Budget acceptance speech vote 10 - Western Cape Department of Transport and Public Works, by MEC Robin Carlisle

23 Mar 2012

Mr Speaker, 
Madame Premier, 
Hon Colleagues and members.

I rise today in support of the Department of Transport and Public Works (DTPW) budget of 2012/13 in the amount of R4.609 billion.

The Department of Transport and Public Works looks back on a year of solid achievement and sound progress towards all of its objectives. The platform for accelerated delivery has now been established, and our departmental goals will soon have to be upwardly and outwardly revised.

DTPW is not an easy department to manage. It has the highest discretionary spending in the administration. Its undertakings are fraught with risk and require the most intimate and sensitive relations with its internal and external clients.

To meet its objectives it must partner with and persuade entities over which it has no direct control. It has a very high public and media exposure, and must often conduct its business in the eye of the storm. It carries the primary responsibility for economic development in the province.

I am delighted that my staff, both ministerial and departmental, has confronted these challenges with enthusiasm, attention to detail and very hard work. They have every reason to be proud of themselves, and I consider it a privilege to lead them.

Let me make this observation. I have held executive office in public companies in the private sector, but I have never seen longer hours worked than those of most of my senior managers, and seldom have I encountered the range of skills, experience and knowledge that are demonstrated by many of our senior people.

Strategy

Sound strategy defines direction, informs programs, drives implementation and determines success.

The current journey of DTPW commenced at a strategic conference of our top management assisted by the Department of the Premier held at Fernwood in July 2009.

There we established the mission of "developing and maintaining appropriate infrastructure which sustains economic development and generates growth in jobs and facilitates empowerment and opportunity."

To achieve this we set ourselves five ministerial imperatives:

• The creation of a highly effective department and the freeing up of resources through instituting efficiency measures and programmes;
• Reducing the maintenance backlogs in both public works and transport infrastructure by 16% by 2014;
• Leveraging provincial immovable assets to yield fit for purpose provincial accommodation as well as additional revenue streams;
• Influencing parties to affect an improvement of integrated public transport so as to bring about a modal shift of 13% from private to public transport;
• Improving road safety, resulting in a 50% reduction in road fatalities by December 2014.

All of these imperatives reach into every activity in the department and to many outside of it.

When the mission, vision, values and strategic objectives were established for the administration later that year, our mission and imperatives fitted snugly, and gave us a head start over other departments.

The Department is involved in all 12 strategic objectives. In particular, it leads SO3, co-hosts SO1 and vigorously underpins SO12.

In addition to her many other tasks, Jacqui Gooch has marshalled the departmental strategy and, as it were, sent it into battle with every chance of success. Her strategic insight and articulation are of the highest order.

Budget

The budget under review amounts to R4.609B, and represents an increase of 10% over 2011/2012.

Together with the additional funding of R1.570bn that we will handle on behalf of our client departments, Health and Education, the total amount we are responsible for is R6.179bn.

Programme 1: Integrated Strategy, Planning and Co-Ordination, R140,046,000

Office of the Minister

My ministerial budget is the smallest in the administration, and R1.1m, or 20% less than it was the year before I took office.

During 2011/12 I made my only international trip to Montreal, Munich and London for the purpose of studying public transport management and co-ordination.

I am wonderfully supported by my Head of Ministry, Hector Eliott; my Personal Assistant (PA), Deblesse Smit; my Media Liaison Officer, Steven Otter and a small but very effective staff. Together, we sweat out the crises and celebrate the successes. Thanks also to my protectors, Errol and Bongi, who make sure I arrive safely and timeously.

Management of the Department

I am pleased to announce that Mr Johan Fourie has successfully navigated his probation period, and is now in all respects the Head of Department, and the skipper aboard this craft.

Mr Fourie represents all that is best in high public office. He has steadied a floundering ship, and given it direction, discipline and rationality and navigates it calmly toward peak performance.

Corporate Support

Ministerial Imperative - SO12 - the creation of a highly effective department and the freeing up of resources through instituting efficiency measures and programmes;

It is in the area of finance and supply chain that the department has made its most important progress. Until these areas have become effective, little progress can be made in any bureaucracy.

The department`s Financial Management Improvement Plan is the finest document of its type I have ever seen. Basing itself on external and internal audit reports, it defines every area requiring improvement and establishes plans, programs, timelines and responsibilities for achieving it.

Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Cedric Ismay is breaking new ground and establishing new standards in his field, and I am confident that a rating of ‘4' is now within the department`s grasp.

Mr Ismay has presided over the elimination of the Roads Capital Fund, the migration of GMT to Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) and has produced scores of policies and procedures, carefully thought through and efficiently implemented.

Legislation

Two new and long overdue, draft bills will serve before the legislature in 2012/13.

The draft Western Cape Transport Infrastructure Bill, 2011, provides for the planning, design, declaration, construction, maintenance, control, management, regulation, upgrading, and rehabilitation of road, railway lines and other transport infrastructure in the Western Cape, and for matters connected therewith.

It replaces the Roads Ordinance 19 of 1976; and the Advertising of Roads and Ribbon Development Act 21 of 1940 and shifts the emphasis from roads infrastructure to public transport infrastructure.

Secondly, the Western Cape Provincial Road Traffic Administration Bill 2012, will empower the Minister to make regulations consistent with this Act and the National Road Traffic Act

Its first regulations will deal with the control of blue lights and sirens and the safety of cyclists. It is planned to be completed before August 2012.

Programme 2: Public Works Infrastructure - R1.424 billion

The budget for this programme increases by 36%, and is almost double what it was in 2008/09.

Construction and upgrading will include:

• 20 New or replacement schools (up from 14 in the previous year);
• 54 Grade R classrooms;
• Completion of the Mitchells Plain hospital;
• Commencement of the R1 billion upgrading of the Valkenberg Psychiatric hospital;
• 23 Other health facilities; office accommodation at 4 and 9 Dorp Street, the Khayelitsha Shared Service office, and the Goulbourn Centre.

The value to the broader built industry for work undertaken by the department is R938m in Public Works funding plus the additional funds we handle on behalf of our clients of R1.570bn.

Ministerial Imperative - SO1 and 7 - reducing the maintenance backlogs in public works by 16% by 2014

Maintenance backlogs in Public Works amount to R2.45B, and have been steadily decreasing.In 2011/12 they decreased by 10% and are planned to decrease by 16%; 18% and 22% respectively over the Medium Term Economic Framework (MTEF).

The maintenance budget has been increased by R80m to R121m, funding in excess of 350 maintenance projects. We are thus on course to achieve and exceed our objective of reducing the backlog by 16% by 2014.

The Government Immovable Asset Management Act, GIAMA, the immovable asset register, has been implemented and complied with. The Custodian Asset Management Plan (C-AMP) has been completed, and 89% of all immovable assets have been vested.

Thirty two properties are being acquired for social infrastructure. During the period of this budget, Public Works will create approximately 19000 jobs. For the first time, estate managers have been appointed at Oude Molen, Porter Estate, De Nova and Faure.

Ministerial Imperative - SO 1, 7 & 12 - leveraging the provincial immovable assets to yield fit for purpose provincial accommodation

Accommodation

The Leeuwen/Loop St site has been registered as a Public Private Partnership (PPP) project and will be developed to accommodate the Department of Education.

Negotiations are underway to acquire a building in the CBD for head office accommodation. A building will be acquired as a regional office in George, in which most provincial functions will be housed. These developments flow from the policy of the department to own rather than to lease its accommodation, hereby saving significant rental costs.

In addition to significant future cost savings, the development of owned provincial precincts will facilitate the rehabilitation of all provincial buildings as is already happening with the tower block on Wale St. The benefits will include greater productivity, efficient space utilisation, reduced energy costs, lowered carbon footprint, lower maintenance costs and interactive street frontages.

Management imperative - SO 1 - Leveraging the assets to yield additional revenue streams

Six inner city regeneration projects have been undertaken, and four are at an advanced stage.

The Artscape/Founders Garden project is now moving from the planning to the implementation stage. The built value of the current project will exceed R4.5B and will include the doubling of the Convention Centre, the new Christian Barnard Memorial Hospital, additions to Artscape itself, office and retail space as well as parking.

The Founders Garden section of the precinct will be financed to the tune of R149m over the next four years, and will create the nexus between the expanded Convention Centre and Artscape itself.

The National Health Laboratory Services and Pavement Technology Testing Laboratory (Soils Lab) will be relocated at a cost of R113m from their present positions at the Somerset and Prestwich precincts to unlock the development potential of these two sites.

In the same vein, Government Motor Transport (GMT) will be relocated to a more appropriate site. Prestwich and Founders Garden have also been registered as Public Private Partnerships (PPP`s) with National Treasury.

I would like to express my gratitude to Minister Winde and Treasury Head Stegman for their confidence and wise counsel, and for making available funding from the Asset Finance Reserve.

Public Works - Land Claims

I can find no record of any land claims been met in respect of provincial land before 2009. This was a matter of major concern to me, as several of the certified claimants had died without their claims being met. I therefore set myself the goal of finalising all land claims in respect of provincial land before 2014, and of availing provincial land to the Land Claims Commissioner where appropriate. We have made considerable progress.

The two major Constantia direct claims have been settled and the Solomons and Keriker families will be returning to the land on which they once lived.

The indirect claims in respect of the Southgate and Flandorp families in Retreat and Milnerton have likewise been settled. Close to 2000 claimants in respect of Constantia, Ndabeni and the Langa Hostels will be settled by availing land at Constantia on erf 3035, Spaanschemat Roadand Coniston Park on an indirect basis. This entails a cash settlement arising from an agreed development of the land for the benefit of the claimants, based on the successful Green Point Tramways project.

The La Rochelle claim in Paarl will be finalised once suitable alternative land is found for the school fields. Thus, our responsibilities in respect of land claims will be met during this term.

The range and scale of our public works is vast, and is not matched elsewhere in the public sector. Unlike in earlier years, when this branch regularly featured in SCOPA meetings and enquiries, projects are nearly all on budget and schedule.

I should like to pay tribute to Gary Fisher, Thando Mguli, and their managers and teams for their current achievements and wish them well for their future challenges.

Programme 3: Transport Infrastructure - R1.920 billion

In financial terms, this is our biggest branch. R1.799B will be spent on planning, design, construction and maintenance during 2012/13, and a further R4.271B in the outer years of the MTEF.

Compensation of employees makes up just over 10% of the total budget. The decline of rail compels us in the Western Cape to ensure that our network of roads can take up the full burden. This is not an ideal option, nor one I would choose if I had short term alternatives.

Thus we have two imperatives:

• Firstly to preserve the roads we have: maintenance is transport`s highest order priority.
• Secondly to improve and extend transport corridors in areas of key economic opportunity, such as the Saldanha Industrial Development Zone.

As funds begin to flow from our asset leveraging projects, they will be held in the Asset Finance Reserve, available only for infrastructure and maintenance.

At present, the Transport Department is completing, implementing, planning or commencing contracts to the value of R8.981B. Many of these contracts span over a number of years.

Ministerial Imperative - SO 1 & 3 - reducing the maintenance backlogs in transport infrastructure by 16% by 2014

The maintenance backlog in roads infrastructure amounts to over R7 billion in 2011 Rand. The growth in this figure is however largely because of the declining value of the Rand and not in a further deterioration of the road network.

R940 m has been set aside for maintenance during the year under review. In 2011/12 the number of km of surfaced roads in a ‘Poor' and ‘Very Poor' condition were reduced from 12% to 10% of the total surfaced network.

Gravel roads in a ‘Poor' and ‘Very Poor' condition were reduced from 51% to 48% of the total gravel network. Given the limited resources, and the effect of flood and rock-fall, this is a very gratifying reversal of the declining condition that characterised our roads in the past.

Economic opportunity roads

Economic opportunity roads are financed by R300m over the MTEF made available from Asset Reserve Fund, and again I express my gratitude to Treasury. These roads will include the divisional road between Gansbaai and Elim to benefit tourism along the scenic route between Gordon's Bay and Cape Agulhas, and will cost R250 million.

Secondly, planning will commence on the refurbishment of the Wingfield Interchange pre-stressed bridges, which have exceeded their design life.At the same time we will investigate realigning the junction between the N7 and the N1, a node of intense congestion. We have set aside R28.98 million for the initial planning phases of this project.

Lastly, we will investigate improvements to the road network that will support the Saldanha IDZ and Port expansion. We have set aside R23.31 million over the medium term for planning and to complete the feasibility study required for this project.

Other road projects

In addition to routine maintenance, a number of major projects are under way. These include the upgrading and surfacing of the Hemel and Aarde Road at a total cost of R153m thus providing a safe all weather corridor between Caledon and Hermanus which will benefit the important wheat and wine hinterland.

R66m will be invested in upgrading the Stellenbosch arterial road and R232m on the Wolseley to Nuwekloof Road.

The rapidly increasing traffic volumes in the Winelands area will see R72m spent on the Paarl to Franschoek Road, R100m on the Spier Road between the N2 and Stellenbosch, and R69m on the Paarl/Klapmuts Road.

The R44 between Somerset West and Stellenbosch requires urgent attention, mainly in respect of dangerous median crossings and illegal entrances, many of which will be eliminated. Work commences this year at a cost of R14m.

Planning will commence on improving the Louis Fourie Road in Mossel Bay. One of the worst surfaced roads in the Province, Piketberg to Velddrift is scheduled for rehabilitation at a cost of R170m during the MTEF period.

Over R300m of road work has been commissioned in the Eden district including important roads in the George, Mosselbay, Knysna and Bitou areas.

Additional lanes are being built on the M5 between the N1 Koeberg interchange and the N2.This will unleash the full potential of the transformed Koeberg interchange, once the most congested junction in the Western Cape. With other work on our major city arterials the total cost will amount to R150m.

This includes R22m for further upgrading of the Freeway Management System which we run in partnership with SANRAL and the City. This is an excellent example of how intelligent systems enable us to manage roads carrying over 500000 vehicles a day. These camera systems also enable us to capture footage of all crashes, and provide essential evidence in killer crashes. The system is now being upgraded to a level where it can also be far more useful for law enforcement and road safety.

Road construction will create 6000 work opportunities. Len Fourie and his team of padmakers face stiff challenges in disposing of this year's budget, as well as the some R40m of work carried over as a result of the on-going bitumen shortage. I am sure that they will be equal to the challenge.

Chapman's Peak Drive

Work has commenced on the toll booths and operations building as envisaged in the 2003 Environmental Impact Report and the 2005 and 2008 Records of Decision, and is expected to be completed by May 2013.

The toll road will then operate at maximum efficiency and safety, and by 2023, 100% of the surplus revenues generated from the tolling operation will accrue to the Province until all the Province`s financial support has been discharged. The entire asset will ultimately revert to the Province.

Notwithstanding some public concern, the department is, and must be, governed by due process and contracts entered into in good faith. In what has been a difficult passage, and may continue to be, I am grateful to the Premier, the Head of Department (HOD) and my Head of Ministry for their unflinching support.

Programme 4: Transport Operations - R793.921 million

The strategic objective of transport operations is to provide an improved land transport service through regulatory frame works, effective subsidy regime and safety interventions.

The year under review will see many important processes coming to a head.

The Provincial Land Transport Framework (PLTF) 2011 to 2016 and Metropolitan Public Transport

The PLTF has now been approved by the National Minister of Transport, and will inform the integrated Transport Plans of all provincial municipalities.

The public transport strategy is to achieve "viable and competitive, multimodal public transport systems with rail as a backbone which are, where applicable, managed by equipped municipal authorities."

Within this strategy, there are two key objectives necessary to establish the City of Cape Town as the transport authority for the functional commuter region:

• A public transport integration plan illustrating integration, routes, timetables, costs, operating models, and the accommodation of all modalities. Agreement must be obtained and formalised in a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the road-based operators on the shape and roll-out of such public transport integration.
• The migration of National Land Transport Act (NLTA) functions to the City including operating licence functions; land transport law enforcement, contracting authority functions and form. It is envisaged that this migration will commence in 2013.

In all of these matters, the City is making solid progress. A due diligence review of Metrorail is being implemented, and a detailed business plan will be drawn up. Planning for the development of ‘one timetable and one ticket' is underway. Some degree of consensus around road based contracting is beginning to emerge.

The public transport objectives cannot be achieved without an urgent reversal in the calamitous decline of Metrorail. Metrorail, which is unlikely to be broken up in the short term, has been engaged by both the City and the Province on several fronts.

The most urgent priority is to restore impervious access control to the whole network, without which the systems and the rolling stock will continue to be trashed. The City is leading a joint undertaking to address access and control, which includes a pooling of security resources.

Metrorail Western Cape is quite clearly not getting its equitable share of rail resources. The difference in standard of rolling stock between the various regions is marked. I am engaging with Metrorail to redress this situation in the short term.

Both the City and TPW are agreed that the transport authority should be based on alliances and collaborative undertakings of the various operators as the best possible management of integrated public transport.

We are also agreed that the characteristics of that public transport system will be:

• One network
• One timetable
• One ticket
• One platform of commuter communications
• One corporate design
• One marketing platform
• One public transport policing entity.

There is broad agreement in the transport community at all levels with these approaches. I have set myself the goal of ensuring that the plans and implementations for public transport are irreversible by 2014.

Ministerial Imperative - SO3 - influencing parties to affect an improvement of integrated public transport so as to bring about a modal shift of 13% from private to public transport

Despite the continuing decline of Metrorail, the implementation of the IRT and the increasing sales of tickets by Metrorail and Golden Arrow Bus Service (GABS) indicate that a 19% shift from private to public transport has occurred, reducing private transport from 67% of all commuters to 54%.

This clearly demonstrates the potential of future modal shifts as the goals outlined above are achieved.

Provincial Public Transport

As the City assumes greater responsibility for metropolitan transport, so the Province must increasingly extend its role in developing public transport across the province. This task is made more difficult by the total collapse of passenger rail outside of the metro.

The George Integrated Public Transport Network (GIPTN)

GIPTN should, subject to negotiations and the availability of National funding, commence operations during 2012/13, and R40m has been budgeted for this purpose.

The following are the high level steps to be undertaken in the 2012 - 2013 financial year:

• Conclude operator contract negotiations
• Conclude all supporting GIPTN contracts, including fare management system, inspection and monitoring services, management services and others
• Put in place core infrastructure for the services
• Purchase vehicles, brand vehicles and establish the fare collection system
• Establish the operator company as a working entity, with staff and systems
• Establish government's GIPTN management unit, with staff and systems
• Marketing, public communication, awareness and education on the GIPTN
• Training for industry members taking part in the GIPTN, particularly driver training
• Commencement of core services, according to pre-defined phases

The GIPTN will then form the basis for extending that network throughout the Southern Cape and implementing it elsewhere.

Jacqui Gooch and Deirdre Ribbonaar have weathered many storms in keeping this project on track, and Hannes Mouton has brought to it his usual meticulous and philosophical approach.

I salute them all, and wish the GIPTN ‘bon voyage.'

Safely Home

The road safety campaign has set itself the task of halving road fatalities by 2014. In facing the weaknesses of the criminal justice system, the campaign has of necessity been robust, and has used the media to carry its message.

These weaknesses are of great concern. Five of the six major accidents since I came to office, including the De Doorns and Rheenendal bus crashes, have not yet been brought to conclusion in the courts.

Major contributors to road carnage have been identified and tackled.In this regard we are fortunate to have the only reliable mortality statistics in the country, furnished by the Provincial Department of Health's Forensic Pathology Services.

Drunken driving, despite setbacks (Dräger breath alcohol testing and the backlog of 14000 blood samples not yet tested) has been significantly reduced, and behavioural changes in drinking and driving are evident. The Ministry's on-going Name and Shame project, in conjunction with LeadSA has had a powerful hand to play in this shift.

High quality roadblocks will continue and their frequency will be increased. Speeding will be systematically reduced by the continuing roll out of Average Speed Over Distance (ASOD) monitoring. Our first trial on the Aberdeen road has reduced the incidence of speeding by 50% and has cut fatalities dramatically.

During 2012/13 ASOD will be extended over much of the N1. Particular attention will continue to be given to passenger carrying vehicles. Measures to counter road fatigue proved very successful during the late Xmas period, and will continue.

The failure to use seatbelts, and particularly to restrain children, is widespread in the Province. Of the 300 to 400 seriously injured children brought to the Red Cross Hospital each year, more than 80% had not been restrained in any way.

We are now taking advice from the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) on the issue of the drivers in such cases being charged with culpable homicide or even murder.

Pedestrian deaths make up over 40% of all fatalities. The Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) has identified the major hazardous locations (HazLocs), and these areas will be systematically ameliorated.

Young men between the ages of 18 and 45 constitute 91% of drivers killed in fatal crashes, and heavy jail sentences will be sought in a number of cases being brought before the courts in 2012/13. Two further pounds will be opened bringing the provincial total to five compared to two in 2009.

In addition to the Name and Shame project, my Ministry has also run the Crash Witness campaign, which ran over December 2011. Crash Witness brought CCTV footage, captured on the Freeway Management System, to the public via the internet. This was a first in South African history, and was the first viral marketing campaign by the South African government. It was carried out on a budget on R0.00 and crushed the government's webservers within a couple of hours of release. Rapidly shifted to YouTube, the campaign then garnered 320,000 more individual views from across South Africa, about as good a return on investment as one can get.

Ministerial Imperative - SO3 - Improving road safety, resulting in a 50% reduction in road fatalities by December 2014

The twelve month fatality figures have fallen from 1772 as at January 2009 to 1289 as at Feb 2012. This is a decline of 25.9% and means that the halfway mark toward our goal has been passed.

I would like to congratulate Yasir Ahmed and his team, as well as the Head of my Ministry, Hector Eliott, for their outstanding achievements in making the Cape safer for all.

I also want to thank the increasing numbers of the road using public who are standing up for greater safety. Their actions, and those of our corporate partners demonstrate how we as government, business and civil society can make our roads better together.

Programme 5: Transport Regulation - R279.270 million

Vehicle licensing will realise R943m in 2012/13, an increase of 3% on the previous year. This is the biggest inflow of self-generated income in the administration, and indicates a high compliance.

During the year the new number plate management system will be implemented. This system will improve the way that number plates are being manufactured, distributed, issued and audited to prevent any inefficient or fraudulent activity during these processes or by end user of such number plates.

• It will provide for best practice secure features on the physical plate (e.g. barcoding, radio frequency identification tags, etc.)
• It includes electronic vehicle identification (automatic vehicle recognition) options which could be used by a myriad of stakeholders in the transport and traffic environment (e.g. law enforcement, crime prevention, public transport, traffic management, etc.).
• A law enforcement officer will be able to easily detect if a vehicle is a public transport vehicle and also at the same time be able to verify the validity of the operating licence from the number plate.

Wide scale fraud is still being encountered at Vehicle Testing Stations (VTS) and Drivers Licence Testing Centres (DLTC). Two VTS`s have been closed, and convictions obtained at two DLTC`s.

The branch inspectorate are steadily rooting out corruption, and a new approach to the licensing of VTS`s is being considered.

Michael Gallant runs a most efficient operation, which is a model for other provinces and a source of information to the National Department.

Minibus Taxi Industry

The Provincial Regulating Entity was the first to be established in the country, and has regular visits from other provinces.

The taxi industry and its undertakings are a very high priority for the Department.

The Ntsebeza Commission indicated that route invasions were the main source of taxi violence, and were promoted by shadowy figures on the fringes of the industry.

It has been my policy that route invasions will not be tolerated under any circumstances, and that no concessions will be made.

This policy has brought the first two peaceful years in decades of taxi violence. It has also strengthened the hand of a new, purposeful and pragmatic industry leadership.

Despite some disagreements, I have a useful and cordial relationship with Pastor Vernon Billet and his South African National Taxi Council (SANTACO) leadership. We work together on a host of mutually beneficial matters, none more important than Hlokomela, the SANTACO road safety campaign.

Recently I attended a peace rally at the Nyanga taxi rank at which thousands of SANTACO members celebrated peace in the industry and where Congress of Democratic Taxi Associations (CODETA) and CATA reached out to one another. Many religious leaders were present and it was an uplifting experience.

The PRE has radically transformed the whole area of passenger operations and licensing. Over 80% of Taxi associations are now compliant.

Capacity building programs to equip taxi associations to better understand and comply with the NLTA are now held regularly and this will continue in 2012/13.

Computerised systems will be introduced to allow for more efficient dispensing of operating licences, registration of associations and members and general administration. Dormant licences will continue to be identified and cancelled, thus allowing for new licenses to be issued.

The Mediation and Dispute Resolution Unit is fully functional, and is seen by the industry to be fair and impartial. When I assumed office in 2009, complaints about the then POLB constituted about 50% of all my incoming mail.

Today complaints are a rarity. Mark Skriker has made a profound impact on the taxi industry. He is an acknowledged expert in this field and is widely respected in the taxi community. Mark is `n man wat sy man kan staan. He is ably supported by Miss Service Excellence, Bernie McMahon and her staff.

As the years of peace mount up, it is easy to forget the horrors of taxi wars in the past. It is thus vital that the city, province, PRE and SANTACO continue working to sustain that peace so that all taxi operators grow prosperous as they grow older and that they die in their beds, as we all should. Our partnership with SANTACO illustrates how public transport works better together.

Provincial Motor Transport Entity

The entity has completed the difficult transition to the Generally Accepted Accounting Practice (GAAP), and will budget R540.754m for operations and the purchase of new vehicles, and will recover that full amount from its clients.

The training of transport officers will be intensified, driver ID tags will be introduced, repair and maintenance management will be optimised and electronic systems will be fully integrated into the business solution.

The entity is managed efficiently and effectively by Johan Koegelenberg, and as we all know, it is a case of ‘steady as she goes'.

Provincial Traffic Police

This branch is in the process of being transferred from Community Safety to TPW. This sensibly joins law enforcement to regulation and compliance and will materially assist in the achievement of Strategic Objective 3.

I am grateful to my Colleague, Minister Plato, for his support. I wish him well in his difficult and vital task of bringing greater safety to this province, especially through oversight of the South African Police Service with all its ramifications for road safety.

Programme 6: Community Based Prorammes (EPWP) - R50.805 million

In the first 9 months of 2011/12, we created 67260 work opportunities against an annual target of 53461. We were thus 26% ahead of the annual target with three months to go.

We therefore expect to comfortably exceed our new target of 72142 work opportunities for 2012/13. 250 unemployed young people will be trained in the construction trade as part of the National Youth Service program.

A further construction related apprenticeship program will be initiated in addition to the 20 diesel mechanic apprentices currently in training.

One of those apprentices is here today, El-Nico Louw. El-Nico matriculated at Bernadino Heights High School in 2008. He registered at Cape Peninsula University of Technology as a ND: Engineering - Mechanical Engineering student. In 2010 El-Nico started his career with Apprentice Training School as an Apprentice Diesel Mechanic. El-Nico is a leader by example and pushes through obstacles to attain results, without offending the ones alongside him. In 2010 he received a special award for an exceptional pass in NTC3 at Northlink College. He also passed NTC4 in 2012 and will start with NTC5 in 2012, 3^rd trimester.

Included in the budget is an amount of R8 Million for our Masakh`iSizwe bursary program. There are currently 220 students for the academic year 2012, jointly financed by ourselves, BCV Partners and local municipalities. Masakh'iSizwe is much more than a bursary. It is a certain path for those who could not otherwise have afforded a tertiary education to a confident and professional future.

All of our bursars are now housed in university hostels. Mentors are there to assist them with the difficult adjustments they face and to ensure that their appropriate needs, including specialised coaching, are met. Bursars are strongly encouraged to give back in a variety of outreach programs.

Clive Truter grew up in Paarl and Bishop Lavis. He demonstrated early leadership qualities at school, and was gripped by the notion of the African Renaissance which led to his interest in architecture. Clive registered at University of Cape Town (UCT) in 2002 with no procured funding.

Today he holds a Master's Degree in Architecture, funded both by Masakh'iSizwe and the Royal Institute of British Architecture. Clive joined the department in 2010. Today, he is the lead architect on two capital works projects for Education, in addition to his duties as a support manager for Auxiliary services.

In May 2012 he will have completed the requirements for upgrade as a Registered Professional Architect. Clive represents the new wave of professionals without whom this department and province have no future.

Michael Tladi grew up on the streets after his mother abandoned him. He beat all the odds, obtained a matric and then, with a Masakh'iSizwe bursary, graduated with a degree in electromechanical engineering at UCT. He joined the department in 2008 and works as a Mechanical Engineer.

In the spirit of Masakh'iSizwe, Michael devotes his life to giving back, particularly to kids, who, like him, have no home or parents. He has raised over R70 000 for Emasithandane orphanage for abandoned children in Nyanga. He has converted it from a shack to a two story building that is productive to a degree that would put our accommodation experts to shame.

Imasi is an orphanage with an extraordinary difference. It is powered by solar panels and an intricate exchange mechanism, which must be among the most advanced in SA.

It frankly took my breath away, more so when he told me that he had done it himself with the help of friends from UCT. It is a great privilege to have people like El-Nico, Clive and Michael on the staff of TPW.

It is a comfort for old greying managers like Johan and I to know that the new generation of value driven leaders is already in place.

Conclusion

I look back with satisfaction on the progress over the last three years. More importantly, I face the coming years with growing confidence.

To every one of my 1596 staff, I say, well done. Be proud of your department, but know there are great challenges ahead.

To the members of the broader construction industry, great and small, have faith. We are committed to finding the funds to grow infrastructure in the province. In this year alone we will make available to the private sector for planning, infrastructure, construction and maintenance a total of R4.884B in the road and built construction industries.

To the members of the transport family, the City, MyCiti, GABS, Metrorail and SANTACO, together we are creating the alliances that will bring about integrated public transport, and within that there will be space for all of you.

To Margaret and Erin and to Frith, all yours.

And to all in the Province and in South Africa: everything government does benefits our country and its people so much more when government, business and civil society are working in harness, with a single purpose and truly making South Africa better together.

Thank you!

Issued by Western Cape Transport and Public Works, March 23 2012

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