New transport minister admits the sector is not operating as an effective economic facilitator or social service.
By Roy Cokayne
Barbara Creecy outlined some of her top priorities for the Department of Transport at a conference on Monday. Image: Roy Cokayne/MoneywebBarbara Creecy outlined some of her top priorities for the Department of Transport at a conference on Monday. Image: Roy Cokayne/Moneyweb
Newly-appointed Minister of Transport Barbara Creecy has stressed that an efficient and functioning transport sector is the key to a successful economy and that the new administration aims to comprehensively address the challenges facing it throughout the next five years.
“We all know today that our sector is not operating as either an effective economic facilitator or social service,” she told the Southern African Transport Conference (SATC) on Monday.
Creecy said the condition of South Africa’s roads, logistical and capacity issues affecting the country’s freight network and road safety are just a few of the problems that have plagued the sector in recent times.
“Our roads and rail network are the arteries of our nation, should move people and goods safely, speedily and affordably across the length and breadth of South Africa, and facilitate our connectivity with the African continent and the wider world,” she said.
“When our transport systems suffer, our economy faces depressed economic growth, declining investment and working people cannot get to their jobs affordably or on time and we see a rise in unemployment in a country that desperately needs more jobs.”
Logistics
Creecy highlighted the importance of Transnet to South Africa’s economy, adding that a significant development in the previous year has been the establishment of the National Logistics Crisis Committee (NLCC), chaired by President Cyril Ramaphosa and the adoption by cabinet of the Freight Logistics Roadmap.
She said the workstreams of the NLCC have been set up with personnel from key ministries, including the Department of Transport and its entities, and the committee is working to ensure stability across the various supply chain and logistics sectors.
Creecy said areas of focus include:
Key logistics corridors handling commodities that are essential to the export market and economic growth, such as coal and iron ore;
Addressing backlogs and congestion at strategic border crossings, such as Komatipoort and Beitbridge;
Combatting congestion in key national highway corridors, such as the N1 and N3; and
Interventions to combat cable theft and maintenance backlogs at Transnet.
“The NLCC is a young structure, and it is also being employed as a means to encourage more private sector collaboration and participation with government as we address the many challenges South Africa is facing in the area of logistics.
Creecy said that together with Minister of Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation Maropene Ramokgopa, the Department of Transport was appointed as it will ensure important reforms at Transnet continue so that the entity reaches pre-pandemic performance levels.
Prasa and ports
Turning to South Africa’s ports and the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (Prasa), Creecy said anchoring times for ships waiting to berth at the port of Durban have been reduced, and a terminal operator has been appointed to enter into a joint partnership with Transnet to develop and upgrade the port.
She said Prasa is continuing to reopen passenger rail lines severely affected by infrastructure damage and cable theft, with 28 of 40 priority lines being fully operational
“As of March this year, 256 stations are fully functional in cities across the country.
“I can report today that continuous work is being done to rehabilitate and open up more strategic commuter corridors.
“This will ensure that the public can rely on safe, secure, punctual, and affordable public rail services that will not hinder their participation in the economy,” she said.
Road safety
Creecy added that South Africa is part of the consortium of nations that signed the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, which was adopted by all United Nations members in 2015, and the aim of one of the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) targets was to halve the number of global deaths and injuries from road traffic accidents by 2030.
However, she said results of a report released by Statistics SA reveal that the number of deaths resulting from road transport is unacceptably high.
“We cannot normalise a situation in which more than 12 000 people are killed on our roads annually.
“Nor can our country continue to sustain the cost of in excess of 10 000 fatal crashes, which the Road Traffic Management Corporation (RTMC) estimates amounts to roughly R186.5 billion, or 3.3% of our GDP, annually.
“This is totally unacceptable from an economic and a humanitarian perspective. The ministry will prioritise road safety during this term of office so that our roads are safe for those who use them and foster economic activity.”
Creecy said minibus taxis are part of community life and, according to the recent National Household Travel Survey, now carry 80% of those who use public transport.
“During this term I pledge to work with the industry to ensure it takes its place in a safer, greener transport ecosystem.
“We will work together to decrease levels of conflict and violence, which pose a significant risk to the sector and to commuters,” she said.
Responding to a question about violence in the taxi industry after her address, Creecy said it must be accepted that taxis are part of community life in South Africa and that those who are using public transport since the Covid-19 pandemic are now using taxis.
“What we need to be looking at is how do we make taxis safer for commuter, how do we make taxis greener to achieve our emission target and, of course, how do we work with the taxi industry so that we decrease the levels of conflict and violence that really give the industry a very bad name.”
She said violence and conflict in the taxi industry has to be prioritised so that it plays its rightful role in the transport ecosystem.
AA weighs in
Automobile Association (AA) spokesperson Layton Beard said Creecy covered a lot of her bases and there is a clear understanding from her side of the issues and challenges that she faces.
Beard said it is extremely encouraging that Creecy wants to prioritise road safety and also touched on the problems in rail and how she wants to make that a focus for her department overall.
“It sent very good messages and she was very clear on wanting to correct the problems of the past,” he said.
“The big thing … is that we need to see how this plays out in the next few months.”
Beard said the AA would have liked Creecy to touch on issues such as the problems at the Road Accident Fund (RAF), the Department of Transport’s position on the printing of driving licences, the Administrative Adjudication of Road Traffic Offences (Aarto) Act and Gauteng Freeway Improvement Project (GFIP) e-toll refunds, but accepts that she only had 20 minutes to speak and has only been in the job for less than a week.
“There is a lot that is riding on this. Transport is a huge and massively important department. It cuts across all other departments and its vital to the economy so it needs to have strong leadership and to be run properly,” said beard.
“We really do hope that this is the start of a new era in terms transport and mobility in the country.”
Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (Outa) CEO Wayne Duvenage said Creecy is obviously saying the right things from a transport minister’s perspective.
“We have got to sort out the rail networks, the commuter traffic, the taxi industry, getting down the road accident rate.
“There is a lot of stuff that she said and these are great intentions,” he said.
However, Duvenage said Creecy did not mention the RAF, which is something she needs to focus on.
Duvenage said Outa would advocate that the minister engages with civil society and various roleplayers, such as the AA, Outa and others, on things such as the implementation of Aarto, driving licences, and the corruption at driving licence test centres.