Opening remarks by the Minister of Transport, Ms. Sindisiwe Chikunga (Mp) at the launch of the October Transport Month, Gallagher Estate Midrand
THEME: SIYAKHA…WE ARE BUILDING A Better Transport Infrastructure to Grow South Africa Together”
Programme Director
Deputy Minister of Transport, Mr Lisa Mangcu
Members of the Executive Councils
Director-General of the Department
Chairpersons and CEOs of Transport entities
Chiefs and Captains of the Transport Industries
Members of the media present
Ladies and gentlemen
Today we launch our October Transport Month Campaign at the very tail end of September, our National Heritage Month, a month in which we celebrate our national living heritage.
The October Transport Month is about showcasing service delivery and reminding the nation of the centrality of transport in our daily lives both in our social settings and in enabling economic activity.
For the duration of the month of October, we will be showcasing what we have achieved in delivering on our electoral mandate across all modes of transport. We will be telling the good story of progress in delivering road infrastructure and tackling potholes; of rehabilitating and modernising our rail network in the aftermath of the COVID-19 devastation; of manufacturing state-of-the-art trains for the continent; of growing an aviation sector that continues to be a model for the world with our splendid safety record and developing airports not only at home but across the continent. We will tell the good story of massive investments in public transport with the ever growing footprint of our integrated public transport network in our cities across Provinces.
Our aspirations for greater freedom both socially and economically continues to be defined within a country of great contradictions in which the majority of our youth, especially girls and women continue to face debilitating and seriously discouraging levels of unemployment and industry participation, scarce opportunities in the acquisition of skills and the risk of falling into the poverty trap.
Glaring income and wealth inequalities continue to affect women, girls and other historically disadvantaged persons, depriving these groups of meaningful participation in the economy and society. This is in addition to a context that shows only a slow transformation of our economy and thus greater exclusion of many South Africans from meaningful participation.
Speaking of women and girls, we continue to see extreme levels of gender-based violence in society, work-based discrimination against women and lack of access to skills or enterprise development opportunities across economic sectors, making it difficult for women to rise above conditions of poverty, which is so disproportionately borne by them.
In August of this year we held the South African Network for Women in Transport Annual General Meeting (AGM) to not only refocus its energies and commitments, but to reposition it in greater favour towards responding to the needs of women in the transport sector.
We also appointed the BBBEE Charter Council and initiated processes towards the development and implementation of the Transport Sector Codes, which are essential for the transformation of the sector in ways that must effectively respond to gaps in ownership patterns among several objectives.
Today as we launch this October Transport Month Campaign, we will continue to reflect on commitments towards equity and empowerment. Our approach to empowerment and gender equity cuts across all modes.
As an illustration of our commitment to equity and empowerment in the transport sector the Ports Regulator of South Africa (PRSA) plays a facilitating role in this regard. The Regulator has made strides in levelling the playing field for historically disadvantaged individuals to gain access to the South African ports system by monitoring the extent to which HDI’s, particularly women, gain access and participate in the provision and management of port infrastructure and terminals, services and activities.
This includes:
- Commercial licences and leasing of land and port space for purposes of running port-related businesses,
- Terminal operations,
- Provision of port services e.g Vessel Agent, Ship Chandler, Waste removal, stevedoring
- Port infrastructure construction and maintenance projects.
The Ports Regulator’s contribution includes establishing the only existing comprehensive database of companies contracting with the Transnet National Ports Authority to track and monitor the implementation of B-BBEE in ports as a measure of compliance with the Act, but also the pace of progress with transformation through B-BBEE in ports.
While we acknowledge challenges in the transport sector loom large, our approach to this year’s October Transport Month is an expression of our confidence on the positive impact of our interventions on the lives of ordinary South Africans.
This confidence is aptly expressed in this year’s OTM Campaign theme, which is “SIYAKHA: We are Building Better Transport Infrastructure to Grow South Africa Together”
The October Transport Month is a period in which we will also celebrate anniversaries of 6 of our entities. On the one hand ATNS and ACSA mark 30 years since their establishment. On the other hand we are celebrating 25 years since the inception of the Cross-Border Road Transport Agency (C-BRTA), The South African National Roads Agency Limited (SANRAL), the South African Civil Aviation Authority (SACAA) and the South African Maritime Safety Authority (SAMSA).
In celebrating this milestone, we will showcase how each these entities has touched the lives of ordinary South Africans.
Distinguished guests,
Starting with the illustrious life of and history of the Airports Company. ACSA has evolved and thrived, achieving significant milestones and successes that have not only reshaped the aviation landscape in our country, but have also earned global recognition. As we delve into ACSA's history, we see that the first decade was dedicated to establishing a solid institutional foundation.
It is noteworthy that ACSA as with the ATNS in this first decade, were established just a year before the ushering in of our new democracy.
The second ACSA decade was a period of immense growth and development for ACSA. The company emerged as a true global player, earning accolades and international recognition for its commitment to excellence. ACSA airports played a crucial role in the successful hosting of the 2010 FIFA World Cup, showcasing our nation's capabilities on the world stage.
During this time, ACSA embarked on an ambitious expansion program, expanding its footprint and services to as far as Brazil and India. The democratic government invested in and constructed the King Shaka International Airport in Durban.
Moreover, ACSA's advisory services began to take flight, as we shared our best practices with airports worldwide, cementing our reputation as a leader in the industry.
The third decade brought forth a mixed bag of challenges and opportunities for ACSA, with the COVID-19 pandemic being the most formidable adversary. The global pandemic forced us to run a tight ship and take decisive measures to ensure the company's sustainability.
ACSA has emerged from this challenging period stronger and more resilient than ever, solidifying its position as a world-class airports management company.
Ladies and gentlemen,
In our reference to the milestones reached by the other thirty year old, the Air traffic Navigation Service (ATNS) we can only truly marvel at the extent of the responsibility bestowed upon it with significance way beyond our borders.
The African Union identified the Single African Air Transport Market (SAATM) as one of the fifteen key Agenda 2063 flagship projects to transform Africa into a future global powerhouse.
SAATM seeks to create one single air transport market in Africa through full liberalization of intra-African air transport services regarding market access and traffic rights for scheduled and freight air services by eligible airlines, thereby improving air services connectivity and air carrier efficiencies.
Remote digital towers are growing in their deployment around the world and ATNS is currently finalising a project to deploy this technology in the medium term.
ATNS commenced with the space-based Automatic Dependent Surveillance–Broadcast (ADS-B) service operational trials in 2022 to evaluate the deployment viability of the technology to support the current surveillance environment within our area of responsibility.
ATNS intends to introduce comprehensive situational awareness across our entire area of responsibility (which is over 6 % of the world’s airspace) by introducing this service/technology into our existing technology portfolio.
One of ATNS’s proudest works is a ground-breaking partnership with Aireon, enabling ATNS to improve its satellite technology tracking capability. The ATNS-Aireon Commercial Agreement is a culmination of hard work, resilience, and commitment to improving safety within the aviation industry.
Aireon is providing the global air traffic surveillance system using a space-based ADS-B network, making it possible to extend the visibility of aircraft across the planet in real-time. The system has been operational in South Africa since 1 June 2023.
As regards training, the Aviation Training Academy (ATA) is a premium provider of Air Traffic Service and, indeed, aviation training – not only in South Africa but on a Continental scale. Being an ICAO Regional Training Centre of Excellence, our training products are world-class, stretching beyond just ATC training but many other disciplines across the aviation value chain.
We have trained aviation personnel from around 32 African states throughout the years. The African airspace is therefore much safer due to the contributions of our Academy.
The specialist nature of ATC training and the current gap within the academic space in providing training for aspiring ATCs means that we are primary providers of such training in the country. Consequently, ATNS serves as a primary employer of Air Traffic Controllers. We are addressing the human capital development challenges by moving the ATC training model into the academic space through appropriate DHET registration and CHE accreditation.
In less than a fortnight, the South African Civil Aviation Authority will be celebrating 25 years of existence since first opening its doors on 08 October 2008 when the Civil Aviation Act was promulgated to establish a stand-alone authority.
As we look forward to the celebrations, it gives me great pleasure to announce that the SACAA has now received a tenth successive clean audit by the Auditor General South Africa.
In line with the brand promise of ‘Keeping You Safe in the Sky’ and with one of the key values being ‘Service Excellence’, South Africa has maintained its exceptional record of a 0% fatal accident rate in the country’s scheduled airline operations in nearly four decades.
The South African Civil Aviation Authority continues to punch above its weight in ensuring safe aviation operations in the country. In the recent ICAO audit, South Africa did not only surpass the 90% mark in ICAO’s safety audit, the State is also the first in Africa to achieve this milestone and is currently placed number one in Africa in terms of ICAO rankings.
Government is immensely proud of the work of the SACAA in ensuring that the State’s reputation remains superior compared to its counterparts globally. The United States’ Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) concluded an International Aviation Safety assessment on the SACAA measuring the South Africa’s compliance to ICAO’s minimum safety standards.
The State performed excellently in this audit maintaining its Category 1 status with the FAA as announced in November 2022. Simply put, the Category 1 status means that the two countries’ safety systems are on par and South African operators can fly into that country unhindered.
Adding to this, our South African cargo security system continues to be recognised by the United States’ Transport Security Administration (TSA) and by the European Union (EU) in terms of their ACC3 programme, meaning that the country’s cargo operators can conduct business in both the US and EU without the need to undergo individual assessments by both these counterparts.
The South African National Roads Agency (SANRAL), our state-owned company responsible for construction and maintenance of the national road network, is one of the key drivers of the country’s economic recovery through its infrastructure build programme. The same is true for Airports Company South Africa (ACSA).
SANRAL’s procurement policy requires that 30% of main upgrade projects is ring-fenced for SMMEs, notably youth and women-owned businesses, many of whom receive their first experience in the construction and engineering sectors by working on SANRAL projects. This 30% sub-contracting policy will go a long way in mainstreaming previously disadvantaged groups into the road construction sector and other sectors in which SANRAL is active.
As a further demonstration of how SANRAL is assisting in the recovery of the country’s economy, in the 2022/23 financial year it awarded 320 tenders to the value of R51 billion in the 2022/23, significantly up from the R22 billion worth of tenders awarded in the preceding year. The spin-offs of such massive investments in road construction for the economy are immense.
Equally, SANRAL’s extensive training and capacity-building campaign that targets more than 40 000 SMMEs over a three-year period, and which will, among others, effectively teach them to submit compliant, competitive and profitable tenders.
The agency’s skills development programme encapsulates its scholarship and bursary programme for both high school and tertiary students. It also includes an in-house training academy that prepares engineering graduates towards their professional registration, thus ensuring that SANRAL grows its own timber but also trains engineers for the rest of the country.
The university faculty chairs that are sponsored by SANRAL ensure that our country remains at the cutting edge of tertiary training through the resources SANRAL makes available.
As we continue to provide world class national roads, we have not shied away from the challenges posed by potholes on many of our provincial and municipal road network. Through SANRAL, and with the cooperation of the Provinces and municipalities, the Department rolled out Operation Vala Zonke, a national pothole repair programme which is aimed at road refurbishment, maintenance and the overall fixing of potholes in South Africa.
This has also resulted in the establishment of a Roads War Room with a call centre to compliment the Automated Pothole Public Reporting application developed to allocate, track, trace and activate interventions where necessary. This intervention ensures that road maintenance will be carried out as soon as it is reported causing South Africans to travel a little easier when on our roads.
While the aforementioned represent our actions to continuously improve road based travel, we also wish to point to successes we are realising in the cross-border road transport environment which forms part of our trade and tourism corridors.
We cannot speak of road freight without mention of its governance across our borders as in the facilitation of cross border freight and passenger transportation, a function which has been improving in leaps and bounds for the Cross-Border Road Transport Agency (the C-BRTA), which is also among those of our companies turning 25 years old this year.
The Cross-Border Road Transport Agency (C-BRTA) supports the South African economy by facilitating the seamless movement of goods and passengers across various borders which link South Africa and the neighbouring countries.
Through the reduction of operational constraints, regulating market access and issuing permits, the C-BRTA plays a vital role in the socio-economic development of South Africa and the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region.
To achieve ease of cross-border road transportation the C-BRTA has developed an Integrated Cross-Border Management System (CrossEasy) to enhance the required harmonisation programme efforts in the SADC region. This is achievable by providing a common technology platform for the issuing and management of cross-border permits. It will also facilitate seamless cross-border road transport movements and trade flows across border posts and corridors connecting the participating pilot countries.
Conclusion
In conclusion, I wish to point out that today we have among us several guests invited as beneficiaries of our programmes and I hope you will network hereafter to exchange ideas about opportunities they have benefitted from.
We also have several of our entities exhibiting their different wares, especially technologies that reflect the extent of innovation in the sector, with particular reference to digitised systems, including those that enable efficient service delivery as with the new technologies for license and permit processing.
As you visit the stalls, there are officials who will help you identify and understand particular transport careers and other opportunities better, including some who will advise on bursaries or other of assistance. Please feel free to speak to officials in the stalls.
As the Transport Sector, we say we are the Heartbeat of South Africa Economic Growth and Social Development. “SIYAKHA: Together let us Build a better Transport Infrastructure to Grow South Africa.
I thank you.
