T Didiza: National Land Transport Transition Amendment Bill

29 August 2006

Honourable Members, the National Land Transport Transition Act (NLTTA) was
promulgated in the year 2000, to be implemented by all spheres of government.
Key to this Act was Part 7, which only came into effect on 1 June 2002 after
the transport planning minimum requirements and guidelines were developed by
the Department to guide provinces and local authorities on transport
planning.

This Act provides the necessary measures to transform the land transport
system in South Africa, particularly public transport. It also seeks to achieve
the integration of public transport planning, and the optimum allocation and
utilisation of available resources.

The Act also seeks to ensure that transport planning becomes a fundamental
component of development and service delivery through the integration of
transport planning and development planning, where transport plans become
critical components of the Integrated Development Plans (IDPs) of local
municipalities. In this regard, the NLTTA requires Integrated Transport Plans
at municipal, provincial and national level to be the basis on which transport
services are rendered, thus making public transport viable. This is aimed at
ensuring that public transport responds to the need of passengers and is not
driven by operator wishes.

The review of the NLTTA, which culminated in the amendments before this
House, included a lengthy process of consultation with public transport
industry stakeholders. Among the most critical issues that came out of the
consultations were the following: "Unrealistic and onerous transport planning
framework for municipalities", "complexity of the NLTTA", and "lack of
sufficient funding and technical capacity to meet statutory requirements".

The Amendment Bill states as well in its objectives, that the amendments
seek to allow for the implementation of the Taxi Recapitalisation Programme,
which has become a very urgent matter. The implementation of this programme is
entirely dependent on the finalisation of this Bill. We have made announcements
in the past that the programme will be rolled out by October-November, and we
still hope that we will be able to meet these targets.

The NLTTA Amendment Bill before this house seeks to give national,
provincial and local spheres of government effective regulatory and practical
mechanisms to fast-track transformation and improvements while also putting
safety measures in place for the benefit of users. The primary objectives of
this Amendment Bill are as follows:

1. Amendment of the types of the vehicles that may be used for public
transport by bringing them in line with the New Taxi Vehicle (NTV) in
anticipation of Taxi Recapitalisation Programme. In this regard the Bill seeks
to make new provisions in terms of the seating capacities of minibus, midibus
and bus to ensure smooth roll out of the Taxi Recapitalisation Programme.
Safety consideration play a pivotal aspects in this amendment, as the New Taxi
Vehicles would be required to meet safety standards contemplated in the
National Road Act of 1996 and its regulations.

2. Revision and simplification of the transport-planning framework. In this
regard, the Bill seeks to streamline the current transport-planning regime so
that appropriate and relevant transport plans are developed depending on the
nature of movement systems and transport needs within the municipalities. The
Bill seeks to collapse all the plans contemplated in the Principal Act into a
single plan called Integrated Transport Plan. The department is currently in
the process of preparing new transport planning regulations, which will come
into effect once the Amendment Bill has been promulgated.

3. Provision for the conveyance of passengers by light delivery vehicles
(LDVs). The conveyance of people by Light Delivery Vehicles has become a major
safety challenges in the country, particularly in rural and remote areas such
as Eastern Cape Province, Limpopo and KwaZulu- Natal. This practice is mainly
due to the non-availability of mainstream public transport services such taxi
and buses. The Bill seeks to propose interventions to ensure that conveyance of
passengers by Light Delivery Vehicles is carried out in consideration of proper
safety measures. However, the conveyance of people by LDVs should be seen as a
short to medium-term mobility intervention, while road infrastructure and
mainstream public transport services are being rolled out in those areas.

4. To extend the subsidised contract period from 5 to 7 years to support
Small Medium Micro Enterprises (SMMES) and Black Economic Empowerment (BEE)
operators. In line with the BEE charter, the proposed amendment bill proposes
to extend the maximum contract period of negotiated service contracts from five
to seven years to allow SMMEs and BEE operators to recoup capital costs and
accumulate reasonable returns on their investments.

We are also engaging with the tourism industry to collectively find ways of
improving the regulatory framework to simplify its operations and allow the
industry to grow. Various issues have been identified as challenges that need
our urgent attention, including the delays operators experience in licensing
boards, and procedures to apply for licences that are cumbersome. A task team
has been set in this regard between the department and the tourism
industry.

I thank you.

Issued by: Department of Transport
29 August 2006
Source: Department of Transport (http://www.transport.gov.za)