Keynote address by Minister of Transport, Ms Dipuo Peters, MP: Official opening of the Dr Chota Motala Interchange on the N3, Msunduzi, KwaZulu-Natal
Programme Director,
KwaZulu-Natal MEC for Transport, Mr Willies Mchunu
Ms Sindisiwe Chikunga, Deputy Minister of Transport
Ms Barbara Thompson, Deputy Minister of Energy
His Worship, Mayor of Msunduzi, Cllr Chris Ndledla
His Worship, the Mayor of Umgungundlovu District Municipality, Cllr Yusuf Bhamjee
The Chairman of the Board of the SA National Roads Agency, Ms Tembakazi Mnyaka and Members of the Board
CEO of SANRAL, Mr Nazir Alli and Executive Management
Our Special Guests, the Motala Family
Senior Officials from all spheres of Provincial and Local Government Leadership
Representatives of community-based organisations
Community of Msunduzi
Distinguished Guests, Members of the Media, Ladies and Gentlemen
It fills me with enormous delight and pride to be with you today on this monumental occasion, where we mark and celebrate the official opening of the Chota Motala Interchange.
When preparing for this event, I was reminded of the words of author Barbara Hall, when she said: “The path to our destination is not always a straight one. We go down the wrong road, we get lost, and we turn back. Maybe it does not matter which road we embark on, but maybe what matters is that we embark”
I am sure that you would agree with me that we have indeed embarked on a journey in 1994 – a journey towards the promise of a better life and a departure from our bitter and painful apartheid past towards the vision of a united, prosperous, non-racial and non-sexist South Africa.
And we will be the first to admit, that as Barbara Hall says, this path has not always been a straight one, we had to take detours and do U-turns, but the fact remains, we are on the path, we have elected to embark on the journey, moving hand in hand with our people.
As we therefore continue on our path towards bettering the lives of all South Africans, it is important that we also reflect on the path that we have travelled since the dawn of our democracy, but also, importantly, to engage and agree on the work or tasks we have set ourselves as we enter the third decade of democracy.
In doing so, we must clearly and unequivocally state that South Africa in 2014, after twenty years of democracy under this ANC-led Government, is a better place today than it was in 1994.
Indeed, as South Africans, we have a good story to tell!
Whilst this path has not always been a straight one, we have indeed gone down some wrong roads, in some cases we got lost, but we have steadfastly continued to work for the betterment of the lives of our people, especially the poor and the rural masses.
This ANC government remains committed to improving the lives of all our people, working in partnership with them to move our country forward.
Ladies and gentlemen,
Our country has achieved during the past 20 years a level of macro-economic stability not seen before 1994. Such advances created opportunities for real increases in expenditure on social services and reduced the costs and risks for investors, whilst contributing to the betterment of the lives of ordinary South Africans.
This has also laid the foundation for sustained investment and improved growth.
We have seen many progressive advances in the lives of our people in areas such as education, health and access to basic services, but also a renewed focus on the need to address the challenges confronting vulnerable groups such as youth, women, and the rural masses of our people.
South Africa in 2014 is a country where, through the efforts and policies of this ANC government, some 650 000 jobs were created in 2013 alone.
A further 3,7 million work opportunities were created since 2009, and we have committed ourselves to create a further six million work opportunities between 2014 and 2019, for youth in particular, and in response to the challenges of youth unemployment.
Programme Director, the good story continues, because we have over nine million of our learners on government’s school nutrition programme, and we have in excess of eight million children who don’t pay school fees through the No Fee Schools Programme.
Through our response to ensure that our people are covered through a comprehensive social security net, we today have 16 million of our citizens on social assistance.
In education, and in an effort to bring back the dignity of our people, over 3 million people have been beneficiaries on the Kha Ri Gude literacy programme. We have built 370 new schools to replace mud schools and other unsuitable structures, and we have committed to intensify the pace of delivery to totally eradicate mud schools and inferior education infrastructure.
Led by this ANC government, we have seen a 12% increase of student enrolments at universities, we have seen a 90% increase of enrolments at Further Education and Training (FET) colleges, and we have increased the budget of the National Student Financial Aid Scheme, that targets poor households to well over R9 billion.
If this is not a good story tell and repeat again and again, then I don’t know what is. I am sure you agree with me?
But let me continue, Programme Director,
Since 2009, this government, led by President Jacob Zuma, has built more than 300 new health facilities, 160 new clinics and a further 12 hospitals were built or refurbished.
In steering away from our difficult past, we have worked hard to arrest crime and violence, and our efforts are paying off. The decrease in the crime rate since 2002 is 21%, and we have increased the number of black African, Indian and Coloured judges in South Africa to 61% of the judicial officers.
13 000 cases of corruption and maladministration have been referred to government departments for further handling and investigation since the launch of the National Anti-Corruption Hotline, and government has recovered more than R320 million from perpetrators through the National Anti-Corruption Hotline. Since 2009, 1 542 officials were dismissed from the Public Service for charges of corruption.
This is the good story that we have to tell – especially to those who still refuse to see!
Programme Director, the story however continues!
This ANC government has delivered over 3 million housing units since 1994, providing shelter to an estimated 15 million of our people! No other government in the world can claim this achievement.
A total number of 500 informal settlements have been replaced with quality housing and basic services over the past five years, with 95% of households with access to water, and over 85% having access to electricity.
Through our concerted efforts to improve infrastructure, we have seen over R1 trillion investment in public infrastructure since 2009.
Programme Director,
Specific to the Transport sector, the ANC Government has made significant strides to transform the socio-economic landscape of our country. This we have done, and will continue to do, to meet the social and economic aspirations of our people, especially the urban and rural poor.
Through our commitment to invest on infrastructure and other services, South Africa is now a better place to be than 20 years ago. In transport infrastructure development and services, we have a positive story to tell. Our rail, road, pipelines and airport networks have transformed for the better and efficiency of our economy.
Work on the Integrated Public Transport Networks model also includes the City of Johannesburg, which has launched the first phase of the BRT, called the Rea Vaya system, with Cape Town having introduced the MyCiti system which will be completed over the next few years.
The Re a Vaya system now transports 100 000 passengers per day! Similarly, construction has started with new BRT systems for Tshwane, Rustenburg, Nelson Mandela Bay and Polokwane.
We have improved in the provision of the integrated transport network with the addition of the Gautrain, which links Pretoria and Johannesburg with the country’s largest airport. Gautrain moves in excess of 1, 2 million passengers per month.
Programme Director,
Under this ANC government, our country’s harbours and ports have been improved, with a brand new Port of Ngqura having been completed and its container terminal operating. The Durban and Cape Town harbours were expanded and the Port Elizabeth manganese terminal refurbished.
Our airports are world-class. The addition of the new airport in Durban - the beautiful King Shaka International Airport is further testimony of our commitment to the provision of world-class aviation infrastructure.
In fact, across the country, we have invested more than R22 billion in the upgrade of our airports, from Mthatha Airport to the OR Tambo International Airport.
We have constructed a new 700 km petroleum pipeline from Durban to Gauteng, moving 4 billion cubic litres of fuels a year, and stimulating the economy.
Close to 1 500 km of new roads or lanes have been built, and we continue to invest in rural roads infrastructure, including pedestrian bridges and crossings.
The Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa’s will spend R120 billion on new trains in the next 10 years, and we have already seen the improvements in rail infrastructure, a crown jewel being the recently completed Bridge City Inter-Modal facility in KwaMashu. In addition to this, Transnet’s budget for transport infrastructure improvement over the coming period is over R300 billion.
Ladies and gentlemen,
The Transport portfolio is an integral part of the economic and social fabric of our country. Our programmes and interventions should continue to seek to address ways to stimulate the economy and enable our people to live comfortably. We remain committed to attain the following national goals in the transport sector:
- Local economic development and regional integration
- Safety in all modes of transport
- Skills development
- Job creation and poverty eradication
- Redress apartheid spatial development
We continue to work towards maximum alignment of our work with the goals of the National Development Plan, and a lot still needs to be done to ensure that all South Africans have access to decent transport infrastructure and services by 2030.
Ladies and gentlemen,
The official opening of the Dr Chota Motala Interchange today is a significant milestone in our endeavour to improve and develop sustainable transport infrastructure and services.
The accomplishment of this R442 million, award-winning project was by no means an easy feat to achieve.
A project of this magnitude, which speaks volumes for itself - is a true reflection of our efforts to enhance the social and economic development of our country through a sound and sustainable transportation system.
In his State of the Nation Address delivered at the National Assembly a few days ago, His Excellency President Jacob Zuma emphasised the significance of infrastructure development in driving the country’s future economic growth and development trajectory forward.
Modern infrastructure is needed to undo the apartheid spatial development by creating an enabling environment for job creation throughout the country. Infrastructure investments by the state and the private sector should also enhance the global competitiveness of the South African economy.
In the “Moving South Africa” study of 1997, we are warned that by 2020 our road network in poor condition would increase by 20%. This could be attributed to the limited implementation of effective road maintenance on our network. A further constraint was the limited budget allocation to implement road maintenance.
We have more tarred roads than the rest of sub-Saharan Africa combined, and we have the tenth largest roads network in the world. These assets are worth in excess of over R1trillion, which is equal to our national budget for a year.
We need to spend R30bn a year on just maintaining roads, but at the moment can only spend R30bn on both maintenance and new construction. We are urgently looking for better ways of financing and maintaining roads.
South African National Roads Agency Limited (SANRAL) therefore has a very distinct mandate – to finance, improve, manage and maintain the national road network – the economic arteries and backbone of South Africa.
The South African national road network consists of 19 704 km of roads which seamlessly connect major cities, towns and rural areas, supporting economic growth and social development and contributing to job creation in the country.
SANRAL has two primary sources of income. Non-toll roads, which comprise 84.2% of the total national road network, are funded from allocations made by the National Treasury.
Toll roads comprise only 15.8% of the total national road network, and are funded in the main from borrowings on capital markets.
With regard to its projects, we expect SANRAL to make every effort to promote transformation by ensuring that small, medium and micro enterprises are exposed to work experiences that would otherwise not have been possible.
In the last financial reporting period, SANRAL awarded 255 contracts worth R11.6 billion for new works, rehabilitation and improvement, periodic and special maintenance, routine road maintenance, community development, professional consulting engineering and other activities.
Furthermore, SANRAL spent R 2 billion on contracts with SMMEs, of which more than R1.2 billion went to 821 black-owned firms. In addition, through SANRAL’s projects, 18 161 people were trained in elements of road building, of which 7 252 were women.
In terms of job creation, 110 401 job opportunities of varying durations were created.
Various training providers were utilised for the pavement layers and bridge construction with training ranging from basic use of power tools, skills development for construction operations, safety awareness training, which includes traffic control, flag-persons and first aid, and life skills training, including HIV/AIDS education and awareness.
Our economic growth depends on our ability to move people, goods and services. It is for that reason that we are spending billions of rand to expand and upgrade, road, rail and harbours and airports.
Without these investments, we will not be able to export much more than we currently do and will not meet our economic growth targets.
This reality makes the role that SANRAL play in our economy critical, and we need to support it to ensure that it meets our expectations in this regard.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Getting back to the project we are launching today of the Chota Motala – what we see is a good engineering marvel example comprising of bridges, a flyover, a national highway and a major arterial road.
A bridge has got to be one of the most powerful and significant symbols in human society, denoting a coming together, co-operation and harmony. Historically, when harmony was disturbed and conflicts arose, emphasis was given to the destruction of bridges.
But when peace and healing came, then it was the building and rehabilitation of bridges that marked our progress.
I would like to express my sincere gratitude to the South African National Roads Agency and the Msunduzi Municipality for making a strong commitment to upgrade this crucial interchange and for remaining steadfast in delivering on that commitment, indeed delivering another piece of world class infrastructure.
There could be no better choice of a name for this interchange and the arterial road that runs through it given the contributions of the late Dr Mahomed Moosa Motala, who’s primary pre-occupation was to better the lives of the disadvantaged people of South Africa in general, and Pietermaritzburg in particular.
A veteran of the political struggle who fought against apartheid shoulder-to-shoulder with such giants as Chief Albert Luthuli, Oliver Tambo, ZK Matthews, Nelson Mandela, Walter Sisulu, Moses Mabhida and Archie Gumede, Dr Chota Motala – as he was fondly known – would have shunned the idea of an interchange or any public facility being named after him.
Such was his humility, for while he could walk with kings, he did not lose the common touch. What mattered most for him was what little he could do to alleviate the pain and suffering of his fellow beings. He never put himself first.
Dr Motala matriculated at Sastri College in 1938 where he became involved in student politics. He studied medicine in Mumbai, India, and was again involved in political activism during the Indian struggle for liberation from the British colonial regime. After qualifying as a medical doctor in 1947, he returned to South Africa and became the second black doctor to set up a medical practice in Pietermaritzburg.
As most of his patients were from the surrounding black townships, the young Dr Motala came face-to-face with the appalling conditions in which his indigent patients lived. This caused him much personal pain and distress and he resolved to work to improve their lives by becoming involved in political activities.
He was instrumental in reviving the Natal Indian Congress (NIC) branch in Pietermaritzburg and served on the Natal Midlands Committee of the Congress of the People, which gathered the people’s views on what should be in the Freedom Charter. During the preparations of the Congress of the People, the leadership of the ANC, including Nelson Mandela and Walter Sisulu, often used Dr Motala's house in Boom Street for meetings.
In June 1955, Dr Motala spoke on behalf of Inkosi Albert Luthuli, who was banned from the farewell function for the Durban delegates going to Kliptown for the Congress of the People.
In 1956, Dr Motala was arrested for treason, and locked up in the Fort in Johannesburg with other treason trialists, including our beloved President Nelson Mandela. He was on trial for three years, which denied him the opportunity to spend much time with his wife Rabia, and two young children, Shireen and Irshad.
In 1959 the treason charges against him were dropped, however, he was again arrested and detained several times over the following years and was also served with banning orders for not relenting in his struggle for a free and democratic South Africa. In the 80s, Dr Motala worked through the United Democratic Front and often led political marches and spoke at various public gatherings which campaigned for community rights.
During the Seven Day War of 1990 in the Edendale Valley, it is estimated that he and his medical partners worked tirelessly to treat over 2 000 victims of violence for gunshot and other wounds.
Dr Motala was truly a people’s person. He put others first. He was also immensely popular among the ordinary working class. When the Eddel’s shoe factory, where he was contracted to serve as the company doctor was forced by the apartheid forces to dismiss him because of his political activities, the workers went on strike until he was reinstated.
With the unbanning of political organisations in 1990, Dr Motala was elected chairman of the Pietermaritzburg Northern Areas Branch of the ANC.
From 1996 to 1999, he was appointed South African Ambassador to Morocco. Sadly failing health caused him to resign as a diplomat and he sadly passed away on 20 May 2005.
While this noble son of South Africa is no more, his good name and selfless deeds will live on for decades to come through this concrete monument.
For this, and on behalf of the Department of Transport and SANRAL, I wish to thank Mrs Motala and her children for so kindly consenting to the use of Dr Motala’s name, so that his legacy will be preserved through a significant and imposing landmark.
I am told that the Dr Chota Motala Interchange is already a winner with motorists and commuters for easing congestion, and has further already received top civil engineering awards from the South African Institution of Civil Engineering and Consulting Engineers.
SANRAL and the Msunduzi Municipality, as well as the entire project team must be commended for constructing an interchange which is as elegant as it is structurally sound.
Programme Director,
The N3 is our busiest route from Gauteng to KwaZulu-Natal. The current traffic volume on the N3 is approximately 40 400 vehicles per day in both directions with heavy vehicles of about 8 200 daily with as many as 45% being long or super-link vehicles.
Increased safety features of the project, which is likely to be sufficient for at least the next 20 years, include reduction of accidents due to the free-flow design of the interchange, and adequate pedestrian accommodation using protected sidewalks and signalised crossings where appropriate.
This project is one of many of the N3 corridor, which forms the backbone of PICC Strategic Integrated Project 2, or commonly known as SIP2. It is the busiest freight route in South Africa.
Planning is currently underway by SANRAL for the upgrading of the N3 corridor between Durban and Gauteng, including the planned De Beers Pass around the notorious N3 Van Reenen’s pass.
A major hurdle will no doubt be funding of this planned multi billion rand facility and government will need to consider various funding models to ensure that we deliver on this very important corridor.
We will rely on our colleagues in government nationally, provincially and locally to work jointly with SANRAL in the upgrading of this corridor similar as we have done to deliver on this interchange. Both public-public and public-private partnerships will be key in government achieving what it has set out in the Infrastructure plan for South Africa.
Growth and development require a continuous effort to improve infrastructure and it is only though projects such as the Dr Chota Motala Interchange that we can progress and prosper whilst building bridges for our nation so that the unity which underpins our common efforts is reinforced.
Again, thank you for joining with us, as we celebrate yet another good story that must be told, and it remains a story of the commitment of this ANC government to the people of this country.
Ladies and gentlemen, it gives me great pleasure to declare the Dr Chota Motala Interchange officially opened.
Siyabonga
I thank you
