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Minister Barbara Creecy is now the 9th Transport Minister in the 15 years since South Africa adopted the groundbreaking Land Transport Act in 2009.

The Land Transport Act provided for an overhaul of our critical land transport regime and aimed to achieve exactly what the Minister identified as one of her objectives in her budget speech today - an efficient and integrated transport system.

Sadly, the revolving door of Transport Ministers signalled this to be the Cinderella portfolio - to the detriment of millions of passengers being increasingly disadvantaged by a dysfunctional public transport system.

Instead of focusing on the Department’ role as a policy maker and regulatory authority, the Minister would better serve South African commuters, and our economic growth crisis, by focussing on implementing existing legislation and policy.

There has been a lack of interest, or a bureaucratic resistance, to implementing key components of the Land Transport Act which has contributed to the dysfunction and collapse of public transport networks across the country. This, coupled with the excessive rotation of Ministers, led to a state of inertia. We could even argue that it contributed to conflict between the taxi industry and governments.

The Minister must implement the devolution of subsidised bus contracts, such as the Golden Arrow Bus Service which operates in Cape Town under the authority of the Western Cape Provincial Government, to the City. 

This devolution would allow cities, who are the transport planning authorities within their jurisdiction, the opportunity to integrate the bus services with BRT (bus rapid transport) and other modes of public transport like minibus taxis. This devolution would also act as an empowerment opportunity for the smaller stakeholders.

The Minister must also fast-track the devolution of the regulatory, or public transport licensing, function from provinces to cities. The conflict between public transport operators and the authorities is most often about licensing (or permits). If approached differently from a demand point of view, this conflict can be eliminated.

Crucially, the BRT programme requires a thorough assessment. Nearly 18 years after the concept was adopted in South Africa there are, in reality, only two systems are operating, more or less, as envisaged: the MyCiTi in Cape Town and Rea Vaya in Johannesburg.  The expansion of these networks is painfully slow, while funding is often misguided, leading to either underfunded projects - or wasted funding on unviable non-starters.

The Minister must further consider the devolution of the commuter rail infrastructure to cities so that they can take up their role as contracting authorities - contracting with rail operators, including Metrorail, to operate an efficient commute rail system.

South Africa’s transport infrastructure and systems are in dire straights. The impact is felt by commuters, the economy and on our efforts to address climate change and meet our targets form carbon emission reductions.

The new Minister has a mammoth task after the portfolio has largely been neglected. 

We wish Minister Creecy well as she tackles this most important essential service. 

We urge her to focus on implementation of existing legislation and policy rather than seeking to reinvent the wheel, so to speak.

Issued by Brett Herron, GOOD Secretary-General