Defending the Weak through the Budget

When the MEC presented his first budget in the legislature he made it clear that the budget was geared towards defending the weak in the province because each programme was precisely intended to ensure that the roads the department build benefit the poorest communities the women and men folk of not only Durban North and Umlazi, but also to the men and women at uMsinga, oPhongolo and eNhlazatshe. He said that the challenge that was facing the department of transport was that how to ensure that road planning network were integrated such that communities in the deep rural areas had access to schools, clinics and hospitals. "But the bigger question is how do we ensure that the budget we present today defends the weakest thus contributing to redressing the imbalance of the past particularly, alleviating poverty," asked Cele.

Cele said that it was common cause that during his tenure as MEC for Transport, Premier S'bu Ndebele championed the right of poor people to share in the economy of KwaZulu-Natal. "It is now my intention to consolidate the many gains that have already been made by programmes such as Zibambele, Vukuzakhe and public transport subsidies to create work and enterprise development opportunities for poor and vulnerable KwaZulu-Natal citizens," said Cele. "It is also my intention to build on our solid platform of empowerment programmes and prepare for an exponential growth in the construction and transport sectors through the development of major infrastructure projects such as the Dube Trade Port and the upgrading of the Gauteng / KwaZulu-Natal transport corridor as well as the infrastructure investments associated with the 2010 Soccer World Cup." The MEC said he was pleased to inform the legislature that his Department was working closely with eThekwini Municipality in planning their "rural road network. Ethekwini Municipality has committed significant budgets to upgrade and develop its rural road network and has already adopted the department's flagship programmes Zibambele and Vukuzakhe.

When presenting his budget which is divided into five programmes in the legislature, Cele said he was pleased to announce that 94% of the department's budget went to the core functions of the department. For road infrastructure the MEC allocated R1.3 billion. He said this amount of money would strike the between the need to maintain existing infrastructure and the need to develop new strategic corridors and provide communities with access roads. Under this programme, Cele announced that R200 million will be allocated to the African Renaissance Road Upgrading Programme (ARRUP). "This programme makes extensive use of local labour and supplies and allocate 70% of its overall budget towards black economic empowerment which include emerging contractors(Vukuzakhe)," said Cele.

With regard to Zibambele Cele said that the department has set a target of 40 000 Zibambele contracts. "We have planned to achieve this target by 2009, and this financial year we have budgeted for 24 000 Zibambele Contracts." Currently the department has 17 000 Zibambele contracts.

While R1.3 million was allocated for administration, Public transport received R30.9 million excluding R4 million for bus subsidies.To create a safe road environment through the annual reduction of road crushes, Cele allocated over R254 million for traffic management and road safety. For community based programmes which encompasses poverty alleviation programmes, women empowerment, youth and learnerships, Cele allocated over 27 million.

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