South Africa ‘s new democracy has failed to deliver an “integrated, accessible and affordable public transport system” Jeremy Cronin tells Numsa Bulletin.
What are the challenges of public transport? There is general agreement in ANC and government ranks that we have not succeeded in the delivery of an integrated, accessible and affordable public transport system in the first 10 years of democracy for a number of reasons:
1) Other priorities that may have enjoyed more attention are resources such as education, health, water, housing, etc. There is also an increasing awareness that the strategic focus on the budget allocations was determined by fiscal restraint as was evident in the macro economic strategy.
2) In dealing with other priorities such as housing we created more challenges for the public transport system in that houses more often than not were built far away from the city centres and industries and the closest routes where public transport is operative.
3) One of the projects for addressing public transport challenges was taxi re-capitalisation. Although it was well-intentioned in addressing the question of subsidies for this mode of transport, portability, safety and accessibility, in retrospect it was very much a top down, technocratic intervention so that after five years we have not progressed beyond the design of the new mini-buses.
4) The drive in the early years of our democracy was for privatisation of bus services and moves in the direction of the concessioning out of Metro Rail. In line with government’s general re-assessment of the important role of the public sector there is a reversal of these moves. In addition to that it became clear that the private sector was not very interested in metro rail as a profitable enough activity.
What do we make of the current state of affairs in Metro Rail where in Cape Town we are confronted with the reduction of train services? There is a view by government that we need to look at the inter resourcing of the whole public transport system.
Metro Rail which is run as a national company get its money indirectly from the department of transport through the South African Rail Commuters Corporation (SARCC).
In the 2004/5 transport budget R2,5bn is earmarked for commuter rail – which is transferred to the South African Rail Commuter Corporation – and R2,2bn which is transferred to Provinces for bus subsidies. These subsidies are not always optimally directed to assisting the poorest commuters.
In this way Cape Town Metro Rail for example is affected by decisions taken in Pretoria by SARCC in terms of cost cutting measures as a result of ageing rolling stock and the fact that it has over the last 20 years not been refurbished.
There is a need to restructure and transform the delivery of effective passenger rail services in South Africa which has been hampered by complicated arrangements with public entities such as South Africa Rail Commuter Corporation, Metrorail and Shosholoza Meyl.
There is no consultation with the City, trade unions or chamber of commerce when such cost cutting decisions are taken in Pretoria by the SARCC.
The private sector acknowledged, as a recent study has shown, that where there are continuous operations the public transport system is particularly unreliable after hours. If we are to address such matters as productivity and job creation there ought to be a reliable system. More importantly the needs of the poor must be addressed by providing subsidised, cheaper and reliable forms of transport particularly where workers are staying far from where industries are located.
There is a therefore a definite need to establish a provincial transport authority with real power where the different stakeholders develop collectively a broader public transport system which takes into account the role of bus services, mini-bus services and rail services in an integrated manner. Public transport cannot simply be reliant on rail services however safe a mode of transport it may be.
The primary aim of the taxi recapitalisation programme at conception was aimed at;
“¢ Providing vehicles which will provide safe and affordable transport to commuters. The age of the minibus taxi fleet averaged 9 – 10 years which increasingly threatened the safety of commuters.
“¢ Creating opportunities for jobs in the manufacturing and downstream activities.
“¢ Promoting the use of diesel fuel as a more cost effective and efficient fuel and thus lowering the operating cost.
“¢ Supporting the objective of formalising the taxi industry and thus having an effective regulatory framework which will assist in operators fairly sharing the transporting of passengers and also curbing fights for routes.
“¢ Broadening the tax base.
Is there a commitment from the state to intervene in ensuring a strong public transport sector? There is indeed a commitment from the state to play an instrumental role in the strengthening of public transport, freight logistics and transport safety and enforcement.
There is a clear decision to hold onto Spoornet, Transnet and freight logistics and to use them to drive a developmental plan in transport.
Any initiatives by government at this point to strengthen public transport? There is a need to integrate the activities and structure of the SARCC and Metro Rail.
Efforts must be made to ensure that bus services, mini bus services and the rail system work together. This is where a public transport company or authority can play a significant role.
What is the status of the taxi recapitalisation programme? The mini-bus taxi is a very important but dynamic and difficult industry to organise. Socio economic factors must be taken into account in the sense that any strategy to reorganise the sector must take into account employment and the support sectors such as back-yard mechanics.
There is a view in the portfolio committee that insofar as the taxi recapitalisation programme was well intentioned we must work within the realities of where this sector is located. We must be concerned with the safety standards of the mini-bus sector but as we seek to improve the situation the socio economic factors must guide our approach.
Within the portfolio committee of transport there is a concern that whereas the recapitalisation programme was initiated partly because many owner operators could not afford new vehicles, the proposed new fleet of 18 – 35 seater vehicles might not be affordable.
What role should transport play in addressing issues of development? We have inherited a spatial and racial divide. We must address this with future urban and spatial planning so that the issue is not so much mobility but accessibility. In this regard how we plan and develop housing has an impact on transport patterns and vice-versa. Sustainable solutions are required.
UPDATE
Since Karl Cloete conducted this interview in October 2004, the Department of Transport has changed tack slightly on taxi recapitalisation and rail transport.
Taxi recapitalisationӢ It has scrapped the tender process for the new vehicles. Ң It has scrapped the requirement that taxis be 18-35 seaters Ң It has scrapped the electronic management system that was to have been introduced to monitor taxis.
In its place it:”¢ Has set out three bands of taxis: 10-17 seater minibus; 18-23 seater minibus; 24-33 midibus. Any manufacturer can produce these vehicles as long as they comply with the safety requirements. “¢ Has set out safety regulations for the new vehicles (see below) “¢ Will provide those taxi owners that have permits for their vehicles with a scrapping allowance of R50 000 for each vehicle. If the taxi owner wants to continue as a taxi operator, s/he must apply for an operator’s licence and be registered with the SA Revenue Services. This licence will spell out the detailed route that that particular operator is registered for. “¢ The process of recapitalisation will start from 2005. Government will pass laws giving municipalities the power to regulate taxi ranks and routes.
Some of the new safety standards to be introduced into the new vehicles: * brakes of the vehicles should be in line with purposes of public transport * all seats should be fitted with safety belts * special commercial tyres should be used (185R or 195R) for minibuses * all vehicles should be fitted with roll bars to prevent vehicles overturning * diesel-fuelled * tamper-proof speed governor that will prevent the taxi from traveling over 100 km/hour.
Rail transport From July, commuter rail operator Metrorail, Shosholoza Meyl and the South African Rail Commuter Corporation will all be merged. Ezrom Mabyana, the president of Satawu, has welcomed the move: “We believe that it (the merger) will form the entity that focuses on the passenger, (and) will attract a subsidy from the government which will help our poor people afford the fare.” Cronin was talking to Karl Cloete
Jeremy Cronin is Chairperson of the Transport Portfolio Committee in Parliament and Deputy General Secretary of the SACP