Cabinet+gives+Gautrain+the+nod,+Pressly,+M+and+G

= **Cabinet gives Gautrain the nod** =


 * Donwald Pressly | Cape Town, South Africa**


 * Mail & Guardian, Johannesburg, 08 December 2005 12:37**

The South African Cabinet this week considered a detailed presentation of the Gautrain Rapid Rail link project and gave a green light to it going ahead, government spokesperson Joel Netshitenzhe reported on Thursday.

At a media briefing after Wednesday's Cabinet meeting held in Pretoria -- and beamed by satellite to Cape Town -- Netshitenzhe said that national government wished to "reiterate its support" for the project including matters such as an integrated ticketing system, inclusive feeder network comprising buses, taxis and rail and "where possible integration of Gautrain with [the existing] Metrorail".

The project, which is expected to cost at least R20-billion, got the thumbs down recently from the National Assembly transport portfolio committee.

It argued it was too expensive in the context of what other transport modes were costing the state and would create dependency on the importation of foreign parts.

Netshitenzhe said it should be noted that while mass transit and integrated systems should form part of the overall objectives of the project "some of these objectives will not be achieved immediately".

It is expected that a start would be made on the project early in 2006.

He said consultations with provincial government and national government would continue "with the aim of ensuring that implementation of the project starts within the timeframes already decided upon".

Netshitenzhe said the project already had elements of integration but it had agreed that more needed to be done.

Asked specifically about the opposition of the parliamentary committee to the project, he said its recommendation had been taken into consideration. He said the Cabinet had been given the task of deciding on major projects.

"Issues of deciding on projects of this nature, the expenditure that you allocate ... are executive [Cabinet] decisions.

"To the extent that Parliament has approved the budget in totality... it gives government the right to decide on the various priorities. The Minister of Finance [Trevor Manuel] indicated that resources would be allocated to Gautrain. Parliament has not said that should not happen.

"Parliament [the transport committee] was not issuing an instruction but making observations -- observations which were backed by motivations... the point we are making is their observations have been taken into account."

Transport committee chairperson Jeremy Cronin, who is also deputy secretary general of the South African Communist Party, said after public hearings in Parliament last month, that its members had resolved unanimously to recommend either scrapping the project or delaying it for further consultations.

Cronin said the project was "highly risky", both politically and financially. It also was concerned that costs had gone up from initial estimates of about seven billion rand to R20-billion. - I-Net Bridge

From: http://www.mg.co.za/articlePage.aspx?articleid=258795&area=/breaking_news/breaking_news__national/