BUDGET
VOTE
OF THE DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORT
AND COMMUNITY SAFETY, PRESENTED
BY THE HONOURABLE MEC FLORENCE
RADZILANI (MPL).
VOTE 08
LIMPOPO LEGISLATIVE CHAMBER –
LEBOWAKGOMO GOVERNMENT COMPLEX.
TUESDAY, 18TH APRIL 2023
BUDGET
VOTE
2023/24
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Honourable Speaker of the Provincial Legislature, Mme Rosemary
Molapo.
The Deputy Speaker, Hon Ma@be Tshitereke
Honourable Premier, Chupu Stanley Mathabatha
Colleagues in the Execu@ve Council
The Chief Whip of the Majority Party, Hon Essob Mokgonyana
The Chairperson and Members of the PorGolio CommiHee on
Transport and Community Safety.
Honourable Members of this August House.
The Management of the South Africa Police Services, under the
stewardship of Provincial Commissioner, Lieutenant- General Thembi
Hadebe.
The Chairperson of the Board at the Gateway Airports Authority
Limited – Mr Victor Xaba.
The President of Trucking Associa@on of South Africa, Mme Mary
Phadi
The Leadership of the South African Council of Churches
The leadership of the Department’s fraternal organisa@ons,
The South African Na@onal Taxi Council.
The Road Traffic Management Corpora@on.
The Na@onal Taxi Alliance.
The Leadership of the South African Na@onal Small Bus Operators
Council.
The Chairperson of the Community Policing Forums and Community
Safety Forums.
Our esteemed guests and Government Officials in the gallery.
The people of our beloved Limpopo Province, who are accessing this
SiVng through various plaGorms.
Members of the Media.
I greet you.
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Honourable Members, this budget vote presenta@on, and many
others, that preceded it, follows ‘hot on the heels’ of Premier Chupu
Mathabatha’s resolute State of the Province Address.
The address by Premier Mathabatha, did not only command the tone
for Government’s ac@vi@es, for the next 12 months, but it was a
resilient policy prescript, upon which all Departments must align their
programmes of ac@on.
Honourable Members, the different ora@ons that are presented in this
august house, are a me@culous preserva@on of the ANC’s visionary
leadership, of delivering a beHer life to the people of this Country.
We will con@nue to use the Legislature, as a site of the struggle, for
the advancement of the lives of our people.
We remain greatly indebted to the people of this Province, who
con@nue to demonstrate their firm trust and belief, in the ANC as their
preferred leader of Government.
The recently convened Provincial Day of Prayer, that we coordinated
under the guidance of the Honourable Premier Mathabatha, was a
demonstra@on of how our people s@ll support their Government.
Honourable Speaker, the Provincial Day of Prayer, saw thousands of
people flocking to the Old Peter Mokaba Stadium, because our people
are alive to the reality that, some of the problems that confronts our
society, require all of us to join hands in prayer.
The event was a phenomenal success, on many fronts, and we shall be
making a formal request to the Honourable Premier, to make it an
annual occasion, on our Events calendar.
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We present these plans, conscious of the glaring challenges that
besmirch the majority of our people.
Honourable Speaker, we are unapologe@c, in our resolve to lessen the
poverty burden on the shoulders of our people, and deliver them to
their re-imagined promised land.
Our boisterous efforts, of improving the lives of our people, as
enshrined in the iconic Freedom Charter and the ground-breaking
Cons@tu@on, have been gravely weakened by the advent of the
disrup@ve Covid-19 pandemic, and a stagnant economic growth.
The recent stubborn spate of power outages, and global
developments like the Russia-Ukraine conflict, are washing our strides
of rebuilding the economy, ashore.
However, we remain op@mis@c that the future of Limpopo, the
Province of the great Lawrence Phokanoka, the illustrious Mark Shope,
the defiant Peter Nchabeleng, the heroic CharloHe Mannya-Maxeke,
and many other heroes and heroines of our struggle, is ‘as bright as
the sun’.
Honourable Speaker, we have descended to this august house, from
the Tropical Zones of Muyexe, the escarpments of the Nebo Plateau,
the majes@c shadows of the Blouberg mountains, the Hills and the
Valleys of the Zoutpansberg, and the naturally endowed Waterberg, in
pursuant of a common goal, of making economic freedom a reality, to
our people.
We are fully cognisant of the significance of the month of April, as a
point of poli@cal convulsion, into our democra@c dispensa@on.
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The iconic Solomon Kalushi Mahlangu, a well-rounded freedom
fighter, whose life was cut short by apartheid’s mercenaries, was
hanged during the month of April.
Oliver Tambo, a celebrated libera@on struggle torch-bearer, departed
from this world, during the same month.
Who will forget the 10th of April 1993, when South Africa woke-up to
the shaHering news of the death of her beloved son, Comrade Chris
Thembisile Hani, whose death, was apartheid’s last desperate
aHempt, to put our transi@onal plans into disarray.
It was in April 1994, when throngs of our people, @red of Apartheid’s
evil grip and draconian laws, flocked to the polling sta@ons, to elect a
democra@c Government, that was to rule them, based on their will.
That was a watershed moment, that propelled this Country on a
developmental pedestal, and corrected the centuries’ long injus@ces,
which were festered by the Apartheid Rule.
It is for this, and many other reasons, that we have placed a high
emo@ve premium on this month, which is also known as Freedom
Month.
Honourable Speaker, Apartheid and Colonialism have played a
cataly@c role, to @lt the economic fortunes of this country, to favour
the minori@es.
It is not surprising, that afer a quarter of a century, of self-rule, this
Government is s@ll grappling with insurmountable challenges of an
unequal society, with indelible levels of poverty and
underdevelopment.
Our prescript defying stance, of placing concerted efforts to level the
economic turf, is premised on this incongruity.
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We have made significant strides in our quest of building safer borders
and for@fying our immigra@on systems.
Honourable Speaker, the establishment of the Border Management
Authority, a Schedule 3A En@ty, must be viewed as Government’s
courageous aHempt, to address the numerous challenges that are
posing a security risk on our borders.
This En@ty will streamline all the border management func@ons, into
a single en@ty, which is also expected to cushion all the immigra@on
challenges.
The Limpopo Province is placed as a strategic node, that connects the
Country to the rest of the Con@nent, and it is therefore suscep@ble to
sporadic nefarious acts of cross-border crimes.
Honourable Speaker, we will never get @red, from galvanising and
drumming-up support within our communi@es, to build func@onal and
effec@ve Community Policing Forums and Community Safety Forums,
in order to create safer communi@es.
As the Ruling Party, we have also resolved that as part of our civic duty,
we must mobilise our structures and units to play an ac@ve role, in the
ac@vi@es of CPF’s and CSF’s, in order to exert more pressure on the
fight against the scourge of Gender based Violence and Femicide.
Our fight against Gender based Violence and Femicide, Domes@c
violence and child abuse, will never cease to exist, un@l all
perpetrators are deservedly placed in custody.
The incessant abuse of women and children, will be drama@cally
reduced, if we all start to treat it, as a societal malady, and not a private
maHer.
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We must puke against these primi@ve acts of GBV, and report them to
the Police, even if it is our friends and families involved.
Honourable Speaker, allow me to use the wise words of Mama Graca
Machel, in an Opinion Editorial piece, that she wrote for The Guardian,
at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, “if we can come together as a
united human family, to holistically tackle COVID-19, let us also apply
an equally comprehensive, vigorous, and unrelenting focus to
eradicating gender-based violence as well”.
Honourable Speaker, we are also aware, that the majority of GBV
perpetrators are bread winners, who use their socio-economic
advantage to subdue their vic@ms into eternal silence.
We must employ the services of our community structures and social
partners, to comb the perpetrators and wipe them out, of our
communi@es.
Honourable Speaker, for the 2023/24 Financial Year, the Department
of Transport and Community Safety has been allocated a Budget of
R 2. 484 Billion, which is reduced by 0.34% as compared to the
2022/23 Financial Year.
Honourable Speaker, the Department of Transport and Community
Safety is the highest revenue collector, and contributes around 47%
towards the income of the Provincial Government. The bulk of this
income is generated through traffic func@ons.
By the end of March 2023, the Department had collected an amount
of R 815.941 Million, and we project to collect around R 852. 873
Million in the 2023/24 Financial Year, R 890. 655 Million in the
2024/25 Financial Year and a further R930.288 in 2025/26 Financial
Year.
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These will be made possible through various Revenue Enhancement
Strategies, that are implemented with the support of the Provincial
Treasury.
Programme 1 – Administra1on.
This is a support programme to the core func@oning of the
Department.
Its alloca@on of R 644. 228 Million, includes Compensa@on of
Employees at R 312. 789 Million, payments of contracts like Cleaning
Services, Security Services, Office Space, Machinery and Equipment,
and other transversal services.
Honourable Speaker, upon taking Office, we urgently addressed the
vacancy on the posi@on of the Head of Department, with the view of
bringing stability into the Department.
This process culminated into the appointment of Mr Stephen Matjena,
who is leading the team from the Department, in this house today.
We have also embarked on a rigorous recruitment drive, to fill other
cri@cal vacancies, within the Department.
All these are done to ensure that this Department must con@nue to
provide unfeHered services, to the people of this Province.
We will soon be adver@sing a Learnership Programme, targe@ng 20
young unemployed candidates, who will be earmarked for the
Department’s Motor Mechanical workshop.
Most of the employees in that sec@on, are approaching re@rement
age, and if we do not implement a comprehensive succession plan, we
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will have serious brain-drain challenges, within the Government
Garage sec@on.
In our pursuit to professionalise Public Service, we con@nue to
implement capacity building interven@ons, amongst the Department’s
Senior Management Personnel.
Our plans, are conscious of gender parity issues, and the
empowerment of people with disabili@es.
Programme 2 – Public Transport Opera1ons
With the assistance of the Office of the Premier, and the Provincial
Treasury, we are engaged in a series of mee@ngs with the Gateway
Airports Authority Limited, with the view of assis@ng the En@ty to be
self-sustainable, and to rely less on Government’s Financial backing.
On the instruc@on of the Honourable Premier, Chupu Stanley
Mathabatha, the En@ty has been directed to embark on a peer review
expedi@on, that will convert it into a competent and dominant
industry player.
Honourable Speaker, of the R 932. 630 Million, allocated for Public
Transport Opera@ons, an amount of R 74. 432 Million is for
Compensa@on of Employees, and a further R 70. 494 Million, will be
appor@oned to GAAL, to sustain its opera@ons.
The alloca@on to GAAL is done with the understanding that
Government’s grant must ul@mately diminish, as the En@ty’s turnaround strategy starts to bear fruits.
We shall not renege on our social pact, with over 20 Million
passengers, who rely on our subsidised public transport, that connects
them between their homes and economic nodes.
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An amount of R 767. 229 Million has been allocated for the Bus
Subsidies programme, in this Financial Year.
Through these subsidies, we have cushioned the economic hardships
which would ordinarily be faced by Millions of our commuters.
With the assistance of the Council for Scien@fic and Industrial Research
- CSIR, the Department has commissioned a study into the current
public transport opera@ons, and the routes they are covering.
The purpose of this study, was to ensure that Government is able to
draw value for money, in this programme, and also to revamp the
current contract arrangement, which are almost becoming ‘evergreen’.
Government will certainly tread carefully, in this regard, and the
revision of these contracts will be done in a manner that is responsive
to the current vola@le economic dispensa@on.
We are making a clarion call to Municipali@es to ensure that the
designs of their Integrated Transport Plans, are defined by public
transport needs, and will avoid instances of oversupply, which in many
instances leads to taxi conflicts and violence.
Meanwhile, the Public Regulatory En@ty, con@nues to watch over the
applica@ons of new opera@ng licenses, like a hawk.
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Programme 3 – Transport Regula1on
We have allocated an amount of R 850.132 Million for this programme,
with the bulk of the budget being dedicated towards the
compensa@on of employees, and the construc@on of various Traffic
Sta@ons and the development of the Limpopo Traffic College, in
Manenu.
This programme hosts the crux of our services, and it has much of our
workforce, who are our dedicated Traffic Officers.
Because we are generally a service driven Department, a total of
R 711. 275 Million of this programme, is spent on the Compensa@on
of Employees.
Honourable Speaker, in the past Financial Year, we have completed
the upgrading of Block B of the Traffic College, which was the
construction of a 40 beds dormitory, at the cost of R 18 Million.
This upgrading was done to improve the conditions under which
Traffic Officers are trained.
An additional R 14 Million has been set aside, for the completion of
Block C, in this Financial Year.
The Kitchen and the Canteen, at the College as well, have also been
allocated a separate amount of R 16 Million. These projects, must all
be undertaken in the 2023/24 Financial Year.
We are also busy with the construction of the K53 and Motor Vehicle
Testing Pit at the Thohoyandou Traffic Station. An amount of R 18
Million has been set aside for this project.
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We have also advertised a Tender, for the construction of the Seshego
K53 and Motor Vehicle Testing Pit. An amount of R 15 Million has been
allocated for the project.
The Department is in consultation with our Sister-Department of
Public Works and Roads Infrastructure, to finalise the acquisition of
land, for the upgrading of the Mampakuil Weighbridge.
Of the R24 Million that is earmarked for the Mampakuil project, R 3
Million has been set aside, to acquire land.
Plans for the construction of the Dilokong K53 and Motor Vehicle
Testing Pit, are also afoot. The land is available, and the Department
is finalising the modalities, around the construction of this project.
The Department will continue with the maintenance of all traffic
facilities. A budget of R 6.6 Million has been set aside for maintenance
of traffic facilities.
We are engaged in robust discussions with the Road Traffic
Management Corpora@on, to allow us to appoint a 150 learners, to be
enrolled within the Traffic Learnership Programme, in this Financial
Year.
Delays around this development, have been caused by the mooted
plans, to re-adjust the curriculum, from a 12 months training
programme, to become a fully-fledged 3 years’ Diploma.
In terms of supressing road carnages, we have outdone ourselves
during the first 3 quarters of the past Financial Year.
We were able to reduce fatali@es, by a staggering 20.8% during the
Fes@ve period, because of the numerous interven@on mechanisms,
that we employed.
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We view the reduc@on from 226 fatali@es in 2021, to a 179 in 2022, as
a quantum leap, towards our efforts of reducing fatali@es, on our
roads.
This, is aHributable to the constant presence of traffic officers with
speed cameras on our roads.
It was only afer the beginning of this calendar year, and the last
quarter of the 2022/23 Financial Year, that we started to experience
an increased number of horrific accidents, with mul@ple fatali@es.
We are s@ll reeling from shock, from the accident that killed 22
passengers, on the N1 outside Makhado, on the 13th February 2023.
Subsequent to that, we also experienced another fatality, in the Elias
Motsoaledi Municipality, where 16 people lost their lives, including 7
learners.
These fatali@es, are devasta@ng to families, as they leave most of them
without bread-winners and beloved members.
We have started with the process of employing new techniques during
this past Easter Long Weekend, where we placed our officials within
the 10km radius on the N1 between Kranskop and Polokwane.
Our manageable fatality records on the N1, are testament to the
effec@veness of this methodology.
On Taxi Violence, our cordial rela@ons with organised structures, like
the South African Na@onal Taxi Council and the Na@onal Taxi Alliance,
con@nue to bear fruits.
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Programme 4 – Provincial Secretariat for Police Services
A great part of our mandate, as the Department, is to perform an
oversight func@on over the South African Police Services.
We con@nue to enjoy cordial rela@ons with the SAPS, under the
Leadership of Provincial Commissioner Lieutenant General Thembi
Hadebe.
We are working around the clock, with the SAPS, to device
interven@on mechanisms, in areas that have challenges of high crime
rate.
We are placing concerted efforts, of amplifying our crime figh@ng
machinery, in the Thohoyandou, Mankweng, Mahwelereng,
Lebowakgomo and Seshego Policing areas.
We con@nue to record worrying paHerns of contact crimes, and it is
our shared view, together with the Provincial Commissioner,
Lieutenant-General Hadebe, that we must deploy innova@ve ways to
fight crime, and protect our communi@es.
Of the R 56. 563 Million allocated to this programme, a great part of
it, is dedicated to the sustenance of effec@ve and func@onal
Community Policing and Community Safety Forums.
We have aHested how the formula@on of CPF’s and CSF’s have greatly
contributed to the reduc@on of crime.
The crime awareness Imbizos conducted by the department and the
SAPS, are assisting in the fight against crime and Gender Based
Violence and Femicide.
In this Financial Year, we will conduct a research project to investigate
“The impact of public protest on South African Police Service”.
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Its focus will be on the Limpopo Province, to assess the hot spots for
public protests, the nature of the protests, the frequency thereof, the
reasons behind the protests, the manner of response by the South
African Police Service and the effect these have on the police service.
All these, are our earnest attempt to build a responsive Government,
that is able to make strategic interventions in the service delivery
needs of our people.
We have also conducted a series of crime awareness campaigns, in the
form of workshops, throughout the Province to address issues of Rural
Safety, and conduct Door to Door campaigns to address Drug and
Substance Abuse, as well as Crimes against Vulnerable Groups.
The department further managed to contribute to the fight against
Gender Based Violence, by conducting bespoke awareness
campaigns, with the recent Imbizo being held in the 4th Quarter, at
Phiphidi Village in the Vhembe District.
In the past Financial Year, we have registered 300 Young Civilians on
Patrol (YCOP) and 525 Extended Public Works Programme (EPWP)
participants.
These groups are critical towards the fight against crime, within their
localities, as they help to debush crime hotspots and conduct patrols
in some areas.
For the 2023/24 Financial Year, we will be increasing the number of
YCOP’s to 400, and will maintain the EPWP’s at 500.
We will sustain the momentum of conducting crime prevention
programmes in our communities, with the view of addressing Crimes
against Vulnerable Groups, Rural Safety and anti-Drug and Substance
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Abuse Campaigns, and encourage Public Participation in crime
prevention.
Central to our crime prevention strategies, is the need to have
effective Community Police Forums and Community Safety Forums.
The 2022/2023 financial period marked Five years since the launch of
the Community Policing Forum (CPFs) and Community Safety Forums
(CSF’s) in the province.
During the 1st and 2nd quarter of the previous year the department
was hard at work relaunching these community structures for the
coming five years as their existence is aligned to the local government
electoral cycle.
To this end, the department has managed to relaunch 28 CSFs and 110
CPFs, and workshops have been conducted to capacitate them to
carry out their tasks with commitment and diligence.
The Province has dedicated a total budget of R 15. 241 Million for
Partnerships. Almost 50% of this budget is allocated specifically for the
payment of sitting allowances in respect of the community structures.
The sitting allowance is for the reimbursement of the members’
airtime, data and transportation in their crime fighting activities and
efforts to build safer communities.
For the 2023/2024 financial year, the department will conduct 5
outreach programs to educate communities about Gender Based
Violence, Domestic Violence, their rights and responsibilities and the
type of services they can get from government.
In this financial year, we will also be implementing the National Census
Project at 104 police stations. The project is initiated by the Civilian
Secretariat for Police Service, to gather data that will assist in
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developing new policies and regulations to improve the service and
compliance standards of the SAPS.
We have established a complaints management desk at Provincial and
National imbizos to register service delivery complaints against the
police. This is in addition to complaints received through walk-ins,
Premier and Presidential Hotline.
Conclusion.
As I conclude Honourable Speaker, let me bring to the aHen@on of this
august House, and the people of Limpopo, that we have observed
unprecedented levels of pedestrians’ fatali@es, during this past Easter
Long Weekend.
Close to 16 fatali@es, involved pedestrians. This means that we must
heighten our Road Safety Campaigns towards pedestrians, in this
Financial Year.
What is more shocking, with this ugly spate, Honourable Members, is
an emerging culture of drivers who drive away, afer being involved in
these type of accidents.
Honourable Speaker, our plans will amount to nought, if we overlook
issues of prudent financial governance and accountability, as we
deliver our services.
As the Execu@ve Authority, I have had a series of vigorous
engagements, with the Head of Department and his Execu@ve
Management, where I have registered my serious reserva@ons, about
our inability to aHain a commendable audit opinion.
We have a history of obtaining Clean Audit Opinions, from the Auditor
General, but we have regressed substan@ally in the 2021/22 Financial
Period.
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I am certain that the people of this Province, on whose behalf we are
leading this Government, are also worried with these state of affairs.
Honourable Speaker, I therefore present this Budget of R 2. 484 Billion
of the Department of Transport and Community Safety, to the people
of the Limpopo Province, with the following breakdowns:
R 1. 135 Billion for Compensa@on of Employees.
R 372. 921 Million for Goods and Services.
R 864. 009 Million for Transfers and Subsidies
R 111. 675 Million for Payments for Capital Assets
Honourable Members, I want to thank the Premier of the Province,
Honourable Chupu Stanley Mathabatha, under whose tutelage and
support we con@nue to lead.
I want to thank the Head of Department, Mr Stephen Matjena and his
Team of Officials from the Department, for burning the mid-night oil,
and ensuring that this Department con@nues to be a provider of
superior services.
I am also grateful of the support that is accorded to me, by my family
- my husband, Apostle Radzilani and our children.
It is Rohini Nilekani, an Indian author and philanthropist, who reminds
us that, “We cannot be mere consumers of good governance, but we
must be par@cipants and co-creators of good governance”.
I thank you.
