Mayor of Mhlontlo Municipality Cllr Socikwa and local political leadership
Chief Ludidi, Aah! Jongilanga
School Principal Mr Jikijela and staff members
Parents
Learners
Members of the community
Government officials
Distinguished guests
Ladies and gentlemen
Let me first take this opportunity to thank the School Principal, Mr Jikijela, for being patient with me. I know that I should have visited this school a long time ago, but due to my tight schedule, I could not make it. Today, we are here to demonstrate our commitment as the Department of Transport to one of provincial government’s eight priorities i.e. strengthening education and building a skills and human resources base.
We know the challenges faced by our rural learners when they want to access education. It remains a serious concern to us as government to observe that after 15 years of our freedom and democracy, we still have learners who travel long distances by foot to reach learning centres. What becomes worse is exposure, especially of girl children, to criminal activities and abuse while on their way to school under those difficult circumstances. As we celebrate Women’s Month, we have an obligation to embark on initiatives that seek to deal with the plight of women and children, especially in the rural areas.
In an effort to protect our children and safeguard their future, the Department of Transport has introduced the Shova Kalula bicycle project, which assists learners who travel long distances to reach schools. Last year, the department distributed 3 900 bicycles, helmets and school bags to rural school children.
Our monitoring of the impact of the project showed that school attendance has improved significantly in those schools where bicycles have been distributed.
This project is therefore making a real difference on the ground in terms of service delivery. We are currently busy with a process of procuring a further for thousand bicycles and 12 containers to serve as bicycle maintenance shops.
Today, we are making history as the Department of Transport, because this is for the first time that a single school receives 200 bicycles at once. Congratulations to the Qumbu Technical High School! There is a training programme by our public transport directorate for learners who are struggling to ride bicycles. Please use that opportunity!
Department of Transport Exhibition
Today, we are further experiencing rural development in action in our own pilot site (Mhlontlo Municipality), as we have brought the Department of Transport’s services here in an effort to empower our rural communities. By doing this, we are opening up the department for public relations intimacy with the people of the province in their various sectors. Central to this is to win the public confidence to support us in our service delivery endeavours of making a better life for all our people.
Over the years, access to our programs has been limited to the urban areas or people with access to the media tools like radio, television, commercial newspapers. This has limited levels of knowledge about the nature of services we render as the department to the people, especially about our mandate, our plans and our targets.
The recent citizens’ report indicated to us the areas that we needed to improve in delivering services and this initiative responds to the issues raised by the people and many other questions that our people continue to ask about our programs and infrastructure developments in the province. Although I am leaving after my address to another event at Caba village, the Department officials will remain to provide services to the people, which include:
* customer Care
* supply Chain Management (to register suppliers in the department’s database)
* traffic Safety
* trafffic Administration and Licensing
* public Transport
* human Resource Development (to provide forms for bursaries, learnerships and internships)
* community-based Transportation
* and give information on road construction projects etc.
After that, they will proceed to the Qumbu taxi rank to hold a mini-road show to further educate our people about our programmes. We believe that this is the best way to promote interaction between government and the people.
In conclusion, I would like to once more express my sincere gratitude to the management of the school and the community of Tsilitwa for this august occasion. The Department of Transport’s doors remain open to assist you in your endeavours.
I thank you.
Enquiries:
Ncedo Kumbaca
Tel: 043 604 7584
E-mail: nossy.mzini@dot.ecprov.gov.za
Issued by: Department of Transport, Eastern Cape Provincial Government
6 August 2009
