MEC Cele will officially launch the Siyanqoba Ngokholo campaign at the Lamontville Methodist Church, Gwala Street in Lamontville, Durban

MEC Bheki Cele will join members of the SAPS in the destruction of more than 1 000 firearms at Reclamation Centre in Prospecton, Durban.

Premier S’bu Ndebele directed in his State of the Province Address that a comprehensive plan must be devised for de-armament in KwaZulu-Natal. The identified areas where de-armament will take place are the taxi industry, political violence, organized crime and psychological disarmament.

In this regard, MEC Cele has been critically looking at how the recovery of illegal firearms is being handled so that we may be sure that these firearms do not go back into circulation and use.

In the past year alone police in KwaZulu-Natal have embarked on five destructions and have destroyed a total of 4 763 firearms and parts thereof. KZN has led the way in this project having detected and destroyed the most number of these menacing weapons. Since the implementation of these operations and the destruction of firearms, we will witness once again and for the sixth time on Tuesday, the destruction of over 1 000 firearms and parts thereof including barrels, magazines, and so on. These firearms have gone through the entire judicial processes, have been tested ballistically and are now destined for destruction.

MEC Bheki Cele will host a media breakfast at the Hilton Hotel, Durban.

The purpose of this media briefing is to bring the media up to speed regarding recent developments in the public transport industry in the province. The KZN Department of Transport has just completed a three-day Public Transport Indaba where important issues such as KZN’s current stance on the national taxi recapitalization programme, preparations for the 2010 soccer world cup were discussed. Other important resolutions regarding the public transport industry were also taken.

KwaZulu-Natal MEC for Transport, Safety and Security Mr. Bheki Cele will officially open District Road 903 at Shobashobane on the KZN South Coast.

As we celebrate ten years of democracy, it is places like Shobashobane that must benefit. Since the Shobashobane massacre, this area was almost deserted and community infrastructure such as schools, clinics and other institutions were left unattended. This had a negative spiral effect on many things, including the road network.

Lack of development activities in the area accelerated the rate of unemployment. But thanks to democracy, life here is now being restored to normality through programmes of organizations such as the KZN Department of Transport.

This road project was identified as a launching pad for development and job creation and has been completed at a cost of more than R1, 4 million with the department utilizing Vukuzakhe emerging contractors and local labour.

MEC Bheki Cele is serious about governments’ pledge to promote access to information and will officially launch his department’s door-to door information delivery campaign at Umzumbe on the KZN South Coast.

Currently, the monthly external newsletter of the Ministry called "Igalelo" is inserted into various news publications. This has resulted in a situation where people who do not have adequate access to the media are not properly informed of the activities and progress of the respective departments.

However, this is all set to change. MEC Cele wants these newsletters to be delivered door-to-door, especially in areas where people cannot afford to buy newspapers. In line with government’s "Batho Pele" programme and empowerment drive, this initiative will now not only allow more citizens of our province better access to information but employment opportunities will also be created in the process.

KwaZulu-Natal MEC for Transport, Safety and Security Mr. Bheki Cele will officially open District Road 903 at Shobashobane on the KZN South Coast on Sunday, 15 August 2004 commencing at 10h00.  

As we celebrate ten years of democracy, it is places like Shobashobane that must benefit. Since the Shobashobane massacre, this area was almost deserted and community infrastructure such as schools, clinics and other institutions were left unattended. This had a negative spiral effect on many things, including the road network.  

Lack of development activities in the area accelerated the rate of unemployment. But thanks to democracy, life here is now being restored to normality through programmes of organizations such as the KZN Department of Transport.  

This road project was identified as a launching pad for development and job creation and has been completed at a cost of more than R1,4 million with the department utilizing Vukuzakhe emerging contractors and local labour.

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His Majesty the King, King Goodwill Zwelithini, KwaZulu-Natal Premier S'bu Ndebele, MEC for Transport, Safety and Security Mr. Bheki Cele, other members of the provincial cabinet, members of the provincial legislature, representatives from the taxi industry and various other dignitaries and stakeholders will attend a taxi peace celebration at KwaKhangela Mankengane, KwaNongoma in northern KZN.

KZN MEC for Transport, Safety and Security Mr. Bheki Cele will deliver the keynote address at a joint partnership between the Ethekwini Municipality and the KZN church-based community organisations and the launch of their safety zones campaign at the Interfellowship Church, Eksteen Road, Wentworth south of Durban.

KZN MEC for Transport, Safety and Security Mr. Bheki Cele will deliver his first budget speech for the 2004/05 financial year at the KZN Legislature, Longmarket Street, Pietermaritzburg commencing at 09h00.

Under the theme, "Defending the Weakest", Cele has proposed certain wide sweeping changes, including a name change for the Department of Safety and Security. Other important issues that will be covered include:

• Preparations for the 2010 Soccer World Cup,
• The integration of community policing forums and community road safety councils to compliment each other and to assist, especially in areas such as the safety of commuters and eradicating taxi violence,
• The pooling of Transport and SAPS resources and efforts in order to maximize benefits for the citizens of the province, and
• Influencing the transformation of the SAPS into a more effective, respectable and people-orientated service.

Hundreds of staff members of the KZN Transport Department from all over the province will attend. The aim of this annual event is to solidify unity amongst employees of the Department.

The objectives include:

• To bring unity and promote various sporting activities within the Department of Transport,
• To strengthen relationships and communication channels amongst staff, and
• To promote healthy lifestyles amongst staff.

The theme for this year’s Sport’s Day is, “BUILDING A BETTER TEAM TOWARDS PROSPERITY”.

The purpose of the briefing is to inform the media about observations made by MEC Cele over the past three weeks during his visits to various SAPS stations and Department of Transport offices in the province during which he interacted with staff and departmental stakeholders, including community policing forums, community road safety councils, emerging contractor associations, representatives from the taxi industry and so on.

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The memorial, which commences at 11h00, will take place at the Sweetwaters main road where the accident occurred. The memorial forms part of the department’s road safety programme, Siyabakhumbula ("we remember them") which was initiated to remember all those people who lost their lives in road crashes.

KwaZulu-Natal MEC for Transport, Safety and Security Mr. Bheki Cele will officially launch a special policing partnership between various government departments and the Umzimkhulu Area Community Policing Board.

This partnership between the SAPS, Department of Education, Justice, Health, Transport, other government departments as well as various NGO’s to fight crime is probably the first of its kind in the country. The main focus of the initiative is to create synergies between the various departments, civic organisations and the public with a view to reducing crime.

This partnership has already proved highly successful when a recent murder case was solved with the accused being convicted in court in just one week.

KwaZulu-Natal MEC for Transport, Safety and Security Mr. Bheki Cele will be the Guest of Honour at the Graduation Ceremony for 12 newly qualified traffic officers.

The duration of the traffic officer's course was six months from 5th January 2004 to 25th June 2004 and was attended by students from various municipalities around the province. The course included numerous subjects such as public transport, first aid, legal courses and many others.

As part of its Employee Assistance Programme (EAP), the KwaZulu-Natal Transport Department will be hosting HIV/AIDS workshops for its employees around the province from 21 June to 1 July 2004.

Following the workshops held in the Department of Transport Regions at Empangeni, Ladysmith, Pietermaritzburg and Durban last year, many employees have sought assistance/information regarding HIV/AIDS from the EAP component and some individuals have even come forward and disclosed their status.

Since then the EAP component has implemented strategies to provide treatment and care for infected HIV/AIDS employees. Approval to provide infected employees with complementary medication has subsequently been granted and a circular on the roll-out procedure is currently being drafted to inform Managers and their staff of the wellness pack called "Imuniti" that is being made available to all infected HIV/AIDS employees.

Each workshop will commence at 10H00 and finish at 15H00 and lunch will be provided. The dates and venues are as follows:

• 21^st June 2004 Ladysmith - Ladysmith Fleet Services Office
• 22^nd June 2004 Newcastle - Newcastle Town Hall

• 23^rd June 2004 Ulundi - Ulundi Multi-Purpose Hall
• 24^th June 2004 Empangeni - Imbizo Conference Centre

• 25^th June 2004 Pinetown - Edgewood College
• 28^th June 2004 Port Shepstone - Port Sheptstone Show Grounds

• 29^th June2004 Underberg - Underberg Country Club Grounds

• 30^th June 2004 - Natal Midlands Sporting Centre (Errol Mantle)

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The KwaZulu-Natal MEC for Transport, Safety & Security, Bheki Cele will be the Guest of Honour at Medal and Passing out Parade Ceremony for newly qualified Police Officers on Friday, 14 May 2004 at 10h00 at Chatsworth College, Durban.

Four Platoons will be passing out tomorrow, with those that excelled in their training receiving awards. The Medal Parade will be for Officers who have completed more than 10 years of service with the police force. New recruits passing out will be deployed to different police stations around the province to further their practical training.

The purpose of the Indaba is to report back to all department of transport stakeholders in the Empangeni Region on what has been achieved by the region during the past (2003/2004) financial year and what the Region’s plans for the current (2004/05) financial year are.

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Our mandate, as government, is to deliver a better life for all, but particularly for those so unjustly disadvantaged during apartheid. The cornerstone of any democracy and just society is a well informed public. It is this basic philosophy that has underpinned the KZN Transport Department's commitment to strengthening civil society in KwaZulu-Natal through the formation and training of fora and councils, such as our Rural Road Transport Forums, Community Road Safety Councils, Taxi Associations, Vukuzakhe Associations and many more.

Our annual summits provide an opportunity to keep the public properly informed about new developments in the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Transport and on how we have allocated our budgets. These summits also provide us with an opportunity to acknowledge the outstanding contributions that many of these civil society structures have made towards creating a better life for all in their communities and constituencies by awarding prizes to these stakeholders in various categories.

The KwaZulu-Natal Department of Transport has always committed itself to a communication strategy that ensures that all the public are well informed of what services and supports that they can expect from us. The fact that this is our tenth annual summit confirms this commitment. Access to knowledge and, through knowledge, the sharing of power must be easily available and affordable to all.

This has been one of the key projects under the African Renaissance Roads Upgrading (ARRUP) Project of the KZN Transport Department. The entire project from Mtubatuba through Hlabisa and Nongoma to Vryheid and Pongola is 117 kilometres long at a cost of over R300 million. The first phase of the project to Hlabisa has been completed and will be officially opened.

In probably another first for South Africa, Richards Bay Minerals (RBM) in conjunction with the KZN Transport Department have embarked on a public private partnership to initiate a safe driving project on RBM’s mining lease roads. Through this partnership RBM wishes to address "safe driving" on their roads as they believe that the current non-compliance with road traffic rules on their roads needs urgent attention. It is anticipated that this initiative will address speed control, safe driving habits, and vehicle roadworthiness, road safety training and coaching in the schools and surrounding communities and so on.

The decision by KWANATACO to move its offices from Durban to Pietermartizburg was to facilitate a closer working relationship with all major stakeholders thereby being able to provide an efficient and effective service to its customers. This move is also done in the sprit of celebrating 10 years of democracy and to also highlight where the taxi industry has moved in the last ten years from holding meetings under car boots and tress to where they are now. In the next ten years KWANTACO plans to transform its corporate image and to become a major player in the corporate world.

Being held under the theme "Laying the foundation for an equitable construction industry", this event is probably another first for South Africa. The KwaZulu-Natal Department of Transport through its policies and programmes has created new and sustainable jobs in the construction sector while our province has shed jobs in other influential sectors. The scale and multi-year nature of contract opportunities provided through ARRUP roads have allowed us to streamline our support systems to emerging contractors through our Vukuzakhe Emerging Contractor Programme.

A gathering of about 150 intellectuals to debate around issues on road safety and health. This is an academics session that will be attended by leading academics as a build-up to world Road Safety Day.

The KZN Department of Transport supported by the World Health Organisation under the auspices of the United Nations will be hosting World Road Safety Day. Thousands of people from all walks of life are expected to attend this event.

The fact that the World Health Organisation has dedicated World Health Day to Road Safety tells us that road related fatalities are a world wide problem and not just a South African or KwaZulu-Natal problem. Some countries have managed to find solutions and reduce the carnage on their roads. This is precisely why we have modelled our KwaZulu-Natal Road Safety initiatives and the National Arrive Alive initiative on that developed by Victoria, Australia.

The World Health Organisation has projected that, unless current trends are checked, an estimated 2, 4 million people will die every year in road crashes by 2020. This would make road crashes the third highest cause of death in the world (after heart disease and depression). In addition to a concern over such high fatalities the World Health Organisation notes that injuries due to road traffic collisions are a major drain on a nation’s health and financial resources. So much so that in some developing countries one in every ten hospital beds is occupied by a road traffic victim. In KwaZulu-Natal road collisions cost this province some R2 billion per annum.

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Ndebele has embarked on a number of far-reaching and major initiatives leading to the transformation of the public transport system in KwaZulu-Natal. These projects are complex and cut across all modes and will impact on a whole range of stakeholders. The establishment of the Ethekwini Transport Authority is seen as a vital requirement for the successful implementation of these projects as well as for the on-going management of the complex transport system in the Ethekwini region.

The Ethekwini Transport Authority represents an important delivery on policy at national and provincial level in terms of transport policy which was developed over many years. As the first transport authority to be established in the country, this is therefore a milestone initiative of national significance.

This event is being hosted by the Durban Chamber of Commerce and comes at a time when Durban is celebrating her diverse heritage and the status of being the world's premier tourism destination. The numerous international events that have been held in Durban, further complemented by Durban's good management practices have earned this city the status of the best-run city in Africa. To keep this momentum, it is therefore imperative that public private partnerships are enhanced.

For further information and enquiries please contact Zanele Mbokazi on 083 726 0060.

The PET Road Safety Project targets high school learners in KZN. All interested schools are invited to identify road safety problems in their areas and to research and develop a solution to these problems. Regional finals have been completed and attending the provincial finals will be approximately 80 learners. Learners will be evaluated on day one for their display and on day two for their presentation. Three schools will be selected as final winners (one school from the urban category and two from the rural category). The winning schools will each receive R10 000 worth of equipment for their respective schools.

Since 2001, as part of the KZN Transport Department's Rural Development Programme, road infrastructure projects totalling millions of rands have been put in place in KZN. This project as well will result in much needed development for this community and will contribute significantly to reducing the levels of poverty and creating many other opportunities to improve their living standards.

Main Road 69 is currently a gravel road which provides an important link between the coastal national route N20 (Port Shepstone to Port Edward), via P310 and the inland P284 from Izingolweni to Port Edward. It traverses predominantly farm land, both communal (inland) and commercial (coastal). The route supplies access to sugar cane farming near the coast and some light commercial traffic along its entire length.

The cost of this project is more than R11 million and the upgrading of this road, which is an important link to the national road, will have multiple economic and social benefits for the people of KwaNzimakwe and surrounds.

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Since Ndebele was appointed to the transport portfolio in 1994 the Vryheid Taxi Owner's Association has not been affected by incidents of taxi violence, wars and contentions. According to the Chairperson of the Vryheid Taxi Association, Mr Dlamini this can be attributed to the leadership provided by Ndebele as well as the close working relationship that has been forged between the KZN Transport Department and taxi associations. Hence, it was decided that this achievement should culminate in a celebration.

16 February 2004 – Empangeni at 10:00
17 February 2004 – Durban at 10:00
19 February 2004 – Ladysmith Town Hall at 10:00
20 February 2004 – Pietermaritzburg at the Royal Show Grounds at 10:00

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