November 24, 2005
By Lucille Davie
GAUTENG Premier Mbhazima Shilowa is confident the financial details of the Gautrain will be finalised by the end of the year, and that the sod-turning ceremony will take place in January 2006.
At a press conference on Wednesday Shilowa explained that, in the face of criticism about the Gautrain, he was "not worried at all" about it going ahead as planned.
He said he had the backing of the national government although it had been a long and thorough process to get its approval.
"While the national Treasury took time to give its final authorisation, the [Gauteng] executive was pleased that they were able to look into the matter in a thorough manner before giving final authorisation," he said.
In October Finance Minister Trevor Manuel announced that the Gautrain, linking Johannesburg, Tshwane and the Johannesburg International Airport, would cost R20-billion, almost three times the original R7-billion.
The Gautrain has recently been debated in parliament, with the parliamentary transport committee expressing some doubt regarding its viability and huge cost.
Shilowa reminded the press that the process started back in 1999 when a pre-feasibility study was completed. At the time he announced that the first passengers would step on board the train in 2005 - an indication of how long the process has taken, with construction still not off the ground.
Once it was decided to build the train by means of a public-private partnership, he said, the national government was approached.
Before final approval was given some five years later, however, the long process of satisfying the government about the train's feasibility, as well as fulfilling private-public partnership requirements, had begun.
"To move on a project of this magnitude, we had to satisfy certain national prerogatives," he said.
Shilowa stressed that Manuel was very strict about approving big projects like the Gautrain, and wanted to know exactly what the spin-off benefits were likely to be.
The province indicated that besides easing traffic congestion between Joburg and Tshwane, economic growth, urban regeneration and reducing poverty and unemployment were some of the goals.
The Department of Transport is making R10-billion available from its infrastructure budget over the next three years; the other R10-billion will be raised through loans and through the private sector.
"You can't fund noble ideas, you need to fund a plan. He would not have given us a cent with lofty ideals."
He said that if Metrorail had approached Manuel with a plan for a R10-billion project, the money would be found.
In the meantime, negotiations with the preferred bidder, Bombela Consortium, on the final price are continuing and will be concluded by 15 December, or at least by the end of December.
The Gautrain was to be integrated with the Metrorail system already in place, Shilowa emphasised.
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