Provincial Budgets and Expenditure Review: 2003/04 – 2009/10 NCOP: SELECT COMMITTEE ON FINANCE 16 OCTOBER 2007 ROADS AND TRANSPORT

2 OUTLINE Context of the chapter The institutional arrangements for roads and transport. South Africa’s road infrastructure Consolidated expenditure on roads Road traffic management and safety issues Developments in the public transport system.

3 CONTEXT Investment in transport infrastructure is critical for sustainable growth. An efficient transport system reduces transaction cost and ensures that the economy remains globally competitive, thus promoting international trade. The quality of the road network is important for the mobility of people, goods and services. As such, road construction and maintenance continue to be prioritised in the period ahead.

4 INSTITUTIONAL ARRANGEMENTS

5 ROADS INFRASTRUCTURE

6

7

8

9

10 EPWP: Roads & Transport In 2006/07, the roads and transport sector had 238 EPWP projects across provinces. Most projects were in KZN with 74 (31%) of the total projects; followed by EC with at 67 (28%); LP with 41 (17%) and GP with 35 (15%) per cent of the total projects. KZN created most jobs or 73% of the total roads and transport EPWP jobs created ( jobs). EC created 12%, GP 5%. All other provinces created below 5% of the jobs. No data was obtained from NC.

11 TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT & SAFETY There are a number of initiatives geared towards improved traffic management and safety –Road Traffic Management Corporation (RTMC) began operating in September –RTMC is responsible for traffic co-ordination, the national traffic information system (NaTIS), traffic information, and traffic training and education. The aim is to enhance traffic quality, promote voluntary compliance by road users, reduce the incidence of traffic offences, prevent accidents, ensure effective adjudication and implement improved management.

12 ROAD ACCIDENTS It is estimated that the cost of road-traffic accidents is about R13 billion a year. Most accidents roads are multivariate, with the following factors being contributory causes: –Human factors - playing a causal role in 70-80% of all accidents. –Vehicle factors - contributed to 10-15% of accidents. –Poor road conditions - contributed to 5-10% of accidents. A second group of factors relates to the roadworthiness of vehicles – that is, criminal negligence on the part of the vehicle owner. Key law enforcement include: –Development of a standardised management system for traffic control at provincial and local government spheres. –About 100 provincial and local traffic authorities have implemented the traffic-management model.

13

14 PERSONNEL

15

16 IMPLEMENTATION OF THE TAXI RECAPITALISATION PROGRAMME By February 2007, almost 99% of taxi operators had applied for their permits to be converted to operating licences. New taxis have been introduced since September 2006 with colour coding features and specific markings to help commuters and traffic enforcement officials identify them. The Siyazi Consortium Scrapping Agency finalised and set up facilities and infrastructure countrywide for scrapping taxis. This began in October 2006, coinciding with Transport Month.

17 ISSUES FOR DISCUSSION The sector is faced with a number of challenges and opportunities: –Ensuring that the transport system is integrated, safe, reliable and cost-effective. –Budgeting for backlogs in maintenance and access roads. –Scaling-up EPWP which presents an opportunity for job creation and resolving a challenge for budgeting and reporting adequately for the programme. –Aligning plans and monitoring preparations for 2010 FIFA World Cup, which will serve as a catalyst to overhaul the public transport system. –Reporting properly on non-financial performance in terms of roads constructed and maintained as well as the total inventory of roads.

18 THANK YOU THANK YOU