African National Roads Agency Limited (SANRAL's) Central Operations Centre - the forward looking nerve centre responsible for the smooth and safe operation of Gauteng's improved freeway system.
The Gauteng Freeway Improvement Project (GFIP) is one of government's largest projects to date. It comprises different phases to upgrade and implement new freeway networks.
Before I continue with the reason for our celebration today, let us stop and ponder for a moment as to what infrastructure is for?
In South Africa, like anywhere else, we need infrastructure that promotes a healthy and prosperous society. Our economy is stable but unfortunately the gap between rich and poor is widening.
To meet this challenge we have the responsibility of creating wealth in a way that is socially and environmentally sustainable. We need to bring people together to connect them to jobs and services; but such improvements should not come at the expense of more traffic and pollution, nor should the costs outweigh the benefits.
Through enhanced traffic flow and accessibility, the project will contribute significantly to economic growth.
The Gauteng e-road project is an important contributor to keeping South Africa's economic hub moving. The country's first multi-lane free-flow inter-operable toll system using Electronic Toll Collection (ETC) provides road users with a smoother, safer journey.
Covering 201 kilometres of road, the network now has wider freeways, with up to six lanes in each direction. Thirty-four upgraded interchanges make for easy highway transitions.
Road user safety is enhanced through improved lighting, real-time signage and a freeway management system focused on sustainable road maintenance and incident management.
It is from this very Central Operations Centre that the Gauteng Freeway Management System operates and is made possible by, among other others, high definition cameras monitoring the e-tolled roads and linked to this center.
This sophisticated system implements the on-road services, which provides emergency medical responses in the event of an accident, towing services and constant monitoring of traffic flow on the Gauteng freeway network.
The objective is to improve the safety of motorists - particularly in the event of an accident - and reduce the impact of accidents on the flow of traffic. Services are decentralised at strategic positions across the network to allow for rapid response to incidents.
Transport is the backbone of the South African economy and there is a need for the country to further improve its roads condition in order to meet the growing demands of the economy.
SANRAL is mandated to build and maintain our national roads with funds from the national fiscus, and also by raising additional funds through the user-pays principle.
SANRAL's major challenge is insufficient resources for timely upgrades and maintenance of our road network.
An inadequate road system is one of the key constraints to economic growth in Gauteng and the rest of the country. Congestion and poor road surface condition result in long travel times and high accident rates.
The operation of the e-tolling system in Gauteng started on 3 December 2013.
Today there are more than 1.2 million e-tags that have been taken up and more road users are still registering.
The operational commencement of a system that has an immediate impact on approximately 2,5 million monthly users will unfortunately not happen without initial teething problems. Government is aware of the system challenges around e-tolling and, I am assured, SANRAL is doing everything possible to resolve these problems.
I must take this opportunity to thank all those motorists and businesses that have already purchased e-tags.
This is a nation-building move and can only augur well for a better country.
I am confident the Gauteng Freeway Improvement Project will lead to less congestion and enhanced economic growth in the country's industrial heartland. Therefore, efforts to decongest the Gauteng freeways must be welcomed.
With taxi minibuses and commuter buses exempted from paying tolls, there will be increased mobility and accessibility, and the poor commuter will experience an improved life quality.
I wish SANRAL all of the best as it rolls out and maintains critical road infrastructure in our country.
I thank you.
