MEDIA ALERT

PLEASE TAKE NOTE OF THE FOLLOWING FORTHCOMING EVENTS:

WEDNESDAY, 31 MARCH 2004

KwaZulu-Natal MEC for Transport, Mr. S’bu Ndebele will perform the sod-turning for Main Road 69 at kwaNzimakwe on the Hibiscus Coast of KwaZulu-Natal at Mpenjathi Sports Grounds commencing at 12h00.

Main Road 69 is currently a gravel road which provides an important link between the coastal national route N20 (Port Shepstone to Port Edward), via P310 and the inland P284 from Izingolweni to Port Edward. It traverses predominantly farm land, both communal (inland) and commercial (coastal). The route supplies access to sugar cane farming near the coast and some light commercial traffic along its entire length.

The cost of this project is more than R11 million and the upgrading of this road, which is an important link to the national road, will have multiple economic and social benefits for the people of KwaNzimakwe and surrounds.

THURSDAY, 1 APRIL 2004

KZN Department of Transport 10^th Annual Report-Back Summit at the Royal Show Grounds, Pietermaritzburg commencing at 10h00.

Our mandate, as government, is to deliver a better life for all, but particularly for those so unjustly disadvantaged during apartheid. The cornerstone of any democracy and just society is a well informed public. It is this basic philosophy that has underpinned the KZN Transport Department's commitment to strengthening civil society in KwaZulu-Natal through the formation and training of fora and councils, such as our Rural Road Transport Forums, Community Road Safety Councils, Taxi Associations, Vukuzakhe Associations and many more.

Our annual summits provide an opportunity to keep the public properly informed about new developments in the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Transport and on how we have allocated our budgets. These summits also provide us with an opportunity to acknowledge the outstanding contributions that many of these civil society structures have made towards creating a better life for all in their communities and constituencies by awarding prizes to these stakeholders in various categories.

The KwaZulu-Natal Department of Transport has always committed itself to a communication strategy that ensures that all the public are well informed of what services and supports that they can expect from us. The fact that this is our tenth annual summit confirms this commitment. Access to knowledge and, through knowledge, the sharing of power must be easily available and affordable to all.

FRIDAY, 2 APRIL 2004

1. Official Opening of Main Road 235 from Mtubatuba to Hlabisa at Hlabisa commencing at 10h00.

This has been one of the key projects under the African Renaissance Roads Upgrading (ARRUP) Project of the KZN Transport Department. The entire project from Mtubatuba through Hlabisa and Nongoma to Vryheid and Pongola is 117 kilometres long at a cost of over R300 million. The first phase of the project to Hlabisa has been completed and will be officially opened.

SATURDAY, 3 APRIL 2004

Public private partnership launch with Richards Bay Minerals in Richards Bay commencing at 10h00.

In probably another first for South Africa, Richards Bay Minerals (RBM) in conjunction with the KZN Transport Department have embarked on a public private partnership to initiate a safe driving project on RBM’s mining lease roads. Through this partnership RBM wishes to address "safe driving" on their roads as they believe that the current non-compliance with road traffic rules on their roads needs urgent attention. It is anticipated that this initiative will address speed control, safe driving habits, and vehicle roadworthiness, road safety training and coaching in the schools and surrounding communities and so on.

MONDAY, 5 APRIL 2004

1. Official Opening of the KwaZulu-Natal Taxi Council (KWANATACO) Offices, cnr. Chapel and Berg Streets, Pietermaritzburg commencing at 10h00.

The decision by KWANATACO to move its offices from Durban to Pietermartizburg was to facilitate a closer working relationship with all major stakeholders thereby being able to provide an efficient and effective service to its customers. This move is also done in the sprit of celebrating 10 years of democracy and to also highlight where the taxi industry has moved in the last ten years from holding meetings under car boots and tress to where they are now. In the next ten years KWANTACO plans to transform its corporate image and to become a major player in the corporate world.

2. Official Launch of the Provincial Vukuzakhe Emerging Contractor Council at the ICC, Durban commencing at 17h30.

Being held under the theme "Laying the foundation for an equitable construction industry", this event is probably another first for South Africa. The KwaZulu-Natal Department of Transport through its policies and programmes has created new and sustainable jobs in the construction sector while our province has shed jobs in other influential sectors. The scale and multi-year nature of contract opportunities provided through ARRUP roads have allowed us to streamline our support systems to emerging contractors through our Vukuzakhe Emerging Contractor Programme.

• Multi-year contracts now allow Vukuzakhe contractors to approach financial institutions using their contracts as collateral against bank loans.
• We are now finalising our partnership with a major financial institution (African Bank Investments Limited) who have established an independent management company to assist participating contractors with various financial, training and business support systems including access to bulk discounts on materials and plant. We will pilot this project this year.
• This institutional arrangement makes provision for an empowerment equity stake for Vukuzakhe contractors in the management company.

All of this will now be realized through the official launch of our Vukuzakhe Associations.

TUESDAY, 6 APRIL 2004

Road Safety Symposium at the Riverside Hotel, Durban commencing at 18h00.

A gathering of about 150 intellectuals to debate around issues on road safety and health. This is an academics session that will be attended by leading academics as a build-up to world Road Safety Day.

WEDNESDAY, 7 APRIL 2004

World Road Safety Prayer Day at Kingsmead Cricket Grounds, Durban commencing at 10h00.

The KZN Department of Transport supported by the World Health Organisation under the auspices of the United Nations will be hosting World Road Safety Day. Thousands of people from all walks of life are expected to attend this event.

The fact that the World Health Organisation has dedicated World Health Day to Road Safety tells us that road related fatalities are a world wide problem and not just a South African or KwaZulu-Natal problem. Some countries have managed to find solutions and reduce the carnage on their roads. This is precisely why we have modelled our KwaZulu-Natal Road Safety initiatives and the National Arrive Alive initiative on that developed by Victoria, Australia.

The World Health Organisation has projected that, unless current trends are checked, an estimated 2, 4 million people will die every year in road crashes by 2020. This would make road crashes the third highest cause of death in the world (after heart disease and depression). In addition to a concern over such high fatalities the World Health Organisation notes that injuries due to road traffic collisions are a major drain on a nation’s health and financial resources. So much so that in some developing countries one in every ten hospital beds is occupied by a road traffic victim. In KwaZulu-Natal road collisions cost this province some R2 billion per annum.

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