Madam Speaker Honourable Members
It is my pleasure to participate in the debate on the 2014/15 Annual Report of the Department of Roads and Transport.
The Report sets out the achievements and challenges of the department and its entities, namely the Gautrain Management Agency and g-Fleet and serves as a document of historical record of the impact of the work of this department on the lives of our people. Some of the successes of and weaknesses in the administration have been raised by the speakers, for which I thank the Members. However, there are a few matters that I wish to discuss which have not been fully addressed by the Members.
Departmental awards
Last month was a moment of pride for the department as it received several awards for distinguished individual and collective performance. Our Motor Vehicle Registration Unit stands out with its achievement of the GovTech Award for Innovation. In addition, the Revenue Information Management System (RIMS) that was implemented by the Unit was awarded 1st place from the Centre for Public Service Innovation with a cash price of R100 000. Mr Nhlakanipho Nduli, who ably leads the Unit, was awarded the “Best Employee in Transport” and “Best Male Manager in Transport” and received a cash prize of R10 000.
This award falls under the category of “Innovative Enhancement of Internal Systems in Government”. The technological improvement in revenue collection is paying off and has resulted in net revenues of R2.95 billion in the past financial year.
Last week we were again humbled as the department was awarded the winning prize from the Southern African Institute of Government Auditors (SAIGA) for its preparation of the best Annual Report in our province. According to SAIGA, the pyramid-shaped glass trophy “symbolises pursuit of excellence and transparency in the reporting function”. In its citation SAIGA states that the “department’s performance underscores its commitment to effective and accountable reporting”. These achievements point to the fact that government can take the lead in developing innovative e-governance systems and staff excellence.
g-FLEET
It is common knowledge that g-Fleet received an unfavourable opinion from the Office of the Auditor-General. I wish to report to the House on the measures that have been instituted to improve the audit outcome. A critical factor that was identified as contributing to this unacceptable situation was the perceptible weaknesses in the managerial leadership of the entity. We have acted to rectify the matter.
Both the CEO and the CFO have been moved to different functions within the department and the Deputy Director-General for Transport has been appointed as the Acting CEO of the entity. She is being supported by a professional team from the private sector. The probationary period of the COO has been extended until 31 December 2015, where after his performance will be reviewed to determine his future suitability in the entity.
I can also report on progress made to improve the audit findings of g-Fleet. The Auditor-General identified seven matters that led to the negative findings; of these six matters have been cleared to the satisfaction of the AG and have been reported to SCOPA. What remains to be completed is the recalculation of revenue and related receivables, and the final adjustments to Annual Financial Statement. Work in this regard is progressing steadily and I want to reassure the House that the new senior management team is committed to resolving the outstanding matters.
Road and transport infrastructure
As part of our triple focus to transform, modernise and reindustrialise our province, the department continues to build and maintain the provincial road and public transport networks. Our province is pushing towards an infrastructure-led, growth economy, particularly at a time when the global and national economy is experiencing
a downturn. Consistent with the proposals emanating from the Gauteng Spatial Development Framework Consultative Conference held last week and the 25-Year Integrated Transport Master Plan (ITMP25) of the department, land use densification in support of public transport is identified as one of the 10 key interventions. Transport infrastructure and land use must have an integrated planning approach in order to achieve optimum outcomes.
It is with this in mind that the department has upgraded several major arterial routes to promote safer mobility. For want of time I will report on three of these construction projects. Firstly, the K46 Phase 1 (William Nicol Drive) has been upgraded from a single to a triple carriageway with cycling and pedestrian walkways.
This is a good example of what can be achieved when developers work in partnership with government so that land use and the road network could be harmonized through joint planning, project management and funding. I am also pleased to report that the department is ready to launch Phase 2 of the development of William Nicol Drive.
Secondly, the K14 (Cullinan Road) is another successful upgrade undertaken by the department, which has increased traffic capacity, improved safety and accessibility and served to boost tourism and mining in Cullinan. Similarly, the upgrading of the R82 (Old Vereeniging Road - Phase 1B) is close to completion and serves to support economic development projects such as the Mall of the South; Savannah City and the Eye of Africa.
Thirdly, reconstruction and rehabilitation of the R55, the R511, Witkoppen Road and a portion of Rivonia Road provide were completed to provide linkages between the Western and Southern regions of the province with the Northern region and serve as alternative routes for the N14 and the tolled freeway network.
Finally, the department’s routine maintenance programme covers a total road network of 5 637 kilometres covering preventative maintenance, resealing, re- gravelling, pothole patching, grass cutting, guardrail repairs, fencing, road marking, blading and shoulder repairs. Here I want to reiterate the point that within the constraints of a limited budget, we must ensure that we maintain our road assets to levels where seamless mobility and economic and social access are not compromised.
Strengthening clean governance
The department is continuously striving to strengthen a culture of good governance. In this regard it is:
- putting greater integrity into its supply chain management and other institutionalised frontline services such as the issuing of public transport operating licensing and learners’ and drivers’ licenses;
- building and strengthening its stakeholder partnerships to achieve greater synergies;
- embracing innovation and modernisation to improve customer services; and above all,
- building a culture of performance excellence at the level of leadership, management and broader line functions.
As part of our attempts to put greater integrity into our Supply Chain Management, the department had instituted disciplinary action against the Director of SCM, who has been dismissed. Similarly, the Chief Director who has gone through his disciplinary hearing has been found guilty on six charges of misconduct. The Presiding Officer has ruled that he be dismissed within 30 days. These measures demonstrate that the department is serious about its stated stance of “zero tolerance for fraud and corruption” and acting in the public interest.
The “Open Tender” pilot project is a huge leap forward to ensure fair, equitable and transparent procurement processes. The Cedar Road project was the first experiment of an open tender process, which will in due course become the norm and preferred practice throughout our value chain, and hopefully in the provincial government as a whole.
It is at frontline services such as the Driver License Testing Centres (DLTCs) where the citizens experience the rock-face of government on a daily basis. This could either be a good or bad experience, and all too often there are reports of bad experiences. To combat and mitigate fraud and corruption at DLTCs, the department has introduced the Computerised Learner License Testing System (CLLTS), which
has contributed to instilling greater integrity into the testing process. To date, CLLTS has been rolled out to 30 DLTCs and the department would have completed the process in the remaining DLTCs had it not been for the legal proceedings between the service provider and the national Department of Transport.
Improving frontline services
The department has also embarked on the process of refurbishing selected DLTCs such as in Temba and Mabopane, and building new DLTCs in areas such as Kagiso and Sebokeng. This is part of the overall strategy to bring frontline services closer to communities where these services are not available.
Public transport operators are our key clients who make use of our services through our Diagonal Street Operating Licensing Service Centre and the Transport Operating License Administrative Body (TOLABs). As part of our plans to improve the services to our key transport operators, the department has completed the Germiston TOLAB, which would be operationalised shortly.
For the period under review the department issued a total of 11 214 permits and operating licenses. A total of 3 446 permits were converted to operating licenses. Our strategy to modernise our licensing services to our core clients, particularly taxi operators, is yielding positive results. A departmental team has visited both the Western Cape and KZN to examine best practice and to implement these in Gauteng. I wish to emphasise the point that the taxi industry - as the core clients in this space - need nothing less than an efficient licensing service from the department.
Gauteng transport commission
Gauteng can develop to its fullest potential and deliver sustainably to its residents when it functions as an integrated City-Region. The Gauteng Transport Commission – as a co-ordinating mechanism for such integration – is now operational and it is heartening to report that there is good co-operation at a political level within the Commission.
It has started work on integrated fare management and e-ticketing, and on finalising a Non-Motorised Transport Plan for the province. As part of the preparation for the establishment of a fully-fledged Transport Authority in future, the Commission will be convening an international Conference of Transport Authorities early next year to learn from successful experiences with such bodies in other parts of the world.
Progress on Mega projects
I want to briefly report on progress with regard to the mega-projects linked to the department. The KPMG report on the economic impact of the Gautrain describes it as a “journey and platform to a better Gauteng”. The report states Gautrain added R20 billion to the provincial GDP during construction and 121 800 direct, indirect and induced jobs were created during construction. For each year of operations an amount of R1.7 billion is added to the Gauteng economy.
It is with this in mind that we are planning for the expansion of the Gautrain system. The Feasibility Report on Expanding the Gautrain Rail Network will be ready by March 2016 and the Request for Pre-Qualification for additional rolling stock will be made public early next month.
The Gautrain service was disrupted following a road accident on Saturday morning when a cement truck crashed through the bridge above both the Gautrain and Metrorail tracks. This crash caused extensive damage to the Gautrain tracks, the body of the train, the overhead pillars, the electrical power supply, and safety fences and barriers leading to a disruption of services. A full investigation is underway to determine the actual sequence of events.
Preliminary indications are that the quick reaction of the train driver, Ms Z. Mabizela, who applied the emergency brakes and the Automatic Train Protection system averted a major disaster. I express my gratitude to Gautrain passengers for their patience during this period of service disruption. Also, I want to re-emphasise that there is no credible information from the state security services that point to any potential terrorist threat to the Gautrain or to any other public transport infrastructure in the province.
Lastly, I wish to report on the following developments:
- The 30 Year OR Tambo Aerotropolis Master Plan has been completed and is to be approved by the Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality in due course;
- The Gauteng Household Travel Survey (2015) has been completed and will be released publicly soon;
- The Bus Rapid Transit System is expanding as planned with A re Yeng acquiring new CNG propelled busses; Harambee in Ekurhuleni finalising its brand and acquiring its first quota of busses; and ReaVaya forging ahead with its Phase IC; and
- Transnet has completed its upgrade of its City Deep Terminal.
To conclude, I would like to thank the Head of department, Ronald Swartz, the CEO of the GMA, Mr Jack van Der Merwe, the Acting CEO of g-Fleet Ms Noxolo Maninjwa and our departmental staff for their support and commitment to serving our people. A special thanks to the Portfolio Committee on Transport for its insightful and vigorous oversight.
Last, but not least, a big thank you to all transport stakeholders for your support and co-operation which enable us to deliver on our mandate.
