Chairperson, Ministers, hon Members of the House, guests in the gallery ...
... ke be ke lebelet?e moo mohl Tlake a dut?ego gona ke nyaka go bona gore na a ka be a dut?e le Mohl Mokwena goba o dut?e a le tee. Ke lemogile gore o dut?e a le tee. Se se ra gore MaAfrika ba lebelet?e gomme ba a bona gore ba sent?e diboutu t?a bona ka gore EFF e itirela boithatelo. Ba ba emela ge ba nyaka, ge ba sa nyake ga ba ba emele. Mola gage?u re re EFF e ra gore: "E felela fa", Bjale se se ?upa gore go fedile ka yona. (Translation of Sepedi paragraph follows.)
[... I have been looking at hon Tlake to check if he is sitting alone or with hon Mokoena. I have noticed that he is sitting alone. This means that the Africans are able to see that they have wasted their votes because the EFF do as they wish. When they feel like representing them, they represent them; when they don't feel like representing them, they don't represent them. Where I come from, EFF to us means: "It ends here"; now this means that it is finished.]
This debate takes place during a month that has seen three fatal air transport crashes claiming over 460 lives. The first was the Malaysia Airlines flight MH17, which was shot down over the Ukraine, killing all 298 people on board; then it was the Taiwanese plane that crashed in an emergency landing in Taiwan, killing 48 people on board; and, thirdly, an Air Algeria flight that crashed in Burkina Faso, killing 116 people. We, therefore, want to convey our condolences to the families and countries of the deceased.
Hon Chairperson, in economics there is a branch called transport economics and it deals with the allocation of resources within the transport sector. In the language of transport economics it is said that roads carry the economy of the country. This means that the means of transport and roads must be accessible to all the people for them to be economically empowered.
This is why the National Development Plan, NDP, has identified transport as one of the key sectors for economic infrastructural development. It calls on the foundation of social and economic development. The NDP was the cornerstone of the ANC's 2014 manifesto, which concerned the good story that we had to tell. That is why the people of South Africa gave the ANC their overwhelming support in the 2014 general elections. They did so because they believe in our story, hon Faber. This belief is not misdirected, because they can point to the tangible results that we have delivered over the past 20 years. The electorate has thus mandated the ANC to go and implement the NDP.
That is why the President, when he delivered his state of the nation address last month, confirmed that the NDP would be the blueprint of government for this term. This means that government has accepted the primary responsibility, as it should, for transport, both as a public good and as a means of supporting balanced economic growth and development. It has done so with the understanding that the absence of an adequate public transport service in all areas means that transport is a major contributing factor in the marginalisation of the people.
Government also understands that the availability of transport plays an increasingly important role in accessing services such as health care, and in the social integration of people living away from service centres. In this instance it means that transport can be a matter of life and death. We, as Parliament - at least the ANC component of Parliament - also have the same understanding. That is why, when government asks us to approve its budget to enable it to implement the NDP through Transport as a means of economic development, we will oblige.
When it comes to economic factors such as transport, I cannot help but speak for the rural poor people. I do so because I know and have lived the hard life of the rural area, where there is a lack of or inadequate transport. For these rural areas innovative approaches to transport provision are required and a structured and customised approach to these areas is necessary.
Provinces and municipalities remain at the coalface of service delivery. We therefore want to applaud the department for acknowledging this fact and living up to the spirit thereof. I say this, because according to the current budget of the department, that is the 2014-15 budget, the department will facilitate the achievement of these objectives by providing transfers such as the provincial road maintenance grant to provinces and the public transport infrastructure grant to municipalities.
Hon Minister, public transport and municipal public transport are Schedule 4 functional areas - that is, they are concurrent national and provincial competencies. Provincial roads and municipal roads, on the other hand, are Schedule 5 functional areas - that is, they are areas of exclusively provincial competency. In our common language here at Parliament, we would say they are section 76 areas.
As you know, Minister, the NCOP's main focus is on these areas so that it can ensure that provincial interests are taken into account in the national sphere of government. So we are always happy when we see the national government supporting and helping provincial and local government. This is a true reflection of the clarion call by the Constitution, in terms of section 125(3), that the national government, by legislative and other measures, must assist provinces to develop the administrative capacity required for the effective exercise of their powers and the performance of their functions.
A similar call is made with regard to the local government in terms of section 154(1), that the national government and provincial governments, by legislative and other measures, must support and strengthen the capacity of municipalities to manage their own affairs, to exercise their powers and to perform their functions. So when these constitutional obligations are met, we are really happy. It shows that our democracy is really maturing and is based on the rule of and respect for the law - in this instance the Constitution, which is the supreme law of the country.
However, Minister, this is not where the support must end. As Parliament, we also want to see monitoring and evaluation of this programme of provincial and municipal grants. This is what we are more interested in as a body tasked with oversight of the actions of the executive. We are therefore looking forward to an engagement whereby the department will be accounting to Parliament, especially the NCOP, on the outcomes of this support. I said, Chairperson, that when it comes to issues such as transport, I am the spokesperson of the rural poor people. I am therefore extending a call to the Minister to extend the infrastructure and systems grant for public transport to the rural municipalities.
I make this plea because I read in the budget that this grant is used to fund public transport networks in cities, including bus rapid transit systems. I know that implementing this system in rural areas might be a challenge because of the complexities and the dynamics of the rural areas, but, as I have said, innovative approaches to transport provision and a structured approach are needed for rural areas.
This brings me to the issue of the taxi recapitalisation programme. Taxis are the main modes of transport in the rural areas, but some of them are dangerous as well. The lives of our people are put at risk by unroadworthy taxis and the less I talk about how the drivers of these taxis drive, the better. Here, Minister, radical transformation is needed as a matter of urgency. So let's find a way to speed up the taxi recapitalisation programme.
In conclusion, I want to use transport language and say, Minister, our people need a lift. You just confirmed in your speech that you are going to give them a lift, and I believe that with this budget you will be able to give them a lift to a better life. We support your Budget Vote. I thank you. [Applause.] [Interjections.]