Madam Speaker,
Honourable Premier,
Honourable members.
The ANC government had made a bold commitment to launch programmes aimed at improving the lives of our people. It had committed itself to expand public transport services to our people and to improve our road network. I can say without fear of contradiction that this ANC government has delivered on its commitments to our people.
The Rea Vaya bus rapid transit system and the Gautrain have changed the daily-life experiences of commuters. As we speak over 40 000 daily passengers use the Rea Vaya; 350 000 commuters use the Gautrain buses; and 1.2 million monthly passengers use the Gautrain. Only yesterday, together with the Minister of Transport we visited Park Station in Johannesburg, which is the second largest station on the African continent.
There can be no better example of an inter-modal transport facility catering daily for thousands of commuters. Park Station is clean; attractive and user-friendly. It links Metrorail; Gautrain; Rea Vaya; short and long-distance bus and taxi services; and retail, banking and shopping facilities. A new food court will be ready for official opening next month. This is the achievement of the ANC government and it is there for use by all our people.
Let me give you another example of the success of the ANC government. Presently, South Africa has the 10th largest paved (tarred) road network in the world. And from a design, safety and quality perspective, the Gauteng freeways are among the best in the world. Even if it sounds as a cliché, let me say it, it is world class.
This is the achievement of the ANC government.
Financial performance
What is equally important is that these successes of the ANC government are being achieved with significantly improved financial planning and management. In the Department of Roads and Transport specifically, the Gautrain Management Agency achieved a "clean audit" with no material findings whatsoever; and both the department and g-Fleet received "unqualified audits" with substantially reduced 'matters of concern' by the Auditor-General.
Compared to the previous financial year, our infrastructure spending had increased exponentially, with most projects, if not all, being delivered on time and within budget. In the case of g-Fleet - which only three years ago got a qualified audit opinion from the Auditor-General - today, it has a sound financial base with cash reserves of over R285 million. This is the success of the ANC government.
I hope the members of the opposition are listening attentively. These are the successes of the ANC government. Let me tell them of more successes. The ANC government has a 5-Year Transport Implementation Plan (GTIP5), which is already being implemented in the current financial year. Two weeks ago, the ANC government released a draft 25-Year Integrated Transport Master Plan (ITMP25) for public comment and consideration.
This plan, once implemented, will change the lives of our commuters as well as the lives of generations of commuters to come. What has the Democratic Alliance done for Gauteng? Nothing! Nothing! Nothing! All it can do is criticise, criticise, and criticise! Now lately, its "Premier-Candidate" Mmusi "Johnny Come Lately" Maimane, is propagating the myth that he can lead it to victory in the forthcoming general elections.
Provision of roads infrastructure
The ANC government in Gauteng does not believe in myths. It does not build castles in the air. It has its feet on the ground and it delivers to the residents of Gauteng. The ANC government has completed the reconstruction of the R55 dual carriageway in Tshwane; it has completed the upgrading of Phase 1 of the R82 in Sedibeng; it has completed the Cayman Road in the Midvaal; and it has delivered new roads in poor townships such as Mogo and Sekweri Streets and Zithobeni Road. Critically, the ANC government has upgraded the Ben Schoeman Highway and the M1 from Buccleuch to Colett Drive.
It is the ANC government in Gauteng that reconstructed the N14 from Krugersdorp to Ventersdorp, which was closed to public traffic for over five years due to severe sinkholes that had formed alongside that road. To support the freight and logistics industry, it has upgraded Roscherville Road at City Deep. In all of these construction projects, close onto 10 000 jobs opportunities were created, particularly for youth and women, and over 100 small construction companies were sub-contracted.
DLTCs
The ANC government has taken services closer to where people live. It has opened the Bongani Khumalo DLTC at the Walter Sisulu Square of Dedication in Kliptown in memory of the COSAS student leader killed in 1984 by the apartheid security forces. The Centre offers registration of motor vehicles and driving license testing services and is universally accessible.
The department is also striving to ensure the same facility standards at all of its DLTCs. It renders services to the communities of Soweto, Eldorado Park, Kliptown, Lenasia, Ennerdale, Freedom Park, Zacharia Park and Klipspruit West.
The ANC government rolled out the Computerised Learner License Testing Units at six DLTCs in Meyerton, Brakpan, Randburg, Watloo, Xavier and Temba, which has helped to reduce the incidence of fraud and corruption in the driver licensing process. In terms of revenue generation, the department collected net revenues of R2.4 billion in the last financial year making it the single largest contributor to the provincial Treasury.
Lastly Madam Speaker, the ANC government has delivered intermodal facilities in Zandpsruit and Bophelong; distributed 6 000 bicycles to learners, and constructed pedestrian walkways and cycle lanes in a number of townships. These are not insignificant achievements.
We do not need achievements for the sake of recording achievements - we need these successes to change the daily lives of our people. This is what the ANC government in Gauteng is doing, and it is doing it smartly. There can be little doubt that Gauteng is on the move. And our people can feel it!
It is my pleasure, therefore, Madam Speaker to table the Annual Reports of the Gautrain Management Agency and the Department of Roads and Transport.
