ADDRESS BY KWAZULU-NATAL MINISTER OF TRANSPORT, MR S'BU NDEBELE DURING THE PIARC 2003 MEDIA BRIEFING

Distinguished Members of the Diplomatic Corps
Members of the Media
Ladies and Gentlemen:

I thank all of you for making time to be available here at this media briefing on PIARC 2003 Roads Congress. Some of you might be disturbed at what they may see as an additional buzz-word into the South African vocabulary. In short PIARC is a French acronym standing for World Road Association. PIARC is a non-political and non-profit making association whose mission is to provide information on roads and road transport policy and practices within an integrated sustainable transport context.

Transport and Road infrastructure development in South Africa take the form of highly economically driven projects, where private sector funding can be mobilised on the BOT (Build Operate and Transfer) projects, as well as socially driven projects, such as the CAR (Community Access Road) programme, which remains dependant on government funding.

Engineers in South Africa have risen to the challenge posed by both of these situations. Through the national roads agency (SANRA), and in collaboration with the DTI, the NDOT has played a major role in the establishment and development of the multi-billion Rand Maputo and Lubombo SDIs. Late last year the Bakwena Consortium was appointed to construct the 380 km, R2.6 billion N4 West Platinum Toll Road.

This major BOT project, representing a significant new departure in the promotion of co-operative ventures between small and large enterprises, will upgrade the link between Gauteng and Botswana. Together with the Maputo corridor section of the N4, the newly completed Trans Botswana highway and the east west Namibian National route, this will create the first high quality trans-continental road route in sub-Saharan Africa, linking Maputo on the east coast to Walvis Bay on the west coast.

In terms of low level rural roads, the CARNS (Community Access Roads Needs Study) undertaken by the KZNDOT in 1997, has pioneered a new way of allocating funds and the building and maintenance of access roads in the underdeveloped rural areas.

This study revealed that to bring the community access roads to a minimum acceptable standard would cost at least R 1 billion at current cost. It is assumed that the full funding to establish an appropriate network will not be available in the short term and therefore a prioritisation strategy is essential to achieve the most benefit from limited resources.

The method prioritising is easy because everyone needs to understand the principles involved. This method is also very transparent in that it depends on verifiable, factual information rather than personal opinion.

The KwaZulu-Natal Department of Transport (KZNDOT) has established Rural Road Transport Forums in all the sub-regions of the province. Various community structures are represented on these forums, including Amakhosi, business, and women.

These forums are allocated funds by the KZNDOT according to the district prioritisation formula and they in turn allocate funds to specific road projects in their area. They also oversee the award of tenders to SMME contractors and the selection of families for the Zibambele Road Maintenance system.

Under Zibambele Sytem a contractor has to maintain a length of road of approximately one kilometre. The target is about 40 000 contracts in KZN. About 3000 contracts have been awarded thus far. All have gone to families with no other form of income and about 98% of these have gone to households headed by women.

Technical visits to interesting projects in the host country are a standard feature of PIARC gatherings. Here the host country usually shows off the most sophisticated high-tech projects to delegates.

As is the case with so many international forums, the proceedings used to be dominated by the solutions to first world problems through cutting edge technology. However, as we have seen at the recent AIDS conference, the plight of the poorer nations is beginning to feature very prominently on the international agenda.

This is in no small measure thanks to the prominent role that SA is playing in the various organisations such as the Commonwealth, the Non-aligned Movement and the OAU. SA is in the position where we can bridge the divide between rich and poor nations since we understand both conditions, as they exist side-by-side right here

During the PIARC executive meeting in Durban during October, we will therefore expose delegates to the best of first world and the most basic of third world infrastructure developments in SA, all within a one hour drive or fifty km radius from Durban.

The Projects

The one tour will in the Ndwedwe District, some fifty kilometres from Durban, where delegates will visit community access road construction and maintenance projects. These projects are situated in the rugged Umgeni Valley in areas controlled by Amakhosi. The fifty km drive represents the stark contrast between the thriving Durban Metro and the poorest of poor rural settlements and at the same time the range of solutions that Engineers in SA are capable of dealing with.

The other tour will be a visit to the Umhlanga Ridge New Town Centre. The sheer scale of this project makes it one of the largest development initiatives in South Africa. The New Town Centre has existing development rights for 310 000 square metres, with plans for a further 330 000 sq.m. in later phases, while the Gateway Shoppertainment World, the largest project of its kind in the Southern Hemisphere is 130 000m2 in size."

We hope that the October Executive meeting will wet the appetite of delegates to ensure not only a fully subscribed conference in 2003, but will also wet the appetite for tourism to and exploring business opportunities in SA and KZN.

Durban is ready to host these high-powered delegates. The Transport Industry in South Africa is more than ready to engage in such global discussions. I would like to close by thanking all the members of the media and the Diplomatic community for giving attending this briefing.

We know that, unlike Charles Dempsey, you are fully behind us as you have always done towards making the PIARC 2003 a success.

I thank you.

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