 
CELEBRATING TEN YEARS OF PROSPERITYKWAZULU-NATAL DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORT’S ANNUAL SUMMIT ADDRESS BY MR S’BU NDEBELE MEC FOR TRANSPORT KWAZULU-NATAL 1 April 2004 His Worship the Mayor of Msunduzi – Councillor Hloni Zondi
Welcome to this our ninth Annual Report Back Summit. As with previous Summits, today provides the opportunity for me, as your MEC for Transport, to report back to you on the progress made in implementing various KwaZulu-Natal Department of Transport policies and programmes as well as providing an opportunity for you, the public, to contribute your views on how my Department can improve on its performance. The fact that this is our ninth Annual Report Back Summit is strongly indicative that I, and my Department’s management, have always viewed public participation as ongoing and not just as a five year event when citizens go to the polls. All of us present here today know only too well my view that the foundation of any democracy and just society is a well informed public. All of us present here today know only too well that my Department has a proud record of assisting communities and stakeholders to organise themselves so that they can be kept properly informed on new developments in order to take full advantage of new opportunities. The many trophies on display today bear testimony to this. Later awards will be made to:
All of these organisations can bear witness to the fact that the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Transport does go the extra mile to ensure that communities are properly informed and that they participate actively in the development of my Department’s policies, programmes and budgets. This Summit, more than any previous Summit, is an occasion for me to reflect back on my performance and that of my Department over the past ten years. The theme of this year’s Summit is "Ten Years of Prosperity". The theme captures the ethos of how I interpreted my mandate as your MEC for Transport. Since 1994 the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Transport’s social contract with you has been to:
It was very clear to me in 1994 that the levels of neglect and depravation, particularly in rural communities, was so massive that it would be impossible to make a lasting impact without appropriate policy frameworks and without reliable data against which our performance could be monitored. It is well documented that rural poverty throughout KwaZulu-Natal was so pervasive that living with hunger had become a way of life for the vast majority of rural citizens. In many districts such as Nkandla, Msinga, Nqutu, Hlabisa, Nongoma – to name but a few – more than 90% of households had incomes below the Minimum Living Level (MLL). Since 1994 the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Transport has systematically created a new policy environment to fundamentally restructure choice and opportunity in KwaZulu-Natal society. We have worked systematically to ensure that appropriate policy frameworks are in place to guide the delivery of services in such a way that sustainable transformation towards a more equitable society is achievable within reasonable timeframes. Many of you will be familiar with some of our new policy frameworks which were developed through scientific studies such as CARNS, The Road to Wealth and Job Creation and Asiphephe precisely because you were thoroughly consulted throughout the research process. Indeed without your contribution these policy frameworks would not have received the National and International acclaim that they have. It is a significant achievement that the methodology and findings in our CARNS study were adopted by the National Department of Transport‘s Moving South Africa study, that the Road to Wealth and Job Creation was adopted by the October Job Summit 1998 to now form a founding document in government’s Integrated and Sustainable Rural Development Programme and Expanded Public Works Programme, that our relationship with Australian Road Traffic Authorities in the development of Project Victoria and Asiphephe has been extended through National Government to all other provinces in South Africa through the adoption of The Road to Safety Strategy and through new legislative frameworks such as AARTO and the License Demerit System. It is these and many other policy frameworks that have provided – and will continue to provide – for the delivery of more equitable transport related services throughout KwaZulu-Natal. These services have been delivered in ways that have resulted in real change to the lives of beneficiary communities. The creation of civil society structures such as Rural Road Transport Forums and Community Road Safety Councils have undoubtedly contributed towards the achievement of peace in KwaZulu-Natal. It is a fundamental principal that peace is critical for the realisation of sustainable development. It is also a fundamental principle that access to clean water, energy and transport are critical for the realisation of lasting and sustainable development. Over the past ten years the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Transport has made significant progress towards the establishment of a more balanced and equitable road network in our province. Communities throughout KwaZulu-Natal today have far better road access to schools, to clinics, to pension payout points and other public facilities than they did in 1994. Through ARRUP major rural transport corridors are being upgraded to link rural KwaZulu-Natal to South Africa’s market economy. The development of our rural road network has resulted in many new investments in rural communities which are increasingly benefiting from the improved performance of the South African economy and the fact that South Africa is increasingly becoming a tourist destination for international visitors. If I have indeed achieved what I was mandated to do then it is because I was never alone in my struggle – our struggle – to achieve a more just and equitable transport infrastructure and transport system that increasingly meets the mobility needs of all KwaZulu-Natal’s citizens. In the final analysis, most government policies are translated into action by government bureaucracies. A feature of my tenure as MEC for Transport has been a strong and enthusiastic bureaucratic support team. Further, in terms of our South African Constitution all three spheres of government – National, Provincial and Local – must work together to ensure the cost efficient and cost effective delivery of services. Over the past ten years my department has enjoyed an excellent working relationship with other spheres of government and I am grateful for the tremendous support that I have received. We have had ten years of democracy in South Africa. During these ten years South Africa has moved from economic isolation and meltdown - and being the polecat of the world - to becoming a valued trading partner in the global economy, achieving sustained economic growth and being internationally recognized as one of the world’s most celebrated democracies. All of us present today need no reminding about the evils of apartheid and separate development. That legacy lives with us and it will take many decades to finally push back the frontiers of poverty and create a truly representative economy. However, we all need to acknowledge that South Africa has been blessed with exceptional political leadership, as it has been this leadership that has somehow managed to reconcile us with our past and enable us to build a new nation. Since 1994 a new Constitution, which lays the foundation for a truly non racial, non sexist and human rights based social order, has been put in place. Apartheid legislation has been repealed and more than 780 pieces of legislation have been enacted to create a framework for shaping our new South Africa. Millions of South Africans can bear witness to the fact that over the past ten years they have benefited from the delivery of essential services such as water, electricity and housing. Government has banished forever former homeland development schemes such as the planting of woodlots to meet rural fuel needs. There is no going back. The struggle for economic liberation and the struggle against poverty have only been sustained through improved economic growth and the national collection and redistribution of revenue. Our 2004/2005 National Budget plans for an expenditure of R368,9 billion which is more than double that budgeted for in 1994/1995, despite the fact that personal tax and company tax thresholds have been systematically reduced over the past several years. This is an incredible achievement and provides irrefutable proof that government has succeeded in broadening South Africa’s tax base. I am belabouring this point for two reasons. Firstly, nationally allocated budgets account for more than 97% of all provincial budgets. The formula used to divide nationally collected revenue between provinces is based on size of population and levels of poverty. It is a formula that recognises that those provinces that have the greatest need will require the greatest share of nationally allocated budgets. The formula has a strong focus on redistributing revenue from the richer provinces to provide new and improved services for the poorer provinces. Provincial Allocations 2004/2005:
Here it is important to emphasise that KwaZulu-Natal receives more funds from National Government than any other province in South Africa despite the fact that KwaZulu-Natal contributes only some 14% to South Africa’s Gross Domestic Product. Gauteng which contributes some 40% to South Africa’s GDP receives only 16% as its provincial allocation of the national fiscus. It is this redistribution of revenue that has allowed the KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Government to increase budget allocations to all portfolios despite the fact that our provincial economy has performed below the national average. Secondly, it is not possible to reduce tax thresholds and still collect more revenue without broadening the tax base by creating more income earners. An analysis of nationally collected revenue gives the lie to the notion that South Africa has experienced "jobless economic growth". Here I would like to add that a recent Human Sciences Research Council Report " Human Resources Development Review 2003 : Education, Employment and Skills in South Africa" records that 49% of all school leavers in South Africa today either find a job or go on to further their education. This is a truly staggering statistic as it provides compelling evidence that the prospects of a better life for all are now within reach. In 1994 research into school leavers indicated that only 7% of matriculants would find employment!!! Not only have the job prospects for all school leavers in South Africa improved dramatically since 1994, the Human Sciences Research Council report has also drawn attention to current skills shortages in a wide variety of fields and predicts a dramatic increased need for professionals over the next five years (e.g. 35 000 additional nurses, 70 000 to 100 000 additional educators). Compare these statistics of hope with those compiled by the Development Bank of Southern Africa on the KwaZulu-Natal Development Profile (1998). This study drew attention to the fact that on average unemployment in Zululand (communities north of the Tugela) grew between 1980 and 1994 by 265% and that in some communities such as Nongoma unemployment grew during the same period by a staggering 465%. Unemployment in South Africa is not a recent phenomenon. It is I believe important for all South Africans to acknowledge that life is indeed getting better because of democracy. What I am emphasising here is that the performance of my Department is inextricably linked with the solid performance of National Government during the first ten years of democracy. It is a distortion of the facts to suggest that KwaZulu-Natal can go it alone. Here I would like to point out that provided that our National Government continues to adhere to the current formula to redistribute nationally collected revenue, KwaZulu-Natal will experience improved budgets over the next several financial years. The reason for this is that 2004/2005 provincial budget allocations are still based on Census 1996. Census 2001 indicates that KwaZulu-Natal’s population grew by 12% while that of several other provinces decreased. We can therefore anticipate increased budgets when Census 2001 is factored into the formula to distribute revenues to provinces. We have come a long way since 1994. In 1994/1995 I inherited a budget that allocated a mere R3 million to provide new road access for rural communities. This was an allocation of less than 1% of the total transport budget despite the fact that the majority of citizens in KwaZulu-Natal live in rural communities. I will never forget my first months in office when every day I could look out of my window on crowds of people waiting patiently to complain to me about their lack of road access. Many had taken the trouble to draw detailed maps on scraps of paper outlining their most urgent road needs. This daily gathering crowd had two things in common. One was that they and their communities were in desperate need of road access and had been frustrated by the previous government. The other was that they believed that if they approached me directly then surely the road was theirs. The struggle to increase the rural share of the transport budget was, at times, quite bitter. There were also moments of intense disappointment. Many of you will remember our joy in the 1997/1998 budget when Premier Ben Ngubane announced a special allocation of R100 million for our Roads for Rural Development programme and our subsequent disappointment when this allocation of R100 million was not honoured in the 1998/1998 budget due to the unfavourable financial circumstances of our province. Today more than 40% of the Department’s road budget is allocated to provide improved road access for rural communities and, at the same time, to provide them with new economic opportunities, particularly through Vukuzakhe and Zibambele. This increased expenditure on rural roads is having a major impact on rural economies that have been stagnant for several generations. Improved road access, particularly through the upgrading of major transport corridors, is having the effect of renewing beneficiary communities. Not only have new and sustainable job and enterprise development opportunities been created in rural communities through the construction of roads but increasingly new community assets such as earth dams, sports fields and quarries are being developed as part of the road construction process. For me it is a truly remarkable achievement that Zibambele was piloted only in the year 2000 yet despite its youthfulness President Mbeki, in his address to the National Council of Provinces (11 November 2003), declared Zibambele a clear example of "best practice" which could be rolled out throughout South Africa to create 134 500 jobs at an annual cost of R691 million. Our work to organise all Zibambele contractors into savings clubs is almost complete. I can assure you that the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Transport will provide appropriate aftercare support to Zibambele Savings Clubs and assist the clubs to identify appropriate investment strategies for their collective savings. Ideally we would like to identify projects which will create new employment opportunities in rural communities. In this regard I would like to make three important announcements.
The growth of Vukuzakhe from a zero budget to contract values of more than R408 million in 2003/2004 is also a truly remarkable achievement. I am pleased to announce that there will be a significant increase both in the Local Roads and ARRUP roads budget allocations for the MTEF period 2004/2005 to 2006/2007. This will increase the value of contracts awarded to Vukuzakhe contractors.
I am also pleased to announce that on 5 April 2004 we will formally launch the Vukuzakhe Provincial Council. Although I do not want to pre-empt the announcements that will be made at the launch, I understand that a progress report will be made concerning the establishment of a PPP (Public / Private Partnership) to address the plant needs of Vukuzakhe contractors. I have also directed my department to adopt a more embracing understanding of Vukuzakhe training needs to include the sponsorship and graduation of black engineers and technicians. I believe that my department is in the process of establishing a new bursary fund which will be administered in consultation with the Vukuzakhe Provincial Council to promote engineering in the black community. This financial year we will also be launching a new Labour Intensive Road Construction programme. The programme will specifically target youth and Stage 1 Vukuzakhe contractors on a project by project basis. The Department has allocated R25 million towards Labour Intensive Road Construction this financial year and expects to raise significant additional funds from the national Expanded Public Works Programme. I do believe that to have progressed from a budget allocation of only R3 million in 1994 for rural access roads to our current budget allocations is something to be proud of. I am equally proud of the fact that, as our budgets for rural roads has increased so too have our budgets to support the training of Rural Road Transport Forums and Vukuzakhe contractors. We have come a long way, together, since those first long cold days and nights spent in Kwanzimela when our work was only beginning. Who among you will ever forget the experience of sleeping in those dormitories, lying next to people who you then did not entirely trust? It is not only in the development our provincial road network, Zibambele and the emerging contractor sector that the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Transport has made truly commendable progress. We are acutely aware of our responsibility to regulate and transform the apartheid public transport system into one that can take its rightful place in a democratic South Africa. Only last month I was privileged to be part of the launch of South Africa’s first Metropolitan Transport Authority. The establishment of the Durban Transport Authority was launched in the Ethekwini Metro which is host to almost 40% of KwaZulu-Natal’s population and which is increasingly an attractive tourist destination for domestic and international visitors. The Durban Transport Authority will oversee the establishment of an Integrated Intermodal Transport System which will introduce a wide variety of measures to reduce road congestion and to provide the public with safe, affordable and comfortable public transport. Although we have made considerable progress in ensuring black ownership and management in the bus industry, it is the regulation and transformation of the minibus taxi industry that has commanded our attention. In KwaZulu-Natal by far the largest market share of public transport is captured by the minibus taxi industry which grew spontaneously to meet the mobility needs of black people. Its rapid growth occurred in an unregulated environment in which there was no protection against overtrading. Since 1994 the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Transport has introduced measures to regulate and democratise the minibus taxi industry in order to ensure safe public transport for the majority of our citizens. Part of the process of regulating the minibus taxi industry has been to transform it into a more profitable business in which income is derived from a wider basket of income generating enterprises and not only from fares. Today KwaZulu-Natal’s more than 20 000 registered minibus taxis are administered through 252 registered taxi associations who in 2002 elected the KwaZulu-Natal Taxi Council (KWANATACO). The establishment of KWANATACO has fast tracked the co-ordination, regulation and empowerment of the minibus taxi industry in KwaZulu-Natal which is currently 99% owned and managed by black South Africans and accounts for 65% of the daily mobility needs of commuters. KWANATACO is now registered as a public entity. Its business plans have been submitted to the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Transport and these have been approved. The budget allocations to KWANATACO are as follows:-
The further empowerment of the minibus taxi industry, at a provincial level, is necessarily dependent of the nationally driven recapitalisation of the minibus taxi industry in South Africa. For many years now we have campaigned to create a safe road environment for all road users in KwaZulu-Natal. I am certain that everyone present today is familiar with our mass campaigns such as Siyabakhumbula, Asiphephe Focus Days and Prayer Days. The KwaZulu-Natal Department of Transport, together with the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Health, invites you all to the World Road Safety Prayer Day which will be held on 7 April 2004 at Kingsmead Cricket Stadium (opposite Durban Station). The World Health Organisation has dedicated a week to promote World Road Safety out of its concern that road related fatalities have become a worldwide problem. The world theme is that "Road Safety Is No Accident". For many years now the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Transport has actively campaigned to create public awareness precisely on the theme that "Road Safety Is No Accident" and that road safety is everyone’s business. It has been scientifically verified that by and large most road collisions (80%) are caused by human error. The term human error does, in fact, include a failure by road users to observe the rule of law on our roads. Human error refers to:
Most road accidents are therefore avoidable. It is for this reason that the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Transport has always coupled its Zero Tolerance enforcement programmes with public awareness campaigns which, together, are expected to instil a culture of road safety in all road users. Adopting a culture of road safety means that the public themselves assist the road traffic authorities in rooting out anti-social road behaviour. Use the Mpimpa Hotline 086 221 10 10. Report bad driving. Report unroadworthy vehicles, especially public transport vehicles. Do not get into a vehicle when you know that the driver is drunk or unlicensed. The KwaZulu-Natal Department of Transport intends using World Road Safety Day to intensify our public awareness campaigns. Although 7 April 2004 has been billed as a Prayer Day, we have canvassed extensively within the business community and trade unions and not just with religious leadership. If there is one area in the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Transport’s "Ten Years of Prosperity" where I would have wished for a more dramatic improvement it is the concern to create a safe road environment for all road users. However, in making this wish I do not want to overlook the tremendous work and dedication of the RTI, PTEU, Asiphephe, Community Road Safety Councils and the Directorate: Road Safety. I acknowledge that we have all done our best but that some of the public have let us down. We need the support of all road users to create a safe road environment. Obey the rule of law on our roads. These laws are not arbitrary laws; they have been specifically designed to create a safe road environment for all road users and to protect you, the public. By way of conclusion I would like to acknowledge that there are many, many milestones that could serve to highlight the success story that is undoubtedly the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Transport. These milestones are well known to you and include CARNS (1997), the KwaZulu-Natal Road Traffic Act (1997), the Road to Wealth and Job Creation Initiative (1998), the KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Minibus Taxi Act (1998), KwaZulu-Natal Rural Mobility Study (1999), KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Road Needs Assessment (1999), the launch of Regional One Stop Shops (2000), the KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Roads Act (2001), the Maritime Industry Signing of the Black Economic Empowerment Charter (2003), the introduction of cargo tricycles and bicycles on a pilot project basis (2003) to name but a few. Time does not permit me to give these milestones the recognition that they so richly deserve. I believe that what we have started in the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Transport in the first ten years of democracy can continue to grow and prosper in the second ten years of democracy. To some extent this is guaranteed through the budgets that have already been allocated in the current MTEF planning period. In the final analysis though the continuity of Zibambele, Vukuzakhe, ARRUP KWANATACO, RRTF’s and Community Road Safety Councils rests with you the public. No democratically elected government can ignore the will of the people. If what we have started in the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Transport during my tenure as MEC of Transport is firmly rooted in the community of KwaZulu-Natal, then undoubtedly these initiatives will continue and grow from strength to strength. Finally I do wish, once again, to thank the many department officials – past and present – who have made it their life’s work to ensure that those less fortunate than themselves do indeed benefit from the new policy environment that has been developed since democracy. I would like to publicly thank my Department under the leadership of Kwazi Mbanjwa as Head of Transport, Senior Managers:- Roger Govender, Vicky Cunliffe, James Mlawu, Chris Hlabisa and George Mahlalela, Directors and the entire staff. They have been working long hours as public servants ensuring that communities do get what they deserve. A People’s Contract between my department and the wider community of KwaZulu-Natal has become a living reality for millions of citizens who now benefit from a new dispensation. Ten Years of Democracy. Ten Years of Pushing Back the Frontiers of Poverty. Ten Years of Prosperity with the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Transport. These have been ten good years for KwaZulu-Natal. We have cause to celebrate. Thank you.
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