SPEECH BY CLLR JUSTUS DE GOEDE
Annexure A Bus rapid transit function
Mr Speaker
Allow me to address these closely-aligned Items jointly, as each bears directly on the other.
The DA has often said in the past that the BRT proposals, which have also been adopted by Johannesburg and Cape Town, are with some reservations, a positive development. No conventional bus system in South Africa can be described as working well and the concept of a dedicated bus thoroughfare, while extremely expensive and complex to build, has been shown elsewhere to contribute to moving people rapidly and safely. Item 3 correctly identifies the problem of taking the taxi industry in particular with us, as both Cape Town and Johannesburg found out to their cost.
Having said this, I think we have to admit that the BRT system in this city – and I am fairly sure the same goes for the other Metros – will not be ready to contribute to public transport in 2010, which makes the reference on page 9 to the fact that “Tshwane’s new buses will not be delivered”, puzzling. I take it these are the standard passenger busses, not suited to the BRT. Estimates from manufacturers are that about 1 200 extra buses would be needed in SA for 2010, assuming they can be built in time ; how does our Metro tend to tackle this problem?
I know that the Mayor is allergic to the word “bus”, but I would be pleased to hear from the MMC exactly what is on the table for the extremely demanding transport program for the World Cup ; we surely don’t intend to run the present museum pieces during the tournament, even if Economic Development has requested a budget for paint to make them look more presentable.
So, mr Speaker, if BRT is no-show in 2010, what then?
Thank you
Councillor Justus de Goede (083 7332557)
Mr Speaker
Allow me to address these closely-aligned Items jointly, as each bears directly on the other.
The DA has often said in the past that the BRT proposals, which have also been adopted by Johannesburg and Cape Town, are with some reservations, a positive development. No conventional bus system in South Africa can be described as working well and the concept of a dedicated bus thoroughfare, while extremely expensive and complex to build, has been shown elsewhere to contribute to moving people rapidly and safely. Item 3 correctly identifies the problem of taking the taxi industry in particular with us, as both Cape Town and Johannesburg found out to their cost.
Having said this, I think we have to admit that the BRT system in this city – and I am fairly sure the same goes for the other Metros – will not be ready to contribute to public transport in 2010, which makes the reference on page 9 to the fact that “Tshwane’s new buses will not be delivered”, puzzling. I take it these are the standard passenger busses, not suited to the BRT. Estimates from manufacturers are that about 1 200 extra buses would be needed in SA for 2010, assuming they can be built in time ; how does our Metro tend to tackle this problem?
I know that the Mayor is allergic to the word “bus”, but I would be pleased to hear from the MMC exactly what is on the table for the extremely demanding transport program for the World Cup ; we surely don’t intend to run the present museum pieces during the tournament, even if Economic Development has requested a budget for paint to make them look more presentable.
So, mr Speaker, if BRT is no-show in 2010, what then?
Thank you
Councillor Justus de Goede (083 7332557)
SPEECH BY CLLR PETER MILLAR (DA), ward 41.
Annexure A.2. Item 1
Tshwane International Freight Airport
Member of the Portfolio Committee, City Planning and Regional Development.
In the book, Alice in Wonderland, they spoke about curioser and curioser.
In this municipality everything is curiouser and curioser.
This report about the Tshwane International Freight Airport is not just curioser, but also imaginable and quite comical.
About two years ago when the original report first served in Council, it stated the following:
This was a private initiative and the municipality would not be involved.
The only costs to the municipality would be provision of services, water, sewage, electricity, roads, etc.
The main reason for establishing this airport was that Boeing wanted to build a service centre in the southern hemisphere and this was the perfect location.
Freight would be a secondary activity to make extra money.
Wonderboom Airport would not be affected at all by the new airport.
This report starts off with some very flowery language that is reminiscent of the Wonderland that Alice lived in.
In point 2, if you believe the writer, you can imagine the six lane freeway that extends all the way all the way up Africa, through the rift valley, into Cairo. All fantasy, of cause.
The writer of the report starts to hallucinate even more when he talks about the airport creating 66 000 new jobs every year. That is just a dream.
The hallucination continues through the report.
No mention is made of Boeing and its service centre. Maybe that was an illusion in the first place.
The costs of development will be the responsibility of the municipality.
It goes so far as to say that the Municipality must expropriate the land.
Then the report reaches its height of obserdity when it says that Wonderboom Airport must close.
As you can see, this is in total contradiction to the earlier report.
Maybe this report was presented as some kind of joke for our amusement. In that case the writer has something in common with the author of Alice in Wonderland, Lewis Carroll.
However, the author was known use opium before writing his books. I certainly hope that the writer of this report does not use opium or anything like that. I hope it was only his wild, creative, imagination that came to the fore while writing this report.
To be able to imagine that this municipality could afford buying the land when money is in such short supply, is a real gift. We are talking about hundreds of millions of rands. However, the report does not specify how much all this will cost, but does expect this almost bankrupt Council to make a decision.
I would venture to say that there are numerous other projects have priority before this type of expenditure.
This project can only become a reality with the backing of national government. We can never do it on our own. Why we are even trying, I don’t know.
We must have a serious commitment from national government before we waste any more time and effort on this unaffordable project.
Let’s have a dose of reality and realise that we do not live in the fantasy world of Lewis Carroll’s Wonderland.
All that we have got is Gwen in Wonderland by Tobogo Komane.
PETER MILLAR
DA COUNCILLOR, WARD 41
012-342-0527
082-574-4103
petermillar@polka.co.za
Member of the Portfolio Committee, City Planning and Regional Development.
In the book, Alice in Wonderland, they spoke about curioser and curioser.
In this municipality everything is curiouser and curioser.
This report about the Tshwane International Freight Airport is not just curioser, but also imaginable and quite comical.
About two years ago when the original report first served in Council, it stated the following:
This was a private initiative and the municipality would not be involved.
The only costs to the municipality would be provision of services, water, sewage, electricity, roads, etc.
The main reason for establishing this airport was that Boeing wanted to build a service centre in the southern hemisphere and this was the perfect location.
Freight would be a secondary activity to make extra money.
Wonderboom Airport would not be affected at all by the new airport.
This report starts off with some very flowery language that is reminiscent of the Wonderland that Alice lived in.
In point 2, if you believe the writer, you can imagine the six lane freeway that extends all the way all the way up Africa, through the rift valley, into Cairo. All fantasy, of cause.
The writer of the report starts to hallucinate even more when he talks about the airport creating 66 000 new jobs every year. That is just a dream.
The hallucination continues through the report.
No mention is made of Boeing and its service centre. Maybe that was an illusion in the first place.
The costs of development will be the responsibility of the municipality.
It goes so far as to say that the Municipality must expropriate the land.
Then the report reaches its height of obserdity when it says that Wonderboom Airport must close.
As you can see, this is in total contradiction to the earlier report.
Maybe this report was presented as some kind of joke for our amusement. In that case the writer has something in common with the author of Alice in Wonderland, Lewis Carroll.
However, the author was known use opium before writing his books. I certainly hope that the writer of this report does not use opium or anything like that. I hope it was only his wild, creative, imagination that came to the fore while writing this report.
To be able to imagine that this municipality could afford buying the land when money is in such short supply, is a real gift. We are talking about hundreds of millions of rands. However, the report does not specify how much all this will cost, but does expect this almost bankrupt Council to make a decision.
I would venture to say that there are numerous other projects have priority before this type of expenditure.
This project can only become a reality with the backing of national government. We can never do it on our own. Why we are even trying, I don’t know.
We must have a serious commitment from national government before we waste any more time and effort on this unaffordable project.
Let’s have a dose of reality and realise that we do not live in the fantasy world of Lewis Carroll’s Wonderland.
All that we have got is Gwen in Wonderland by Tobogo Komane.
PETER MILLAR
DA COUNCILLOR, WARD 41
012-342-0527
082-574-4103
petermillar@polka.co.za
