South African History Online

April 14, 1992

Comrades and Friends,
Ladies and Gentlemen.

The ANC is once again privileged to be invited to address your organisation,
we take this opportunity of congratulating you on your outstanding contributions
through transport and transport related services to develop black economic
empowerment.

It is our view that the transport industry in South Africa serves as a basic
integrating factor. We wish to encourage the further co-ordinated development of
this sector, since people mobility has an enormous impact on access to
education, health, information and communications.

It is a source of great pride to the ANC that the black business community
has not only entered into a highly competitive area, which had hitherto been
closed to them, but had out competed major state monopolies such as the South
African railways and harbours. You have shown that black business people can
compete effectively with a high degree of seriousness and responsibility towards
development. We are aware that in the process of transformation major
difficulties will be confronting us. We will find resolutions in the processes
used by both Nafto, Sabta and other black transport organisations as models.

We anticipate that as we move towards political resolution in this country,
greater opportunities will be opened in the transport and freight industry.

We have been encouraging foreign investors to link up with the black
transport organisations as they pass through our country trying to do
feasibility studies.

Our task is to prepare for the growth of a dynamic economy once we have
achieved our goal of a non-racial, non sexist united and democratic South
Africa. This objective must find its root in our planning right now!

Once again, we commend the black transport organisations for the tremendous
efforts that are underway for training of personnel at all levels. I was
singularly impressed with the conceptualisation of the development of the National African Federated Transport Academy. The college provides
specific training and is guided by the transport needs of our community. The ANC
believes that we cannot allow situations of conflict to bedevil the growth in
the black transport industry and we encourage you all to find solutions from
within which are based on joint discussions by the organisations.

We believe that a coherent transportation policy should emanate from the
joint debates within transport organisations, trade unions and political
structures. the debates must be based on clearly defined quality of life
objectives - including economic development, protection of the environment,
accessibility, fairness and choice, safety and security, energy and efficiency,
accountability and flexibility.

I wish to end my message to you all with appreciation for your achievements
and to say to you that the ANC will continue to support the economic empowerment
of the black community.