ADDRESS AT THE ROAD CONSTRUCTION AND MAINTENANCE SUMMIT BY MR. SIBUSISO NDEBELE, MP, GALLAGHER ESTATE, MIDRAND, JOHANNESBURG, May 24 2010

Programme Director
Deputy Minister of Transport Mr Jeremy Cronin
Gauteng Transport MEC Mr Bheki Nkosi
Department of Transport Director-General Mr George Mahlalela
Distinguished Guests
Members of the Media

Ladies and Gentlemen

In just over 10 days' time the FIFA 2010 World Cup will kick-off in South Africa, marking the first time that Africa has ever hosted this spectacular event. We will host a successful event in part because our transportation system will be equal to the challenge of carrying domestic and international fans around the country. We have no doubt that leading to the World Cup and beyond this event will become a catalyst for the economic development of our country and the continent. 

At this Roads Summit over the next couple of days we want to ensure that our road network at primary and secondary level continues to play an important part in the development of our economy. Our roads must help us address the inequalities of the past by developing our rural areas and creating jobs.

ROAD INFRASTRUCTURE CHALLENGES

Nothing indicates a country's state of development better than the condition of its roads. The following figures give a summary of the number of schools and hospitals which in 2010 are without any road access in parts of our country.

• In the Eastern Cape there are 859 out of 5401;
• In the Free State 28 out of 2472;
• In Gauteng 2 out of 2202;
• In KwaZulu-Natal 403 out of 5331;
• In Mpumalanga 17 out of 1793;
• In the Northern Cape 9 out of 473;
• In Limpopo 129 out of 4131;
• In the North West 47 out of 2257; and
• In the Western Cape 16 out of 1577.

In addition to the lack of access roads we have challenges with regard to maintenance backlogs.

The total paved and gravelled network at provincial level is 184 816 kilometres; 40% of this network has reached crisis point. We know that about 80% of our road network is now older than the 20-year design life based on information from 64% of the roads, primarily national, provincial and some cities.

The total paved and gravel network at municipal level is 339 849 kilometres. Whilst there are serious backlogs at this level we cannot verify the extent of the crisis at municipal level due to a lack of information and decision support systems at local level. Now this is a matter of great concern to us.

What we know however is that our country needs R75billion investment over the next five years to arrest this decline. We have decided to address these challenges through the implementation of an integrated national maintenance programme and a rural transport strategy for South Africa.

The challenges that road network development faces, as articulated in the Road Infrastructure Strategic Framework for South Africa, define the scope for partnership between authorities and industry. On average, more than 30% of our roads are in poor to very poor condition. Based on 2008 figures the picture looks as follows:

• Eastern Cape (46%, 2000);
• Free State (59%, 2007);
• KwaZulu-Natal (46%, 2005);
• Limpopo (60%, 2000);
• Northern Cape (47%, 2004);
• North West (45%, 2007); and
• Mpumalanga (Recently completed their assessments. Due to the haulage of coal in Gert Sibande and Emalahleni the percentage is expected to be high).

While these challenges relate in some way to the availability of funding, it is often deeper than that.

Even when there is increased funding, implementation is hampered by the following:

• Absorption capacity of industry in the context of government massive infrastructure investment programme;
• Overall, diminishing pool of technical expertise in engineering; and
• Development of the labour-intensive construction and maintenance programmes and capacity across government levels.

Whilst the Western Cape, Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal appear to be relatively well-resourced with senior engineers, there now seems to be a change on the down side for these provinces.

The outcry about potholes is therefore but the tip of a bigger challenge, a challenge that my predecessors and now myself have been working to address.

Ladies and Gentlemen research shows a correlation between the development of roads and economic growth in South Africa.

It is not the wealth of the country that builds roads; it is the roads that build the wealth of the country.

WAY FORWARD

The purpose of this summit is not to just talk about these challenges.

It is to focus strategically on those areas which, if we focused our efforts and attention to, we would achieve maximum impact and benefit. These areas are the dedicated ROAD MAINTENANCE FUND, RURAL DEVELOPMENT THROUGH RURAL ROAD INFRASTRUCTURE AND JOB-CREATION AND SKILLS DEVELOPMENT

1. ZIMBAMBELE ROAD MAINTENANCE PROGRAMME

We have variously employed infrastructure construction to create jobs.

More could be achieved if we employed the model of the Zibambele, Siyatentela and similar road maintenance programmes in order to ensure that the jobs we create are long-term and target disadvantaged households.

2. NATIONAL MAINTENANCE PROGRAMMME

We have also identified the lack of dedicated funding for road maintenance, poor asset management and capacity challenges in many municipalities and provinces as the cause of poor road conditions.

Under-investment in maintenance of the road infrastructure has been acknowledged by all my predecessors. It is a matter that we will dedicate a lot of time to during our tenure here at the Department of Transport.

One of the critical deliverables we have agreed to with President Jacob Zuma is the delivery of the Road Maintenance Fund.

We are planning to develop a ring-fencing mechanism through the creation of a maintenance fund. This will set aside funds which will be earmarked for maintenance.

This is not only about sourcing additional funding for maintenance but ensuring that existing funds are used for the purpose they were intended for.

It is also about better management of our road assets. The advantage of this programme is not only that it will arrest the decline of our infrastructure, but it will also create thousands of jobs and contribute to the growth of our economy.

3. JOB-CREATION AND SKILLS DEVELOPMENT

RURAL ROAD INFRASTUCTURE

At present we do not have a way of accurately determining how many jobs we create in the rest of the economy each time we construct road infrastructure. Moving forward we will design a model to address this critical area of our work.

As indicated in our Budget speech last month we have secured initial funding of R1 billion dedicated to rural road infrastructure. This will be in addition to the allocation which is part of the Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP).

The Department remains committed to supporting and monitoring the implementation of the EPWP programme by our various provincial departments. In the 2010 financial year,

the creation of an incentive model for additional EPWP allocation allows us to get the transport agencies (e.g. SANRAL) to contribute meaningfully to the EPWP's job-creation targets and the broader transport sector's contribution to job-creation.

Presently the EPWP phase 2 has resulted in additional allocation which has been approved for provinces for labour-intensive road construction, rehabilitation and maintenance over the MTEF. The funds will be allocated gradually so that road authorities can increase their capacity to manage such programmes.

Currently the proposals and performance of respective provinces is assessed by a joint committee consisting of DOT, Public Works and National Treasury.

Ladies and Gentlemen the following amounts are targeted for roads development in the 2010 MTEF EPWP allocation:

• R2.2 billion in 2010/11.
• R2.8 billion in 2011/12.
• R3.3 billion in 2012/13.

We have identified nine areas as pilot areas for this financial year. One of the initiatives will be the institutionalisation of our rural infrastructure and services portfolio though the establishment of a dedicated agency.

A project management team and a unit have been appointed to drive this programme.

RURAL TRANSPORT

In addition to job-creation, the provision of rural infrastructure contributes to the socio-economic rights of people in rural areas. Road infrastructure in our rural areas is necessary to ensure access to schools, clinics and economic opportunities.

Our Rural Transport Strategy is not about the rural access roads only but also addresses the following rural development challenges:

• Building of bridges and non-motorised transport facilities;
• Developing and implementing the integrated public transport networks for regular transport services;
• Developing and upgrading the rural airport network with a proper road-link infrastructure and services;
• Revitalising the rural railway operations by expanding rail passenger services and freight operations to the rural areas ; and
• Ensuring rural transport safety and law enforcement.

ROAD INFRASTRUCTURE STRATEGIC FRAMEWORK FOR SOUTH AFRICA (RISFSA)

Ladies and Gentlemen South Africans do not care whether a road in rural areas is owned and maintained by the local authority or national government.

All they want is for the road to provide them with access to social and economic amenities and to improve their mobility.

The Road Infrastructure Strategic Framework for South Africa (RISFSA) has identified critical areas for intervention if our roads are to serve as catalysts for required development.

One of the challenges we face is the effective institutional and coordination of road delivery given the constitutional assignment of functions for roads.

There is one Minister of Transport, 9 provincial MECs and Municipal Mayors who each have responsibility for sections of the 750 000kms of our road network.

We have capacity and capability in the developed authorities and limited or no capacity at developing authority level. 

Secondly, we still have challenges in the effective co-ordination of municipalities and provinces both at technical and political level.

This summit is expected to make recommendations on the most effective intergovernmental arrangements in this regard. 

Thirdly, another area that the Strategic Framework requires us to address is the road network classification. Aimed at developing a functional classification of the road system, six functional classes are identified for use by each authority to proclaim roads.

We have anything between 220 000km and 140 000km of roads that are unproclaimed i.e. they were never formally adopted by a particular government department as part of their official networks.

Legally, no authority can spend money on roads that are not proclaimed. These are typically access roads in rural areas. The lack of proclamation and classification means the majority of our people are denied access.

A further area is the development and maintenance of information and decision support systems. This is the science of how we decide on the construction, maintenance and rehabilitation of our roads.

Accurate information about the state of the roads is very important in determining what maintenance works is required and when this should be done.

The biggest challenge with roads is that by the time a problem is visible on the road surfaces, we are somewhat late with remedial action. On the other hand, whilst a road might be deteriorating without showing the stress on the surface we often do not see the need to do the necessary interventions.

Furthermore we acknowledge that a lot of the damage is caused by movement of freight that should be on rail thus highlighting the importance of appropriate modal split.

Overload control interventions and programmes as well as effective law enforcement is also critical in this regard.

In closing, this summit of transport engineers, transport economists and engineers and senior public and private sector officials is the best constituted gathering in the country to find solutions to some of the challenges we alluded to.

If solutions cannot be found by this brains trust, then those solutions do not exist anywhere else in the country.

I THANK YOU!

Source: www.transport.gov.za

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