President Jacob Zuma has this morning, 6 March 2015, undertaken unannounced visits to various public transport facilities around Pretoria to assess and monitor the standard and state of public transport infrastructure as part of his Presidential Siyahlola Service Delivery Monitoring Programme.
President Zuma commenced his monitoring programme by visiting the busy Danneboom Railway Station in Mamelodi Township in the early hours of the morning to monitor the state of public rail transport system and also to interact with commuters.
At the railway station, commuters shared their daily challenges to the President particularly on issues of train intervals as well the standard of safety and security within the coaches and the station in general.
There was a general concern over constant train delays, which tended to lead to a number of people arriving late at work or school.
Another commuter appealed to the President to improve the standard of security at the station and within coaches, and added that women in particular as well as schoolchildren and senior citizens were the most vulnerable with regard to criminal activities that occur daily within trains.
The commuters urged the President to intervene because there have been numerous community protests against these challenges but there have been no improvements.
President Zuma assured the commuters that government departments as well as relevant state-owned enterprises will swiftly intervene to ensure that the situation was back to normal and that commuters were safe at all times.
The President also visited the Danneboom Taxi Rank to interact with commuters and then proceeded to new Nana Sita Tshwane Rapid Transit Bus station in Hatfield where he boarded the A Re Yeng Bus to Skinner Street in the CBD.
President Zuma listened intently as various passengers expressed appreciation of the new bus system, its efficiency and convenience, with one student, however, stating that it was a bit expensive for her pockets.
Addressing members of the media after the programme, President Zuma said he was generally impressed with the improvements of the capital city's public transport infrastructure and vowed to urge local government to make further improvements.
"During this Siyahlola Programme, I have personally identified some positive improvements and serious challenges concerning our public transport. I am more concerned with the railway transport system because I have personally experienced and witnessed the challenges faced by our people and indeed a lot need to be done to improve our railway transport system.
"In Mamelodi people told me that they were always delayed at work due to late arrival of trains and that the standard of safety and security was also a serious problem. Therefore I will engage relevant government departments and institutions to swiftly deal with these problems so that more trains are provided to ensure that the situation is addressed immediately," said President Zuma.
The President said he identified no pressing issues that he identified at the taxi rank as well as at the bus station. He added that government will continue to improve the country's public transport system and that he was especially impressed with the new Tshwane rapid transit bus service.
During his State of the Nation Address in the 12 February 2015, the President announced that improvement of transport system was one of the government's nine point plans that aims to ignite economic growth and create jobs.
The President also indicated that the infrastructure programme continued to expand transport networks and to improve roads, which augur well for economic growth and that R6 billion would be spent in 13 cities on planning, building and operating integrated public transport networks during this financial year.
President Zuma will continue with his Siyahlola programme to assess and monitor various government projects across the country, particularly infrastructure and economic development projects to ensure the improvement of service delivery and the lives of all South Africans.
Enquiries:
Mac Maharaj
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E-mail: macmaharaj@icloud.com
