 
KWAZULU-NATAL DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORT BUDGET SPEECH 2003/20049 April 2003
Presented by The Honourable Minister of Transport Mr Speaker INTRODUCTION In his budget speech, my colleague, the Honourable MEC for Finance, Mr Peter Miller, drew our attention to the fact that the economic growth of our province has not kept pace with that of other provinces and the country as a whole. Of particular concern has been the decline in performance of our manufacturing and agricultural sectors. Our weak economic performance has not allowed us, as government, to address both the root causes and the symptoms of poverty in the province. As the Gateway Province to the rest of South Africa and our northern neighbours KwaZulu-Natal is considered to have a comparative advantage over other provinces particularly in the manufacturing, agriculture, tourism and transport sectors. Our comparative advantage is based on the fact that we are a relatively small province with a large population. KwaZulu-Natal occupies only 7,6% of the land area of South Africa. Indeed if we combine the land area of KwaZulu-Natal with that of Gauteng then together we occupy only 9% of South Africa's land mass. However, collectively we are home to 39% of South Africa's population and share more than 50% of South Africa's Gross Domestic Product. We are then well placed to become the hub of South Africa's economic renaissance. It is disturbing, therefore, that despite the fact that South Africa has achieved an average growth in the volume of manufactured exports of 7% per annum and that KwaZulu-Natal is the critical route in South Africa's global supply chain, our Provincial economy has under-performed. Minister Miller is quite correct to raise the alarm. Clearly we cannot continue to under-perform and still retain our status as the Gateway Province to Southern Africa. We need to take cognisance of the fact that our status is now being challenged by developments in Mozambique. I refer here to:
Our current status is that KwaZulu-Natal is the critical route in South Africa's global supply chain. Our comparative advantage as a province lies in the fact that our own supply routes are so much shorter than those of other provinces. Here it must be emphasised that in today's global economy, logistics are calculated to account for some 45% of final production costs. This contrasts sharply with direct labour costs which are calculated to be 15% of final product costs. These relative costs give an indication of the strength of KwaZulu-Natal's comparative advantage to perform well within South Africa's and the global economy. When we talk about logistics we are talking about efficient freight transport systems. It is clear that investments in infrastructure will create an improved environment for the growth of KwaZulu-Natal's economy. I want to use this opportunity to outline to you what we in the Department of Transport are doing to promote efficient freight transport systems within the province. Later, I will refer specifically to what I call our Tale of Three Cities Programme which essentially is a plan to link Ulundi, Pietermaritzburg and Durban with a high quality blacktop road from all directions. Mr Speaker when President Mbeki talks of a better life for all he is referring to three measurable things - access, water, and energy. These three things are not out of reach for all South Africans. It is a truism in development that developing countries cannot possibly develop unless they are prepared to invest in transport infrastructure. Transport is considered integral to all service provision as well as the supply and marketing of commodities. While initial capital expenditure on road infrastructures is considerable, expenditure does decline in later years as maintenance requires less resources. Our budget has been guided by this thinking and this year my department will spend more than a billion rand on roads, roads and more roads. It is very clear that our economy will not grow unless we make appropriate investments into road and transport infrastructure. Without significant economic growth there is little chance that our dream of a better life for all will become a reality in the lives of the poor. Our KwaZulu-Natal Legislature is to be congratulated on voting increasingly higher order budgets to the Transport Portfolio. These are of course, still inadequate but we are making progress. Let me begin by giving you a synopsis on how far we have progressed since the last budget. Last year I announced our intentions concerning the African Renaissance Roads Upgrading Programme, reform and regulation within the taxi industry and public transport and our human resource development programme. In 12 months what has happened? ARRUP When I launched the Department's African Renaissance Roads Upgrading Programme (ARRUP) it must have seemed incongruous to many how road construction could possibly connect with a Renaissance. We should not of course lose sight of the fact that the European Renaissance was a movement which heralded a cultural revolution, a revolution in art, a scientific revolution and an industrial revolution. I remarked then, that the issue of Renaissance was often emotional to intellectuals and intellectual to the masses. The level of development dialogue that has been created in rural communities through our African Renaissance Roads Upgrading Programme lends weight to this observation. Today, as I review the progress made by our African Renaissance Road Upgrading Programme I realise that we have succeeded in breaking a terrible silence. This silence was a silence in which the countryside was unable to voice out its despair and the city was silent about the plight of those living in the country. There is a sense of fatalism that the rural condition is God given and that if you wanted roads, clean water and electricity you had to migrate to the city. The cities were called "bright lights", signifying a level of acceptance that the good things in life were to be found there. We began the work of giving rural communities a voice by our commitment to our community access road programme. In this programme we prioritised access needs with the assistance of Rural Road Transport Forums. This gave rural civil society a voice. With our ARRUP initiative that voice has become a roar. Today you find a rich development dialogue around all our ARRUP road projects. A good illustration of this comes from our Osizweni project. Our engineers on site are currently assisting Inkosi Ntuli and his ward to investigate the viability of coal deposits located on their tribal lands. Inkosi Ntuli and his community have known about these coal deposits for many generations. During Inkosi Ntuli's school-going days his daily task was to collect a sack of coal on his way back home from school. Today Inkosi Ntuli is the leader of his community. The real issue here is why did he have to wait so long for assistance. The real issue here is that he and his community have a resource whose potential for development has never been investigated. Should a coalmine prove viable its development will create massive new wealth and work opportunities in his community. Mr Speaker, I would like to remind this house of my Department's commitment to upgrade major rural transport corridors from gravel to blacktop surface under the auspices of our African Renaissance Road Upgrading Programme. The following projects are already under construction:
The Tale of Three Cities Ulundi The construction of the Ulundi to Richards Bay transport corridor will open up the development potential of a vast hinterland. We are all familiar with the difficulties encountered in travelling between Ulundi and Richards Bay by road. We are all familiar with the fact that once you get from Ulundi to the Hluhluwe-Umfolozi Game Reserve nature takes over. What we are now proposing is the construction of a road that would pass through Inkosi Mpungose's area, then Inkosi Mlaba, then Inkosi Zungu, then Inkosi Mthembu and finally Inkosi Biyela's area linking Ulundi to the N2. Imagine in your mind's eye the development potential that will be opened up precisely because we will apply the principles fine-tuned in our African Renaissance Road Upgrading Programme to the construction of the Ulundi - Richards Bay transport corridor. This means the road will be built to maximize local advantage. Drainage systems will be designed to improve water tables, to fill newly created earth dams. Improved water tables and earth dams for irrigation will create the potential to diversify and improve on current agricultural performance. Local jobs will be created on a scale unprecedented in the history of these beneficiary communities, the majority of who still survive on incomes well below that of the Minimum Living Level. The beneficiary communities living along the Ulundi - Richards Bay transport corridor have never before had any real chance for economic development. Today I am making a public commitment to them, that their time has finally come. They will and their children will have a future. There will be a better life for all. The total cost of the project is R303 Million. Durban Pietermaritzburg
The main objectives of establishing this corridor are the following:
The key elements of the public transportation corridor will be the following:
The anticipated benefits from public transportation corridor project are the following:
Urban renewal and community revival which will be driven through the establishment of the multi-purpose community centers, and creation of more public space with the development of a network of sidewalks and bikeways.
The total cost of the project will be approximately R100 Million. The development dialogue and voice that has now been created in rural KwaZulu-Natal has even extended into our urban industrial centres. Many of the contractors who find work on ARRUP roads come from urban areas. Many of them are coming home precisely because new opportunities are being created for skilled people in rural areas. We have begun to reverse the skills drain from rural to urban areas. This augers well for the further diversification of the rural economy as new opportunities are created in agriculture, tourism, transport, small industries and trade. Mr Speaker, I do not want to give the impression that this new rural voice is only a male thing. Our Zibambele programme is contracting women directly and not through their husbands. Indeed a high percentage of our Zibambele contractors are destitute widows. Let me repeat, destitute. Visit a destitute household and you will find that poverty surrounds you and confronts your senses. Poverty is visible. You can see it, you can touch it, you can even smell it. We have also made considerable progress in ensuring that the commuting public of KwaZulu-Natal have access to safer and more affordable public transport. We have begun the work of re-allocating bus subsidies to ensure that those most in need of subsidies are indeed subsidised and have, in the process facilitated the empowerment of 119 Black sub-contractors in the subsidised bus industry in KwaZulu-Natal. It is a matter of record that the taxi industry in South Africa and in KwaZulu-Natal have come a long way since 1994. In 1994 the taxi industry in South Africa was an unregulated industry. As an unregulated industry it was an unprotected industry and as such open to abuse, corruption and coercion. It was an industry driven by profits from fares in which speed, reckless driving and overloading overrode concerns for the safety and comfort of passengers. There was no protection against overtrading and competition for the most profitable routes often found expression in violence. Research conducted under the auspices of Moving South Africa provided irrefutable evidence that the taxi industry was not a profitable industry at least not for taxi operators. It is precisely because the taxi industry was unregulated that a significant proportion of their income was spent on bribes and on protection. Indeed they had no alternative as they received no protection from the State. Today, the taxi industry is a fully regulated industry and has a democratically elected leadership. Through the RTI we are now fulfilling our function of ensuring that the taxi industry can function and grow in a stable and lawful environment. Together with the KwaZulu-Natal Taxi Council (KWANATACO) we have resolved to retrench all hit men and hit squads. I sincerely hope that I will now not be accused of creating unemployment. We have also succeeded in closing down four of the largest vehicle testing stations which were selling certificates of fitness and allowing unroadworthy vehicles onto our roads. This has been achieved despite several court actions against us which we have won. Mr Speaker, with these few words of introduction I will now introduce the budget for Vote 12 on a programme-by-programme basis. PROGRAMME 1: ADMINISTRATION Budget : R100 637 000 The development goal of Administration is to provide the KwaZulu-Natal public with a professional and user-friendly service which is consultative and free of corruption and fraud. The Administration Programme provides support services, within the Department, such as human resource management, labour relations, financial and administrative services, procurement, maintenance and repairs of all buildings, management of the provincial motor fleet, the processing and administration of traffic fines, registration and licensing of motor vehicles and professional services to my ministry. We expect during this financial year to collect R411 Million in revenue mainly from licenses. PROGRAMME 2: ROAD INFRASTRUCTURE Budget : R1 213 839 000 Our mandated development goal is to construct and maintain a balanced road network that complies with the Provincial Growth and Development Strategy. The bulk of our budget is allocated against roads and I am particularly pleased to announce considerable increased allocations both to the maintenance of our established road network and to our African Renaissance Road Upgrading Programme (ARRUP). We have also, this year, allocated a budget of R50 Million to upgrade agricultural roads. I have consistently maintained the view (and allocated budgets accordingly) that, while we have an undoubted responsibility to maintain the established road network as it is critical to our economic performance, we must at the same time recognise that the majority of our population do not even enjoy access to public facilities such as clinics, hospitals, schools and pension payout points. This majority regard their physical and social isolation, and thus their need for road access, to be of far greater importance than the need to maintain established roads. While our Community Access Roads Programme has made tremendous progress in providing rural populations with access to public facilities, it is our ARRUP programme that will provide them with improved access to the economy and markets. This programme, which addresses the upgrading of major rural transport corridors from gravel to blacktop, is already demonstrating an exciting ability to revitalise stagnant rural economies. Thus, for example, on Main Road 235 (road from Mtubatuba to Nongoma/Pongola via KwaHlabisa) - which was the first ARRUP project - the value of Vukuzakhe contracts currently in progress is R36,6 million and the wages paid to local labour during 2002/2003 amounted to R2,4 million. All cement for the drainage structures has been sourced through local suppliers in Hlabisa and the transport of materials has been contracted to local truck owners. Improved local earnings have already resulted in a discernable increase in improved housing in and around Hlabisa. It is my pleasure to inform you that the Department is increasingly giving critical attention to the involvement of rural suppliers in support of its road construction and maintenance projects. Emerging merchants, who have previously received preferential treatment in the supply of tools under the Zibambele road maintenance contract system, are now being organised, under ARRUP, to jointly tender to supply items and materials in bulk. Some 150 rural suppliers have now registered on the Department's database. They are being assisted to register on the Provincial Suppliers database and to become tax compliant. I would like to use this opportunity to point out that our ARRUP commitments are concentrated in northern KwaZulu-Natal and include the upgrading of critical transport corridors which will provide improved access to Ulundi and Nongoma. It is my pleasure to inform you that we have allocated R25 million, this financial year, to begin the upgrading of P700. The estimated total cost of upgrading P700 is R303 Million. Phase one involves the upgrading of P700 from Ulundi to the Hluhluwe-Umfolozi Game Park at an estimated cost of R103 Million. Phase two involves the upgrading of the road from Hluhluwe-Umfolozi Game Park to Richards Bay at an estimated cost of R200 Million. In February 2003, we conducted a consultation with relevant stake-holders including the Mayor of Ulundi L D Buthelezi, and representatives from the Department of Economic Affairs and Tourism, Department of Water Affairs and Forestry, Amafa/Heritage KwaZulu-Natal, Department of Agriculture, Ulundi Municipality, Zululand District Municipality, Ximba Traditional Authority, Zululand Anthracite Colliery, Tourism KwaZulu-Natal and the Zululand Chamber of Commerce. Contracts to begin work have already been awarded and contractors are now on site. Not only will an improved road network unlock the true economic potential of this sub-region, for the first time now historical and cultural sites that highlight the prominent role of the Zulu people in South Africa's and our sub-continent's history will have all weather access. ARRUP has allowed the Department of Transport to further its commitment to promote co-operative governance and to intensify programmes designed to achieve black economic empowerment. Our consultation with and support to Local Government and Amakhosi on ARRUP projects is channelled through the establishment of Project Liaison Committees which also include representation from other government departments and agencies. Again I can use the example of Main Road 235 to demonstrate how this co-operation does translate itself into tangible benefits for beneficiary communities. Inkosi Hlabisa of the Hlabisa Traditional Authority, Mr B.B. Ntombela who is the Deputy Mayor of Hlabisa as well as two local ward councillors, Mr Dube and Mr Mhlongo, serve on the Hlabisa Project Liaison Committee. Through the efforts of the Project Liaison Committee major road improvements are now planned for the town of Hlabisa. The road through the town is being widened and parking bays will be provided on both sides of the road. Sidewalks will be surfaced and traffic circles will be constructed at the entrances of the town. Attractive shady trees will also be planted alongside the road as part of a beautification programme. A construction village is being erected and will be handed over to the community once road construction is completed. Mr Speaker, time does not permit me to give you a full list of all the projects and activities that are now being addressed as part of the ARRUP programme. These range from the development of local quarries, inquiries into agriculture and land use potentials, to tourism markets and even an investigation into the viability of a coalmine These example highlight the way our engineers and other professionals on site are taking the wider development aspects of road construction into consideration and are acting as resource people to local communities and their leaders. I am grateful for all the assistance that we, and the Project Liaison Committees, are receiving from other departments. The scale and multi-year nature of contract opportunities provided through ARRUP roads have allowed us to streamline our support systems to emerging contractors (Vukuzakhe).
We have also introduced training and mentorship programmes to assist contractors to plan the future of their enterprises, to manage their finances, to become tax compliant and to build their assets and credit worthiness. Anyone who visits our construction sites will undoubtedly be convinced that a rural renaissance in KwaZulu-Natal has begun. It is a wonderful experience to see a blacktop road that has been constructed by our own emerging contractors who have graduated through our system. These projects provide us with living symbols that KwaZulu-Natal is indeed shaking off its apartheid legacy. In the context of our African Renaissance, it would be remiss of me not to mention our continuing good relationship with the Federal Highway based in Washington, USA. This relationship is channelled through our Technology Transfer Centre. The Technology Transfer Centre was specifically established to facilitate exchange programmes and mutual skills transference in the built environment sector. We have begun to build our international networks which will allow us to gain access to programmes that fast track our access to appropriate and cutting edge technology. Networking has become increasingly important to us as a Department. Our professional staff are held in high regard and many have been poached by other departments and provinces. Our extended network provides us with an opportunity to learn from others and we are committed to working with other road authorities and departments to benchmark our own performance against what is considered best practice in South Africa. Here I would like to stress that while we have much to gain from the developed world - who invest huge sums of money into research and technology developments - we also have much to gain from the developing world who have decades of hands on experience in dealing with many of the social and economic problems that we ourselves face. An example of this is the way we were able to learn from Kenya and adapt their use of the Lengthman system to create our Zibambele programme. Here it gives me pleasure to announce that we have targeted a total of 17,390 Zibambele contracts in this year's budget to maintain some 13,000 - 14,000 kilometres of rural roads. It also gives me pleasure to announce that independent research, conducted under the guidance of Professor Francis Wilson of the University of Cape Town, has verified that Zibambele is both a cost efficient road maintenance system and a cost effective poverty alleviation programme. We anticipate that 83 cents or every rand spent on Zibambele will go into the pockets of Zibambele contractors, 98% of which are women headed households. Our Zibambele road maintenance contract system has received wide national and international attention and is currently being implemented in several other provinces as part of their poverty alleviation programmes. I am pleased to record the on-going support and interest of the Transport Portfolio Committee in the progress of Zibambele. This support does extend to their willingness to conduct site visits to ensure that they are kept fully and properly informed. This year we intend upgrading our laboratory facilities in the Pietermaritzburg Head Office. Not only will this support the work of our Technology Transfer Centre internationally, it will also provide a much needed control centre for our satellite laboratories in the regions. Here I would like to pay special tribute to the work of Mr Howard Bennett who is still recovering from his injuries sustained during a recent plane crash. Mr Bennett has pioneered low cost all weather road surfacing systems and these have now been piloted in other provinces and, indeed, other countries including Russia and Saudi Arabia. Our road budgets, our commitment to promote good governance and participatory democracy, our Zibambele and Vukuzakhe programmes are all undoubtedly making a significant contribution to both revitalise stagnant rural economies and strengthen rural safety nets. Although we have achieved much, more is expected of us. This is readily evident in the growth of our Vukuzakhe database. We now have more than 17 500 contractors registered with the Department of Transport. To put this into perspective, there are approximately eight times as many contractors registered on the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Transport's Vukuzakhe database than there are emerging contractors registered on the National Department of Public Works' database. Clearly the Vukuzakhe emerging contractor programme has developed a reputation within rural communities as a source of hope for work and entrepreneurial opportunities. Clearly the Department's budgets and our professional capacity do not allow us to meet this demand with our current systems. We have gone back to our drawing boards and come up with a plan. We are currently upgrading our labour intensive road construction initiative and intend to establish several large labour intensive projects which will be constructed by recruiting Stage 1 contractors. This will create a large number of opportunities for Stage 1 contractors and, at the same time, provide the Department with a mechanism to screen and promote contractors through the Staged Advancement Programme. PROGRAMME 3: PUBLIC TRANSPORT Budget : R29 461 000 Our mandated development goal is to regulate public transport to ensure public access to safe, efficient and affordable modes of transport. The KwaZulu-Natal Department of Transport will receive an additional budget of R416 Million this financial year to implement bus subsidies on an agency basis on behalf of the National Department of Transport. The Department currently administers 38 subsidised public transport service contracts which utilise a total of 1 388 buses. All of these contracts have been awarded to PDI companies and presently there are 119 black empowerment sub-contractors involved in the subsidised bus industry in KwaZulu-Natal. The restructuring of Durban Transport is in progress and is expected to be finalised by the end of May. The Department has put forward a business model which provides for a 40% equity empowerment of the Durban Transport staff and relevant taxi industry stakeholders. A total annual subsidy of R60 Million has been set aside for this venture. The restructuring of Durban Transport ushers in a new era for the public transportation system for Ethekwini. There will now be a clear distinction between the regulatory and planning responsibilities of the municipality and the operation of the buses in the area. It removes the accusations always levelled at the municipality that it was both a player and a referee. The KwaZulu-Natal Taxi Council (KWANATACO) was registered as a public entity in November 2002 in compliance with the Public Finance Management Act. They have submitted a three-year business plan to the Department and we have approved a budget of R5.3 Million for this financial year. PROGRAMME 4: ROAD TRAFFIC AND ROAD SAFETY Budget: R202 100 000 Our mandated development goal is to create a safe road environment through the annual reduction of road crashes. The main services rendered by this programme include road traffic enforcement, road safety education and the analysis and re-engineering of hazardous locations. Mr Speaker, the members of this House and the public would like to see more visible traffic policing. This is something that we are working on. We are constrained, of course, by the fact that the numbers of traffic officer posts have not grown proportionately with the numbers of vehicles on our roads or with the expansion of our road network. Here particular mention should be made of the fact that South Africa has performed well on global markets and that increased trade has resulted in increased traffic volumes on KwaZulu-Natal's major routes. Increased surveillance has been required to control overloading and other traffic offences. We have ordered two more Booze Buses! On 22 August 2002 we launched the Public Transport Law Enforcement Unit (PTEU) which is dedicated to ensuring road traffic compliance within the public transport sector. The formation of this unit was first recommended by the Judicial Commission of Enquiry into Taxi Violence in KwaZulu-Natal. It was also supported by the KwaZulu-Natal Taxi Council (KWANATACO). I am pleased therefore to report that there has been a significant reduction in the number of road crashes and road fatalities involving minibus taxis. This, I believe, is a significant breakthrough and I want congratulate all involved, particularly the Executive Committee of KWANATACO for their support. You may be interested to appreciate what exactly PTEU does. The main work of this unit is to ensure that:
Of particular concern is the fact that passengers using an illegal taxi will not be paid out by the Road Accident Fund should they be involved in a road crash. Traffic officers who serve in PTEU receive specialist training to ensure that they can cope with what is a very demanding job. The Road Safety Directorate plays a co-ordinating role in implementing the Road to Safety Strategy. The Road to Safety Strategy concerns the implementation of a holistic programme to address all the known causes of road crashes. To assist it in its work the Road Safety Directorate has established 35 Community Road Safety Councils. Education and public awareness programmes co-ordinated by this directorate include Child in Traffic, scholar patrols, participatory education techniques, driver development and Omela Ngasekhaya as well as the mobilisation of civil society support networks through church and sport. We have targeted more than 60% of our Road Safety Directorate budget to be allocated, managed and monitored on a project-by-project basis with the assistance of Community Road Safety Councils. Increasingly the Road Safety Directorate is committed to introducing "Zibambele like" contracts for those road safety initiatives and programmes which can be most cost efficiently and cost effectively administered by local communities. We have concluded our analysis of road accident statistics compiled during the last festive season. Despite public perceptions to the contrary I can report that minibus taxis were involved in fewer accidents over the festive season than previously and that they are not the main category of vehicle involved in fatal crashes. Our analysis indicates that sedans and bakkies are the vehicles most frequently involved in fatal road crashes. The statistics support the view that the "human factor" is the underlying cause of most road crashes. We have now established a special unit to mobilize civil society in support of road safety campaigns. This unit will report directly to my Head of Department, Dr Mbanjwa, and will in its initial phase concentrate on mobilizing all religious institutions in support of effecting those appropriate behavioural changes that will result in a much safer road environment. I am pleased to report that, in response to our many inputs the Department of Justice announced on the 14 February 2003 substantive revisions to the Criminal Procedure Act, Act 51 of 1977. These revisions now standardize penalties for traffic violations and increase the maximum admission of guilt fine from R1 500 to R2 500. All Transport Departments in the country are negotiating the standardization of road traffic fines so that we maintain consistency. PROGRAMME 5: AUXILIARY AND ASSOCIATED SERVICES Budget: R8 200 000 This programme is concerned with the provision of radio communications services to the Road Traffic Inspectorate and the mechanical plant work teams as well as the purchase of official vehicles for use by all components in the department. CONCLUSION The statistics that highlight poverty and inequality in KwaZulu-Natal make shocking reading. All of us appreciate only too well that we will only become a truly free nation when we have achieved freedom from hunger, freedom from the daily struggle to survive and freedom to provide our children with education, with healthcare, with shelter and with hope. We will only become a truly free nation when we correct the glaring social and economic imbalances within our society and when the majority of citizens share in the wealth of our country. This challenge, I like to believe, is why we have chosen politics as our career. Finally I would like to thank my Head of Department, Dr Kwazi Mbanjwa, and his dedicated team for all the hard work that has gone into making the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Transport the success that it is. I would also like to thank the Portfolio Committee for the constructive way in which they have engaged myself and senior management to fine-tune many of our ideas and programmes. I request the Legislative Assembly to pass the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Transport 2003/2004 budget of R1 554 799. Thank you.
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