Honorable Members of this sovereign august house
The African National Congress Leadership and Revolutionary Alliance partners Transport Sector Stakeholders
Distinguished Guests
Officials of Government Departments Members of the media
Ladies and gentlemen
Honorable Speaker I stand in front of you today to present the policy speech of the Eastern Cape Department of Transport.
The speech is meant to highlight the priorities of the department in the next financial year intended to advance economic development in the Eastern Cape.
Transport has a crucial role to play in changing the lives of the ordinary South Africans in general, and those residing in the rural part of the province in particular.
Majority of sectors if not all, rely on transport, both public and private, for effective functioning.
Additionally, the transport sector plays an important role in the provisions of infrastructure development, economic growth and fostering progress in the areas of rural development, land reform, health, education, and service delivery, amongst other priorities set out by the ruling Party .
The above Honorable Speaker, highlights the significance of this speech, which defines the light in which I invite the audience of the honorable members of this august house.
We meet today in the year that has been declared by the African National Congress (ANC) as the year of the longest serving President of the National Liberation Movement, comrade Oliver Reginald Tambo.
The declaration was further interpreted as the year of deepening unity.
A call has therefore been made Honorable members, for us to work towards remembering and honoring the memory of President OR Tambo, by committing ourselves to the struggle which he lived and sacrificed most of his life for, a struggle for the total emancipation of our people from the political, socio, and economic bondages.
South Africa is classified as being among the countries with the most advanced public transport system. Our Provincial socio-economic profile is well-defined by poverty, unemployment and inequality, taking into consideration areas such as OR Tambo District that records above seventy five percent (75%) of indigent citizens, illustrates the significant and direct impact the public transport system has on the lives of the ordinary working and toiling masses.
The incontrovertible fact that much of the South African working people, the Eastern Cape in particular, spend most of their income on transport to and from work, must be a growing concern for the department and government as a whole.
There continues to be a remarkable growing demand of public transport, regardless of the periods of rapid economic expansion (characterised by high productivity and increases in wages) or times of economic bust (characterised by the opposite).
Honorable Speaker, Honorable members, a considerable dedication of our efforts needs to go towards transforming and improving the public transport sector. We must invest in skills development, policy formulation, and innovation among other crucial aspects for ensuring the provision of a reliable, safe, affordable and world class public transport system in the Eastern Cape.
To the working people, to the poor and rural masses, public transport with the features highlighted above, remains an important piece in completing the puzzle of the second and more radical socio-economic transformation.
Honorable members, we must be mindful that the rural character of the Province increases the influence transport has on the essence and impact of spatial planning in the Eastern Cape. The second and more radical phase of our revolution should bring markets together and the transportation of goods and services to the rural establishment on proper, safe, efficient public roads.
This will mean Honorable Speaker, the true emancipation of the rural masses that remain disconnected from the first world due to inadequate road and rail network.
In the words of Cde. O.R. Tambo himself; “The fight for freedom must go on until it is won; until our country is free and happy and peaceful as part of the community of man, we cannot rest. “
We must at all material times be preoccupied with the drive to change the ownership patterns in our economy in favor of the working poor and rural masses. It is this principle that has been the overarching guide of this budget vote, which finds expression in the revenue enhancement initiatives of the department.
As one of the NDP enabling milestones, the Department is tasked with the role of establishing effective, safe and affordable public transport. I am proud to update this house on the progress to date:
Our Strategic plan and budget demonstrates a business approach in dealing with the voted funds. The budget allocation has been done looking at the core service delivery areas in the following programmes.
|
R |
309 166 000 |
|
R |
25 079 000 |
|
R |
1 125 559 000 |
|
R |
332 869 000 |
|
R |
51 031 000 |
|
TOTAL |
R1 |
843 704 000 |
The process of transferring the Roads Function from Department of Roads and Public Works commenced in June 2016 and the following progress has been registered:
A Memorandum of Agreement between myself and MEC for DRPW on function shift has been signed. Office of the Premier, Transport and Department of Roads and Public Works have agreed on the joint funding. Proclamation processes are currently underway.
The naming of the department has to be in line with the National Department of Transport to remain as Eastern Cape Department of Transport.
As per the resolutions of the last Cabinet, the transfer date was changed from March 2017 to March 2018. The roads function will therefore be in the Department of Transport on 1 April 2018. Full speech [PDF]
