The Minister said that the Department of Transport is committed to the goal of delivery which the government has defined for the coming years: to create rational and responsive transport systems. Delivery means the overcoming of the distortions of the apartheid past and opening up economic opportunity to previously disadvantaged entrepreneurs. The Minister said that the Transport sector has a critical role to play in support of the national goals of growth, redistribution, job creation and meeting basic needs.

The Minister outlined to the members the priorities of the Department as follows:

He said that the RTMC has a vital role to play in future. The RTMC Act was approved by parliament and it institutionalises co-operative governance by pooling the powers and resources of national and provincial (and to a limited extent the local) governments. This is dependent on the willingness of the local, provincial and the national government spheres to pool their resources. The RTMC would be headed by a Shareholders Committee comprising of the Minister, MECs responsible for transport in each of the nine provinces and 2 members of SALGA.

Minister Omar stated that the current adjudication system for traffic offences is not satisfactory and it needs to be changed. He said that the department had sought and obtained Parliamentary approval of the AARTO Act in September 1998. The purpose of the Act is to:

- Improve the finalisation of traffic offences from below 25% up to at least 70%

- Ensure those who are involve in corruption and in arrest bribery are detected and arrested

- Standardise penalties for contraventing traffic law

- Relieve the court system of attending to thousands of traffic-related cases

- Identify habitual transgressors and deal with them

- Introduce a points demerit system on drivers’ licences that will encourage good driver behavior and ensure persistent offenders are taken off the roads by suspension or ultimate removal of their licences. The Minister informed the members that the implementation of AARTO will be discussed at the Minister's Committee.

The minister pointed out that the road transport-related violence is a major concern to the department. The department is committed to eradicating weak law enforcement and violence. Law enforcement will be executed through provincial and local government structures in conjunction with national policing authorities and other stakeholders involved in national crime prevention.

The Minister acknowledged that South Africa has one of the worst road traffic accident records in the world. In order to combat the carnage of road accident, the department introduced the Arrive Alive Road Safety Campaign which had been successful. However Arrive Alive had encountered problems such as scarcity of financial and personnel resources.

The Minister said there was a need to transform the taxi industry. The taxi industry provides genuine Black Empowerment and the transport needs of the poor are satisfied by this industry. The Minister referred to the committee that his predecessor had set up when faced with taxi violence in 1994, called the National Taxi Task Team (NTTT) which presented recommendations which the government and industry then agreed on. The recommendations and the agreements were as follows:

(a) The formalisation of this process which requires taxi associations to register with the provincial registrars.

(b) Regulation and control whereby the taxi operators are required to convert the existing permit to permissions given by Provincial Permissions Boards. In terms of this provision all radius permits must be converted to route-specific permissions.

(c) Economic assistance by the government to assist the taxi industry.

The Minister ackowledged that bus operators fear the formalisation of the taxi industry as it will have a negative impact on their business. As these bus owners are also Black, the department would have to take their needs into consideration when advancing the taxi industry. The department had to balance the two interests.

The Minister pointed out that, historically, metrorail services had been funded on a deficit financing arrangement with some 30% of operating costs recovered from passenger fares, and government covering the other 70%. In the face of this inefficient situation, government had adopted an approach where in the long-run commuter rail services would be subjected to private concessions on the Build-Operate-and-Transfer model.

The Minister informed the members that South Africa is the signatory to the SADC protocol. He said that the role of department is that of Country Coordinater for Transport sector.

The Minister commented that the transport had been labelled as the "vector" of the epidemic. He said that the Department had initiated a campaign to tackle AIDS by educating and make the people aware of this disease under the banner "Trucking against AIDS".

The Minister acknowledged that there is a problem with the RAF in that there is corruption. He said that a commission of inquiry had been established to deal with the matter. He pointed out that the Heath Special Investigating Unit had also been a tasked to investigate lawyers involved the corruption and recover any funds wrongfully appropriated from the victims.

Th Minister said that the Department had introduced a new subsidised motor vehicle scheme. Referring to criticisisms about cars for ministers in the media, he explained the situation before the scheme was introduced. He said there had been no restriction on the kind of motor a minister could acquire. There was no control over the cars and the motor cars had disappeared from the government garage. He said the scheme introduced greater accountability in that it transferred the responsibility from government garage to the department. The new system reduces abuses.

Eastern Cape MEC for Transport, Mr D Sneer, said that the Eastern Cape Department had initiatives such as transformation and the subsidisation of the taxi industry and the restoration of the transport services in the former Transkei. The department had also provided training to taxi shareholders and one had been appointed to register taxis. The department is responsible for aviation and there are two airports in the province. However the Bisho Airport had not been utilised and its conditions were deteriorating.

The OFS MEC for Transport said that to have meaningful delivery to the people, they should have roads. He asked the Minister to intercede on their behalf in Cabinet so that they should be given more money for roads. The Western Cape MEC did not address the members of the committee.

The Northern Cape MEC commented that there are two sides to the problem of roads - the building of rural roads and the maintenance of existing roads. He said that there is no money available to reconstruct or maintain roads.

A committee member commented that the minister had not said anything about an open-door policy between this committee and the department. It would be good for the purposes of working together, if there is open door policy.

The Minister responded that his department does follow an open-door policy and every member of the committee is welcome to forward suggestions to his department.

An ANC committee member pointed out that the buses are subsidised whereas the people who are carrying the bulk of the community are not subsidised.

An ANC committee member asked whether the Eastern Cape MEC is aware that there are buses travelling from Gauteng to the Eastern Cape which are not roadworthy.

The Eastern Cape MEC said he was aware of this problem.

A committee member asked whether the department is going to register only mini-buses.

The Minister’s replied that at present they are aiming at the registration of mini-buses carrying 16 passengers. However in the long run the department intended to register all public transport.