Yes, I'm saying again that an opportunity given to us at the select committee meeting on 19 March. Although we accept and also understand the mandatory processes of the NCOP, our view is that the approach taken on the amendment Bill, fundamentally changes the existing National Land Transport Act in ways we believe are inconsistent with both the Constitution and the sound public transport management.

The most contiguous aspect of the Bill in our view is that the province becomes the default sphere of government for concluding subsidised public transport contracts and secondly that, a municipality may only

enter into those contracts if given permission by the Minister. The most important issues here are two things, and one of them is the municipal public transport in terms of the Constitution falls within the jurisdiction of the local government.

However, the Bill provides that all public transport contracts are in principle concluded by the province. It goes without saying that some of those contracts will fall within the scope of municipal public transport. The Bill, therefore, abolishes the distinction between the two separate constitutional competencies, namely public transport and municipal public transport, and includes them both under provincial jurisdiction.

The Constitution makes the decision and in our view, it is not for the Parliament to effectively abolish it. The Bill effectively removes powers that cities are currently exercising, including the contracting of services such as MyCiti, Rea Vaya and Go Durban.

Whilst we are preciously concerned about municipal capacity, the role of national and provincial government is to support municipalities as required by section 154 of the Constitution, and not to deprive them of their powers. [Interjections.]