Joe Bester Head of Citadel Marketing
Tim Modise Host of Barometer South Africa
Jaime Byrom Chairman of Match
Neil Cloete Managing Director of Grinkaker-Lta/Aveng
Members of the media
Distinguished guests
Ladies and gentlemen
Thank you for this opportunity to address this very important and prestigious gathering the Barometer South Africa event.
With South Africa being the first African country to host the World Cup, it is imperative that we present an alternative view of Africa to the world, different from what is commonly known of Africa as a continent. We must therefore use this opportunity to market our nine host cities in particular, but the country in general, as among the best tourist and business centres in the world.
The 2010 World Cup is a FIFA event, but its critical success depends on the active support of government and the people of South Africa. The South African government has through the signed guarantees committed to providing sufficient and safe transport operations to enable the movement of spectators during the World Cup in 2010. The government has identified the transport sector as one of the most important for this event, both from a legacy and event delivery perspective. Without sufficient transport, there can be no event. The South African population also stands to benefit from a strong legacy of an improved national road network, improved public transport, a rapid rail system, which is the Gautrain, and world class airport infrastructure.
To this end, at national level the highest government structure that coordinates preparations for 2010 is the Inter-Ministerial Committee. At sectoral level, transport plans are led by the Department of Transport (DoT) to ensure that host cities Cape Town, Durban, Johannesburg, Mangaung/Bloemfontein, Tshwane/Pretoria, Rustenburg, Port Elizabeth, Polokwane and Nelspruit carry out their responsibility.
As DoT we said in our budget vote speech in July this year that we are going to better coordinate the transport preparations for the world cup. The Department of Transport (DoT) is now taking an active lead in the transport plans for 2010.
We are leading the coordination process, ensuring that operational planning is conducted in a uniform and consistent manner in all the host cities. It is necessary that interaction with the relevant sectors takes place. Our transport coordinating units include the transport sector coordinating forum, the land transport task team and the aviation task team.
We now share critical information and update progress regularly. We are identifying and resolving critical concerns. We also want to guide on elements such as communications, signage, licensing and inter-city services. The task team also seeks to coordinate operational plans to avoid duplication and ensure consistency between venues. We must work off a common implementation programme and the buck must stop with one person at national level.
The operational plan for the event will be signed off by all the affected parties in order to avoid confusion and possible conflict on site and on match day. We are pleased that DoT now has a permanent representative in the security sector structures to ensure synergy in our planning processes. In addition the department is responsible for specific work streams which have been centralised and will be implemented nationally.
Licensing and regulations
The National Land Transport Act (NLTA) clause 61 empowers the Minister of Transport to make over-riding regulations for major special events. The special regulations cater for the needs of host cities by regulating public transport services based on the transport operational plans.
We have therefore identified the following services for regulation:
* Contracted services by host city or other authority, to carry passengers such as from airport to event areas, must apply for a special, temporary/special operating licence
* Operators who already have permits for the area or route will also require a special Operating licence for the 2010 Word Cup as passengers will only be advised to use vehicles with special tags. The National Public Transport Regulator (NPTR) will issue all special operating licences.
Event signage
The existing national signage design guidelines will be extended to ensure consistency between host cities and regional bodies. We will address short-comings from the 2009 Confederations Cup such as inadequate signs at Park and Ride facilities, transportation hubs, railway stations and airports. There was an issue during Confederations Cup of on-street loading and off-loading facilities in the vicinity of stadium precincts. This work will be completed soon.
Bus Rapid Transport (BRT)
By midnight on 1 September 2009 close to 20 000 commuters in Soweto and Johannesburg had boarded the Rea Vaya Bus system. This group joined thousands of others who had already tested the system on 31 August 2009. In South African terms this group is the equivalent of the first man landing on the moon. In our terms the successful implementation of BRT is one step for the City of Johannesburg, a great leap for South Africa.
BRT represents our integrated public transport system which includes minibus taxis, buses and rail. It currently takes too long to travel from Soweto to Sandton. It takes far too long to travel through the city. Estimates indicate that business loses R400million per year on traffic related downtime in Gauteng alone.
BRT is part of 2010 World Cup plans but is also an immediate legacy of the 2010 World Cup. The BRT benefits outweigh its total cost. The BRT system addresses congestion and drives our economic growth. It is world class and affordable. This is appropriate for the 2010 World Cup.
BRT will run for 18 hours a day from 5h00 to 23h00 and the plan is to eventually extend this to 24 hours a day. There will be bus stations every 500 metres, with security officers and CCTV cameras linked to a BRT control room. Once the system is complete, no commuter will walk for more than 500metres to a BRT stop. Minibus taxis will therefore be an integral part of BRT and our public transport system. Minibus taxis are an integral part of the 2010 FIFA World Cup transport plan.
By June 2010 BRT should be operational in Johannesburg, Tshwane, Bloemfontein, Nelson Mandela Bay and Cape Town. For 2010 Cape Town will deploy a BRT trunk and feeder system comprising 25 trunk stations and 139 feeder stops. It will utilise 156 vehicles carrying serving the central business district (CBD), stadium and hotel precincts, airport and the west coast. Cape Town has committed R508 million and another R1 billion to be spent by April 2010.
For 2010 Nelson Mandela Bay plans to implement an integrated network across the entire city with R900 million worth of infrastructure committed until 2010. For 2010 Tshwane plans to have the first of two BRT lines running. The system will run from Mabopane to the CBD and comprise 37km of BRT lanes, 17 stations and a fleet of 58 BRT vehicles. Tshwane will utilise special shuttle services running on temporary dedicated lanes from the CBD to the stadium precinct. These developments indicate our readiness to transport the thousands of fans in 2010.
The Financial Mail cover story on transport which came out today describes these developments as follows, “Though the public could be forgiven for being highly sceptical, on the ground South Africa’s biggest public transformation since World War two is underway. For the first time there is excitement and energy around the arrival of sophisticated rapid bus services and the imminent start of the Gautrain.”
Rail
The Confederations Cup tested our capacity to move people en masse. Our passenger rail agency, Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (PRASA), moved 40 000 people to matches during Confederation 2009. These were not just your traditional Metrorail commuters but also non-traditional passengers. PRASA ran services from Johannesburg to Rustenburg and from Johannesburg to Bloemfontein. In the latter case we transported 3 000 fans to the South Africa-Spain match. Rail passed the test, our country passed the test.
We also had 28 trains operating between Coca Cola (Ellis) Park and Loftus stadiums. The Park and Ride principle was also used for parks adjacent to train stations and fans rode to the newly refurbished Doornfontein station a mere two minutes to Coca Cola (Ellis) Park.
For 2010 we have refurbished 2 000 train coaches and are upgrading major train stations at Cape Town, Nasrec, Mabopane and Doornfontein. PRASA is also building new generation stations at Bridge City (eThekwini), Moses Mabhida (eThekwini) and Orlando Station in Soweto. Our trains carry between 2 000 and 2 500 a trip and it is clear we will not run the world cup without these mass-movers. We are planning rail usage in unison with the Host Cities.
Given its capacity rail may lead the transportation of spectators to the stadium and be the focus of park and rail solutions. Shosholoza Meyl, the long distance rail service will provide additional trains for Polokwane, Bloemfontein, Nelspruit, Rustenburg, Durban and Cape Town.
Aviation
In aviation we must provide adequate airport infrastructure, ensure adequate airline services, ensure the safe movement of aircraft and guarantee the safety of passengers.
All Airports Company South Africa (ACSA) upgrades at OR Tambo, Cape Town, Bloemfontein, Port Elizabeth and La Mercy airports will be complete for the event. At the smaller, constrained airports we will install temporary infrastructure so as to process increased number of passengers.
As DoT we are facilitating the increase in traffic into the country through Bilateral Air Services Agreements with a number of countries. There will be additional frequencies on existing routes and sufficient size and number of aircraft will be available for the event. Home Affairs and the baggage handlers are members of the aviation task team to ensure that all airports are ready for additional passengers.
On the aviation side there are additional tasks including updating operational plans by the end of September 2009, converting airport demand into airline schedules and allocating landing slots to airlines. In January 2010 we will review all operational plans.
The Confederations Cup was an appetiser, a taste of things to come. Sepp Blatter, the President of FIFA, gave us 7.5 out of 10 for hosting the Confederations Cup. This tells us we have no time to rest. The FIFA World Cup is not merely about sport; it is about transport. Our chief responsibility is to deliver the masses of the world to the stadiums, homes and places of entertainment.
Brazil, Ghana, England and the Netherlands are just some of the countries which have already qualified. Just these few countries give us an indication of the colour and celebration that is a few months away. Thousands will come for the tournament; thousands will come to see the country hosting the world cup. On 4 December 2009 the FIFA final draw will tell us where the qualified countries will play. Thereafter the planning and communication will become easier.
Communication
An important lesson from the Confederations Cup is that the communications programme is central to the transport operation. International spectators who are already researching travelling options to and within South Africa need to be assured that there are plans in place, and that they will be catered for. This information will be available on a central communications portal, http://www.transport.gov.za/findyourway.
We are coordinating a national communications programme through the DoT page which has a link on the FIFA website. This programme will ensure maximum and appropriate promotion of public transport. The information and messages will be consistent and complementary nationally, provincially and at host cities. This will include information on airports and air travel, inter-city travel, city and provincial transport, national road network, vehicle hire and charter, what to expect at stadiums, park & ride sites and trip planners. Electronic brochures will be supported by newspapers, radio and TV campaigns to publicise all this information.
Communication is at the centre of every world cup. Our biggest challenge is to ensure that the event is not viewed as inaccessible to local fans. It is not just the travelling fan who is key to the success of 2010, but the local fan who must watch every game regardless of whether South Africa is playing or not. As Transport our responsibility is to move these fans, from city to city, and back home in safety. This is why we say the world cup is about sport, but it is much more about transport.
2010 and national unity
Recent research indicates a major shift in confidence among South Africans with regards to our ability to pull off a successful World Cup. During the first quarter of 2009 a FIFA commissioned survey revealed that 88 percent of South Africans felt a sense of pride at being the first African country to host the world cup, while 77 percent predicted the tournament would be a success.
In May 2009 African response's 2010 barometer found that at least 89 percent of South Africans believed the world cup would benefit the country. It is this optimism that will ensure a successful world cup that is distinctly African and that the South African rainbow is alive and well. The world best infrastructure does not make a successful world cup. It is the people who make a success of the world cup.
We are making this presentation today because we must disseminate information about our readiness and rally our communities behind this project. The following aspects will revitalise the passion amongst our people so they can be part of this event of a life time:
* Let us empower our people with information so they can become our ambassadors.
* Secondly, let us all learn the national anthem. The anthem is the centre of our unity across race and class.
* Our people must take pride in flying the national flag and should take time to learn its colours and their meanings. The flag is a symbol of hope and an affirmation of our belief in a prosperous future.
* Fourthly, our people must be the best hosts they can be. The essence of this must be our spirit of Ubuntu.
The 2010 World Cup represents the hopes of a democracy that dares to dream, a democracy that does not pray to a God of small things and a democracy that is ready to take on the world.
In this regard let us heed the words of that famous German-born physicist Albert Einstein who said, “There are two ways to live: you can live as if nothing is a miracle; you can live as if everything is a miracle”. Let us live our 2010 as the miracle of our lives; then everything else will become a miracle.
I thank you!
Issued by: Department of Transport
10 September 2009
