Transport Minister Fikile Mbalula has told chairpersons and chief executives for transport public entities that lawlessness will not be tolerated.
Addressing the leaders on Wednesday during a meeting in Johannesburg, he said state-owned entities constitute an important vehicle in economic transformation, with the purpose of operationalising the broad socio-economic development plans of government.
“Your respective mandates are important in solving the unproductive parts of the economy, whilst reflecting the broad policy framework of government.
“This therefore means that none of you can afford to waste resources and be havens of corruption. We must address governance and financing challenges with single-minded determination and urgency,” the Minister said.
The Minister called on the leaders to ensure that they hire skilled professionals in order to achieve the set targets for the entities.
“We must equally take firm and decisive action to improve the performance of your respective entities through better governance, by ensuring the appointment of skilled staff and board members with the requisite skills, while guarding against improper interference, particularly in allocation of tenders and appointment of staff,” Mbalula said.
The Minister said the leaders must in their interventions, be cognisant of the necessity to create and advance Small, Medium and Micro Enterprise Businesses (SMMEs), co-operatives, village and township economies.
“The market for these businesses to flourish in the townships and villages are there and our people need to be supported to actualise the business opportunities and create better lives for themselves,” he said.
The Minister said the work of the transport sector must be guided by five strategic priorities.
These include safety as an enabler of service delivery; public transport that enables social emancipation and an economy that actually works; infrastructure build that grows the economy; building a maritime nation, elevating the oceans economy and accelerating transformation towards greater economic participation.
“We must similarly seek to optimize the developmental impact of our capital investment programme, particularly through the maximization of local content, with the explicit aim of creating jobs and strengthening local industry. Industrial linkages, labour absorption and increased Black participation must remain key objectives to ensure that we impact positively on the lives of our people,” he said. – SAnews.gov.za
