WEDNESDAY, 17 MAY 2000 __

          PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL COUNCIL OF PROVINCES
                                ____

The Council met at 14:02.

The Deputy Chairperson took the Chair and requested members to observe a moment of silence for prayers or meditation.

ANNOUNCEMENTS, TABLINGS AND COMMITTEE REPORTS - see col 000.

                          NOTICE OF MOTION

Mr J O TLHAGALE: Chairperson, I give notice that at the next sitting of the Council I shall move:

That the Council -

(1) notes with concern the appointment of the same preferable persons to various boards of the North West Housing Corporation and its parastatals; (2) further notes that contracts and tenders are awarded to unregistered companies owned by a clique of these preferable persons who evade payment of tax; and

(3) requests the Minister of Housing to set up a commission of inquiry to investigate -

   (a)  the malpractices in the Housing Corporation and its parastatals;


   (b)  why there are several parastatals responsible for overlapping
       functions under the Housing MEC's control; and


   (c)  whether or not the awarding of contracts to companies owned by
       the clique of Vryburgers is not calculated to enrich them with
       the public's money; and

(4) further requests the Minister to make the results of the investigation publicly known.

         BIRTH OF CONJOINED TWINS AT GROOTE SCHUUR HOSPITAL

                         (Draft Resolution)

Ms J N VILAKAZI: Chairperson, I move without notice:

That the Council -

(1) notes the birth of another set of conjoined twins at Groote Schuur Hospital;

(2) commends the professional explanation that one in 75 000 children is born as a conjoined twin;

(3) looks forward to a time when medical science will be able to develop a mechanism of separating the fertilised egg, when conjoined twins are detected early;

(4) also commends the enlightenment of the use of the terminology conjoined twin'' instead ofsiamese twin’’; and

(5) therefore wishes the mother and all the caregivers who attend to the babies the best of luck in the extensive surgery of separating the twins. Motion agreed to in accordance with section 65 of the Constitution.

       SHOOTING INCIDENT AT THE UNIVERSITY OF DURBAN-WESTVILLE

                         (Draft Resolution)

Ms E N LUBIDLA: Chairperson, I move without notice:

That the Council -

(1) takes cognisance of the shooting of a student and the injury of five other people by police at the University of Durban-Westville yesterday afternoon;

(2) notes that the students were protesting against deregistration of over 500 students who have not paid their fees;

(3) requests the Independent Complaints Directorate to make sure that there is no stone left unturned as the students were demonstrating and posed no threat to the police; and

(4) extends its sincere condolences to victims and family members and wishes a speedy recovery to those injured.

Motion agreed to in accordance with section 65 of the Constitution.

          ILLEGAL OCCUPATION OF FARMS IN THE NORTHERN CAPE

                         (Draft Resolution)

Mnr A E VAN NIEKERK: Voorsitter, ek stel voor sonder kennisgewing:

Dat die Raad -

(1) daarvan kennis neem dat -

   (a)  daar vandag berig is dat daar in die Noord-Kaap mense is wat
       kommersiële plase onwettig beset; en


   (b)  die rede aangevoer word dat die besettings voortspruit uit
       frustrasie oor die restitusie- en grondhervormingsproses in die
       Noord-Kaap, wat nie volgens plan verloop nie;

(2) met dank daarvan kennis neem dat die LUR vir Landbou en Grondsake in die Noord-Kaap, mnr Makweya, dit openlik gestel het dat sulke besettings nie geduld sal word nie;

(3) hom uitspreek teen onwettige besettings; en

(4) versoek dat hy op die hoogte gehou word oor die vordering van restitusie en grondhervorming in die Noord-Kaap as ‘n saak van dringende belang, sodat Suid-Afrika nie in ‘n situasie soos dié in Zimbabwe verval nie. (Translation of Afrikaans draft resolution follows.)

[Mr A E VAN NIEKERK: Mr Chairperson, I move without notice:

That the Council -

(1) notes that -

   (a)  it was reported today that there are people in the Northern Cape
       who are illegally occupying commercial farms; and


   (b)  the reason is given that the occupations arise from frustration
       about the restitution and land reform process in the Northern
       Cape, which is not proceeding according to plan;

(2) notes with thanks that the MEC for Agriculture and Land Affairs in the Northern Cape, Mr Makweya, has stated openly that such occupations will not be tolerated;

(3) declares itself against illegal occupations; and

(4) requests that it be kept informed about the progress of restitution and land reform in the Northern Cape as a matter of pressing importance, so that South Africa does not degenerate into a situation such as that in Zimbabwe.]

Motion agreed to in accordance with section 65 of the Constitution. CORRUPTION AND MALPRACTICES BY OFFICIALS OF THE DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

                         (Draft Resolution)

Mnr P A MATTHEE: Voorsitter, ek stel voor sonder kennisgewing:

Dat die Raad -

(1) kennis neem van die mediaberigte ten opsigte van ‘n omsendbrief vanaf die Direkteur-generaal van Justisie waarvolgens daar grootskaalse korrupsie en wanpraktyke in gemelde departement deur Justisie- amptenare gepleeg word; en

(2) die Minister vir Justisie en Staatkundige Ontwikkeling versoek om so gou as moontlik, maar op of voor 31 Mei 2000, die Raad te voorsien van ‘n verslag waarin die besonderhede van gemelde korrupsie en wanpraktyke uiteengesit word en waarin aangedui word welke stappe gedoen word om die betrokke amptenare te vervolg en om verdere korrupsie en wanpraktyke in die departement te verhoed. (Translation of Afrikaans draft resolution follows.)

[Mr P A MATTHEE: Mr Chairperson, I move without notice:

That the Council -

(1) notes the media reports in respect of a circular from the Director- General of Justice according to which large-scale corruption and malpractices are committed by Justice officials in the said department; and

(2) requests the Minister for Justice and Constitutional Development as soon as possible, but on or before 31 May 2000, to provide the Council with a report in which the details of the corruption and malpractices mentioned are expounded and in which is indicated what steps must be taken to prosecute the relevant officials and prevent further corruption and malpractices in the department.]

The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP (Mr M L Mushwana): Order! Is there any objection to the motion?

Mr A MARAIS: Chairperson, I do not have an objection; it is an amendment I am proposing.

The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP (Mr M L Mushwana): What is the amendment?

Mr A MARAIS: Chairperson, I propose:

That, in paragraph (2), the words as soon as possible, but on or before 31 May 2000,'' be substituted bywithin reasonable time’’.

The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP (Mr M L Mushwana): Are you agreed, Mr Matthee?

Mr P A MATTHEE: Yes, Chairperson.

Amendment agreed to in accordance with section 65 of the Constitution.

Motion, as amended, agreed to in accordance with section 65 of the Constitution, namely: That the Council -

(1) notes the media reports in respect of a circular from the Director- General of Justice according to which large-scale corruption and malpractices are committed by Justice officials in the said department; and

(2) requests the Minister for Justice and Constitutional Development within reasonable time to provide the Council with a report in which the details of the corruption and malpractices mentioned are expounded and in which is indicated what steps must be taken to prosecute the relevant officials and prevent further corruption and malpractices in the department.

                         APPROPRIATION BILL

                         (Review of Policy)

Vote No 33 - Transport:

The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP (Mr M L Mushwana): I take this opportunity to welcome the hon the Minister of Transport, our MECs from the various provinces and some special delegates who are also present here. We do, indeed, appreciate your presence in this Chamber. The MINISTER OF TRANSPORT: Chairperson, fellow Ministers, hon members and delegates, I thank the members for the opportunity to participate with them in debating my department’s Budget Vote for the year 2000-01. Let us get straight down to business. What is Transport’s mission? It is to provide safe, reliable, effective, efficient and fully integrated transport operations and infrastructure aimed at improving levels of service and cost to customers in support of Government’s strategy to redress inequality and promote economic and social development. This is a very broad statement. There are many things that have to be done to ensure that we fulfil this mission in a dynamic and sustainable way, both short-term and long-term.

I would like to use this opportunity to focus on three specific sets of issues. Firstly, there is the issue of intergovernmental co-operation. Secondly, we have public passenger transport and, thirdly, road safety in general. I could, of course, speak at length about our long-term strategic plans which may be the more normal thing to do in a budget debate but, instead, I have decided, perhaps arbitrarily, to bring members up to date on what we are doing right now in key areas of public concern.

As delegates of provincial government, hon members’ understanding of our priorities and actions as the executive and as national Government is absolutely vital. Everything flows from the objective of accelerated delivery. But to deliver in the right way to the right constituencies requires a high degree of planned co-operation between the different spheres of government. The core responsibilities of the national Ministry and the Department of Transport are: policy, planning, regulation and the co-ordination of intergovernmental and public-private sector resources. Our task is to create the strategic framework for rational and equitable competition, to ensure safety and security in the transport sector, to empower emerging entrepreneurs, to help create sustainable jobs and to generate energy, enthusiasm and commitment around these goals.

The task of provincial government in transport is creative implementation in co-operation with and in support of the many hundreds of metropolitan and local councils across the face of South Africa. They are at the sharp end of delivery every day - here I am referring to provincial government. Our co-ordination agenda may not be very visible to the public, but it quickly becomes so when seen from the perspective of our constituents’ expectations. The quality of the co-ordination directly determines the quality of the delivery.

We have much work to do and there is really no space for relaxation. I am not complaining. How are we doing? How well are our national and provincial co-ordination structures and mechanisms working? Are they starting to make an impact where it counts - in our people’s day-to-day experience as passengers in public transport and as users of South Africa’s road network? How do we move from where we are now to a sustainable rise in the quality of the services provided in public transport and a sustainable decline in our road fatality rate?

Let me begin with the co-ordination issues that relate to road traffic management and safety specifically. The system and structures that are in place at the moment show both clear strengths and weaknesses. We have quite a good rational set of mechanisms for co-ordinating national and provincial actions, both at the political level and at senior government official level.

Firstly, I have recently resuscitated and revitalised the Road Traffic Safety Board with the express purpose of giving us an instrument for formulating and agreeing to strategy at the highest level. It is a body made up of five national Ministers, ie the Minister of Transport, the Minister for Safety and Security, the Minister of Defence, the Minister of Health and the Minister of Education, all the provincial transport MECs and a group of key stakeholders from the transport industry and civil society in general. These include business associations representing their members in the transport industry, safety pressure groups, statisticians, technical standards experts, civil society generally, and so forth.

Members will easily recognise bodies such as the SA Road Freight Association, Saboa, Sataco, the Automobile Association, the Road Accident Fund, the CSIR, the SA Bureau of Standards, Drive Alive and the major labour unions in the industry. The Road Traffic Safety Board is not just a talkshop, it is about creating joint ownership of road safety strategy and building the long-term understandings and working relationships that help us to translate strategy into delivery.

Just last week we had a very constructive meeting which looked at the range of road safety matters and considered the recently released Strategy 2000, which is a discussion document focusing on the formulation of a comprehensive road safety strategy for South Africa. The degree of commitment shown by participants and the collective will to move quickly towards implementation were extremely encouraging, and I do want to thank our fellow Ministers for their co-operation in this regard. A broadly representative and clearly focused implementation working group has already been set up to handle feedback on the discussion document and to produce an action plan and timetable.

In a few moments, I will share with the House the immediate actions we are already in a position to launch, some of them as from today. But, in the meantime, I would like to remind members who have not yet seen a copy of Strategy 2000 that it is available from my department’s offices in both Cape Town and Pretoria, and that they are most welcome to share their thoughts on it with us. I have brought a copy of the document along with me, and I would welcome the participation by all members in our discussions relating to this document. The deadline for comments, it should be noted, is 15 June. All inputs will be welcomed and we are not waiting until 15 June to start moving. The implementation group has been given the green light to start its work and has committed itself to submitting its full implementation plan by September. This will deal in detail with timeframes, the necessary consultation processes with trade unions and associations, the launch and roll-out, scheduled priority programmes, the allocation of resources and delivery responsibilities and the legislative and regulatory amendments that will be required.

I will return to road safety and the document, Strategy 2000, shortly. Let us focus on the co-ordination issue a bit further, because it is very important to understand how we get from strategy to delivery, making sure that all those who need to be on board are in fact on board and know exactly what they have to do.

The Strategy 2000 implementation working group will not be working in a vacuum. Before it reports back to the Road Traffic Safety Board in September, it will have thrashed out the finer details of the plan with Colto, the Committee of Land Transport Officials, which will in turn present a report to the committee of Ministers of Transport, Mincom, to make sure that the necessary political consensus is in place.

We can follow this streamlined approach to implementation precisely because the MECs’ presence on the Road Traffic Safety Board has already enabled us to clear the way politically in advance. Working together with Colto will ensure that all key officials and technical staff who will have to do the operational work to carry out the plan are fully in tune with the route being taken and properly set up to manage the workload. This will require the full involvement of Colto’s substructures - mainly the Road Traffic Management Co-ordinating Committee and its 12 technical subcommittees. Road safety is complex and is a multidimensional process. However fast we want to move, we have to recognise that there are no shortcuts to good practice

• only good systems.

In this regard, I want to pay tribute today to the extremely valuable role that Colto is playing, under its chairperson, Mr Jack van der Merwe. They have worked tirelessly to provide my ministerial colleagues and myself with the information and analysis that Mincom needs to make informed strategic decisions. We are in the process of reviewing the future workings of Colto, and I have no doubt that it is a matter we will be discussing with Colto in due course. Let me not take up any more time with further details of the Mincom-Colto structure. However, this House will see that the written version of our comments here today has attached to it at the end an organogram which shows how this structure, that is, the Mincom-Colto structure, fits together.

The point I want to make today is that, within certain limitations due mainly to financial resource constraints, these are structures which are working well. They ensure sufficient political consensus, they enable information to pass up and down effectively and they are open, at a number of levels, to direct participation by business, trade union and civil society representatives.

On the other hand, big problems arise when we move from the planning sphere into the sphere of the day-to-day road traffic and safety operational management, enforcement and adjudication, at the interface between provincial and local government.

Here we have, for a long time, faced a situation of severe structural fragmentation. We are going to radically shake up the system so that we get beyond the current intolerable situation where our courts are clogged with long backlogs of traffic offences, where drivers routinely tear up their traffic summonses because they know they can get away with it - I hope there is nobody here who does that - and where enforcement is fragmented between some 800 provincial and local authorities, acting in accordance with different norms and operational standards, with different levels of pay and working conditions. We are going to urgently inject coherence into these systems and instil respect for the law amongst our road users.

Over the last three years, we have learnt the lessons of Arrive Alive - that is, our road safety campaign - and see now clearly that it has to become an all-year programme of targeted and prioritised enforcement, education and communication. This can only be achieved through a fundamental restructuring of road traffic adjudication, management and operational systems, and the development of a wide range of participatory public-private sector and community safety initiatives.

Fortunately, we are now at the point where we will soon have two very important new tools at our disposal to make sure that we succeed. These are the Road Traffic Management Corporation, or RTMC, and the Administrative Adjudication of Road Traffic Offences, or Aarto system, together with its operational arm, the Road Traffic Infringement Agency. These are two very important instruments. It is imperative that we get these up and running as soon as possible - hopefully by early next year at the latest.

Let me remind the House briefly why these two institutions have such a valuable role to play. The RTMC offers both a new structure for co- ordinated implementation of national road traffic strategy and a new deal for the traffic officers’ profession. The RTMC will be headed by a full- time CEO, will be run on business principles and will become partly self- financing through user-charges for the services it provides.

It will pool together national and provincial resources under a single management umbrella, and will be empowered to enter into contracts with the private sector to provide specific services wherever appropriate. It will be responsible for overall co-ordination and performance standard-setting in road traffic management, for systematically developing the inspectorates and monitoring regimes which will enable us to stamp out fraud and corruption in vehicle and driver licensing, and it will be fully dedicated to enhancing the professionalism of traffic officers and their support staff.

It will control and regulate vehicle and driver licensing, testing and registration. It will work hand in hand with provincial government to improve traffic safety communication and education. It will ensure that computerised management, enforcement and statistical information systems are fully implemented in all appropriate structures.

It will set up a traffic academy to fast-track managerial talent, will implement proper career-pathing and will upgrade traffic officer training programmes across the board. It will commission and carry out original research and conduct regular infrastructure safety audits. Above all, its aim will be to restore optimal efficiency to road traffic management and safety, and to inject a new self-esteem and dynamism into the profession.

I now come to our second set of weapons: Aarto and the Road Traffic Infringement Agency. Through the Aarto Act and regulations, and with the establishment of the infringement agency, we have given ourselves the necessary instruments to ensure, firstly, that we can standardise and increase, where necessary, demerit points for critical traffic offences; secondly, that we can take the vast majority of infringements and infringers out of the overloaded judicial system and penalise those who frivolously frustrate the adjudication process and try and avoid fines by making them pay the costs of both the fine and the process in the event of their being found guilty; thirdly, that all road traffic fines are indeed collected, quickly and efficiently, and that stubborn defaulters can be assured of having their property attached for nonpayment; fourthly, that annual vehicle licences are not renewed when fines have not been paid; and finally, fifthly, that we are able to administratively suspend a licence when the threshold value of demerit points has been exceeded and, in the same manner, revoke a licence at the third suspension. These are tough measures, and I hope that none of us fall foul of them. [Laughter.]

Let me turn to the state of affairs of public passenger transport, in particular the recent developments in the minibus-taxi industry. As we sit here in Cape Town, hon members will be well aware of the events which have been taking place in Khayelitsha, and elsewhere, in recent days and weeks. I want to send out some very clear messages from this House today, and I would welcome the support of the House in this regard.

Firstly, let me say that I am prepared to accept that the minibus-taxi industry still has some legitimate concerns with regard to existing processes for the issuing of operators’ licences in various parts of the country, including the Western Cape. These need to be attended to, and I know that MECs are paying careful attention to this issue.

What is unacceptable is for taxi or bus operators, or anyone else, to oppose or ignore the requirement to comply with basic driver and vehicle safety standards as a condition for registration. What is even more unacceptable is for anyone to take the law into their own hands and resort to disruptions of other services, blockades of communities, threats or acts of violence. I want to make it clear that I stand firmly behind the actions taken by provincial MECs to restore order in the industry, to ensure that matters under dispute are resolved by peaceful negotiation and that passengers are guaranteed free and unrestricted access to the transport mode of their choice.

I have said repeatedly that the minibus-taxi industry provides a vital service to over 60% of our commuters going to work each day. We have all recognised that it is potentially one of the most important forces for progressive economic empowerment in this country. There is absolutely no sense in acting in ways which jeopardise the great advances that have been made in the industry over the past few years.

Let me recapitulate briefly: Firstly, a clear set of processes for the regulation, formalisation and economic renewal of the industry has been put in place after three long years of consultation. Secondly, the industry has worked out its own path towards representative, democratic structures of governance, and is currently in the process of building towards fully democratic elections for its national governing body, the SA Taxi Council, or Sataco, which indeed is the parliament of the taxi industry. This process will be completed and the results must be respected, just as we all must respect the democratic process.

Thirdly, the taxi recapitalisation process will go ahead. This is a huge endeavour which will change the face of the industry forever. Nobody is being compelled to enter into this process. There is often a misconception in this regard, namely that there is an element of compulsion. There is no compulsion. Nobody is compelled to enter into this process. However, the National Land Transport Transition Bill, which has been passed by this House and is currently before the National Assembly, lays down that from 1 October 2004, no more licences will be issued in respect of vehicles which do not comply with the new vehicle safety specifications - a very important requirement. From the year 2006, any minibus public passenger vehicle which does not comply with the regulations will not be allowed on South African roads.

This represents the understanding of Government of the different states of readiness within the industry with regard to compliance problems. Here I am referring to the timeframes: 1 April 2004 and 1 April 2006, which are the two stages of compliance. There is an understanding by Government that we cannot introduce this change overnight. That is why there is this timeframe. The industry, in other words, has been given four to six years to fully comply with the new requirements.

However, the interests of the passenger must come first. We cannot compromise on safety in the taxi industry, or, indeed, in any other mode of land transport, if we are serious about implementing a comprehensive strategy to reverse the carnage on our roads. Hence the new safety requirements and the timeframes which I have referred to.

This brings me back to the question of road safety, one of the three areas which I am addressing today, and to the specific short-term measures to which I have referred. These are as follows: Firstly, we have to take immediate steps to implement the direct powers of the inspectorate of driving licence testing centres and vehicle testing stations established under the Road Traffic Act to suspend or cancel the registration of centres or stations which are found to be substandard or where fraud is detected.

These are very drastic steps, and I know that my fellow Ministers and MECs will warn me to be cautious about its implementation. However, I believe that the time has come for us to act drastically to ensure that both driver testing centres and vehicle testing stations are up to standard, so that we eliminate corruption, and are able to act effectively within the framework of the law.

Secondly, we have to bind driving licence testing centres geographically to eliminate scams being carried out across municipal jurisdictions or interprovincial boundaries. We can explain this if necessary, but the important word here is ``geographically’’, and I am sure that my colleagues will want to elaborate on that.

Thirdly, we have to introduce a stringent, compulsory, practical test every two years for the renewal of the professional drivers’ permit, and encourage public passenger transport operators to support this by providing their employees with advanced driver training. The issue of driver training is becoming more and more important.

Fourthly, we have to introduce a strict annual medical test for professional drivers aimed at detecting drug use and hidden medical conditions such as diabetes, and we should ensure that such tests are conducted by doctors specifically approved by the SA Medical Council. Fifthly, we must make it compulsory for public transport operators to implement safety management systems and employer-employee contracts clearly stipulating maximum working hours for drivers, and regulating other conditions of service which have a direct bearing on safety. Hon members will agree with me that driver fatigue is often the cause of serious accidents.

Sixthly, we want to give inspectors the powers to conduct unannounced, on- site inspections of operators’ premises to monitor compliance with safety standards. This will include the power to take direct readings from electronic, on-board monitoring equipment and to use print-outs as evidence in court for offences such as speeding, overloading and driving for too long without taking a compulsory rest stop. We are not promising overnight results, but these are measures which we want to implement.

Seventhly, we want to get fine levels right. In other words, fine levels must be proportionate to the gravity of the offence. This implies immediately reviewing the proposed standardised penalties and demerit points levels and thresholds under Aarto so as to ensure that repeatedly offending operators can be punitively fined, have their registration suspended or be permanently disqualified from operating.

Eighthly, we want to consider the feasibility of banning retreaded tyres from the steering axles of all heavy trucks and public passenger vehicles, and phasing in compulsory blowout stabiliser devices.

Ninthly, we want to launch a campaign promoting the use of trailers and phase in a ban on the use of roofracks on buses and minibus taxis. They often affect the balance of these vehicles. Beginning as from 2002, we aim to phase in compulsory annual roadworthiness tests for all private vehicles over the age of three years.

Tenthly, we intend to directly address the mobility and safety needs of our poorer communities and young people, by vigorously promoting utility cycling in South Africa. This can start out from already existing schemes for the refurbishment and low-cost supply of bicycles and should include both training, riding and maintenance skills, and local planning which incorporates the provision of dedicated and well-balanced cycle paths, traffic priority measures for cyclists, safety law enforcement and cycle parking facilities. I do not know how many members and delegates know how to ride a bicycle or repair a puncture of the wheels. It is an art which I have long forgotten and which I will have to relearn.

I must come to a conclusion, but the last point in this regard is that we intend to continue with the sterling co-operative work that has already been done by my department and the Department of Education to embed road safety education as an integral component of the life skills component of Curriculum 2005, from grade zero to grade 12, and build practical road safety awareness into all teacher training courses, so as to create ambassadors for road safety, both in our schools and in the communities they serve.

Finally, we intend to concentrate and target the key enforcement actions, which many of the actions outlined above will require on the road. We will have to increase the number of roadblocks and 24-hour traffic control centres to check for overloading, drinking and driving, vehicle fitness, and licensing offences. We will increasingly involve the private sector in the operation of static electronic equipment for monitoring speeding and traffic light offences, and give immediate consideration to what can be done to start filling vacant traffic officer posts and appointing additional administrative staff to free officers for on-the-road patrol duties.

These are all actions which are being or can begin to be implemented immediately. Strategy 2000 contains a much more extensive list of short- term, medium-term and long-term actions, and the report of the implementation working group will spell out all the logistical and resourcing implications of the total programme.

However, the road users of South Africa should both be warned and take heart. We are very serious about transforming the culture of road use in South Africa and, with their co-operation, we will succeed. [Applause.]

Ms P C P MAJODINA: Mr Chairperson, Minister Omar, hon Members of Executive Councils, and members of the NCOP and special delegates, I would like to greet everyone and thank them for their presence at this review debate on transport today.

Everyone came here this morning utilising cars, planes or buses. Nobody has utilised rail transport. Why is this so? It is because we perceive this mode of transport as meant for the poor, the unemployed and schoolchildren. This is not a matter of fact. We should also look at how we can utilise motorbikes and bicycles. Rail transport is neglected by society and needs a concerted effort to be upgraded.

Transport is central to development, and good transport infrastructure is as important a catalyst as education in providing for both social and economic development.

It is impossible to upgrade rural roads to promote economic development and employment without sound transport infrastructure and services which can be expanded and developed to meet the growing needs of our country, hence the need for an integrated approach and joint programmes between the Departments of Transport and Public Works, because bad, narrow, unmaintained roads lead to accidents.

Road safety needs to be strengthened at national level, which goes along with a budget allocation review to meet the needs of most provinces which are in need of an increased budget.

Regarding traffic law enforcement agencies, I wish to commend the Transport Department for a good attempt to keep down Easter holiday fatalities. We thank all stakeholders, such as traffic officers, police and paramedics, but we need more personnel on this. We also need a cleansing of the existing personnel due to the fact that some of them are involved in fraud and corruption.

One needs to thank responsible road users who declared a state of emergency on road accidents. We heartily commend the law enforcement officials for arresting those mad drivers who drive as fast as 218 km per hour.

The Transport Department should, as a matter of urgency, legislate for the use of handsfree kits on cellular phones. This must be done as soon as yesterday.

A clear criterion is needed in respect of the mass which can be carried on our roads. Huge trucks also contribute a lot to road damage and accidents. How about encouraging big companies to buy containers and utilise rail and port transport to alleviate the use of huge and overloaded trucks on our roads?

I want to tell our provincial and local governments that the question of the roadworthiness of vehicles should not be an issue to be massaged, and they must act responsibly and vigorously, and as decisively as MEC Kgabisi Mosunku has done in Gauteng in respect of the Putco Bus Company. Bus limits of 100 km per hour should be adhered to.

The National Land Transport Transition Bill, which was passed on 18 April by this House, enables provinces and local councils to act promptly on public transport regulation. It was a milestone, of course. Its implementation is necessary in order also to address the question of violence where there is competition for routes, with special reference to the Khayelitsha incident.

We need to encourage the workers of this country and everyone else to use public transport in order to ease the burden of vehicles that flood our roads every morning and evening, and also encourage interprovincial co- ordination on road construction. If one travels between Gauteng and Mpumalanga, one can see a difference in the texture of the road. We need to narrow this gap.

We need more facilities to curb irregularities on our roads. We do not need cows, donkeys, sheep and dogs to act as traffic controllers or speed traps because there are no facilities.

We owe it to the rural or farm schoolchildren who walk exorbitant distances because there is no transport provided for them which they can access. The Departments of Education and Transport should look at this matter as a matter of urgency. Our schoolchildren, too, are entitled to a better life for all.

Dr T S FARISANI (Northern Province): Mr Chairperson, I have not been in Cape Town for a long time. Can members hear me? Do I have to press some button? Is it OK now?

It is a pleasure to join our national Minister of Transport, Comrade Dullah Omar, and colleagues in Cape Town in the NCOP, to address the issues before us.

We come from the Northern Province, which has a population of close to 5 million people and also has 250 000 registered vehicles, and lots of visitors and tourists who come to the province.

We have just emerged from the worst floods in the history of that province, and perhaps in the history of the country. We believe that the challenges that we face can only be dealt with if we work together for change. Therefore we believe in the integration of the work of the department in the province and a good working relationship with the national department, which we have.

We also believe that we should interact with our sister departments, especially Public Works and the SA Police Service in the province, particularly when it comes to areas of law enforcement.

We believe that in order to achieve the goals set in our vision and in our mission, we should also work very closely with the traffic departments of local governments, and that is happening.

We also believe that we should work with all relevant stakeholders. In spite of the teething problems, we have a very good working relationship with the bus industry, the taxi industry, the truck industry and the communities at large. We believe that this good relationship can be achieved, but not at the expense of law enforcement in the province. Our youth, our women and our disabled people, and all community members, must become active role-players in order for us to achieve the goals of the department.

Let me come to the issue of road safety. The routine road safety and traffic control measures continue as they have. But in order for the Northern Province to produce results different from those of the past, it is critical that extraordinary, even heavenly measures, are considered, and we have considered them.

Our Operation Thibela, while involving blocking traffic on the roads, must actually be understood more deeply, in a heavenly way, to refer to a way of ``thibeling’’ death - stopping death from befalling our road users.

Our Operation Thari ea tsela, in which the department has co-operated with SABC’s Thobela FM and Ukhango Communications, has brought out the most positive side of the department. We say to road users: We are not there only to lambaste you, but we are also there to create an acceptable environment in which you can drive happily. The launch of this programme just before and during Easter produced positive, stunning results. On the N1 especially, we created facilities for rest and relaxation, together with music and other forms of entertainment. The outcome was astounding. Where in the previous year 16 people lost their lives on the N1 between Jo’burg and Pietersburg, this time only two people lost their lives.

However, over and above that, there is another operation to promote road safety. We shall not hide it. It is an elite, specialist operation called Operation Ndadzi. That is Tshivenda for lightening - tladi. It is part of the MEC’s unit, which he uses intelligently at appropriate times and in appropriate places, and the results have been impressive. It is a select team made up of one capable traffic officer from each of our 25 different traffic stations in the province and it strikes from time to time. Initially, we used to catch approximately 48 people under the influence of liquor in an operation. This time, for example, when we took the operation to N1, the number came down to between three and five in four to five days. The message has hit home.

It also deals with elements of corruption where government vehicles are used in unacceptable ways. Initially we used to catch in the region of 38 culprits per operation. The number has gone down to 3 per operation, which means that the message has hit home. To know more about Operation Ndadzi, one needs to get statistics, which we do not have time to make available here.

When it comes to law enforcement, it is quite clear that, on its own, the Department of Transport cannot achieve a lot. Therefore our interaction with the Department of Justice and with the police is beginning to show dividends.

We also take HIV/Aids very seriously. We have launched a programme, in consultation with the Department of Health and Welfare in the province, in which we have interacted with the taxi industry, the relevant unions and the truck industry. If, during our operations, one does not get a ticket at our roadblocks - thank God - it will be difficult to go without a condom! [Laughter.] We do not force people to accept them, but we found it a very useful operation. During Easter, at Kranskop, we had tables full of HIV/Aids material, including condoms, and the condoms were not being taken at the rate we would have liked, so we took them to the toilets, and they moved very fast. [Interjections.]

We have challenges. In order to bite, one must have teeth. Initially, this MEC did not have powers to impound illegal taxi operators, now he has. But we have not used them yet, because people are beginning to listen.

We also have challenges around corruption, and we have made a few arrests, and I hope we will make more.

Our problem is the shortage of personnel. We would like to work around the clock for 24 hours, but we do not have the resources. Another important aspect is to perhaps make sure that all legal instruments are in place. Among the dead one has pedestrians who allegedly were knocked down while under the influence of liquor.

I have not done enough research to establish whether we have the legal instruments to arrest, charge and punish them. My latest information is that the best we can do is to keep them in a cell until they are sober, and then let them go.

The DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP (Mr M L Mushwana): On that note, hon member, your time has expired.

Dr T S FARASANI: Thank you very much.

On that note we want to contribute to a healthier, safer South Africa, and to do everything in our power to work together with the national Minister so that our province is not left behind as we take South Africa into the future. [Applause.]

Dr P J C NEL: Chairperson, hon Minister, thank you for this opportunity.

According to the Department of Transport, between 9 000 and 10 000 people still die on our roads every year and almost 150 000 people are injured. Most of these accidents are caused by people disobeying the rules, in other words, driver error.

In his opening address at the Saboa 2000 conference, the hon the Minister released some statistics on bus accidents. In his address he stated, and I quote:

From 6 September to 7 October 1999 - in one month - 10 crashes involving 12 buses and two trucks occurred in various parts of the country killing 98 passengers and seriously injuring 108 passengers.

He further stated that 70% of the causes of the crashes could be attributed to driver error. It is therefore quite clear that motor vehicle accidents in South Africa are frequently attributed to driver error.

A recent survey performed by Medexec, consisting of a standardised medical examination performed on a group of 580 professional drivers, all of whom were in possession of valid professional drivers’ permits and medical certificates at the time of the examination, revealed that 299 drivers, or 51,5% of this group, were found to be suffering from significant disease and, of those, 98 were found to be suffering from pathology severe enough to declare them permanently unfit to drive.

There is no reason to believe that the position would be any different in other groups of professional drivers. It clearly illustrates the inadequacy of the current medical examination for a professional driver permit.

The average professional driver spends an average of 10 to 12 hours a day on the road. This is longer than the maximum hours of continuous duty permitted for pilots. The health requirements for a professional driver should thus be at least of the same standard as that demanded of pilots.

I was therefore very pleased to hear today that the hon the Minister is going to implement a system of more frequent medical examinations performed by a limited panel of accredited medical doctors. I want to suggest to the Minister that the medical examinations be in line with the current aviation medical examinations.

Dit bring my by ‘n ander aangeleentheid, naamlik die algemene swak toestand en die konstante agteruitgang van ons paaie in die Vrystaat.

As die paaie-infrastruktuur van die Vrystaat agteruitgaan, raak dit die hele land. Paaie wat eintlik die slagare van die ekonomie is, vloei uit alle windrigtings deur die Vrystaat. Hierdie slagare is besig om vinnig verstop te raak. (Translation of Afrikaans paragraphs follows.)

[That brings me to another matter, namely the generally poor condition and constant deterioration of our roads in the Free State.

If the road infrastructure of the Free State deteriorates, it affects the entire country. Roads which are in fact the arteries of the economy flow through the Free State from all directions. These arteries are quickly becoming blocked.]

To illustrate this, I would like to quote from the budget speech delivered by the hon MEC Mr Malebo on 28 March 2000 in the Free State legislature:

The 7 000 km of paved road and 21 000 km of gravel road in the Free State have a replacement value of R10 billion. More than 50% of the road network can be classified as in a poor to very poor condition. The estimated cost of restoring the network to a good condition within a realistic timeframe of five years is now R800 million per annum. Only R146 million is allocated for the current financial year to the road infrastructure programme.

Poor road maintenance has a devastating effect on agriculture, tourism and commercial output.

Daarom maak die karige fondse wat vir hierdie doel beskikbaar gestel word net eenvoudig nie sin nie. Sonder behoorlike fisieke toegang tot werksplekke, klinieke, hospitale en skole word die lewenstandaard van ons mense verlaag en kan die ekonomie nie groei nie.

Die agb Minister het onlangs op ‘n vergadering van die Portefeuljekomitee oor Vervoer gesê die voortdurende agteruitgang in die vervoerinfrastruktuur word veroorsaak deurdat die ontwikkeling van paaie, spoorlyne, hawens en lughawens voortdurend moet plek maak vir oënskynlik dringender probleme wanneer dit by die toekenning van geld vir die onderskeie begrotingsposte kom.

Miskien is dit omdat daar meer as een Minister in die Kabinet is wat voel soos die agb Minister van Onderwys, wat onlangs in die Vrystaat gesê het hy het nie een slapelose nag oor die slaggate in die Vrystaatse paaie nie.

Ons besef gesindhede soos hierdie maak dit vir die agb Minister moeilik om fondse vir paaie te kry. Ek wil egter vandag by hom pleit om tog fondse te vind om vir hierdie baie belangrike doel beskikbaar te stel. (Translation of Afrikaans paragraphs follows.)

[Therefore the meagre funding made available for this purpose simply does not make sense. Without adequate physical access to workplaces, clinics, hospitals and schools our people’s standard of living drops and the economy cannot grow.

At a recent meeting of the Portfolio Committee on Transport the hon the Minister said that the continued deterioration of the transport infrastructure is caused because the development of roads, railway lines, harbours and airports continuously has to make way for apparently more urgent problems when it comes to the allocation of money for the various Votes.

Perhaps this is because there is more than one Minister in the Cabinet who feels the way the hon the Minister of Education does, who recently said in the Free State that he does not have a single sleepless night about the potholes in the roads of the Free State.

We realise that attitudes such as this make it difficult for the hon the Minister to obtain funding for roads. However, I want to appeal to him today nevertheless to find funding to make available for this very important purpose.]

I want to conclude by quoting a former administrator of the USA Federal Highway Administration:

It was not our wealth which made our good roads possible, but rather our good roads that made our wealth possible.

[Applause.]

Mr N M RAJU: Hon Madam Chair, hon Minister Omar, hon MECs, hon special delegates from the provinces and hon colleagues in the House, at the best of times it is never easy to interpret faithfully the intentions or expectations of a particular people, culture or interest group. However, when it comes to focusing on the relative merits and demerits of the transport industry in South Africa, the issue, at least for the DP, is quite clear. However, I will refrain from dwelling on statistics regarding the spending of funds in Government departments, nor will I dwell on the parlous state of affairs in the Road Accident Fund. I will instead speak on the apparent lack of law enforcement which has allowed a deplorable situation to develop in which taxi operators can cock a snook at attempts to get them in line with legality.

If we survey the current transport scene right here in Cape Town, namely in Khayelitsha and surrounding townships, we have a microcosm of the problems afflicting the transport situation in the country as a whole, and it is a sorry scene. Buses are attacked, bus and taxi drivers are shot and killed, the stoning of buses and blocking of routes continues unabated, and taxi associations have veritably lost control over their members.

To quote a Cape Argus editorial the other day:

The minibus-taxi industry has become a law unto itself. It is seeking to impose a transport monopoly on the townships by blocking the entry of buses. It enforces its will by way of violence. Commuters prefer to use safer bus transport rather than subject themselves to the whims of the ill-disciplined taxi industry with its dangerous driving and unroadworthy vehicles.

There is no gainsaying the fact that the taxi industry in South Africa has emerged as one of the finest examples of private enterprise anywhere in Africa. The unshackling from the chains of apartheid and its narrow monopolistic confines has unleashed the taxi industry onto the centre stage of South Africa’s free and private enterprise arena.

It was a veritable boon for black aspirant entrepreneurs, who were freed from restrictions and financial restraints. It was a boon not only to the nouveau riche among the taxi operators, but to the masses as well, the long- suffering commuters who now had access to and freedom of quick movement from home to work and back, or from home to grandmother’s house across the township or, indeed, across the province. Schools, universities, sports stadiums and shopping malls came within easy reach.

But, what is the scenario we face after the relaxation of restrictions and the scrapping of licences and permits for taxi operators? The new-found freedom to operate these four-wheeled machines that travel and commute freely has created a plethora of problems in its wake. Dark clouds have darkened the horizon. The joys of easy and quick travel have been overtaken by grief and more grief, grief for everyone connected with the land travel motor industry, from the now greedy and selfish taxi operator and the hapless commuter who has become an unwilling captive to the money madcaps who pretend to be service providers, to other legitimate road users and even to the innocent pedestrians on our roads and in communities. And, I dare say, it has brought grief also to the Ministry of Transport.

It is almost trite to state that the taxi industry is overtraded, let alone overcrowded. And what is more tragic, in fact, is that the industry has spawned a new breed of cutthroat entrepreneurs who evince no qualms about flouting the law. Unlimited competition and intense rivalries over lucrative routes have made taxi violence a national concern.

I read once in a poem that ``freedom is a noble thing’’. But freedom in the taxi world, I am afraid, has become blurred with licence: licence to literally do as one pleases; licence to abuse this noble freedom by showing scant regard for lawful operation of taxis, scant regard for keeping vehicles in roadworthy condition, scant regard for observing speed limits, scant regard for employing competent and licensed drivers, scant regard for the use of properly demarcated taxi ranks and, of course, scant regard for the most important role-player in the taxi industry, the ubiquitous commuter, the taxi owner’s walking bank.

The Ministry must concede that there is a public perception that the Government’s performance, in its feeble attempts at law enforcement, is lacklustre. Let me hasten to say the DP does acknowledge that the taxi industry is on the verge of being completely revamped so that safer, better regulated travel will become the norm, but then again, the Ministry finds itself in an unenviable situation. I want to name just a few problems lurking around the corner: the clamour for operating permits, the refusal to get vehicles checked for roadworthiness, the proposed new demarcated municipal boundaries and the consequent integration of traffic departments. I was happy to listen to the Minister. [Time expired.] [Applause.]

Rre S M A MALEBO (Freistata): Motlotlegi modulasetulo, ke lebogela tshono eno. [Chairperson, I thank you for giving me the opportunity.]

Hon members, colleagues from provinces and Comrade Minister, it is indeed a pleasure, this afternoon, to have an opportunity to participate in the deliberations of this august Council. Having listened to the colleague from the Free State making a point about the state of our road network, it reminds me of a very famous radio personality at Radio Oranje, which is broadcast to most of the province where the road network is in serious trouble, and I want to quote what he said. He suggested a change in the title that is accorded by the Constitution to those who have the responsibility to look after our road network, and he said:

Ek hoor dat daar in verskeie provinsies ‘n LUR vir paaie is, maar as ek na die toestand van ons paaie kyk, dan dink ek wat ons het, is die LUR vir slaggate! [I hear that in various provinces there is an MEC for roads, but when I look at the condition of our roads, I think that what we have is the MEC for potholes!]

[Laughter.]

During the 1999 Easter period, a total of 31 people died on the Free State roads as compared to 35 people who lost their lives during the Easter period this year. It should be borne in mind that the Easter 2000 period was extended over two weekends owing to additional public holidays as compared to the previous year. During Easter 2000, 75 motor vehicles, mainly taxis, were taken off the road because of road unworthiness, whilst 19 people were arrested for exceeding the speed limit, the highest speed recorded in the province being 240 km/h. One person was arrested for bribing a traffic officer, and may I conclude by saying a total of 3 970 fines were issued, of which 1 236 were for speed violations.

A specialised traffic court similar to the tax courts is being considered for more serious offences such as drunken driving, overloading and speeding in order to introduce scientific evidence proving the seriousness of the offence, and the final sentence will be delivered in accordance with the offence.

In due course, I will be launching a communication centre which will operate throughout the year and not only over Easter and Christmas holiday periods, as is currently the case. A toll-free number will be displayed along all major roads throughout the province for the convenience of the public to phone in all complaints, enquiries, reports, etc. This will include updated weather reports, and reports on road works, road conditions, road closures and traffic volumes. The public will be in a position to report traffic offences and corrupt traffic officials. Identities will be protected, and all information will be treated as confidential. A help desk service will be in place to advise the public and various industries on the provisions of the Road Traffic Act. An accident bureau will also be in operation with updated data on a daily basis. This implies that the centre will provide the latest provincial accident statistics up to the previous day accurately. It needs to be mentioned that only statistics involving injuries and fatalities will be recorded. The collated accident statistics will in turn determine our selective law enforcement programmes in the province. A contravention history in relation to the category of road user vehicle about those who are overloading or speeding and about buses and minibuses, etc will be created on a database for prosecutional purposes to be used as aggravating factors when the court is determining appropriate sentences. In instances of continuous offenders, fines will not be issued to the traffic offender. Instead, the offenders and the operator will be referred to court for an appropriate sentence if found guilty.

It is in this context that my province and executive council support the proposed strategy, called Strategy 2000, of the Minister of Transport. Therein, we believe, the lessons learned over the years of Arrive Alive are consolidated in the form of a strategy that can unfold over a period of years and which can help us finally to arrest the road incident problem that we are faced with.

May I quickly share with this august Council that, given the problems that we face in the department, we have come up with a strategic framework, named Free State on the Move, as a direct answer to the challenges that we are facing. Within the framework we seek to answer the national call for accelerated service delivery, building the economy and creating jobs and impacting on the transformation of state machinery, but the major focus will be on alleviating the poverty that our people are suffering under. The Free State on the Move framework further repositions us to enable us to contribute towards the challenges, as put forward in our provincial strategic plan, and the broader objectives of the Batho Pele service delivery programme. This paradigm shift is necessary if we are to move from administering the past into the future.

The strategic objectives put forward in this strategic document are as follows. The first objective is to refocus the department through the unbundling of its current roles of policy-making, regulation, execution and management, by way of reassigning each role to appropriate institutions which would in turn render each function in a more effective and efficient manner.

The second objective is to implement alternative service delivery mechanisms through outsourcing, commercialisation and public-private partnership. Thirdly, we will further promote the principle of cost recovery with regard to the provision of nonsocial services. Fourthly, where feasible, we will implement the principle of competition and increased exposure to the markets. In the fifth instance, we will further commit ourselves to maximising revenue collection and exploring new revenue sources. Lastly, we will facilitate sustainable economic growth and job creation, and further create an enabling environment for SMME development.

In line with the provincial priorities, we will increase our focus on poverty alleviation and make the impact on our rural development objectives. All of these plans were almost thrown into the dustbin immediately after we experienced the disasters that were caused by the recent floods. The disasters occurred after we had finalised the provincial plans and after we had also concluded the budget priorities and programmes. As it stands at this point in time, I can point out to this House that we sit with bridges and roads that are destroyed.

There are some in our communities in the eastern Free State that are unable to reach clinics, where the roads leading to schools are no longer negotiable, where agricultural produce can no longer reach the markets, and where people can no longer reach their graveyards, simply because there are no longer roads - even the 4x4s are unable to travel on such roads.

What does this teach us? This is the best lesson for us to understand that indeed co-ordinated infrastructural development is the answer, because we do have the schools, we do have the clinics, we do have the shopping complexes, we do have some products to take to the markets, but we lack the most important link, namely the roads. We can provide all of these things, but unless there is a road leading there and there is transport leading there, all of this would not be beneficial to all of us.

The CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: Order! Hon member, your time has expired.

Rre S M A MALEBO: Ke go lebogile, Motlotlegi. [Thank you, Chairperson.]

Mrs R A NDZANGA: Madam Chair, we from Gauteng are in support of this Budget Vote. The provision of public transport, both national and provincial, through parliamentary allocations, augurs well for the country’s economic development. Public transport, such as investment in roads, rail and buses, is part of our infrastructure and makes an important contribution to the economy.

Public sector involvement in the provision of safe, efficient and inexpensive transport for our citizens benefits private sector activities as well. Public sector participation in the transport industry should be encouraged, as long as the public sector achieves some of our RDP goals. Here public sector intervention crowds out private sector participation, implying that the public sector does not substitute or replace private sector activity, but rather stimulates it. This phenomenon is observed in respect of private road concessions for, for example, the upgrading and maintenance of the N3 road between Heidelberg and Cedara. The investment will be recouped from the proceeds of the toll road over 20 years.

In the light of a key strategy of the provision of public transport, as established in the Road Traffic Corporation, whose objective is to improve traffic management and reduce deaths and injuries, Gauteng has embarked on various programmes to address road safety, for example through the Arrive Alive programme, where local authorities, including the Defence Force, work together during the festive season to ensure road discipline. Gauteng is determined to rid the roads of ``coffins on wheels’’, be they big or small.

Secondly, the control of overloading is now one of the top priorities of the transport department. Gauteng has started an ongoing campaign called Operation Buyima, that is Operation Overweight to ensure that less damage is caused to roads, to lower maintenance costs and decrease the number of accidents.

Thirdly, we want to increase the visible policing of our roads. In this regard I am pleased to announce that our provincial department of transport is currently in the process of training officers and transport inspectors. Once these officers and inspectors are deployed, it will increase visible policing on our roads and the province by about 30%.

With regard to pedestrian management plans it should be emphasised that more than 40% of road accidents happen to pedestrians. Gauteng will soon be implementing a pedestrian management plan to address the problem. Gauteng will begin to address the communication strategy to inform pedestrians of the dangers of drinking and walking along main roads, especially at night.

Finally, one of my colleagues in Parliament recently visited Holland. They were amazed at the high visibility of public transport. There were trams, buses and trains everywhere, almost twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. Of course my province and the country landscape are different to those of Holland, but an expansion of some form of public transport could substantially reduce road accidents and traffic congestion.

Secondly, we could increase the visible policing of our roads when upgrading and rehabilitating the section of road in Moloto, doubling the K15 linking Protea Glen and Lenasia, and upgrading the Bon Accord Road, K97, north of Pretoria.

Both our provincial and national departments of transport have displayed the political will to reduce the menacingly high death toll on our roads. The fruit of our policies will slowly and increasingly be felt. This is an unavoidable outcome of policy-making. [Applause.]

Mr K D S DURR: Madam Chair, when the Minister began his address to us he referred to Khayelitsha and he asked for support for his position that the message to the Khayelitsha taxi owners should be that their behaviour was unacceptable, that it was unacceptable for them to take the law into their own hands, and that the problems should be dealt with by peaceful negotiation. I am quite sure that I speak for all of my colleagues in this House when I tell the Minister that he has that support.

We can say incontrovertibly that when we look at the current costs of construction, the current infrastructure of our country is irreplaceable. There is no question about that. There are many bad legacies of the past, but there are also a few good ones. One of the good ones is this unbelievable infrastructure of which we are all proud and to which we all refer when we are trying to attract investors to our country.

Therefore we need to preserve that infrastructure at all costs, because we cannot replace it. How do we preserve it? We preserve it by maintaining it. Lord Clarke, when he spoke about civilisation, said civilisation equalled maintenance. That was his definition of civilisation. And it is quite interesting that poor roads lead to increases in vehicle maintenance and repair costs and more and more severe accidents, and generally add to the loss of efficiency, loss of convenience and loss of health of society. That has been known since Roman times.

I have to mention the situation in the Western Cape, which is chronic as far as road maintenance is concerned. I am sure I am not telling the Minister something he does not know, but I would like to put this on record. We would need R750 million now to bring our roads up to the standard of repair we had five years ago. Even the blacktop roads that look good are crumbling, and the foundations are being heavily pounded. I have been told by the highest technical authority that they need resealing urgently lest they crumble faster.

The western part of our province - the rural parts of our province - which I have the privilege of representing and where I travel on the roads a lot, have road surfaces with less than 50 mm of gravel topping, when the minimum required is 100 mm or 10 cm. Over the whole province regravelling needs to take place.

The budget shortfall we have is alarming, and in terms of the three-year projected budget we do not see any light at the end of the tunnel. We have done what we can. We have increased road-licensing fees, which was not popular, in order to make an additional contribution. But that additional contribution will only raise R70 million in revenue, and we need R750 million. However, that is our contribution of sincerity.

Can we prevail upon the Minister, in his road maintenance budget, to think of us and our chronic situation? If we reach the conclusion that the maintenance required is impossible to meet in order to get our roads back to what they should be or were, then I think that, frankly, it would be better that we knew that. Apart from having a shortfall and building up imaginary backlogs that can never be met - even though I think we should try to meet them - I think it would be better that we knew if we really could not meet the backlogs and planned accordingly. [Time expired.]

Mr P D N MALOYI: Chairperson, I have realised that somebody may have deliberately written my initials incorrectly. On the Order Paper they are D D N. On the speakers’ list they are P D S. My initials are P for Patrick, D for Dumile and N for Nono. [Laughter.]

The CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: Which part of the transport debate is that? [Laughter.]

Mr P D N MALOYI: Comrade Chair, before I start allow me to greet your Council from corner to corner, starting with you. Hon Minister of Transport, MECs present here, permanent and special delegates, ladies and gentlemen, I greet you all. [Interjections.]

Let me join the choir by saying that the recent floods in our province, as in all other provinces, destroyed the already constructed roads, as well as those which were in the process of construction. The maintenance levels, particularly in our province, have not been reached owing to a lack of funding. The road infrastructure of our provincial roads is too narrow. Between Mafikeng and Zeerust a bus is involved in an accident every year, as well as a car, and we are losing a lot of young people on those roads.

Those roads are not even able to accommodate other types of vehicles, such as trucks and buses, because if one were to share those roads with trucks and buses it would be a problem. We think that it is more than necessary, and I think we are also duty-bound, to correct that situation.

The theft of fences around areas where livestock is held has become a major factor in regard to stray animals. We are of the opinion that the fencing in of livestock areas, for example in farms and villages, should become a shared responsibility between Government and livestock owners in those villages and on those farms. We suggest this because most of the livestock farmers have become increasingly negligent, especially livestock farmers in villages adjacent to provincial roads.

The chairperson of the select committee referred to all those animals, including donkeys, sheep, goats, etc, as law-enforcement agencies of a special type. [Laughter.] We need to correct that situation and not begin to refer to them as law-enforcement agencies.

The other thing which is very important is that we should begin a process of engaging farmers in a road safety education campaign, because if we do not do that I do not think they will be able to understand what we are talking about. We need to take a conscious decision, develop a programme and engage them.

Insurance companies and NGOs need to be involved in the policy formulation of, amongst other things, actual testing of drivers and vehicles, to rid our roads of unbecoming drivers. Insurance companies insure the vehicle, without knowing the full capability of the driver of the vehicle.

It is therefore necessary for us to begin to involve them in all these processes. A public-private partnership needs to be established between Government and communities in order for the said communities to form road safety organisations at provincial and local levels. This would assist us, as Government, in not having to be responsible for the actual campaigning and all that. We would then be able to concentrate on own-policy formulation. I think this is necessary. The department and the Minister will have to investigate those possibilities.

Private testing stations are contributing to the unroadworthiness of vehicles, because profits are maximised and not law enforcement. Those people are just interested in money and nothing else. They will do anything in their power to ensure that their company becomes rich and the owner becomes richer and richer. We need to correct this situation.

We also need to come up with standards by which public passenger vehicles, as was said earlier on - I am making a few amendments - are tested on a semester basis and any other vehicle on an annual basis. Drivers should also be eye-tested annually, because we cannot assume that one’s eyes are okay for the next five years. Therefore it would be necessary that, from time to time, we check whether one is still able to see properly.

The demerit system should be finalised in order to ensure that any driver to be retested with a record against him or her loses points on retesting. We need to speed up this process, because if we do not do so we are allowing these people to be irresponsible from time to time. If the Transport Department is in partnership with the judicial system it should ensure that that partnership does work to ensure that law enforcement is obeyed at all levels.

Finally, because I do not have enough time, we wish to support the hon the Minister when he said to us - I am saying this in relation on what the hon Ken Durr said - that we need to take strong action against people who are not willing to assist in terms of transforming this country, including taxi drivers. We should not allow lawlessness in Khayelitsha or in any other area. Tough action must be taken, and that tough action was supposed to be taken yesterday. I am saying to the Minister that we should take it now before it is too late. [Applause.]

Mnu M MALAKOANE (KwaZulu-Natal): Sihlalo, malungu ePhalamende ahlomphekile, Ngqongqoshe [Chairperson, hon members of Parliament and Minister], in his speech the hon the Minister, raised some questions which I am convinced I will be able to respond to as my speech progresses. As my point of departure, my premise is that a properly controlled public transport system is essential to the smooth running of any economy. It should be noted that the Department of Transport’s budget has been increased from R3,4 billion in 1999-2000 to R4,9 billion for this year, which translates directly in an increase of about R598 million. This is mainly due to an increase of R759 million in Programme 3 which is policy, strategy and implementation, minus a decrease of R164 million from Programme 2 which is regulation and safety.

The above enunciation triggers an important question in terms of the role that can be played by the provincial and local governments in ensuring that road safety is practised at all cost. It is on this basis that I draw the attention of this Council to the pivotal role that has been played by the department of transport in KwaZulu-Natal, headed by the hon Minister of Transport, MEC Ndebele, in awareness-creation programmes that have been developed by the department.

The department was the first ever to start the Asiphephe campaign, which has even been a copycat of the national Arrive Alive campaign. The hon the national Minister of Transport can bear testimony to that. Over the Easter holidays there were fewer road accidents and fatalities reported, particularly in KwaZulu-Natal as a result of the stringent and unyielding rules enforced by the Minister of transport in the province, Minister Ndebele.

It is therefore fundamental to develop rules that tighten up general law enforcement on South African roads. Still on the subject of safety, public education, through various institutions, workplaces and other important stakeholders, has played a fundamental role in drumming in the importance of road safety into the ears of road users, especially in KwaZulu-Natal. If perchance the national Department of Transport can give more to the coffers of the provincial department of transport’s budget in KwaZulu-Natal, road safety could be a realisable dream, because one of the 10 golden rules of life stipulates ``Drive to save lives, not to take lives’’.

I referred initially to the decrease of R164 million in Programme 2 which has mainly been engendered by the decrease in the allocation to the SA National Roads Agency and to aviation and maritime regulation. One is tempted to ask whether it is not one of the major functions of aviation and maritime regulation to maintain the safety standards of ships and aircraft in order to try to curb accidents from devastating our lives and environment. I am, in fact, referring to the fundamentality of having law enforcement agencies in place, because these are able to enforce the standards that are set.

Enforcement bodies are a need, more especially when they act as a catalyst for the department in the enforcement of law. It is therefore important to ensure that their participation, in whatever form necessary, is fostered and instigated. These bodies play a cardinal role, mainly in curbing advertent or inadvertent committing of offences. The hon the Minister acknowledged earlier in his deliberations that there are other taxi operators who have some concerns about minibus passenger vehicles. One could only say to the hon the Minister that he must continue in engaging all the stakeholders in negotiations, because this is an instrument which can be used to resolve whatever differences and uneasiness there are.

It is indeed an acknowledgement, I am convinced, which all of us have to make that if we did not have a taxi industry, our economy would perchance be worse off than it is said to be right now. If it remains unregulated, consultative processes should be engaged in both by the Department of Transport and other stakeholders.

May I now point out the importance of intergovernmental co-operation that the hon the Minister referred to earlier regarding the co-operation between the Department of Transport and the Department of Education for instance, or between the Department of Transport and the Department of Public Works. This should be encouraged, because it could not only be cost-effective but could also be effective in terms of service delivery.

If we are serious about succeeding in ensuring the implementation of set standards by the Department of Transport, it is important to consider the constitutional co-operation that should exist between the national, provincial and local governments, and intergovernmental co-operation.

In conclusion, one would encourage the national Department of Transport to look seriously into Programme 3 because only 9% has been allocated as an increase in bus subsidies, while an increase of over 53% has been allocated in rail commuter commuter subsidies.

Should the Government or the Department of Transport be involved to this extent? Perhaps the hon the Minister will just clarify that point. Otherwise, as he might have actually detected from my speech, we are in support of the Vote. Siyabonga. Siyathokoza. [Thank you. Thank you very much.]

Mr J O TLHAGALE: Hon Chairperson, hon Minister in the Council, in the light of the limited time I have been allocated, I intend to focus primarily on the road safety programme in this presentation. The sole purpose of the road safety programme is to reduce accidents and fatalities on our roads.

In the North West province, the road between Mafikeng and Rustenburg is the one that claims the most lives, when compared to accidents occurring on other roads. This is probably due to the sharp curves, slopes, elevations and its width, as my colleague Mr Maloyi has already pointed out. However, the road itself is well demarcated and has all the necessary road signs. So it is due to the irresponsibility of a driver who flouts and disregards the road signs, exceeds the speed limit and overtakes at blind corners, that he has to pay with his life or those of his passengers. The Arrive Alive campaign has been in operation for two years. It is bearing fruit, except with those pig-headed drivers who have no regard for their passengers’ interests and those of other road users. Another area of concern is the conflict and killings emanating from the taxi industry. Selfishness is largely the root cause of the conflict where drivers are usually hurrying to reach their destinations within a limited timeframe.

In the North West, we have seen the hon MEC for transport joining the traffic cops to man certain main routes. We have seen him mediating between warring groups. We have seen him taking unprecedented steps such as deregistering certain taxis of the warring groups in an effort to bring about order and security on our roads. All these measures are formulated for road users who do not listen or obey.

Today we have listened to the hon the Minister coming up with detailed and elaborate prevention strategies in an attempt to save lives on our roads. These measures and strategies are costly, not only in terms of monetary value, but also in terms of precious time lost and the sleeplessness they cause.

In conclusion, I wish to commend the hon the Minister for his tireless efforts to bring about order on our roads. [Applause.] Mr P MEYER (Western Cape): Chairperson, hon Minister, colleagues from the provinces, members of the NCOP and delegates, I believe that the role of transport in the growing economy is still not fully appreciated and that insufficient weight is allocated to this matter by our colleagues in the financial and economic sectors. Even the so-called 4X4 committees regarding transport funding are largely dysfunctional and have disappointed in the progress they have achieved.

Where our country is plagued by unemployment, the potential for job creation through transport and transport infrastructure projects is not being utilised and requires serious attention. Although there are a number of concerns regarding the proposed RTMC which I raised in previous meetings with the Minister and which have not as yet been addressed by the Department of Transport, I remain in full support of the implementation of this mechanism to address the urgent need to restructure and remanage the road traffic situation.

I believe that it would be in the interests of all provinces to get the RTMC show on the road without delay. Traffic law enforcement is the crucial component in achieving a change of attitude on our roads and hence improving road safety. We cannot afford further delays in this regard. Effective law enforcement is also crucial for the success of the taxi recapitalisation project, indeed to the achievement of the stabilisation and formalisation of the taxi industry. I am concerned by the fact that the training for the implementation of traffic officers and inspectors as envisaged by the recapitalisation initiative has not been launched. It would spell disaster not to move rapidly in this respect.

Recent events in my province have shown that elements of the taxi industry are prepared to challenge even provincial and national government regarding their operations, with no regard for the constitutional rights of the community and with flagrant disregard for legal, contractual arrangements, and safety and lawful pursuit of daily activities. We are at a watershed in this regard. Yesterday, in my province, I was supported by all parties when we approved an amendment to the Road Traffic Act, Act 74 of 1977. I am not going to use the power that I do have now if it were a big stick. I am going to discuss all the matters relevant to the actions that are taken.

I have had discussions with the national Minister. I have had discussions this morning with the people from the taxi industry. We will continue discussing those problems. We will have another meeting on Monday morning, and I have put aside the whole day to try and restore normality in our province, and especially in Khayelitsha, Guguletu and Nyanga. The community looks to us for protection and effective transport facilities. If we do not heed their cry, we would be failing in our mandate as Government to respect them. I am particularly appreciative of the strong support the national Minister has afforded me in this situation in my province. Transport issues transcend political boundaries. The needs, safety and rights of our communities are at stake, irrespective of our political alignments. Therefore the broad spectrum of political co-operation regarding the provision of transport is essential.

The hon Mr Durr referred to the problem of the state of our roads, and especially the rural roads. I have a pie chart which I am going to give to the Minister, which shows the state of our roads in this province. I am not going to ask the Minister now for finance. I know the Minister is also hard- pressed for funds, but we want to bring the state of the rural roads in this province to the attention of the Minister. Those roads are being used by the farmers to bring their produce to the markets for export.

The Minister’s concern and support regarding the serious deterioration of the road infrastructure is welcome. The Western Cape agricultural sector contributes to a very large extent to our country’s economy. Yet the rural roads which serve the farm-to-market and farm-to-export transport requirements are in a serious state of disrepair due to insufficient funds for maintenance and regravelling.

The perception is that Sanral funds are sometimes spent on postponable upgrading while fundamental maintenance of rural gravel roads is delayed repeatedly. I am aware that two different funding channels are involved, but the communities in the rural areas are dismayed at this situation.

In conclusion, I would like to express my appreciation for the excellent working relationship that we enjoy amongst ourselves as colleagues in the provinces and with the national Minister. I would like to encourage the further promotion of this co-operation in order that we, in this country, can look forward to a brighter future. [Applause.]

The CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: I do not have an opportunity to speak in this debate, but, Minister, I have had occasion to drive from East London through Port Alfred to Port Elizabeth, and really, there is a lot of work to be done there! [Laughter.]

Ms L TSHABALALA (KwaZulu-Natal): Madam Chairperson, hon Minister, permanent delegates and special delegates, when dealing with the road safety issue, it is critical to deal with transformation as a measurement of democracy. When the Department of Transport launched the Siyabakhumbula Road Safety Campaign, community stakeholders were all involved. The implementation marked the mass participation of the local councillors and community representatives from different sectors.

The community, through organising the events and being educated on this campaign, became legitimate owners of this programme. Some of us will argue that people were educated about this before the democratically elected Government came into power, but I wish to indicate that this knowledge did not reach the marginalised, remote communities. As hon members would recall, even school patrols did not exist in black schools. Our children’s safety depended on the colour of their skins.

The Siyabakhumbula, Asiphephe, Arrive Alive and Omela ngasekhaya campaigns were attended by thousands of people, with the biggest event in Durban attracting a crowd of more than 10 000. The attitudes of the communities to the traffic officers marked the beginning of a positive relationship. In the course of these events, Minister Sbu Ndebele argued passionately about why people ignored Ndebele’s department in KwaZulu-Natal and headed to KwaNdebele to aquire their drivers’ licences.

Have the programmes been able to make an impact? They did, to a certain extent, in KwaZulu-Natal. We recorded a decline in accidents over the Easter weekend. The establishment of the community road safety councils throughout the province confirms that the activity has been democratised, and is people-driven.

Law enforcement is always marred by some corrupt officers who accept bribes at, for example, the testing stations where they issue fitness certificates without even seeing the car, without caring about the loss of lives on our roads. It is appreciated that local councils and the provincial traffic officers have embarked on a massive campaign to fine offenders. However, prosecution is often faked, and offenders go free. An example of this happened in KwaZulu-Natal, where a lady who was speeding was arrested, but was freed by the court on the basis that she was going to be emigrating.

Enforcement of traffic regulations contributes to the revenue of the department, but instead, many offenders sit with many unpaid fines. The vision of Aarto and the establishment of the agency is a bold step by the department to address the backlog and the shortfalls, and to effect fixed penalties and demerits.

I wish to support the Minister’s call for action to be taken to quell the violence in Khayalitsha. It is clear that the legacy of apartheid will be with us for a very long time. We have to leave behind the culture of intolerance, lawlessness and the divisions amongst our people.

I wish also to refer to success stories: In our province, we have been able to support the Minister of transport in his endeavour to be involved in the road safety campaigns. Having lost his eldest son, who was his dearest first child, he overcame his misery by focusing on this activity. The director of the Asiphephe Road Safety campaign, Mr Musa Zulu, is wheelchair- bound because of the car accident he was involved in some years ago. He did not sit down and mourn his fate, but overcame his tragedy by leading the campaign vigorously to prevent more deaths on the roads. [Applause.]

Mr M A SULLIMAN: Madam Chairperson, let me start off by saying, regarding lawlessness and the taxi violence that is taking place in the Khayelitsha area, that the hon the Minister has our support if steps need to be taken. We cannot allow a situation where people take the law into their own hands. We, as members of the NCOP, will support him in his efforts.

This debate provides us with an excellent opportunity to review the progress that has been made concerning the transformation of our transport system. It is impossible to appreciate this progress without taking into account the objective conditions which existed in our various provinces because of the legacies we inherited.

The Northern Cape, as hon members all know, is one of the largest provinces in South Africa. To be more precise, it covers about a third of the surface of South Africa. If we look at our roads in the province, we have about 66 000 km of roads, of which only 6 000 km are tarred roads.

We do not want to use this platform to complain here today, but I think I need to mention some of these issues so that hon members will have an idea of what is really going on in the Northern Cape. As they did with the rest of our country’s rural areas, successive apartheid governments largely ignored the vast rural areas of the Northern Cape. The lack of adequate facilities and services meant that people staying in the rural areas had to travel to bigger towns to access these facilities and services.

Affordable, safe and accessible transport therefore became an important issue in the daily lives of our people staying in the rural areas of our province. It is partly because of this fact that the Department of Transport realised the need for the fundamental transformation of the transportation system. This, however, was not the only reason. The apartheid transport policy deprived the majority of our people of a say in transport matters. It exposed commuters to vast walking distances and insecure rail travel, failed to adequately regulate the taxi industry, largely ignored the country’s road safety record and paid little attention to the environmental impact of transport projects.

These are all issues that are very important for the people in our province, because its consequences are still affecting their lives to this very day. Since 1994, the Department of Transport has made significant progress in unwinding the above legacy through new policy developments, institutional reform and transformation.

As we enter the 2000-01 financial year, it is clear that the basic institutional platform of the Department of Transport is now in place. For the first time, we now have a long-term vision of where transport will be going over the next 20 years through the Moving South Africa initiative.

This strategy provides the context for provinces, local government and other stakeholders in the transport sector to find innovative ways to improve the transport system in the various provinces and localities in a situation of relative certainty.

The department has also embarked on a process whereby the existing fleet of taxis, most of which are in a very dangerous condition and are not safe to travel in, will be replaced by modern vehicles which are safer and more commuter-friendly.

The department has also initiated the Arrive Alive campaign, through which road accidents can be reduced. This is very important, given the huge social and financial cost implications of road accidents. The billions of rands that are spent annually on road crashes are resources which could be put to better use to speed up the eradication of the inequalities in our country.

The Northern Cape achieved major successes in the Arrive Alive campaign during the Easter weekend. These successes would have been impossible without the extremely good co-operation that existed between provincial and local authorities and the SA Police Service.

The provincial government has also received excellent support from the local business community and Telkom, who sponsored the campaign with vehicles and caravans, and provided exhibitions where motorists could receive information on road and weather conditions in our province.

The Arrive Alive campaign is marketed extensively across the province to make motorists aware of the need for safe driving. Through the successful implementation of our Arrive Alive campaign, we have saved millions of rands for our province.

The past policies of apartheid transport have resulted in the Department of Transport becoming the largest player in the transport industry, being responsible for both the provision and implementation of infrastructure operations. A large part of previous budgets was therefore used to finance operational activities, which left very little money for the building of new roads and the maintenance of existing roads.

The department has done well to change this situation. It has divested itself of many operational aspects by involving the private sector, although it continues to provide the regulatory framework to ensure fair competition.

Four new agencies, the National Roads Agency, the SA Maritime Safety Authority, the Cross-Border Road Transport Agency and the SA Civil Aviation Authority have been established to perform functions and services previously provided by the national department.

This step has freed up much-needed resources which can now be used for other activities such as the maintenance of our road infrastructure and the improvement of the public transport system.

Provinces themselves will have to come up with innovative ideas on how to improve the public transport system and to deal with deteriorating roads. If people in our province can count on high-quality, safe public transport, they will be able to rely less on cars, freeing valuable road space and avoiding the need to construct major new roads.

The money that is saved by this can then be used for the maintenance of existing roads and to prepare for new transportation plans which will accommodate the growing number of transport users, which is expected to be brought about by our population growth.

In conclusion, I have no doubt that the department has done well under extremely difficult conditions and budgetary constraints. It has succeeded in putting into place the framework for a future transportation system in our country, which would be responsive to the needs of our people and other transport customers.

It remains for provinces and local government to add flesh to this framework by encouraging people and students to develop innovative ideas which will make our transport system the envy of this world.

The CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: I now call on Mr Marais.

Mr A MARAIS: Madam Chairperson, I think there must have been a mistake.

The CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: According to the list in front of me, you are supposed to speak now.

Mr A MARAIS: Madam Chairperson, I think there must have been a mistake, because another list was printed. If you have the list in front of you, it indicates that I was allocated four minutes.

The CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: No, no, I am now being given what I understand is the correct list, and therefore you can sit down, Mr Marais! [Laughter.]

Mr T MHLAHLO (Eastern Cape): Madam Chairperson, I hope the change will not be viewed as a bias on your part towards the Eastern Cape. [Laughter.]

I want to join the Chair in raising the need for the roads from East London to Port Alfred to be attended to, because this area is part of the belt that will make an impact on our tourism in this country.

Today I am here representing the legislature and join the Minister in this review debate on transport to submit our observations as a legislature as far as transport in our province is concerned.

The standing committee, together with the legislature, has debated the budget and programme of implementation for the year 2000-01. We have done that based on the understanding of the programme of the Department of Transport and I think we have managed to review the budget and programme in the light of the six-year period in the past.

The Department of Transport is currently handling the recapitalisation programme properly in our province. I think almost all stakeholders are part of the process, and the indications are clear that there is co- operation around this programme.

The Arrive Alive campaign is well-managed by the Department of Transport. We welcome the chance to reduce the number of deaths on our roads, because the Eastern Cape has always had the highest number of deaths on the roads in the past. I therefore believe that the impact of the Arrive Alive campaign is beginning to be felt generally.

Regarding stray animal projects, I want to say that because our province is rural, this programme is very important. The Department of Transport is co- ordinating this very important programme. Akuseleko, a pedestrian project, is also part of the department’s programme.

As chairperson of the standing committee in that province, I am convinced that the department is doing very well in managing this programme together with traffic safety education for school patrols.

I want to come to the critical challenges that confront the Eastern Cape province. We have inherited a province which is constituted by two of the strongest homelands in this country, namely Ciskei and Transkei. These two regions were neglected in the past, and currently we are managing poverty, in so far as infrastructure is concerned. We want to submit to this important institution that, without the support of the NCOP and the intervention of the Minister, it cannot be done. The infrastructure that we are managing at the present moment needs to be attended to.

At present we are proceeding, together with all role-players, with recapitalisation, as I have indicated, and I think this programme is doing very well.

Having said that, we are also concerned about the present tension and violence in the Western Cape. It is our duty as a province to consider the challenges facing this country. The violence in the Western Cape needs to be attended to. The taxi industry and bus operators must be able to sit down and discuss problems and come up with solutions, because we do not want a situation where violence, particularly violence directed against ordinary passengers, becomes dominant in our society. We have passed that stage.

I highlighted previous successes with the intention of securing the support of this important House. The Eastern Cape is the second largest province, after KwaZulu-Natal, in terms of population size numbers in this country. The Minister knows very well that the migrant labour force in this country resides in that province. As soon as the mining industry experiences a decline, the Eastern Cape has to embrace all those workers who have lost their jobs, across all sectors of this country. If one draws lines around the biggest area with the lowest per capita income in our country, as depicted on page 14 of the publication Moving South Africa: The agenda, one more or less covers the Eastern Cape area in doing so.

The need for Government intervention which could lead to the creation of jobs in this area must be one of our highest priorities. Unemployment is, indeed, our enemy number one. Plans for major road development in support of the Wild Coast SDI, as referred to by the Minister in his budget speech, is a very welcome indication of further action being taken in this regard.

Development in the Eastern Cape, particularly around the SDI, will not be realised until we have major intervention in our infrastructural development. At present our hope lies in tourism in this country. I think all members of this House will agree that the present atmosphere favours our intentions, particularly if the road network in the Eastern Cape is addressed. We therefore welcome the programme of the National Roads Agency, which aims to upgrade N2 roads, including those at Kei Cuttings. At the moment, that programme is doing very well and we fully welcome this intervention.

We fully support the Minister’s idea of a dedicated programme for transport infrastructure in order to also address the alarming rate at which our provincial local roads are declining. Our provincial budget simply does not allow essential maintenance to be done on our infrastructure, and the road network in particular, because it is not enough.

Tourism is one of the best options we have in our development strategy, but without a road network, again, we cannot realise that potential.

Lastly, I think the hon the Minister’s intervention in terms of establishing agencies and co-ordinating transport management policy will go a long way. His strategic intervention, through legislation, is well supported in our province. We believe that, through his intervention, infrastructural requirements will then be met.

In closing, I want to raise the issue of HIV/Aids which needs the attention of the national Department of Transport. We cannot fail to realise the need to develop a well-co-ordinated HIV/Aids programme for truck drivers who travel throughout the Eastern Cape. The Coega Development Strategy is going to be realised, and we acknowledge the fact that there is going to be a flow of traffic as well as people moving in and out of our province. We need Government intervention so that we can be ready for this important project which we are looking forward to achieving and embracing with open arms sooner, rather than later.

With those few words, we support the policy direction, we support the budget and we support the Minister’s intervention in this department.

Lastly … [Time expired.] [Applause.]

The MINISTER OF TRANSPORT: Mr Chairperson, I would like to take this opportunity to express my appreciation to all members of this Council who participated in this debate. All the contributions, save one, have been very positive. I have noted the progress made in the various provinces, and I want to compliment the provinces for their achievements.

I want to thank my colleagues, the MECs, all of them, for the way we have been able to work together. Without their participation in this way, I do not think we would have achieved what we have in this period of time. I said that all the contributions were positive, save one. I see, fortunately, that the hon Raju has walked in … [Laughter.] … because he is the odd man out. I do not know whether it is the trademark of the DP … [Laughter.] … to be out of step. Unfortunately, he was not present to hear some of the positive contributions which were made, so that the very negative picture which he painted would have been counterbalanced by some of the positive features which we have witnessed in the various provinces. Of course, all of us have much to learn, and I hope that he will also learn from what is happening in the provinces. It is not a good thing to adopt a dogmatic attitude. I think one must look at the facts.

I also want to thank the various officials, at national and provincial levels, for their sterling work. I have indicated this in my input, and I think that what we have achieved is largely due to the work that they have done. The standing committee has also done very good work over this year, and I want to thank it and its chair for the work that it has done.

May I just touch on a number of issues, a few issues, that have been raised, but I do want to indicate to all who have participated in the debate that the points they have made have been noted. The points have been well made. I note them and, where there are matters which require our attention, we will, certainly, attend to them. However, just a few of the matters that have been raised, I think, require comment.

There is the question of the hands-free cellular phone. The Road Traffic Act makes provision for this. There is a little bit of confusion, which I regret. In some quarters, it is believed that this particular law came into operation on 1 May, because initially it was announced that it would come into operation on 1 May. Once again, I want to remind the House that this law has not yet come into operation. It will come into operation on 1 August, and provinces are currently busy with their preparations with regard to practical matters so as to ensure that when the law does come into operation, we are able to enforce it and that we are able to attend to the practical matters which arise from the implementation of the law. That applies to the hands-free cellular phone. It is a matter which is being attended to, in that context.

Many contributors raised the question of infrastructure and roads. In fact, everyone raised a concern about the state of roads, so much so, indeed, that you yourself, Chairperson, took advantage of the gap which was created between speakers. [Laughter.] As the hon Mhlahlo indicated, you displayed a degree of bias towards the Eastern Cape. Bias is normally unbecoming of a Presiding Officer ….

The CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: Towards my car. [Laughter.]

The MINISTER: … but I think in this instance it is appreciated.

The CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: It is towards my car.

The MINISTER: The cause is good. Perhaps there was a bit of concern for your motorcar.

The CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: That is right.

The MINISTER: I should indicate that the road you travelled, I am told, is a provincial road. If you had taken the N2, which is a national road, to Grahamstown, the position would have been very different. [Laughter.] More seriously, though, we do have a problem, actually not a problem, rather a reality. National roads fall under the jurisdiction of the SA National Roads Agency, that is, the national department. Unfortunately my provincial colleagues and their departments do not receive their budgetary allocations through the national Department of Transport. They have to battle for their allocations through the provincial budgets, and in so far as local government is concerned, perhaps through Public Works and so on. This particular problem exists with regard to infrastructure.

All my colleagues and all contributors are quite right that the issue of transport infrastructure is a very serious and crucial matter for the economic development of our country and to address the social needs of our people. Therefore we must find a way of developing an infrastructure development programme in our country.

However, it is no use developing such a programme unless we have a funding mechanism. Therefore we need to do both at the same time. My colleagues on Mincom are fully aware of that. That is what we are working towards, developing an infrastructure development programme which includes provincial and local roads. We are also seeking to develop a funding mechanism so that we can fund such a programme.

I am sure that the public will be prepared to make some sacrifices to ensure that, over the next 10 years, we transform the infrastructure situation in our country. We are working on that matter.

In addition, there is the issue of rural roads which a number of members and delegates have raised. It is true that the situation in our rural areas is not good. Without going into any detail, Government has initiated an integrated, sustainable rural development programme. We hope that through that programme, we will also be able to promote road development in rural areas.

In so far as the poverty relief programme is concerned, we were allocated an amount of R100 million, to be shared between the Northern Province and the Eastern Cape. Yet again, I do not know why the bias to the Eastern Cape. Those allocations are being used in order to make a contribution to improving the roads in both of the provinces which I have mentioned. Hopefully we will receive more allocations which will enable us to make a positive intervention.

The issue of the flood disaster has also been raised. In that connection Government has set up an emergency reconstruction committee which meets every week in order to deal with the flood disaster. It has also set up a command centre which is an implementing arm, chaired by Deputy Minister Sisulu. A number of programmes have been channelled through the command centre for approval by the reconstruction committee, and we hope that the work in respect of reconstruction in all the provinces will begin soon.

We understand that the proposals will be considered by the emergency reconstruction committee next week, on 23 May, after which the green light will be given for reconstruction work to proceed. I know it has taken a long time, but I think we are well on the road to addressing that problem.

The question of HIV/Aids has been raised by two speakers. It is very important and I think it is absolutely correct that national Government must do much more than we are doing, though I should indicate that there are programmes which are being implemented in co-operation with the private sector to address the problem of HIV/Aids. I appeal to all provinces to develop programmes and to implement their programmes to address the question of HIV/Aids.

A question regarding Khayelitsha was raised. I want to indicate that, as with other provinces, there is a very close working relationship between the MEC for Transport of the Western Cape and myself. We speak to each other, we interact formally and informally to develop common approaches to problems, of which Khayelitsha is one.

There are some details which the hon MEC could have given the Council but he will, no doubt, tell us more about it next week. Both of us have taken a number of steps and I think both of us are confident that we will be able to bring the situation under control. The bottom line is that we will not tolerate violence and intimidation, and we will not talk about settlements unless violence and intimidation are renounced.

Hon MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

The MINISTER: However, both of us agree that there are genuine problems facing the taxi industry which need to be addressed. I know that the government of the Western Cape has taken steps to address them and they enjoy my full support in that regard.

There is one more matter which I want to refer to very briefly. The hon Mr Malakoane raised a couple of matters which I need to respond to. He asked some pertinent questions, such as why the reduction in the allocations to the SA Civil Aviation Authority and the SA Maritime Safety Authority?

The reason is quite simple. These agencies are now almost fully reliant on user charges and levies to fund their activities. The reduction in a public subsidy has been accompanied by an increase in service and enforcement levels. In other words, the services rendered by these two bodies have not suffered. In point of fact, they are becoming self-financing, relying as they do on user charges and levies, and therefore the services will improve in that regard.

The position regarding bus and rail subsidies is that, if one looks at the programme 3 allocation over the past five years, one will see that there was, in the three previous years, a cut in allocations to commuter rail. In each of those years, additional financing had to be applied for through the adjustment vote. On this occasion the 53% increase referred to, is a correction on the baseline allocation. This industry still has a major backlog in capital investment. However, I do appreciate that the question of funding is a problem throughout the transport sector, and that we need to address that.

There are a number of other matters, but I think we will deal with them in our interactions with the provinces. [Applause.]

Debate concluded.

The Council adjourned at 16:38. ____

            ANNOUNCEMENTS, TABLINGS AND COMMITTEE REPORTS

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

National Assembly and National Council of Provinces:

1. The Speaker and the Chairperson:

 (1)    The Minister for Intelligence on 18 April 2000 submitted a draft
     of the General Intelligence Law Amendment Bill, 2000, and the
     memorandum explaining the objects of the proposed legislation, to
     the Speaker and the Chairperson in terms of Joint Rule 159.


 (2)    The Minister of Home Affairs on 17 May 2000 submitted a draft of
     the Identification Amendment Bill, 2000, and the memorandum
     explaining the objects of the proposed legislation, to the Speaker
     and the Chairperson in terms of Joint Rule 159. The draft has been
     referred by the Speaker and the Chairperson to the Portfolio
     Committee on Home Affairs and the Select Committee on Social
     Services, respectively, in accordance with Joint Rule 159(2).


 (3)    The following Bill was introduced in the National Assembly on 17
     May 2000 and referred to the Joint Tagging Mechanism (JTM) for
     classification in terms of Joint Rule 160:


     (i)     Identification Amendment Bill [B 33 - 2000] (National
          Assembly - sec 75) - (Portfolio Committee on Home Affairs -
          National Assembly) [Explanatory summary of Bill and prior
          notice of its introduction published in Government Gazette No
          21079 of 7 April 2000.]

1. The Speaker and the Chairperson:

 (1)    The following changes have been made to the membership of Joint
     Committees, viz:


     Defence:


     Discharged: Selfe, J.

National Council of Provinces:

1. The Chairperson: Message from National Assembly to National Council of Provinces:

 Bills passed by National Assembly on 17 May 2000 and transmitted for
 concurrence:


Road Accident Fund Commission Amendment Bill [B 12 - 2000] (National
Assembly - sec 75) - (Select Committee on Public Services - National
Council of Provinces).


National House of Traditional Leaders Amendment Bill [B 15B - 2000]
(National Assembly - sec 76) - (Select Committee on Local Government
and Administration - National Council of Provinces).


Remuneration of Public Office Bearers Second Amendment Bill [B 23 -
2000] (National Assembly - sec 76(1)) - (Select Committee on Local
Government and Administration - National Council of Provinces).