T Mhlahlo: Launch of Transmec

24 July 2007

Let me first take this opportunity to express my sincere gratitude for your
positive response to our call for integration and co-ordination of our work as
we continue to embark on our programme of action to change the lives of our
people for the better.

Our approach derives from the noble principles of co-operative government
and intergovernmental relations as highlighted in the Constitution of South
Africa, which clearly state that all spheres of government and all organs of
state within each sphere, must preserve national unity and indivisibility of
the Republic.

We are aware of the critical challenge that we face as we continue to
redress the imbalances of the past through the implementation of the
Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP) objectives with regard to the
rehabilitation of our transport infrastructure. Our Provincial Growth and
Development Plan (PGDP) highlights the importance of transport infrastructure
investment in the realisation of our economic growth targets.

The Department of Roads and Transport remains committed to the achievement
of the PGDP targets and our role is to ensure that our transport system and
infrastructure complement the broader economic growth and development programme
of government.

Underpinning policies

The National Land Transport Transition Act (NLTTA), No 22 of 2000, provides
space for me to take the necessary steps to promote co-ordination between
transport authorities and other planning authorities in the province with a
view to avoid duplication of efforts.

The Provincial White Paper on Transport of 2001 further advocates the
establishment of effective coordinating structures within the transport sector
to ensure co-ordination on transport related matters and on promoting
partnerships with civil society through the establishment of transport forums.
The Provincial Land Transport Framework (PLTF) further stipulates the necessity
for coordination measures and structures to ensure proper facilitation between
the transport plans of planning authorities as contemplated in Section 22(3)
(d) of the Act, and between planning authorities and the province, as
contemplated in Section 63 (1) (b) thereof.

In June 2006, the Executive Council gave the Department of Roads and
Transport a 'go-ahead' to establish such a co-ordinating structure and I would
like to express my sincere gratitude to my cabinet colleagues for their support
in this initiative.

Today, we are launching Transmec, which is another political milestone that
will give direction to our transport infrastructure planning throughout the
province, working together with councillors, provincial and municipal
officials. I strongly believe that this structure will greatly enhance the
communication between Provincial and Local Government, as well as with our
communities regarding transport matters in the Province, while simultaneously
contributing to intergovernmental cooperation and capacity building on matters
pertaining to transport. It will further ensure the devolution and delegation
of transport functions to the local level and accelerate service delivery.

Road Infrastructure

Transmec comes at an opportune time, where the Department of Roads and
Transport is gearing itself for the implementation of the District Growth and
Development Summits resolutions, where we committed ourselves to deliver road
projects worth approximately R5 billion in the Medium Term Expenditure
Framework period.
The Department has a 10 year plan to change the ratio of surface to gravel
roads, with 80% of the 43 465km provincial network to surface and 20% to remain
gravel.

This initiative will be supported by the substantial recapitalization of the
yellow fleet over the next 10 years. Already, the first 12 graders worth R16,4
million that have been purchased by the department as a start of the
recapitalisation project, were distributed to all districts in the province to
maintain our road network. We expect the district municipalities to coordinate
the utilisation of this equipment.

For the past two months, our engineers have been assessing all the bridges
in an effort to rebuild the collapsed bridges and improve the conditions of the
existing bridges. Their report will indicate the areas that need immediate
intervention. I expect municipalities to advise the department about the areas
that need immediate attention. The Eastern Cape Roads Act does allow me to
intervene on certain areas, where municipalities are not capable of dealing
with their road infrastructure challenges.

Already, R6 million will be spent at the King Sabata Dalindyebo Municipality
to upgrade roads within the Town of Mthatha. Through our Sakha Isizwe
Learnership Programme, we have been able to surface streets at Mdantsane NU15
and NU17, Ngangelizwe and Tyoksville in Motherwell as our contribution to the
Urban Renewal Programme in those areas.

As we prepare for 2010 Fifa World Cup, it is prudent for government
(national, provincial and local) to establish a culture of working together in
pursuit of a common goal, which is to present our people and visitors with
'world-class transport infrastructure'.

We are going to continue to work closely with municipalities in the
implementation of our Sakha Isizwe Community-Based Transportation Programme,
where more than 2 000 poor households are already maintaining certain stretches
of road and obtain salaries from the department. Their work entails road
maintenance, upgrading, construction, focus on roadside animal management,
fencing, pedestrian safety, footpaths, non-motorised transport, gabion basket
manufacturing, rangers etc. This new programme is expected to create an
estimated 30 000 additional work opportunities over the Medium Term Expenditure
Framework period, thus 5 000 per district.

It would further result in the construction of approximately 300 kilometres
(km) of new low volume roads and the maintenance of approximately 5 500 km of
existing roads, thus significantly improving the quality of the overall
provincial road network and transportation system. The targeted roads will
assist in improving accessibility to economic activities, tourism
opportunities, schools, clinics and other government services.

Back to Rail

Collaboration with Local Government has resulted in the realisation of our
Kei Rail Project, where we have been able to intervene collectively in removing
people from Zamukulungisa Informal Settlement to a new area with new houses. We
hope that we will continue to emulate this exercise in other areas of our
province, as we implement our 'Back to Rail Strategy.'

Taxi transformation

With regard to public transport transformation, we will continue to assist
municipalities in building taxi ranks that will be able to accommodate the new
taxi vehicles that have been introduced through the Taxi Recapitalisation
Project. Already, the Department has allocated R16 million for the building of
a taxi rank in Mthatha. I would like to call upon municipalities to monitor
operations in these taxi ranks and avoid being overtaken by taxi associations,
because that causes unnecessary tension within the taxi industry.

Aviation
In an effort to promote aviation in the rural areas of our province, the
Department will increase its focus on the development of municipal and rural
airstrips in line with our Blue Skyway Aviation Strategy. We are already
assisting the Ndlambe Municipality with the upgrade of the runway situated at
the 43 Air School in Port Alfred at a cost of R8 million over two years. The
Senqu Municipality will be assisted with the development of an airstrip at
Rhodes to the value of R2 million.

Traffic law enforcement

So far, I am happy with the cooperation between our Provincial and Municipal
traffic officers in the Arrive Alive Campaign and I hope that we will continue
to work together to ensure that we have an accident-free road network. As we
speak, we have approximately 500 traffic officers from various municipalities
throughout the province in addition to our 433 Provincial Traffic Officers.

I strongly believe that we need to strengthen the traffic law enforcement
capacity of municipalities, especially in the former Transkei region. Our
intervention will assist municipalities in revenue generation. The Department
has completed the construction of a Vehicle Testing Station at Mount Frere
worth R10 million, which we will soon officially hand over to Umzimvubu
Municipality. At Lusikisiki, a site has been handed over to a contractor for
the construction of another Vehicle Testing Station and this is expected to be
completed by March 2008 at a cost of R 8,1 million.

Last year, we registered two Grade E Drivers Licence Testing Centres at
Intsika Yethu and the Sundays River Municipalities. This year, we will upgrade
testing centres in Elliot, Peddie and Sterkspruit at a cost of R6 million (R2
million for each municipality). I would like to call upon municipalities to
assist us in fighting corruption, which has become prevalent in these testing
centres. We must further ensure that we continuously improve the quality of
services that we provide as municipalities. Our people cannot continue to be
subjected to a situation, where they stand in long queues to access government
services.

Last year, the Department of Roads and Transport had to transfer the
registration of motor vehicles from the Nelson Mandela Metro Municipality to
the South African Post Office in an effort to cut down long queues. Today, the
post office has 31 outlets within the Nelson Mandela Bay Metro for the
registration of motor vehicles, which has tremendously improved service
delivery to our people, as some of the outlets open on weekends and public
holidays. As a result, the Department has decided to expand the use of the Post
Office for motor vehicle registrations and licensing to Buffalo City and King
Sabata Dalindyebo Municipalities, utilising a best practice model in
conjunction with Business Against Crime.

This best practice model features the Batho Pele Principles, which will be
incorporated in the service level agreements that the Department will renew on
a regular basis.

In conclusion, I would like to appeal to municipalities to embrace this
approach as I will soon embark on a process of rolling out the Community Safety
Forum (CSF) model, which is a vehicle for implementation of the Provincial
Crime Prevention Strategy at local government level. This will ensure that
local government fulfils its Safety and Security role and my second Department
(Safety and Liaison) will be supporting and assisting the identified
municipalities with the rollout of the CSF, particularly the Nelson Mandela
Bay, Buffalo City and King Sabata Dalindyebo, which have been earmarked for
2010 Fifa World Cup.

Ladies and gentlemen, let me once more commend your positive response,
hoping that we will continue to work together to realise government priorities
through integrated planning.

I thank you.

Issued by: Department of Safety, Liaison, Roads and Transport, Eastern Cape
Provincial Government
24 July 2007