Asking the private sector and civil society to come to the aid of the government to address the dire state of the country’s roads borders on the ridiculous.
With his budget speech, the Minister of Transport, Fikile Mbalula, called on the private sector and civil society to tackle the challenge of potholes on provincial and municipal roads.
This comes months after TLU SA already launched a campaign to bring the dire and dangerous condition of the country’s roads and its consequences – danger to food security – to Mbalula’s attention. Link to campaign page https://tluveldtogte.co.za/en/roads/
“The private sector has been working hard since 1994 through annual tax contributions, while the government and ministers have enriched themselves through corruption and are not fulfilling their responsibilities,” said Mr Bennie van Zyl, TLU SA General Manager.
“Mr Mbalula might be better off saying it is time for the ANC to be honest and admit that it is failing. I wonder if the voters of South Africa can point out to us one thing that the ANC has improved since 1994? Empty and unrealistic promises are the order of the day.
The price of this government is already too high for South Africans, but it is getting higher every day.”
Mr Van Zyl made the following comparison to explain the situation: “The country’s infrastructure can be compared to certain organs or parts of the human body. When it is not functioning optimally, the body gradually deteriorates, it degenerates and then comes to a standstill (death). This is what the infrastructure means for the economy. If the infrastructure does not function properly, you are faced with the harsh reality that the entire economic order is degenerating until you finally experience economic death – and with junk status, this is where we are already.”
Mr Van Zyl further made it clear that it is not that simple to just draw the private sector closer to solve the government’s problems. “The way in which the ANC governs the country is precisely the cause of our problems and now the Minister is backtracking … his proposal is in all honesty ridiculous. He will have to come to the table with more to begin with. Such as tax concessions and the public should be exempted from any liability if they are to become involved in road repairs. Our country has a cumbersome system that simply cannot reach decisions, how are we going to carry out these actions?”
TLU SA also has a strong position on the sabotage to which the minister referred.
“You and your government are the sabotage … by way of your inability, you are stealing the inhabitants of our country’s future.”
