The Chief Directorate Land Transport came into being on 1 April 1997, through the restructuring of the Chief Directorate Urban Transport as envisaged in the 1996/97 Annual Report and the 1997/98 Departmental Business Plan. This put the Chief Directorate in a position to face the challenges and exploit the opportunities that its new functions would present.
Whereas 1996/97 was to a large extent taken up by consultations with our customers around the new land transport policy, legislation and various initiatives to start reshaping the land transport system, the 1997/98 financial year saw concrete steps being taken towards tangible implementation of the Department's policies.
The first draft of the Land Transport Bill was approved by Cabinet in May 1997 before being passed on to the State Law Advisors for the process of certification to begin. Due to the comprehensive and complex nature of the draft Bill, this required substantial further consultation. Unfortunately, progress was also delayed by the need to give urgent priority to promulgating the legislation for the establishment of the various agencies out of the Department .
Implementation of the recommendations of the National Taxi Task Team (NTTT) gained momentum through additional funding provided by Cabinet specifically for this purpose. Provincial taxi offices were established, interim provincial taxi registrars designated and the process of registration of taxi associations commenced. Progress was also made with respect to the establishment of the first taxi co-operatives.
Substantial progress was made on the development and approval by COLTO of the land transport planning guidelines, which are aimed at ensuring that planning at provincial and local level is carried out in a reasonably standardised way.
Although the implementation of physical projects in the urban corridors was much slower to get off the ground than had been hoped, progress was made with the development of planning frameworks for most of the corridors. Funding was also provided for implementation projects via the Urban Transport Fund, subject to the production of satisfactory Business Plans.
The Chief Directorate contributed R192 million from a special allocation to the transport component of the Cape Town Olympic Bid, based on projects contractually committed at the time when the successful candidate city, Athens, was named.
The interim bus contracts drawn up with the subsidised bus operators in March 1998 were ceded to the various provinces, with the management of this function becoming their full responsibility. However, the Chief Directorate still remained involved in the process in instances where capacity or other problems in particular Provinces required it to do so; and it played an indirect monitoring role with respect to the payment of the subsidies. It also continued to play an advisory role in the design and development of tenders for bus services.
As a first step towards the concessioning of all rail commuter services, Metrorail was moved out of Spoornet into the broader Transnet stable. A new concession-type agreement was negotiated between Metrorail and the South African Rail Commuter Corporation (SARCC), but had not yet been concluded by the end of the review year owing to the large volume of work on detailed specifications that still had to be completed. In terms of the National Framework Agreement, a Commuter Rail Restructuring Committee was established to develop the framework for a concessioning demonstration project. The key participants are Government -
represented by the SARCC and this Chief Directorate - the enterprise itself (Transnet-Metrorail) and the relevant labour unions.
As a result of the creation of various agencies out of the Department, the remaining components of the Department will be totally redesigned. Consequently, the Chief Directorate Land Transport will go through a second round of restructuring which will see it absorbed into the Policy, Strategy and Implementation Section of the new Department. However, a number of the current responsibilities of the Chief Directorate will still have to be carried out until the Provinces fully take over these responsibilities.
I would like to express my sincere appreciation and gratitude towards those officials who performed far above normal expectations in giving shape to the policies in the White Paper and beginning to turn them into tangible strategies and projects. I also wish to take this opportunity to wish all members of staff success in the new environment of the restructured Department.
Theo Maeder
Chief Director: Land Transport
To provide leadership in the promotion of a safe, reliable, effective, efficient, co-ordinated, integrated, and environmentally friendly land passenger transport system in South African urban and rural areas and the Southern African region, managed in an accountable manner to ensure that people experience improving levels of mobility and accessibility.
The mission is fully in accordance with the White Paper on National Transport Policy, and has been the cornerstone in the development of the National Land Transport Bill, which specifies the allocation of national, provincial and local passenger transport powers and functions, and provides for the establishment of Transport Authorities and the preparation of Integrated Transport Plans as the basis for planning, regulating and enforcing an efficient public transport system.
The functions of the Chief Directorate are:
The Chief Directorate Land Transport comprises three Directorates, namely:
The activities of each Directorate are listed below:
The objectives of the Directorate Land Transport Policy are to:
The objectives of the Directorate Land Transport Planning are:
The objectives of the Directorate Land Transport Promotion are to:
The evolution of the Chief Directorate Land Transport out of the former Chief Directorate Urban Transport reflects the reality of a new set of functions resulting from the devolution of many of its former operational and administrative functions to the provincial sphere of government. As from 1 April 1997, the Chief Directorate's functions were fundamentally re-focussed around core issues of policy, strategy and promotion, whilst on-the-ground implementation and execution moved across to the provincial and local spheres of government. Despite this re-orientation of roles, however, the Chief Directorate still retained direct responsibility for certain important former functions, such as the payment of bus and rail commuter subsidies.
During the year under review, the Chief Directorate provided ongoing guidance to provincial and local transport officials to prepare them for the implementation of the Land Transport Act. Two-day courses were presented by officials of the Chief Directorate in Bisho, Cape Town, Rustenburg and Durban. The topics covered included a summary of the draft Land Transport Bill, the minibus-taxi process, transport plans, bus contracts and planning guidelines and requirements.
Several transport demonstration projects and spatial development initiatives (corridor projects) were developed, with implementation beginning in a number of metropolitan areas. In addition, a mobility project was implemented in a remote rural area of the Northern Province (near the Njelele Dam north of the Soutpansberg range).
During the year under review the National Land Transport Framework, published in December 1996, was further refined. As a concrete elaboration of the National Land Transport Policy, it served as the basis for the drafting of the National Land Transport Bill.
Working documents for the new Bill were published in the Government Gazette of 20 December 1996. Taking into account the comments received from stakeholders and other interested parties, the Directorate prepared a draft National Land Transport Bill which was approved by Cabinet on 14 May 1997. During the rest of the review year much time was spent in refining the principles and contents of the Bill, mainly through further consultation with stakeholders - in particular, the provincial Departments of Transport and the Metropolitan Councils. A number of intensive workshops were held in order to reach consensus on the Bill. The principal instruments of consensus were the co-ordinating mechanisms established between the National and Provincial spheres of government: COLTO (the Committee of Land Transport Officials) and the LTCC (Land Transport Co-ordinating Committee).
The Bill consists of two chapters, the first dealing mainly with matters of national competency and the second dealing mainly with matters of provincial competency. This structure is based on a decision taken by MINCOM (Ministerial Conference of Ministers of Transport). Provinces have the right to draft their own land transport legislation - in which case Chapter 2 of the National Land Transport Bill will not be applicable to them - or to use Chapter 2 as it is in the Bill, with or without revisions. Three Provinces - Gauteng, Western Cape and KwaZulu-Natal - are currently in the process of drafting their own legislation.
Considerable time was also spent on the drafting of regulations to complement the Bill. Due to its wide-ranging nature and the complexity of the issues it addresses, a significant number of regulations were identified and drafted to accompany the Bill.
One of the main priorities of this Directorate for the 1997/98 financial year was to assist Provinces in the preparation of Provincial Land Transport Policies within the broad framework of the White Paper on National Transport Policy. All the Provinces have either already published their White Papers or are in the process of publication.
The National Land Transport Bill places major emphasis on the provision of appropriate information, as many functions and responsibilities in the Bill can only be carried out successfully subject to the availability of accurate information.
An Information Working Group of the Land Transport Co-ordinating Committee was established, mainly in order to facilitate this process. A tender for the determination of a framework for an integrated land transport system was compiled and approved by the State Tender Board. We expect it to be published early in the new financial year.
The introduction of integrated transport plans will become a reality once the planning guidelines and requirements which were in the process of being drafted by the Planning Guidelines Subcommittee of LTCC are finalised and Transport Authorities are established in terms of the draft Land Transport Bill. The Chief Directorate supported the enhancement of planning expertise by providing funding for the LTCC Modelling Working Group and by funding visits by two metropolitan transport planners to an international modelling conference in the United States. Four other metropolitan officials were assisted to attend international conferences on public-private partnerships and to visit model cities in Brazil.
The integration of land use and transport planning was enhanced by the implementation of spatial development initiatives in metropolitan areas ( see also p.51). Especially in the case of the Wetton-Lansdowne Development Corridor in Cape Town, the transport planning was not only aligned with the Metropolitan Spatial Development Framework (MSDF), but the proposed urban form for the corridor was based on promoting the mixed land use, high residential densities and infilling necessary to shorten travel times, support the use of public transport and encourage walking.
The development and transfer of land transport technology was not afforded the highest priority, owing to vacancies in key professional posts caused by resignations related to uncertainty about the shape of the new Department and the types and levels of post which would be available in the restructured Chief Directorate.
The Directorate Land Transport Planning has the following responsibilities:
This entails administration of the Urban Transport Fund, promotion of the development of transport plans in 11 declared Metropolitan Transport Areas (MTAs), and the transfer of funds for the planning and implementation of land transport infrastructure to these MTAs via the Provincial Urban Transport Funds. In terms of the Constitution, public transport is a concurrent function, for which provincial governments should make provision in their budgetary allocations. However, the capacity to perform this function and the appropriate levels of funding are still lacking in some Provinces, especially where no MTAs are in existence. For this reason, the Chief Directorate continued to provide funding and support to ensure adequate collection of information and the development of proper planning frameworks.
During the 1997/98 financial year, R18 380 000 was made available from the State Revenue Fund to the UTF, the allocation of which is summarised below. In addition, an amount of R34 450 000 was received from the Department of Trade and Industry to support the extension of specific spatial development initiatives. The total amount for land transport was nevertheless considerably lower than the amount for the previous financial year, as a result of the decision to devolve the function to the Provinces, together with the responsibility for funding, planning and implementation.
| Component | Rands |
| Personnel | 1 286 338 |
| Administration | 350 000 |
| Stores | 23 662 |
| Equipment | 200 000 |
| Professional Services | 4 000 000 |
| Demonstration Projects | 16 315 000 |
| Spatial Development Initiatives | 44 750 000 |
| Training | 300 000 |
Following from a Cabinet decision in September 1996, an amount of R8 million was made available for the transport component of the Bid in January 1997, and the remaining R117 million rolled over to the 1997/98 financial year, as reported in last year's Annual Report. This was then transferred according to a financial programme prepared by the Cape Metropolitan Council. Projects committed by September 1997 (before Cape Town's failure to secure the 2004 Olympic Games) totalled R192 million, including demonstration projects totalling R22 million. This represented a saving of 20% on the original R240 million allocated by the Cabinet over a period of two years. Unspent funds will be rolled over to the 1998/99 financial year in order to complete capital projects and pilot studies.
Transport planning in the eleven declared MTAs [Bloemfontein, Cape Town, Durban, East London, Eastern Gauteng, Johannesburg, Pietermaritzburg, Port Elizabeth, Pretoria, Vaal-Lekoa and Western Gauteng] was slowed by the low levels of funding provided in the national and provincial budgets. At the same time, the Chief Directorate endeavoured to promote integrated transport planning principles by providing additional funding for updating passenger transport plans in all Provinces.
The Guidelines Subcommittee of the LTCC continued to review the guidelines according to which transport plans were to be prepared, with a view to eventually integrating these plans. The following guidelines and requirements were finalised and approved by COLTO for publication:
| LTCC Guidelines | |
| TPG 1 | Guidelines for the Preparation of Integrated Transport Plans |
| TPG 2 | Monitoring and Review of Integrated Transport Plans |
| TPG 3 | Status Quo Data Inventory for Integrated Transport Plans |
| TPG 4 | Contents of a proposal for Preparation of a Transport Plan |
| TPG 5 | Spatial Planning |
| TPG 6 | Preparation of the Public Transport Component of a Transport Plan |
| TPG 7 | Travel Demand Estimation and Forecasting |
| TPG 8 | Public Participation |
| TPG 9 | Travel Demand Management |
| TPG 10 | Tendering, Concessions and Contracts for Provision of Public Transport Services |
| TPG 11 | Demonstration Projects |
| TPR 1 | Requirements for Preparation of Provincial Transport Policy Frameworks |
| TPR 2 | Transitional Information Requirements for Public Transport |
| TPR 3 | Requirements for Preparation of Integrated Transport Plans |
Funds were made available from the UTF for a number of initiatives:
The Chief Directorate has responsibility for national demonstration projects (with a view to testing new policy directions and concepts) and spatial development initiatives (with a view to urban restructuring). More than 90% of the UTF budget was allocated for this purpose. The following demonstration projects were continued during the year under review:
The Pretoria Inner City Distribution System Study recommended a regular, high-frequency bus shuttle service between the two railway stations north and south of the central business district, to cut travel times and improve accessibility to the inner city, and generally to promote the use of public transport in the city. This recommendation has been incorporated into the Integrated Development Plan, which has been approved by the Pretoria City Council.
The bus prioritisation project forms part of the Rapid Transit Bus Project initiated by the Greater Johannesburg Metropolitan Council. The completion of the project was, however, hampered by local financial constraints.
Modalink is a Section 21 company established to co-ordinate, promote and market public transport in the Cape Metropolitan Council (CMC) area. An investigation into branding of public transport vehicles to promote the notion of a unified transport system has been completed. Modalink has also been commissioned to implement several demonstration projects initially included in the Olympic Transport Master Plan approved by Cabinet.
High priority was given to the funding of demonstration projects for the establishment of Transport Authorities in metropolitan areas in order to underline their importance as the appropriate institutional structures to take responsibility for future land transport management. It is anticipated that Port Elizabeth will be the first local government to establish a model Transport Authority. This will follow on from the commencement of a demonstration project to investigate various possible Transport Authority models and the implications of establishing such Authorities in terms of the proposed Land Transport Bill.
| | Centre | | | Project | | | Rands | |
| Johannesburg | Transport for Persons with Disabilities | 1 000 000 |
| Durban | Transport for Persons with Disabilities | 500 000 |
| Pretoria | Inner City Distribution System | 1 700 000 |
| Cape Town | Modalink Project | 3 500 000 |
| Johannesburg | Bus Prioritisation Project | 2 300 000 |
| Midrand | Travel Demand Management | 2 000 000 |
| Port Elizabeth | Transport Authority | 300 000 |
| Cape Town | Transport Authority | 420 000 |
| Durban | Corporatisation of Municipal Bus Services | 200 000 |
| N. Province | Mobility Project | 2 630 000 |
The focus of the metropolitan Spatial Development Initiatives (SDIs) is on promoting and implementing the policies of the White Paper on National Transport as further elaborated in the Urban Development Framework. The critical levers are various instruments of urban re-engineering such as mixed land-use, densification, infilling and the promotion of public transport. The major thrust of the SDIs is to stimulate development in public transport corridors and at key development nodes within these corridors. The projects combine general planning with the identification of specific catalyst projects for fast-track implementation. Essential to the whole metropolitan SDI philosophy is the commitment to overcoming inherited economic, social and demographic distortions by stimulating balanced and integrated development supported by substantial private sector investment.
In practice this means identifying local comparative and competitive advantages, facilitating their development through the rationalisation of local transport systems and consolidating them around a transport infrastructure capable of attracting the necessary volumes of private investment in a highly competitive global investment environment.
SDI methodology is based on rapid, intensive, integrated cross-sectoral planning, coupled with the identification and implementation of key projects to produce visible outcomes in parallel to the planning process. This therefore means that interdepartmental co-ordination, strategic synergy and vertical integration within government are essential.
The following spatial development initiatives (SDIs) were initiated or continued:
In Cape Town, the Wetton-Lansdowne Development (WELD) Corridor has made great strides since its official launch in October 1996. It has also been supported by development projects identified in terms of the Olympic Transport Master Plan for Cape Town. During September 1997, President Mandela visited several implementation projects in the area.
The Mabopane-Centurion Development Corridor (MCDC) aims to establish a growth and development strategy for the core development corridor area and then to formulate a more detailed design and development strategy for the Klipfontein and Kruisfontein/Soshanguve areas for implementation. Status quo studies had already been completed by August 1996 and a draft Integrated Development Framework was completed in March 1997. Phase one related to the compilation of the already completed Integrated Growth and Development Strategy. Phase two begins directly with implementation of the strategy. Fourteen strategic projects have been identified for which business plans have been formulated.
The Baralink Initiative aims to integrate the urban area of Greater Soweto and Johannesburg in a sustainable and holistic way, while simultaneously providing people access to their basic daily needs. Detailed technical studies have been finalised for the Baralink Node Development Framework.
The Warwick Avenue Development Node in Durban has the potential to upgrade an important hub, which is a daily meeting and entry point to the city, for thousands of commuters. The project will revitalise the area, improve the environment and provide much-needed facilities for people using the transfer facility. The aim is to improve the overall quality of the urban environment in terms of safety, security, cleanliness, functionality and the promotion of economic opportunities, with a particular focus on the needs of the urban poor.
Planning for the Mdantsane-East London Development (MELD) Corridor has only just started and will continue in 1998. The planning phase will be finalised by the end of November 1998. Construction on the Mdantsane Interchange is under way and continuing. The interchange is expected to provide a public transport facility suitable to the needs of commuters and hawkers alike, stimulate economic development in the town centre, upgrade the quality of public transport services to Mdantsane residents, and improve traffic flows in the Mdantsane Town Centre. The Qumza Highway forms the spine of the Mdantsane-East London Development Corridor, in which numerous development projects have been identified. In Mdantsane, an intermodal transport interchange is being constructed adjacent to a new shopping centre at a cost of R12 000 000.
The Germiston-Daveyton Activity Corridor's objectives are to facilitate the spatial restructuring of the corridor, to support public transport, and to contribute to sustainable economic growth and development in the region. A Steering Committee has been formed and a strategic workshop was held in November 1997 to provide further clarity on aspects such as refining the business plan and the reporting structure. Status quo investigations will be conducted and a development framework will be formulated for finalisation by the end of August 1998.
In Port Elizabeth the aim of the project is to formulate a spatial development framework and programme to provide transport facilities and higher density housing mixed with commercial development and other amenities in order to stimulate economic activity at identified nodes and enhance public transport usage in the corridor. The spatial development framework will be based on the principles of integrated transport and land use development.
One of the Directorate's functions is the promotion of land transport technology development, with a view to achieving intermodalism in infrastructure development and operations. The planning guidelines and requirements (TPG and TPR series) and new bus contracts specify measures to promote these concepts in a bid to improve the quality and efficiency of public transport services. The Travel Demand Management project in Midrand will incorporate elements of intermodalism in the measures proposed to enhance public transport and discourage the excessive use of private cars.
Performing this function requires continuous interaction and liaison with provincial and local government for the drafting of appropriate guidelines, requirements, norms and standards. It is essential to keep abreast of international and local trends and developments through interaction with researchers, transport professionals and academics.
During the 1996/97 financial year, sixty-nine interim contracts were entered into with all bus operators previously subsidised by this Chief Directorate. Tenders for the provision of these services will be invited by the provincial Departments of Transport in accordance with an agreed tender program over the next three years. As passenger transport is a provincial competency, all interim and current tendered contracts were ceded to the Provinces during the course of the year.
A Bus Tender Committee of LTCC, representing all three spheres of Government, was established with a view to updating the current model bus tender documents. Various changes have been proposed to the model document, which will be presented to COLTO, the State Attorney and both the national and the nine provincial Tender Boards for approval. An agreement was reached with the Provinces on the use of this model document for all tenders invited by the Provinces for the provision of bus services.
This Directorate assisted the Provinces in the design of their new bus service tenders, and will continue to do so in the new financial year, until such time as all services are operating in terms of tendered contracts.
While the practical administration of interim and tendered contracts was being devolved to the Provinces, the subsidy funds remained on the budget of the Chief Directorate. It was this Directorate's responsibility to manage the payment of subsidies to the Provinces.
The following subsidies were paid to the Provinces:
| Province | Amount Transferred in Rands |
| Eastern Cape | 37 028 704.68 |
| Free State | 59 095 245.16 |
| Gauteng | 449 761 515.59 |
| KwaZulu/Natal | 233 992 859.38 |
| Mpumalanga | 99 200 700.03 |
| Northern Province | 50 537 675.55 |
| Northern Cape | 3 247 316.60 |
| North West | 26 515 828.40 |
| Western Cape | 134 078 069.28 |
| Total | 1 093 457 914.67 |
Much time was spent on training provincial officials to handle this function and to use the Subsidy Management System (SUMS) effectively in managing the payment of bus subsidies.
The acceptance of the tendered contract system for the provision of public transport services as national policy made it imperative for the Department of Transport to re-appraise the present method of monitoring such contracts to determine whether it was suitable for retention into the future or whether alternative systems should be investigated. The Department therefore embarked on a demonstration project on Automatic Vehicle Location and Monitoring Systems which was officially launched in October 1997.
A wide variety of different technologies is available for monitoring vehicles, making use of both satellite- and ground-based location systems. The demonstration was carried out in parallel with the manual monitoring of bus service contracts to evaluate the comparative efficiency of these systems and to assess the viability of implementing them more extensively after the trial period.
The National Taxi Task Team (NTTT) published its Final Report on 6 August 1996, and this, together with the NTTT's Closing Report, was presented to the Minister early in 1997. In the meantime, a number of initiatives have been launched, with funding specifically allocated to the project by Cabinet and co-ordinated by this Chief Directorate.
Although the concrete implementation of the NTTT recommendations is a provincial responsibility, this Directorate was responsible for the co-ordination of these functions between provinces and for providing assistance to the provinces where required. The following major steps were carried out by the provinces during the past financial year:
One matter of concern is the low response from illegal minibus-taxi operators to the opportunity offered to them by means of a special application process to become part of the legally operated industry. A major effort will have to be made by the Provinces in the 1998/99 financial year to add momentum to this process.
The main objectives of the NTTT recommendations on economic assistance to the industry are:
The NTTT identified the co-operative model as the most appropriate form of business entity for these purposes. During the course of the year, the Department appointed a consortium of consultants to draw up foundation documentation for the establishment of co-operatives, to interact with the provincial and local spheres of government and the minibus-taxi industry and to assist in the establishment of one pilot co-operative per Province. To date satisfactory progress has been made with the establishment of five nationally-supported co-operatives in Mpumalanga, Northern Province, the Eastern Cape, the Free State and Northwest Province.
During the months of May/June 1997, a spate of taxi violence erupted in the Soshanguve/Mabopane/Hammanskraal areas. Emergency discussions were held between the Minister of Transport and the MECs of Transport for Gauteng and North West Province, as the affected area spans both Provinces. It was decided to launch a combined action involving the national and provincial Departments of Transport, local authorities, the South African Police Services and other role players.
The plan of action involved:
The project was successful in diminishing the taxi violence in the areas at the time and the model will be retained until such time as all the problems have been solved. Similar projects will be launched in other areas of the country where problems of the same kind are occurring in the taxi industry.
It has been decided to concession rail commuter services during 1998. A negotiated concession for 5 years will be concluded by August 1998 with the current operator, Metrorail, a division of Transnet, after which the entire metropolitan rail commuter network will be put out to tender for competitive bidding. The initial period of an exclusive concession to Metrorail will afford the company the opportunity to gain experience under concessioning principles in order to compete with international bidders in five years time.
Positive signs of increases in fare revenue, ridership and market share of rail commuter travel already indicate a resurgence of rail transport:
| 94/95 R Millions |
95/96 R Millions |
96/97 R Millions |
97/98 R Millions |
|
| Fare Revenue | 353 | 415 | 472 | 561 |
| Passenger Journeys | 413,5 | 442,7 | 458,0 | 496,7 |
| Market Share | 16% | 17% | 19% | 21% |
These positive indicators will have a positive effect on the total subsidy made available by this Department through its agent the SA Rail Commuter Corporation (SARCC).
An amount of R1 211 707 000 was spent on subsidising 497 million passenger journeys during 1997/98 in the six major metropolitan areas of SA. This represents an increase of 8,3% in passenger journeys, while the subsidy decreased by 12,3% for the same period.
Provisional figures indicate that the commuter rail industry managed to increase its overall cost coverage by 1 percentage point from 32% to 33%.
Fare revenue increased by 18,9% from the previous financial year and recorded an improvement of 6,8% over the budget for the 1997/98 financial year. This was achieved mainly due to actions taken by Metrorail to curb fare evasion through additional trained barrier controllers and commuter education programs on the effects of fare evasion on the operations and economy of the rail industry. An average fare rise of 11,6% also contributed to the overall revenue increase.
The number of passenger kilometres travelled by rail showed an increase from the previous financial year of 12,5%, which clearly indicates that rail transport is increasingly being supported. Rail transport remains one of the cheapest modes of travel from a passenger point of view, costing only R1,13 for an average of 22 kilometres travelled.
The SARCC and this Chief Directorate are currently negotiating with the relevant trade unions in terms of the National Framework Agreement to implement concessioning and manage the rail commuter infrastructure and rolling stock in such a way as to ensure viable rail commuter transport in the future, in line with transport policy guidelines towards the year 2020.
Through the concessioning route the current deficit subsidy system will be abolished and ultimately replaced with a competitive tendering system which will ensure a further effective and efficient deployment of funds. Concessioning will improve services to commuters and make it possible for the SARCC to access private sector capital for building and extending railway lines, acquiring new rolling stock and improving station facilities.
The SARCC has signed a funding deal with the Japanese government for the provision of $60m worth of new rolling stock.
The main functions of the SARCC in its restructured form as a rail commuter agency will be the following:
In terms of the envisaged restructuring of the Department, most of the functions and activities will be absorbed into the proposed Policy, Strategy and Implementation Branch. Future policy development and monitoring and the drafting of further legislation and regulations with respect to land transport will be handled within the Infrastructure and Operations Policy Clusters of the Branch. Virtually all other activities will be handled within the Implementation Division of the branch.
The finalisation of the Land Transport Bill will be afforded the highest priority in the 1998/99 financial year. The establishment of model Transport Authorities in a number of cities will also receive priority. The drafting of integrated transport plans at municipal level will be promoted, to form the basis for further corridor development, and also for the design of tenders for road-based public transport services by the Provinces. The plans will influence both the rail concessioning process and the regulation and formalisation process in the minibus-taxi industry.ÊIn tandem with the restructuring of the Department, the activities of the Chief Directorate as set out in the Business Plan for the 1998/99 financial year will continue to be performed with a view to achieving the objectives of the White Paper on National Transport Policy.
The Maputo Development Corridor Company is about to be established. Final deliberations on the statutes are being undertaken. The company is to be established under Mozambican law, and will be a not-for-gain entity, with 65% of its shareholders from the private sector and 35% from the governments of Mozambique, South Africa, Swaziland, Zimbabwe and Botswana. The role of the company is to facilitate investment and to ensure direct communication between government and the private sector on investment projects. Its head office is located in Maputo, and the South African branch office in Nelspruit.
The Government of Mozambique has identified the preferred bidder for the port of Maputo, and the contract will be implemented via a joint venture with the government of Mozambique. The preferred bidder for the rail concession is in the process of being identified.
A one-stop border facility is being jointly built at Ressano Garcia/Komaatipoort by the Departments of Public Works of both countries. This facility will be shared by the two governments, and will enable better management of cross-border movement of goods and people. It is the first such facility in the region.
The Maputo Development Corridor has attracted in excess of R20 billion worth of investment into a wide range of projects. The business viability of these projects is a direct result of the major improvements in infrastructure which are being delivered through the Maputo Development Corridor.
The Lubombo SDI is a tri-lateral initiative between the governments of South Africa, Swaziland and Mozambique. The focus of this SDI is to open up access to previously inaccessible areas of our countries for the rapid development of tourism and agriculture.
The National Department of Transport has already begun the construction of the first two phases of a tourism road, which begins at Hluhluwe in northern KwaZulu Natal and links up with the Mozambican town of Ponta Da Ouro. The government of Mozambique has commenced with the design phase of the tourism road from Ponta Da Ouro to Maputo.
This road not only provides the first all-weather access route to local people, but also enables direct access to the rich natural beauty of the coastal areas between St. Lucia and Maputo. It will enable tourists easier access to existing and new tourism developments, as well as providing a continuous bitumen surfaced road between Maputo and the existing N2 in northern KwaZulu Natal.
The SDI investment process was scheduled for launch in Durban by the three Heads of State on May 6 1998 . This will be followed by a tri-lateral ministerial road-show to Europe, during which the three governments will talk directly to investors about the investment projects which have been prepared.
The tourism projects will be offered on an open tender process in June 1998, with pre-qualification documents being jointly issued by the three countries.
The tender documents have been issued for the toll-concession on the road between Pretoria and Rustenberg, which will link up with the trans-Kalahari transport corridor to Walvis Bay. Tenders are expected in during May 1998.
This link will effectively create a continuous East-West connection from Maputo in the East, through Pretoria, to Walvis Bay in the West. The importance of this route will be realised in the immediate future, as the impact of our own export-led growth will be greatly enhanced by providing the key industrial clusters of the Gauteng region with ports well located for both Western and Eastern markets. The corridor will also traverse historical North-South linkages with Botswana and Zimbabwe. In the longer term, it will become an important road transport corridor, when land transport linkages are improved between Namibia and Angola.
Annual Report 97/98 - Main Contents || Department of Transport Organogram
Other Directorates:
Management Services || Civil Aviation Authority || Management Services