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Colleagues in government,
Today is rather a strange function at which I will formally be saying goodbye to you, but at the same time I will still be the Minister of Transport for almost another fortnight.
We decided to have this function today (before the new government and Minister of Transport is announced) so that we can say our goodbyes before we start our hallos.
I am sure that there is much anxiety as to who your new minister will be. That is only natural, but there is no need for fear as government will continue along the path it has set over the past five years.
During the five years I have been in office we have steered Transport on a clear course that has the full backing of government. This is what national government policy is and government has put in place mechanisms to make sure that there is a smooth handover in departments which will have a new minister.
Today is rather a special moment for us, as a Department, to reflect on what we have achieved over these past five years and for me to thank you for the role you have played in our success.
I look back on this period with a lot of pride. Sure, there are some things that I wish we were able to get further down the road on. But does not in any way detract from our achievements.
We have achieved a lot in five years. We have:
set in place a White Paper on National Transport Policy that is supported by our partners throughout the transport sector;
in line with our White Paper we have restructured the national Department of Transport into an organisation geared to policy, regulation and strategy development;
through restructuring we have established four agencies geared towards their customers' needs in cross-border travel, national roads, and the aviation and maritime industries;
we have undone the legacy of the past in both bus and rail transport as well as begun to introduce a level of regulation in the minibus taxi industry;
we have overseen the number of airlines flying to South Africa soar while the number of people moving through our airports treble. This has done without any major air disasters and barr a few disturbances at JIA, the aviation industry have never looked more competitive and healthy;
we were involved in the full privatisation of SunAir and the partial privatisation of ACSA...raising millions for the national fiscus while bringing international expertise and experience into our operations;
we have introduced public-private partnerships on roads and been able to raise billions for much needed road infrastructure;
in the SDI programme we have made the Maputo Corridor and the Lubombo SDI realities;
and metropolitan areas, our urban corridors are undoing the apartheid spatial planning of our cities and building up routes for an effective passenger transport system that is grounded on customer needs and economic logic and therefore is sustainable;
we have outsourced government motor vehicle financing, maintenance and provision, which will shift the financial risk to the private sector who are best able to manage this service without the high levels of abuse and corruption we have seen in the past;
we have build up a new spirit in our maritime industry as well as setting new standards for the ships that leave our shores through more frequent inspections;
through ARRIVE ALIVE we had achieved a greater level of awareness of road safety than we have ever had in this country. We have helped get traffic officers to start to work as a coherent force for law and order on our roads and have armed them with up-to-date equipment;
in the long term we have put in place the CCF licence as well as AARTO and the RTMC, which together will play a crucial role in traffic law enforcement in our country;
Transport is also leading the way in the campaign against HIV/AIDS as we set up partnerships across the transport industry to fight this pandemic and support people living with HIV/AIDS;
and to crown it all we have in place, a 20-year strategy for transport in the Moving South Africa project.
Those, colleagues, are just a few of our achievements. We would never have been able to have achieved so much without support and enthusiasm from you.
I have received much praise and many accolades during my term in office, but all of you are aware that the secret of any one person's success is the quality of the team that they have put in place behind them.
There are some people that I must thank in person.
Firstly, I would like to thank my previous Director General Ketso Gordhan and his successor Dipak Patel.
Ketso, who now has the challenging task to managing the city of Johannesburg, was a powerful force in the success Transport has had in undoing the legacy of our past and formulating the platform for a customer-driven Transport policy within our national economic goals as well as a new, restructured Department of Transport.
His contribution along with the rest of the national Department of Transport has been enormous and his vision and his leadership will remain with all of us who have been privileged to work with him.
He was at the centre of the team that transformed the Department of Transport with Dipak, Nazir (who went to head up the National Roads Agency), Brian (who started SAMSA), Trevor (who leads the CAA), Hennie, Gerrie , Harald, Karin, Wrenelle and Antoinette.
They were joined by August Maluleke at the Cross-Border Road Transport Agency. The CEOs, together with their staff, have carved out a new terrain of customer service at arm's length from government. For this I thank you all.
Inside the Department, under the leadership of Dipak a new environment is emerging that provides challenging career paths for you. To the newcomers, Sipho and Jerry, I wish you well as you become part of our shared vision for transport in this country.
I cannot unfortunately thank you all by name. I think immediately of Lawrence, who in a short time, has made a substantial contribution in the taxi process, to all the road traffic staff who work so tirelessly for ARRIVE ALIVE in every campaign. I would li ke you all to know that you have my heartfelt thanks.
I would also like to thank the Parliamentary staff in Cape Town under Adrian who got all the legislation and questions in place for the new Department of Transport to be function.
My special thanks to Thembi for the time and effort she spent in Cape Town keeping the process on track and to Nomsa, who played a vital role in liaising between the Department and the Portfolio Committees at all times.
I don't think many of you who are based in Pretoria realise how special the relationship that exists between us and our portfolio committees is and how important it is in overall governance. This is in no small part due to their sterling work. Thank you.
Finally, I would like to thank my Ministry staff (Didi, Ben, Haniel, Roelien, Busi, Klaus, and Oscar) who always tracked me down to make sure I was on the right plane in the right city with the correct pile of documents in my case. Thank you.
To Dipak, and his senior management team (Sipho, Harald, Jerry, Karin, Wrenelle, Dan, Hennie, Thembi and Gerrie) I will be introducing you to the new minister to ensure that there is a smooth transition from my ministry to the next.
And my bodyguards and drivers; Malcolm, Sam and Walker in Gauteng and Anwar and Steven in Cape Town, thank you.
I accept that there will be uncertainties but you will be given the opportunity to set your path in the relationship with the new minister from the outset. It is in your hands.
I will be following your progress with interest and I wish you all well.
There are exciting challenges that lie ahead for Transport. In the time we have worked together I think we have all learnt new aspects of the dynamic role transport plays and the limitless possibilities that it has for making a difference in the life of people in our country.
In conclusion, I would like you to know that my decision to retire from government was not taken easily and it is with sadness that I will be closing the door on this extraordinary chapter in my life.
It has been a privilege to serve both my country and my President in our country's first democratic government, and for that I give my heartfelt thanks.
My decision to leave government must never been seen as a decision to leave either the African National Congress or politics. I have spent many years within its discipline and look forward to continuing to play an active role in the National Executive Committee of the ANC.
My decision is not a change in the fundamentals principles of my life, but rather a reordering of the priorities.
Throughout my life (in military training, in the underground, in detention and prison, in exile, in the endless rounds of negotiations and talks, and in government) I have been supported by friends, comrades and family. But the needs of the movement always came first.
Today we live in a different time, and we have the opportunity to think differently about our lives because for the first time many of us feel we have choices and that we can start to lead normal lives.
My family have borne the burden of my activities. For years underground in South Africa as the commander of Vula, they didn't know from one day to the next whether I was alive, arrested or dead.
The burden didn't ease when we all returned to South Africa to live as a family for the first time.
I disappeared into the endless nights of Codesa and then after 1994, into government where I again became a part-time father and husband. My decision now is to normalise my life and to put the needs of my family first because I need to be with them.
I will certainly miss government. The most powerful and compelling reason to be in government is that it affords you the opportunity to make a difference; to be able to redress our divided past as we build our united future.
The guiding and motivating force in my life has been the eradication of poverty and social and gender inequality because the wealth of our country and its people will always be undermined if we do not address this burning issue. And it will continue to guide my life.
There are the inevitable projects that I wish I could have taken further. But one thing I have learnt about government is that for everything there is a season: You can drive a process but you cannot force the pace.
I leave the Department knowing that there are people at the helm who can help increase the pace of change in our country.
I thank you all.

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