Honourable House Chairperson,
The ACDP offers its condolences to those families who lost their children and loved ones in the minibus accident in Gauteng last week.
The ACDP notes that the budget for this Department of R80.6 billion has a decrease of 1.6% in real terms. This is a ministry that has been in turmoil and in decline for well over a decade, with seven ministers in the past 15 years. Our transport infrastructure was relatively good, but now suffers from little to no maintenance, rising costs and a lack of continued investment to boost capacity to meet increased demand.
New Minister Creecy’s herculean task is not insurmountable but she must acknowledge the failure of previous ANC leaders to appreciate the importance of the transport sector in growing our economy. Currently, our economy is groaning under the strain of poor road maintenance, rail degradation and bottlenecks at our ports as witnessed at Durban Harbour last year.
The deterioration of our road and rail network has a negative impact on the safety and punctuality of our workforce/citizens and serves as a disincentive for foreign and domestic investment.
The ACDP highlights the imperative of getting our work force and goods back on rail and off the roads. This will not only relieve road congestion but also minimise damage to our roads caused by heavy trucks.
The ACDP recognises that our ports play a critical role in the world’s shipping routes with nearly 15,000 ships entering our congested ports annually. However, these ports labour under capacity shortages, underinvestment, outdated IT systems, poor equipment maintenance and gross corruption that is costing our economy billions.
The solutions posited by the ACDP is the acknowledgement that these lie in the digital world and the world of automation. Furthermore, we must leverage on technology for better traffic management, optimising resources, reducing costs, improving efficiency, implementing serious security and removing race-based policies which serve as an antagonist to economic growth and prosperity for all South Africans as noted by the Harvard University’s Growth Lab.
Minister, this 7th Parliamentary Term may be the last life-line between your Department and our economy. Indeed Minister, you have no time to lose and you and your Department dare not fail.
I thank you.
