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SPEECH BY KWAZULU-NATAL MEC FOR TRANSPORT, MR S'BU NDEBELE, AT THE OFFICIAL OPENING OF THE ENGEN ONE STOP IN CATO RIDGE21 June 2001
Master of Ceremonies It is my privilege to be in your esteemed company this evening at the official opening of the Engen One Stop in Cato Ridge. This vital service to vehicle traffic using the national route from virtually all corners of the north-western sectors of South Africa towards Durban is indeed the culmination of a long cherished goal. It also fulfils a long-felt need as hitherto, there has been no suitable facility for the travelling public to break its journey from Mooi River to Durban. The fact that this is the first such facility of its kind is a laudable accomplishment and a milestone in Engen's plans for this area. As I am given to understand, the establishment of this One Stop represents the culmination of more than ten years of protracted legal negotiations. Your celebration this evening, is therefore in many ways well deserved and must inevitably, spur you on to greater things to come. For the facility that you have established here represents more than a convenience and resting place for travelling motorists who might want to freshen up, fill up, relax, or obtain something to eat. It is in effect also a significant and important contribution to the social and economic development of the region in which it is located. Indeed, your intention for this facility to contribute to the generating of much-needed revenue must be applauded as tangible evidence of how major industry and commerce have an integral role to play in contributing to the ideals of reconstruction and development. When I was privileged with your kind invitation in September last year to perform the turning of the first sod, I too held the hope that it would not be long before this important landmark in the socio-economic upliftment of this region, which now falls within the newly demarcated Durban Unicity boundary, would become a reality. Nine months down the line, we have a magnificent facility which provides a state-of-the-art rest and service centre representing the first phase of Engine's overall planning and development initiatives. The innovations you have introduced in transforming a conventional service station into one that incorporates a holistic approach to service delivery for the motorist is evident in the facility's features such as the well-appointed restrooms, a restaurant, automatic teller machines, and other handy services that motorists, passengers and pedestrians traversing this area could now take full advantage of. It also serves as an impetus to your second phase plans for the establishment of a Cultural Heritage Centre. In this respect you would undoubtedly be heartened to know that your plans fit in very appropriately with my department's own designs for making our national and provincial routes as user friendly as possible. In May this year, when I presented my annual Departmental Summit report to a gathering of more than 4 000 visitors at the Royal Agricultural Show-grounds, I announced that our road construction and upgrading programmes were aimed at major routes to serve communities that were hitherto grossly underprovided but which held significant development potential, particularly for market agriculture and tourism. Our aim is therefore to build these roads in such a way that they would serve as encouragement for people to travel at a reasonably leisurely pace and thereby stop to enjoy the physical and cultural diversities of our province. Implicit in this approach is the implementation of a roads development programme that will include rest stops and clean toilet facilities and landscaped indigenous gardens. These rest stops would become focal points to market handicrafts, garden produce and refreshments. Engen's plans, therefore, would find ready endorsement in the visions being set by my department in making road usage a meaningful activity with huge potential to uplift the quality of life. Indeed, that vision can be extended beyond mere reconstruction and development of a society that once suffered the yoke of servility not only through the denial of facilities and amenities to the vast majority of the country's people but also through the lack of imaginative and innovative ideas which could clearly demonstrate how even an important undertaking like travel can be made into a pleasurable activity. Guiding the spirit of this vision, is the greater vision of the African Renaissance. Today, we have embarked on a journey of how we can find ourselves, and rediscover one another, whether Black, White, Indian or Coloured in forging a commonness of purpose in rebuilding our nation as one based on a firm foundation of unity. Whether we are looking at public-private partnerships, or state-civil society co-operation, or government and big business working together, or just people of whatever race, class, creed or status joining hands, we are inexorably bound to an inevitable destiny that must be reflected in the things we do to announce our new heritage of a democratic society. At one time, it would probably have stretched the imagination to ask how a motor vehicle service station could be linked to cultural heritage. That is because the very way in which we were forced to perceive things was compartmentalised into fragments of disjointed human thought, in which the notion of holism was anathema to the unilateral designers of the social order. We are now beginning to see how every aspect of human endeavour has a destined place within the grander scheme of life and living. The mundane and dreary service station of yesterday has also undergone a transformation of its soul. In its place is what you have appropriately called an oasis with all the essential commodities to help nourish some of the basic needs of the tired traveller and which could soon present a breathtaking site of culture and recreation to make journeys memorable and meaningful. Above all this, it can be a place of economic regeneration for the ordinary people who could ply their wares and thereby make a living for themselves. The One Stop concept has then become a brief resting place, a recreational rendezvous, a place to buy a cultural memorabilia, and a source of employment for the local residents, all embraced under the title of "One Stop". However, for the One Stop concept to adequately play this role, and to succeed in its scope, its vision rests on three cardinal considerations governing road usage, viz. good roads, safe roads, and roads that lead to the promotion of social and economic development, the latter mainly through tourism and marketing. Within the wider context of the African vision, in April this year my department piloted the promulgation of the KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Roads Act. For the first time in the history of this province, an Act would now empower me as MEC of Transport to transform, restructure and establish the provincial road network. This will in turn open unlimited opportunities to big business, including the oil companies such as Engen, to establish ventures commensurate with the proper servicing of the users of these roads towards accessing previously untapped markets. The key strategic intervention we are making as a department is to help open the provincial economy by developing a provincial road network linking various economic zones and modal points, and developing a rural road network linking communities to social amenities, local and regional economic opportunities. These initiatives are based on the imperatives that the economy must grow, government must deliver on the services it has been mandated to deliver and previously disadvantaged groups must be integrated into economic activities at all levels. In terms of this vision, the KwaZulu-Natal roads budget has been increased from R673 976 000 to R810 449 000. In addition to a major amount being set aside for the department's Roads for Rural Development project, several key main roads have been earmarked for upgrading. The plan is to introduce a labour intensive road construction programme which will encompass both poverty relief principles and create sustainable work opportunities for large numbers of unemployed rural men, women and youth. The African Renaissance Special Roads Upgrading Programme is intended to build a truly representative road network and road construction industry in KwaZulu-Natal. Implicit in the programme is the intention to unbundle road building and upgrading contracts in such a way that well-established contractors would team up with emerging contractors to promote the concept of independent contracts but interdependent contractors. Under the banner of Zibambele (doing it ourselves), opportunities previously denied to local residents are now open. Of course, whilst I realise that the Engen One Stop at Cato Ridge is designed to service a national route, I believe that the concept itself can be implemented on all routes which carry a heavy influx of traffic and where resting places are rare. Linked to the provision of roads is the all-important factor of road safety. Under my department's banner of Asiphephe (let us be safe), we have launched various strategic initiatives to bring down the unacceptably high level of death and destruction on our roads. The dismally high rate of motor vehicle collisions both nationally and within our province has severely taxed the resources of my department. Taking the statistics for last year's December holidays as a guide, in that month alone, 867 people died on our roads nationally, of which over one third were pedestrians. This means that 320 people who were not even in vehicles lost their lives and 320 families lost loved ones. In KwaZulu-Natal, where, compared over previous years, we have achieved a substantial reduction in fatalities, the actual extent of deaths and injuries through motor vehicle collisions remains substantially high. But my department is making steady progress through the 'Zero Tolerance' approach and educative initiatives. Our Road Traffic Inspectorate is now equipped with the latest state-of-the-art equipment to implement its 'Zero Tolerance' programme. Between April and March this year the inspectorate screened the speeds of more than four million vehicles, tested the weights of more than 100 000 heavy duty vehicles for overloading, checked the validity of more than 320 000 drivers' licences, conducted more than 200 000 alcohol breathalyser tests, established roadside holding courts at four strategic sites on national routes, and launched a device called RemCom that can trace the road violation history as far back as three years of any motorist that is stopped. Against this background, the Engen One Stop facility of providing a convenient resting place for motorists has a critically important role to play in reducing the rate of motor vehicle collisions in this region. The fact that this facility is strategically located in an area that has to deal with a very high influx of traffic, especially during the festive periods when large numbers of travellers and tourists make their way to Durban, is an important contribution to the overall campaign of ensuring that travelling is safe. Finally, the One Stop's contribution to the economic potential of this area must be acknowledged. The Durban Unicity Metro Council has identified the outer west area as one of its key Local Economic Development Zones that is destined to create a vast industrial and commercial development potential. This will obviously influence the extent of the usage of this route. Coupled with this is the potential that arises for the tourism industry and for consequent employment opportunities. I thank you for the opportunity of addressing you, and congratulate you on your achievements.
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