Hon Chairperson and Minister, firstly, as the ATM we support and welcome the budget. However, we want to bring to the department a few things. The first one is the issue of the subsidies for the taxis. You have taxis that are transporting
almost 70% of the people that use public transport but they do not get any subsidy versus buses, trains as well as the airplanes. It does not make any sense for the taxis not to be supported whereas you have the majority of citizens that are heavily reliant on the taxis.
We also need to invest in trains that are used by commuters. We understand the issue of having a bullet train. However, majority of the citizens make use of these commuter trains which are sometimes not working. People that are destroying the infrastructure that is used by these trains must be dealt with harshly because they are destroying infrastructure and are inconveniencing a lot of the citizens.
There is also the issue of rural roads. We want a situation whereby people in rural areas are prioritised in this case because, for them, a road is a mat of accessing essential services like hospitals and schools. It can't be that majority of the roads in rural areas are not prioritised and are not working.
Lastly Minister, we ask that you deal with the issue of corruption in the licensing process. It cannot be that it is a norm that if you want a license ...
IsiXhosa:
... kufuneka ubhatele intshontsho.
English:
That is affecting a lot of young people who, after graduating when they need licenses, not only must they have money to book for a test, hire cars as well as trucks, but they must also budget for a bribe. It is easy to address that issue because we can do lifestyle audits on the people that take the test. With those few words, Minister, we support the budget. Thank you.
IsiNdebele: