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| Policy speech on the Budget Vote of the Department of Roads and Transport, Vote 11, delivered by MEC JM Mthembu to the provincial legislature 10 June 2008 Madam Speaker and Deputy Speaker As we gather here today to present the departmental Policy and Budget Vote, we are conscious of the fact that six days from today we will be commemorating the Youth Day. This is a day, 32 years ago, when the youth of our country put their lives on the line for the freedom we enjoy today. In recognition of the heroic struggles of the youth of our country, we celebrate June as the youth month. In this context it is therefore a momentous occasion for the Department of Roads and Transport to table its Policy and Budget Vote on this, the tenth day, of this historic month of our youth struggle. May I remind this House, Madam Speaker, that in June 1955, Chief Albert Luthuli wrote a message of support to the Congress of the People, where he said: "It should have been plain to the architect of the Union of South Africa that by excluding from the orbit of democracy the majority of the population, they were laying a false foundation for the new State and making a mockery to call such a state democracy". It was again on 26 June 1955 that the Congress of the people adopted the Freedom Charter at Kliptown. The Freedom Charter carries the vision and hopes of all our people irrespective of colour, race, religion or creed. It represents the aspirations of the poorest of the poor. The African National Congress (ANC) adopted this document primarily because of its vision. A vision that is led, inspired and propelled by the people themselves. Madam Speaker, I am taking leaf from the Freedom Charter to remind members and the public that government is guided by the principle of responding to the cries and needs of our poor people within the context and spirit of the Freedom Charter. It is within this understanding that the State President of the Republic, Mr Thabo Mbeki had to announce the 24 Apex Priorities in declaring business unusual to fast track our response to the people who gave us a mandate to occupy the seat of government. These priorities together with the 16 Provincial Apex priorities presented by the Honourable Premier in his State of the Province Address, serves as our guidelines in resource allocation aimed at fast tracking service delivery to the people of Mpumalanga. As a Department of Roads and Transport, we will be supporting the implementation of the Apex Priorities and Flagship Projects through the following Programmes: Administration Honourable members will agree with me that the organisational structure is key and central to the success of any organisation in implementing its strategy. It is within this context and understanding that the Department of Roads and Transport had to review the organisational structure so that it is linked to the strategy to improve service delivery. To this far we have embarked in a process to integrate and elevate the planning unit to a chief directorate. This new unit will consist of planning and policy management, monitoring and evaluation as well as knowledge management. It is regrettable that as a department, we have not yet filled the position of the Head of Department (HoD) for too long and this position will be filled before the end of the second quarter. We are also in the process of filling all budgeted vacant posts within a reasonable period of three months from now. The departmental vacancy rate is currently at 26 percent and 1 300 of the 5 058 funded posts are still vacant. Eight hundred and sixty four (864) of these posts have already been advertised and will be filled by 30 June 2008 in an attempt to adhere to the deadline set by the President of the Republic regarding vacant posts in the civil service. The feasibility study on the restructuring of the fleet management in the province was completed during the previous financial year. This study was aimed at improving the control and management of the government fleet thus saving on maintenance related costs. As part of the implementation plan for the recommended option, the department will appoint a fleet management specialist during 2008/09 to develop new tight control measures in curbing the misuse of government vehicles. Currently, the department is consulting with the other departments in finalising the new control measures and Service Level Agreements (SLAs). The Service Level Agreements will bind Heads of Departments to report to the Provincial Management Committee on management of their fleet and also define the role of the Government Motor Transport (GMT) unit within the department and those of user departments. In order to reduce potential risks that may prevent the department from achieving its set goals and objectives, a Risk Manager was appointed during 2007/08 financial year. Risk assessment for the year ahead has been conducted and the department will develop a Risk Management Strategy to mitigate against the identified risks during the 2008/09 financial year. To further strengthen our governance issues in terms of the Public Finance Management Act (PFMA) and aligning to the Provincial Apex Priorities, the department was granted approval by the provincial treasury to have its own Audit Committee from 2008/09 financial year and move away from a shared one. I am again proud to announce that the Audit Committee has been appointed with effect from June 2008. Madam Speaker, in line with the Accelerated Capacity Building in Government Flagship Project an amount of four comma two million rand has been set aside for acceleration of capacity building that will ensure that our personnel has the appropriate skills to deliver on the departmental mandate as set out in the operational plan for 2008/09. One hundred and sixty five bursaries were awarded during the 2007 academic period. One hundred of these bursaries were given to aspiring traffic law enforcers, fifty to internal staff members and fifteen to the general public. The number of bursaries issued has been increased during the 2008 academic period to 370 of which 270 went to external students and one hundred to internal staff members. All these endeavours are undertaken to increase the capacity within the department in order to improve on service delivery. The department is currently in a process of developing a recruitment and retention strategy. We hope that this strategy will assist the department in attracting and keeping the best skills. It is indeed an ambitious plan as we are competing with the job market for the same skills. Roads infrastructure Madam Speaker, the Mpumalanga Roads Bill was approved by the Executive Council on 19 March 2008 and tabled to the Provincial Legislature. The introduction of this piece of legislation will bring an end to the old order legislation that governed our roads in the past. This new legislation reflects the transformation that the province has undergone over the years and will provide guidance on provincial road related matters. The Bill deals with the general protection of the road reserve, such as, rules governing advertising and building along the road reserve. To improve planning for roads infrastructure projects, the department has appointed a service provider in April 2008, for a period of three years, to develop the Roads Asset Management System (RAMS) which will assist the department to determine the conditions of the provincial roads and maintenance required. When completed, the RAMS and the Bridge Maintenance System (BMS) will make it possible for us to get information on the conditions of all our roads and bridges at the press of a button. In time, it will allow us to plan and budget properly for the maintenance of our road infrastructure. During the 2008/09 financial year, we have prioritised the Coal Haulage Road Network as the first focal point for such an exercise and the visual inspections of this network of roads will be completed by end of July 2008. This service provider will also be in charge of the updating and management of the Bridge Maintenance System (BMS). Under this system, all our bridges will continuously be inspected and all relevant details will be used to determine future rehabilitation and maintenance needed on these structures. Ladies and Gentlemen, the national shortage of technical skills has also affected our efforts as a department to accelerate the implementation of infrastructure projects and programmes over the past years. This challenge prompted the department to commission a technical skills audit for its senior and middle management within the Roads Infrastructure Directorate in October 2006. Our aim was to determine the competency level of the directorate and also identify the areas of development for our technical staff members. The findings of the competency assessment indicate that there is an in-depth development potential amongst most of our staff members. There is a need amongst the young staff to get broader exposure to the various technical competencies, to be exposed to the practical application of theory and to be mentored. The study further identified that there is a general lack of technical skills in the unit standards that are relevant to the road industry. The recommendations of the study will be implemented over a two-year period starting from the current financial year. During the 2008/09, the department will conduct an assessment of the condition and functionality of our yellow fleet. The findings of the assessment will assist the department to determine, which of its equipment will be retained or disposed as well as inform its replacement strategy for the ageing fleet. We have set aside R29,4 million for the procurement of additional equipment on the yellow fleet. In 2005, the department undertook a pilot project to test if there were any construction methods other than the conventional methods of constructing roads. Three regional roads (Kwandukuzabo Mananga, Elukwatini Mooiplaas and Senotlelo Marapyane) were selected as part of the pilot project. The outcome of the pilot project has indicated that the Senotlelo to Marapyane road is still in good condition after a period of 39 to 42 months. However, there were few surface failures but the overall successes are overwhelming hence this method was unanimously adopted by the department. In 2008/09 financial year, the following roads (Mashishing - Sudwala Caves and Diepdale Swaziland Border) will be constructed through the use of this method. In our effort to improve the condition of the entire provincial network, the department donated 12 graders to the following municipalities, Albert Luthuli-three, Nkomazi - two, Bushbuckridge - two, Dipaleseng - one, Dr JS Moroka - two and Thembisile - two in the previous financial year. However, in the process of donating the graders, this was just like a drop in the ocean. Although the maintenance and upgrading of street is not the competency of the department, we cannot sit on our laurels and point fingers. In this regard, the department has set aside R10 million as an intervention measure to assist municipalities with rehabilitation and maintenance of their worst streets. Further details of the initiative will be discussed with the municipalities through Municipalities and the MEC (MUNIMEC). Ladies and Gentlemen, the energy crisis that has gripped our country in the past few months can still get worse if the condition of the roads in the Gert Sibande and Nkangala Regions is left unattended. The coal haulage network grid in those regions has taken a huge battering over the years from the transportation of coal to the surrounding power stations. Our intention as a department is not to scare the citizens of this country, but rather to conscientise all stakeholders of the imminent threat. As part of the response to the emergency, the department convened a Coal Haulage Summit involving all stakeholders (Eskom, Sanral, Chamber of Mines, etc.) which was held in Secunda on 26 to 27 October 2007.The purpose of the summit was to involve all stakeholders in the discussions to define the coal haulage grid, explore funding models for rehabilitating the network and self-regulation on overloading control. The business plan to deal with the coal haulage network has been finalised in the previous financial year. We have applied for additional funding from National Treasury as part of the Mega-Funding Projects. In terms of the plan, the total cost required for initial upgrading of specific strategic routes over the five year period is estimated at five comma eight billion rand. However, this estimate will further escalate if no immediate funding is secured. In this financial year, we will engage Transnet Freight Rail to explore the possibility of hauling coal on rail. In the previous financial year, an amount of R550 million was made available by ESKOM for the construction of some of the roads including Bethal Tutuka Power Station and Balfour Grootvlei. The Provincial Treasury further made available R38 million for the design of some of the coal haulage projects. In this regard, we will be starting with the construction of the Emalahleni - Ogies and Majuba Power Station Perdekop T-Junction roads. Madam Speaker and Honourable Members, the department will implement the following Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP) projects in the 2008/09 financial year at a budget of R35 million: A total of R103 million will be spent upgrading key tourism routes across the province as part of our contribution towards the Heritage, Greening Mpumalanga and Tourism Flagship. During the current financial year, the department will spend R157 million on the construction and upgrading of the following 2010 and legacy projects: The department has also budgeted R106 million for routine road maintenance during the 2008/09 financial year. We have also set aside a budget of R 153 million for the completion of the preventative road maintenance projects. These mill and repair projects include: Approximately 1 158 jobs were created through the Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP) projects. Approximately 3 600 jobs will be created through the implementation of the roads and public transport infrastructure projects during the current financial year. On the other hand, the Siyatentela Rural Road Maintenance Project which targets poor women headed households who are trained to do routine maintenance on identified roads. This project has benefited 832 single-women headed households since inception in 2005. During the previous financial year, the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) was appointed to conduct an impact analysis of the project. I am proud to report that, the outcome of the study has confirmed that we are doing a sterling job in reducing poverty and unemployment. As a result, the project will be up-scaled during the current financial year, from 832 to 2 000 beneficiaries at a budget of R20 million. Honourable members, it would be proper for the House to applaud the outstanding work that our strategic partner, South African National Roads Agency Limited (SANRAL) is doing in the province. During the 2006/07 financial year, we transferred 595 kilometres of the strategic economic routes to SANRAL. The agency is currently undertaking the following construction and maintenance projects within Mpumalanga: Volkrust Ermelo, Nelspruit Barberton, Camden Power Station, Mpumalanga (outside Piet Retief) KwaZulu-Natal to name but a few. The total cost is estimated at one comma four billion rand and will be spread over a period of three years. Public transport Madam Speaker, Transport is a basic necessity for sustainable social and economic development, and as such, it is regarded as an enabler in addressing poverty and developmental needs. Our principal aim as a department is to ensure that the transport system is integrated, safe, reliable and cost effective. This will be achieved through the rolling-out of Integrated Rural Mobility and Accessibility (IRMA) and Multi - Modal Public Transport - infrastructure projects, regulation of the taxi industry, promotion of non - motorised transport, public transport subsidies, and safe movement of freight. The department will commence with the construction of the Multi-Modal Public Transport infrastructure which will facilitate the integration of various modes of transport such as taxis, rail and buses. In this financial year we will start with the construction of the Mbombela, Govan Mbeki and Steve Tshwete municipalities at a budget of R22 million. The construction of the multi-modal projects in Bushbuckridge and Msukaligwa has stalled due to the unavailability of land. The matter has been referred to the relevant local authorities who are expected to provide alternative land for implementation during 2009/10 financial year. The department will continue to implement the Integrated Rural Mobility and Accessibility (IRMA) projects that involve footbridges, cycle paths and walkways in Albert Luthuli, Mbombela, Nkomazi, Bushbuckridge, Dr JS Moroka and Thembisile municipalities. The total budget allocated for the design and construction of the IRMA projects in 2008/09 will amount to R18,6 million. The feasibility study on Moloto Rail Development Corridor has been concluded. The primary section of the Moloto Rail Development Corridor between Siyabuswa and Tshwane is feasible in all respects and will be implemented as soon as possible. The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the three spheres of government has finally been signed indicating the responsibilities of each sphere of government on the implementation of the project. This project has since been handed over to South African Rail Commuter Corporation (SARCC) for implementation. Madam Speaker, it is my pleasure to inform this House that National Cabinet has approved the implementation of the project. This project forms part of the Accelerated and Shared Growth Initiative for South African (AsgiSA) and will go a long way in the provision of safe and affordable transport as well as indirectly reducing accidents along the Moloto road. In the current financial year, it is envisaged that the Department of Economic Development and Planning will complete the economic scoping on the project by the end of this month. The process of resettlement of the affected communities and the environmental impact assessment is expected to commence during the current financial year. The department has committed itself to ensure that all commuters in the province are subsidised. We have completed the designs for all public transport routes in the province and a submission will be made to the Provincial Treasury during the 2009/10 budget process requesting an increase of our baseline to enable the Province to subsidise more routes in the future. The following new routes will be subsidised during 2008/09 financial year: Barberton - Nelspruit, Jeppes Reef/Sidlamafa - Komati Mill, Mananga - Mbuzini at a cost of nine comma seven million rand. The department will donate 4 000 bicycles and subsidise a further 1 500 during the current financial year as part of promoting non-motorised transport. The SHOVAKALULA project as it is commonly known, has continued to complement scholar transport and has also improved the lives of learners who walk long distance to schools. The department will be assisting the Department of Education with regards to scholar transport provision. The implementation of the Taxi Recapitalisation Project remains a key priority of government. The Minister of Transport in his budget speech on 20 May 2008 acknowledged that, the taxi industry has not benefited from the subsidy in public transport. Closely related to this issue is the fixed nature of the R50 000 scrapping allowance which is not inflation linked and has an impact on the affordability of a new vehicle. The Department of Transport (DoT) is currently looking into various options for the review of the scrapping allowance in order to link it to inflation. A total of 1 226 old taxis have been scrapped during the 2007/08 financial year across the province and approximately 1 000 old taxis are expected to be scrapped during this financial year. The removal of unroadworthy taxis on the roads will ensure safety for passengers and also decrease the number of accidents involving public transport vehicles. As a province we still plan to ensure that we meet the national target of removing 80 percent of old taxis on our roads by 2010 is realised. To date, the Operating License Board (OLB) has received 9 715 applications for conversion and approved 7 386 out of which 5 384 have been uplifted and 1 924 have not been uplifted. The OLB will be conducting road shows throughout the province meeting taxi associations and encouraging them to uplift their operating licenses. The Department of Transport (DoT) has committed itself to develop a turnaround strategy which will introduce critical interventions to improve the activities relating to conversion of permits to operating licensing. Approximately three million rand has been set aside for financial assistance to the taxi industry to prepare the industry to participate in the envisaged broader public transport subsidy system. As part of the empowerment of public transport operators. The department is planning to train 750 public transport operators during the 2008/09 financial year. Traffic management Madam Speaker and Honourable Members, while roads infrastructure and public transport remains the focal points of the department's objectives, road safety has even become more important due to high loss of lives on our roads. Speed, fatigue and unroadworthy vehicles continue to be the major contributors of most of the accidents that are reported on our provincial roads. The attitude of some of our road users (e.g. drivers, pedestrians, etc.) has also contributed vastly in the number of accidents that happen daily on these roads. The department reduced fatalities from 1 445 in 2006/07 to 1 215 in 2007/08 despite the huge increase in traffic volumes in 2007/08 financial year. The involvement of communities in road safety projects is bound to have a positive effect in spreading road safety messages. We must report that, Road Safety Forums were established in the various communities during 2007/08. In addition, the Provincial Road Safety Strategy has finally been adopted by all municipalities within the province. The budget for Road Safety Education has been increased from nine million rand to eleven million rand for the 2008/09 financial year. The department plans to continue with the programmes that educate and inform communities about road safety such as Driver of the Year Competition, Scholar Patrol, Junior Traffic Training Centre (JTTC), road safety debates and others. The momentum of the Arrive Alive campaign has been intensified over the years and our Sivuth' Umlilo slogan has reached far beyond the borders of this province. We have been able to send a clear message on zero tolerance for any violation of our traffic laws whilst also been able to educate our road users about road safety. Although Mpumalanga remains a friendly province, those that continue to misbehave and break the rules of the road will be intensely persuaded and severely punished. The department will in the near future resume with the installation of speed cameras along priority routes to deter unnecessary speeding on our provincial roads. We will also introduce new number plates within the province which will be fitted with a security feature that is aimed to counter criminal activities committed using vehicles. The department is also exploring the idea of assuming the responsibility of printing number plates instead of allowing private business to perform the function. These initiatives will be linked to our revenue collection strategy and will ensure that all outstanding fines are collected as well as receipt of extra revenue from production of the new number plates. The regulations in this regard will be finalised in due course. In this financial year, we will expedite the process to establish the Provincial Traffic Academy. The main purpose of the academy is to train our own traffic officers and also produce the numbers that will assist us in dealing with the 2010 influx of tourists and beyond. The academy will also enable us to provide refresher courses for our existing traffic officers. It is envisaged that the first intake of student will be in January 2009. Madam Speaker, 59 branded patrol vehicles were procured during the previous financial year in order to increase traffic law enforcement visibility on our roads. The increase in the traffic management fleet was complemented by the recruitment of 89 additional traffic officers. A further 60 vehicles will be procured during this financial year at an estimated cost of nine comma three million rand. It should also be noted that 173 recruit traffic officers are currently under-going training at various colleges across the country. This additional numbers to our staff complement, forms part of our preparations for the 2010 FIFA Soccer World Cup and towards a 24 hour policing on our roads. To curb fraud and corruption activities at licensing stations, an Inspectorate Unit was established during the previous financial year. A total of 95 cases have been investigated to date and has resulted into four criminal convictions and three departmental dismissals. Furthermore, the efforts to fight fraud and corruption at testing stations will not be relaxed as the department continues to roll out the Best Practice Model at local authorities. This model is aimed at promoting uniform standards at all testing stations and thus discouraging criminal activities. It should be noted however that the implementation plan for this project has to be revisited as the department seek to encourage ownership by the local authorities. There will be consultation with all stakeholders to clarify responsibilities and to discuss the implementation of the next phase of the project. Ladies and Gentlemen, the department has successfully deployed the Computerised Learners and Driving License monitoring system at Nelspruit and KwaMhlanga testing stations at a cost of R30 million during the previous financial year. This innovation is aimed at eliminating fraudulent issuing of drivers and learners licenses around testing stations. During 2008/09, the department will spend a further R17 million on deploying the system at Mhala testing station. The demand for drivers' licenses has increased over the years; however, the capacity in the various registering authorities has not expanded to meet the demand. This is resulting in over crowding in the various registering authorities causing backlogs in the issuing of new drivers licenses. In response to this, the province has investigated the shortage of examiners who deal with drivers' licenses. The report indicates that there are forty dedicated drivers' licenses examiners and fifty-four examiners who are responsible mainly for examining motor vehicles and only do part time examining for drivers' licenses. For the province to adequately deal with the demand for drivers' licenses, approximately two hundred and fifty examiners are required. There is a shortage of approximately two hundred and ten examiners in the province. The department has submitted a business plan to the Department of Transport (DoT) to assist in dealing with the challenge of shortage of examiners. We will further approach the Executive Council and Provincial Treasury to assist with funding to resolve this matter during the current financial year. There are seventeen weighbridges in the province and as part of our drive to implement the Provincial Overloading Strategy; the department will finalise the installation of the outstanding electronics at Kinross and Ermelo weighbridges at an estimated cost of nine comma two million rand. Furthermore, eight comma four million rand has been set side for the construction of a new weighbridge in Piet Retief. These bridges will assist the department to monitor the tonnages of cargo and freight movement as well as preserve the lifespan of the coal haulage network around the Gert Sibande region. 100 Days targets Honourable members, we would like to commit ourselves to the following in the next hundred days: * Complete the following roads construction projects: * Finalise the implementation plan for technical skills enhancement Madam Speaker and Honourable Members, allow me to take this opportunity to table the budget for the Department of Roads and Transport for the 2008/09 financial year for approval by this august House. The budget stands as follows: * Administration: R216,193 million Conclusion A special thanks goes to the Honourable Premier for steering the province in the direction where there would be economic empowerment, job opportunities and the eradication of poverty in our province and the entire country. I would also like to give thanks to my predecessors, Honourable DD Mabuza, Honourable AF Mahlalela, the Executive Council, the Portfolio Committee on Public Works, Roads and Transport as well as the members of this House for providing guidance and leadership to the department. Lastly and most importantly, I would like to thank the Acting HoD, Mrs MOC Mhlabane, together with all the Senior Managers and all staff members, for the service they continue to render to the people of this beloved and beautiful province of ours. I thank you. Issued by: Department of Roads and Transport, Mpumalanga Provincial Government
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