J Radebe: 2010 World Cup Workshop

Speaking notes by Minister of Transport, Mr Jeff Radebe, at the 2010 World Cup Workshop

The 2010 FIFA World Cup is a major milestone in our history and marks the beginning of a major revolution in South Africa's transport system.

Our approach for this important event represents a major foundation for the transport system up until 2020. For the first time in history South Africa will have major investments across all transport systems, buses, passenger rail, taxis and road networks, and this would represent the most widespread development ever seen in our country.

And similarly our airports and aviation industry will take advantage of the open skies as articulated by African Ministers' of Transport. General and scheduled flights will also have to rise to the occasion.

Our underlying assumption in all this is our commitment to ensure safe, secure, efficient and accessible transport systems for the national and international soccer family, as well as South Africans beyond 2010.

We have begun our revolution to maximise the existing infrastructure and integrating different transport modes as well as galvanising maximum support from all South Africans. We have already begun with our major investments across all areas of the transport system. We have allocated:

• R3,8 billion for the public transport and non-motorised infrastructure for 2010
• R8 billion for the development and improvement of all our airports
• R63 billion for the preservation and development of our road network throughout the country
• R7,7 billion in the recapitalisation of taxis
• most importantly, R5 billion is being invested in the bus and passenger rail systems.

Distinguished guests, our 2010 Transport Action Plan has three main areas starting with the vision, the transport assessment and sector-based preparations, including host city transport plans as well as implementation. It also has four appendices being international best practice lessons, 2010 initial travel demand projections, project descriptions and review of observations and lessons learned from Germany's 2006 FIFA World Cup.

The document is being released today as a blueprint for the transport sector in preparing for the World Cup. I therefore call upon my Director-General, Ms Mpumi Mpofu to take us through this document.

I thank you!