SPEECH BY KWAZULU-NATAL MINISTER FOR TRANSPORT, MR S'BU NDEBELE AT THE LAUNCH OF PROJECT SUKUMA

1 December 1998

The Master of Ceremonies, councilors, officials of the Department of Transport and Durban Transport, ladies and gentlemen.

It gives me great pleasure this morning to launch Project Sukuma which is a pilot project by the Department to provide mobility for disabled people. Over the past four years, the delivery programmes of my department have been driven by a broad vision to provide mobility to previously marginalised people.

But our mission to undo the legacy of apartheid in transport planning and delivery has also been guided by our overall aim to create a culture of safety on our roads, and consequently in our province. Project Asiphephe has gone a long way in cultivating a safe driving culture and through its community-orientated philosophy, the project is constantly developing through ongoing community participation and consultation.

But many people in this country are marginalised for other reasons. While racism and prejudice is still rampant in our society, there are other forms of discrimination which are just as abhorrent. Disabled people are a part of our society who are very often overlooked or disregarded. We would therefore by failing in our mission to create a fully democratic, equal and just society free of discrimination and prejudice if the interests of such a large section of our society is not taken seriously.

In the same way, there are millions of people worldwide who are either HIV positive or who are living with AIDS. Projections indicate that within three years, almost a quarter of a million South Africans will die of AIDS each year and that this figure will have risen to more than half a million by 2008. With over 3.2 million people currently infected with HIV, it is likely that the majority of South Africans will be affected by this epidemic as it impacts on family members, friends and workplace colleagues. As a society therefore, we have to develop a maturity and community support system for people who need the support of others. During this World AIDS Week, I am appeal to the transport fraternity to join the Partnership against AIDS. Through a concerted effort, we have worked together with many sectors to significantly reduce the rate of road fatalities in KwaZulu-Natal. We now have a responsibility to use our resources and the lessons we have learnt in our campaigns to stop the spread of HIV/AIDS.

Asiphephe is aimed at creating a culture of safety not only on our roads but in all spheres of life. In KwaZulu-Natal, this becomes particularly relevant in our efforts to overcome the legacy of political violence. But Asiphephe also extends to the AIDS campaign and it calls on us as a society to join together to stop the spread of this epidemic.

I therefore ask you all, on this World AIDS Day, to join hands and observe a moment's silence to remember those who have died from AIDS, those who are living with AIDS, those who are discovering that they are HIV positive and all those babies who are born with AIDS.

Ladies and gentlemen, our struggle against the apartheid regime ended with the 1994 general elections. Since then, we as the new democratic government have been faced with many other struggles and challenges - the battle to reverse the legacy of racism and discrimination, the challenge of development, social transformation, delivery, job creation, crime, stabilising our economy and establishing our position in the global village. We have also had to deal with the growing AIDS epidemic and the unacceptably high road death toll.

The common element in the struggle against AIDS and road carnage is that we have to deal with the cause as well as the consequences. Both these scourges also require a strong support system for the victims. During our Asiphephe Focus Day campaign which we held during September and October this year, we focused on the victims and survivors of road crashes and let them tell their stories. Many of these people were left disabled by road crashes and the Focus Day campaign gave them the opportunity to share accounts of their trauma and difficulties with living with disability.

The Asiphephe Project calls on communities to form Road Safety Councils and one of the key functions of the councils would be to serve as support structures to assist victims, survivors and the families of those who die in road crashes. These councils will also be responsible for ensuring that there are facilities for disabled people in their areas.

People with physical disabilities experience extreme difficulties when they attempt to move from place to place and previous transport planning did not take much cognisance of disabled people. Other than modifying their own cars at great personal cost, most disabled people find it difficult to travel, especially using public transport.

For this reason, the Department of Transport began investigating ways to provide mobility to physically impaired people. A pilot project was launched in Cape Town involving a "dial-a-ride" system which provides a home to destination service on request. Specially modified vehicles carry only unaccompanied wheelchair passengers to their destination in the city.

Durban was selected to implement another demonstration project using a specially modified buses within a normal scheduled bus service. These buses are fitted with hydraulic lifts to allow wheelchairs to be loaded onto the vehicle. The National Department of Transport has allocated one million rand to this project which will be run by Durban Transport under the management of the Durban Metropolitan Transport Advisory Board.

Representatives from a cross section of associations for the disabled were consulted about the project. Surveys were carried out to establish the areas of operation and proposed routes for the service.

It was agreed that the buses will run daily, including weekends, along three fixed routes - KwaMashu/Ntuzuma, Umlazi and in the CBD. The service will not be completely free of charge but users will be required to use their already discounted tickets. The modified buses are available to any member of the public.

Ladies and gentlemen, we still have a long way to go in planning and adapting transport facilities to assist the mobility of disabled people. The launch of Project Sukuma is the first step on this journey. We in the Department of Transport will continue to investigate ways in which we can make the transport environment more user friendly for the disabled.

It is my sincere hope that this new service will allow more mobility for the physically impaired and that they will be able to do some things that their disability prevents them from doing - things many of us take for granted.

I thank you.

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