Transport not taken seriously by the Department of Transport!

Once again the Minister, and the Deputy Minister in particular, spent a considerable time with the Portfolio Committee during this budget process. My experience tells me that this is a rare occurrence and the Democratic Alliance therefore appreciates your presence during our deliberations. However, it appears that this is where it ends. Daily one encounters transport-related problems and the Minister and her deputy are nowhere to be found. E-tolls As I stated last year in the Budget debate, by far the biggest transport issue presently on the lips of South Africans are the e-Tolls which the public continues to almost unanimously reject. Despite Sanral’s massive multi-million rand marketing spend throughout 2014, we see that the scheme’s compliance levels peaked at around only 45% in June 2014, this is confirmed by statements made by the Minister in Parliament. This translates to R120 million per month, confirmed by Sanral in a media statement. This was well short of their original target of R250 million per month. In July 2014, Sanral and the NPA had indicated their intention to begin prosecuting e-toll defaulters, however, Minister Peters wisely instructed Sanral to halt such plans, because of massive billing problems and chaos in the system, and maybe also due to possible anticipated wide-scale negative public reaction. During the Gauteng E-Toll Panel hearings between September and November 2014, virtually all business and civil society entities denounced the e-toll scheme and blamed its existence for the high negative impact on the socio-economic conditions in the region. In addition, on 3 October 2014, Honourable Paul Mashatile, the Gauteng ANC’s Chairperson, launched a scathing attack on Sanral’s management of the e-toll scheme and their disdain toward the work of the Makhura’s e-toll advisory panel. Courageously, the Honourable Mashatile made it clear that the ANC in Gauteng did not support the scheme in its current form. On 4 November, Sanral did an about turn and decided to engage with the Makhura’s e-toll Advisory Panel. This resulted in a series of blunders heightening public anger, particularly Minister Dipuo Peters’ comment that a fuel levy increase of R3.65 would be required to fund the GFIP (Gauteng Freeway Improvement Project). This intensified when Dr. Roelof Botha announced that the poor should “shut up” and remain out of the e-toll debate. Later in November 2014, during an inquest into a fatal crash collision on the M1, the State subpoenaed electronic data from Sanral recorded by the e-toll system’s gantry cameras. The information supplied by Sanral was grossly inaccurate and proved to be “inconsistent and unreliable”. The absence of Sanral’s ability to enforce the e-toll policy and the growing public anger has reduced the scheme’s monthly e-toll revenue collections to around R60 million by the end of February 2015, estimated to be less than 23% of users paying for the use of the freeways. But wait, it doesn’t stop there! Sanral has been embroiled in other cases which point to a questionable conduct of public engagement programs. The one is with the Amadiba community on the Wild Coast N2 Toll Road plan where we understand that Sanral’s CEO, Nazir Alli’s affidavit that seeks to challenge Attorney Cormac Cullinan’s representation of the community, contain allegedly false statements. If this is indeed true, this could be seriously damaging for Mr. Alli’s reputation and the image of Sanral The other is regarding the Western Cape’s Winelands freeway Toll plan. The Supreme Court’s ruling on 30 March 2015 asks serious questions around Sanral’s lack of transparency relating to their tolling model, the costs of the project and tenders awarded to the “preferred bidder” or appointed concessionaire. When one considers all this, there must surely be enough evidence to suggest that something is amiss with the leadership and performance of this State Owned Entity. Rail It is clear that although government is saying the correct thing: in that rail is the backbone of public transport, its actions contradict this. Just like last year, the largest amount in the budget is still allocated to roads and its infrastructure. Rail continues to be treated as a side issue. Road Safety And again I repeat myself; I bring up one of the Minister’s other monumental failures; her inability to stem the tide of deaths on our roads. A prime example was the cancellation by the Minister of the 2014 Road Safety Summit on very short notice to avoid being embarrassed because the recommendations that emanated from the 2013 Summit had not been implemented. On the 14th of March, I wrote to the Minister an open letter about this subject. I pointed out to her that she should take heed of Albert Einstein’s definition of insanity; that being as doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. Indeed, what road safety “strategy” you may have is insane as it yields little positive results year after year. Besides not having the plain courtesy of an acknowledgement of my letter or at the very least taking up some of my internationally proven suggestions, at a recent Portfolio Committee meeting the Minister chose to chastise me for daring to write to her! Rebuke me as much as you want Minister, the reality is that South Africa last year was ranked 177th out of 182 countries studied for road fatalities. These fatalities result in a huge socio-economic cost, estimated at R306 billion per annum. We would be the first to support and congratulate you when we see more results and less rhetoric. Deal with the overlapping functions within the RTIA and the RTMC and Provinces and with the fact that we do not have anyone collecting data. When only 17% of fines in South Africa are paid one can safely say that this doesn’t even cover the cost of having enforcement! Minister, do something! Anything to reduce deaths on our roads. We as the DA are here to make transport and its potential to our economic growth work. We need to become single minded in everything we do so that this can become a reality.

DA launches helpline for victims of alleged RAF fraud

Numerous phone calls with allegations of corruption and fraud at the Road Accident Fund (RAF) Administration have followed since the DA’s announcement last week of evidence that appears to document large-scale fraud allegedly taking place at the RAF. The high volume of additional information that we have received since making public the first two examples last week has prompted the DA to establish a toll free help-line (087 233 9188) and an email address (problemswithraf@gmail.com) for the public to report cases of fraud and corruption. RAF employees, lawyers and victims who have information or have been mistreated by RAF can also report cases. In one of the latest cases reported to the DA, supporting documents allegedly indicate that a victim was employed at the time of their crash. According to a letter from their lawyer, the victim was seriously injured. He therefore had a bona fide claim with the RAF, as he is no longer employed or employable for his occupation following the crash. Despite this, his claim was denied. In another case, allegations are made that a crash victim was underpaid despite proving that she is entitled to greater compensation. The latest evidence seemingly provides additional proof that the RAF do appear to not have crash victim interests at heart. With this additional information, the DA will lay fraud charges at 1:30 pm today at the Brooklyn Police Station in Pretoria. The DA has also requested Transport Minister, Dipuo Peters, to suspend RAF CEO Dr. Eugene Watson and to launch an investigation – something which she to date has chosen to ignore. We hope that she will reconsider her stance after the latest allegations. A complete information pack containing copies of the documentation of the latest evidence will be delivered to the Chairman of the RAF Board as well as the Minister today.

Train collision brings issue of rail safety centre stage

I will today write letters to both the Minister of Transport, Dipuo Peters, and the Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Transport, Dikeledi Magadzi, requesting that a Parliamentary Inquiry be launched into the cause of the train crash in Johannesburg this morning that killed a Metrorail employee and injured hundreds more. In addition to the safety officer who was killed, up to 240 people were injured when a stationary Metro Plus train carrying 700 people was rear-ended at about 07:00 by a Business Express train with about 200 people on board. The Democratic Alliance would like to extend our deepest sympathies to all those injured, as well as to the family, friends and colleagues of the deceased Metrorail employee. The Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (Prasa) will need to be brought before the portfolio committee to give answers as to how a moving train could crash into a stationary one. When a large number of commuters make use of rail, we need to ensure that their safety is of paramount concern. Early reports suggested that at least two of the cars from the Metro Plus train were derailed. One landed on the platform, its entire front crushed, while the other went into a building, crushing some of the passengers. Faulty signalling has been suggested as a possible cause. Prasa cannot evade accountability in this matter and must be forthcoming with all the facts in an open and transparent fashion. The DA will continue to push for affordable, efficient and, most importantly, safe public transport infrastructure in the interest of the millions of South Africans who make use of our national rail network monthly.

Transport Minister objects to DA’s request for RAF investigation

At this week’s Transport Portfolio Meeting the Minister of Transport, Dipuo Peters, chastised the Democratic Alliance (DA) for laying criminal charges against Road Accident Fund (RAF) CEO, Dr Eugene Watson. This week the DA laid criminal charges and also wrote to the Minister requesting for her to launch an investigation into the RAF and its CEO. These charges and the letter were as a result of evidence in the possession of the DA that appears to document large-scale fraud allegedly taking place at the RAF. The evidence, in the form of letters from complaint attorneys to claimants, illustrate how the RAF essentially appears to sue itself in order to maintain a certain cash flow. This delays claims made by road crash victims. Based on the documents leaked to us, as well as investigations that we undertook, appears to be fraud and injustice at the highest level. Although the Minister admitted in the Portfolio Committee Meeting that she had not yet seen the DA’s letter, she reprimanded the DA members of the Committee for laying the charges and for even writing to her. This is of great concern as she is clearly protecting Eugene Watson without even considering the evidence that we have provided her as she claims that the DA is “governing through the courts and the police”. Unbelievably, the Minister stated that any fraud allegation “should be handled in the Portfolio Committee and not in courts with charges and waste the time of police” and that they (the police) “are going to take ten years to investigate this case”. Considering that these statements were made without being prompted by the DA, we will be again writing to the Minister asking her to confirm that, based on what she said, if she will not be following our recommendations to launch an investigation, particularly as she appears to have made up her mind without considering the evidence. If this is indeed the case, we are even more concerned that she has made such a decision in such an uninformed manner and will request her to explain her reasons for this.

Government is responsible for the xenophobia violence-and they can turn it around!

Not since the height of the dark days of the State of Emergency have we need the pervasive violence that we have had in the last two weeks. I never dreamt that we would revert back to those dark days. However, all this is completely understandable and logical thanks to the Zuma administration. The truth is that when other countries, such as Mozambique, Mauritius and Angola are showing good economic growth, South Africa continues on a downward trajectory. This is thanks to the Zuma government and its policies which ensures that corruption goes up whilst unemployment goes down. As in other countries quality education is delivered and emphasised, our education system continues to disadvantage our youth with bad quality education. So the ordinary unemployed South African “on the ground”, sees minimal opportunities and prospects for employment and becomes increasingly frustrated. At the same time, the ordinary South African citizen sees those in the ANC, and those connected to it, getting richer and richer through questionable means; Nkandla immediately comes to mind! Foreigners come into our country, and appear to thrive economically because of their knowledge, education and skills advantage. The poor unemployed South African sees this and, from his or her perspective, cannot understand how this is possible when he or she cannot develop in his or her own country. Add the violence encouraged and sponsored by the ANC government against Members of Parliament and unaccountable comments from royalty and members of the Zuma clan and we have the scene set for violence against innocent people. So over a week after this violence erupted government makes official public statements in this regard. The President used his answer to questions Parliamentary session as an opportunity to address this issue. In itself this was a good thing, however what came out of this emerged a lost opportunity for the President. His address on this issue came across as insincere and emotionless, President Zuma’s body language reflected this too. The President mentioned nothing about statements made by the King in Kwazulu-Natal and, even closer to home, Xenophobia comments made by Edward Zuma, son of the President. The root of this violence can be laid directly on the lap of government. The Zuma government is doing little to deal with our growing unemployment rate, at the same time our economy continues to spend more time in intensive care without immediate prospects of improving. Our suffocating labour laws contribute to the retardation of our economic growth, as Cosatu dictates government’s policy. Government needs to start dealing with this core issues, stop looking at introducing apparent “quick-fix” solutions which will have little impact. Before millions are allocated to “recruiting inspectors to detect companies and businesses employing undocumented migrants” malfunctioning systems in Home Affairs first need to be fixed! Government needs to prioritise the growth of our economy and job creation, actually do this and communicate this with South Africa. The reality is that South Africa can be a country of open opportunity for all where we can all enjoy the sunshine together, whether one is South African-born or not.

Open Letter to the Minister of Transport, Minister Dipuo Peters

Dear Minister Peters, South Africa is rated the worst, out of 36 other countries, when it comes to the number of road fatalities. South Africa's road fatalities per 100 000 inhabitants was at 27.6 deaths in 2011 according to The International Transport Forum's (ITF) Road Safety Annual Report and international report for 2013. This is a mortality rate of 28 per 100 000 citizens dying as a result of road fatalities. Last year South Africa was ranked 177th out of 182 countries studied for road fatalities. These fatalities result in a huge socio-economic cost, estimated at R306 billion per annum. This year’s Easter weekend road death toll of 287 from 208 crashes represents a 48% increase compared to the 2014 Easter death toll of 193 from 148 crashes. The chilling part is that this figure is actually a preliminary one as it does not include subsequent deaths in hospitals and mortuaries as a result of road crashes. Time and time again we hear the same politically correct words being uttered by yourself; about how we need to reduce the death toll and improve on the road safety statistics. However, your words don’t get put into action. Unless you introduce proper and effective interventions, the carnage on our roads will continue to go up, as I had predicted it would last year. Unbelievably, you and your department continue to do the same thing year after year and expect a different (improved) result! Albert Einstein defined insanity as doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. Indeed, your road safety “strategy” is insane! I noticed that the Transport department recently ran a media campaign encouraging people to respect the rules of the road. Although it is good to have such a campaign, it appeared to occur in isolation. The implication was also there that this campaign alone will suddenly turn motorists and road users into compliant ones when they previously weren’t. Insane! You simply refuse to see the obvious problems and lack the political will to solve them. I could hardly believe it when I read that you said that government is in talks to soon introduce a system where metro police officers can randomly stop motorists and retest their driving. Insane! The reality is that metro police officers are not qualified driving license examiners. Your ludicrous suggestion is not the solution, besides the fact that it would be illegal as only qualified driving license examiners are qualified to conduct these tests. Your suggestion becomes even more ridiculous when one considers that the day before you made this crazy suggestion, you visited driving license testing centres in the East Rand of Gauteng. There you saw for yourself the bad service and allegations of fraud and corruption taking place. Surely the logical course of action would be to sort out these problems happening at practically every single driving license centre in the country? Coupled with that would be mandatory retesting of drivers on renewal of their driving licenses every five years. Until enforcement is taken seriously as a road safety measure and not a source of revenue, nothing will change. I speak from personal experience, as millions of other motorists will attest to the fact, that I often get stopped by traffic and other police and all that is checked is the validity of my driving license and my car disk. Nothing else is checked! This one dimensional approach does little to improve road safety. This practice has been going on for as long as I can remember, yet you expect improved results. Insane! Why are motorists not fined for moving violations which we all see every day on our roads? This should be one of your key pillars in any road safety campaign. Yet all this happens under your watch and you refuse to take action or responsibility. Surely by now you have realised that your strategies are not working? You must know this as your planned National Road Safety Summit which was to be held in October 2014 was suddenly cancelled just days before the event, based on the fact that by your own admission “insufficient progress had been attained by State institutions on the resolutions adopted at the 2013 summit”. Insane! You have the power to make changes now and to become the champion of road safety in South Africa. All you need to do is focus on doing a few things well, instead of lots of things badly. Here are my proposed list of the few things you can do well: • Ensure that the RTMC (Road Traffic Management Corporation) fulfils one of its core functions; collecting, collating and releasing accurate road statistics which can be used to develop strategies to reduce road carnage and deaths. • Review the out-of-date K53 licensing model which produces a high number of incompetent drivers; • Eradicate the widespread systemic corruption in both, licensing and traffic law enforcement; this would include computerising processes so that human intervention is not required as it is now and is where corruption takes place. • The complete change of culture by traffic law enforcement officials to become corruption free (with consequences for those that are corrupt), effective and visible 24 hours a day, 365 days of the year. Presently only the Western Cape has such a permanent visible traffic service. Other provinces only work during official office hours! • Sort out and roll out the long awaited points-demerit system. In order for the above things to take place you would need to put some “firecrackers” under some of the Transport agencies and officials that are in your watch. These agencies and officials need to take their mandates seriously. They need to be accountable so that their respective mandates becomes a reality. I seriously urge you to consider the contents of this letter. I invite you to take my proposals as your own. This is not a political matter, it is a matter that affects our economy and the saving of lives. You Minister, could be a saver of thousands of lives if only you did a few things well and stopped doing the same things every year and hoping for different results. That is simply insane.

Zuma attempts to mislead the nation in the SONA

As Zuma and his government cannot solve the challenges facing our country, he has resorted to misleading the public with his “facts” and “figures”. Let’s look at a few examples; Zuma said that it is now looking positive on the jobs front. He stated that based on Stats SA employment figures for the last quarter of 2014 indicate that there are now 15.3-million people who are employed in South Africa and that jobs grew by 203,000. The latest employment data from Stats SA shows that from October to December 2014 an additional 203,000 people were employed compared to July to September last year. This thus brought the number of those employed to 15.32-million, the number of unemployed people decreased by 242,000. Although Zuma quoted correct figures, they were quoted out of context. Zuma compared the third and fourth quarters of 2014. Africa Check interviewed the acting executive manager of labour statistics at Stats SA, Desiree Manamela who stressed the importance of focusing on year-on-year trends and not quarterly comparisons. She said that the trend in labour market data shows that seasonal factors result in an increase in employment during the 4th quarter [October to December] of every year. This is ahead of the planting season for many crops and also the festive period during which retailers hire additional staff. Thus many of the jobs created in this quarter would have been temporary in nature. A year-on-year comparison of the fourth quarters of 2013 and 2014 show that employment still increased but only by 143,000 and the number of unemployed people actually increased by 79,000. Africa Check also interviewed Dr Nicolas Pons-Vignon, a senior researcher at Wits University’s School of Economic and Business Sciences. He said that was important to look at other long-term trends, such as the unemployment rate, which Zuma didn’t mention. Stats SA data shows that the narrow unemployment rate increased by 0.2% to 24.3% between the fourth quarters of 2013 and 2014. Pons-Vignon confirmed that South Africa has an incredibly high unemployment rate; one of the highest in the world and that this trend hasn’t changed. For me the biggest faux pax was when it came to the biggest crises South Africa is currently confronting: the Electricity crisis. In his speech, Zuma said: “The construction of the three new power stations Kusile, Medupi and Ingula, will add 10,000 MW of capacity to the national grid.” This is simply wrong! The country is currently building two power stations, not three as stated in his address. Africa Check’s research confirms that the truth is that Ingula, between KwaZulu-Natal and the Free State, is a pump storage scheme, not a power station. It can assist with load peaks but the power supplied to the grid has to be pumped back into the scheme. This means that Ingula’s four 333 MW generators (1332 MW) will not contribute to South Africa’s base-load capacity, as it is not able to produce energy at a constant, or near constant, rate. Kusile (six 800MW units) and Medupi (six 794MW units) will however add 9,564 MW to the base-load capacity, according to Eskom figures. As it is not delivering, Zuma and his government are simply twisting facts to created new “facts” that make his government look good. South Africa will not be misled.