National Department of Transport Director-General, Mr George Mahlalela, today briefed Parliament’s Transport Portfolio Committee on the department’s performance in the current financial year period, reporting on the successes achieved as well as the challenges encountered for the period 2009/10.
In 2009 the department started a process to review its effectiveness, during which a new structure was designed so as to align with a new service delivery model.
“The department is shifting, as far as possible, from largely a policy development to an implementation driven focus. The aim is to reposition the department as a service delivery organisation and to focus on modal strengths as well as capacity functions,” Mahlalela said to the committee.
As part of the successful planning and hosting of the 2010 FIFA Soccer World Cup, an amount of R19,2 billion was spent on the upgrade of all the airports under the Airports Company South Africa’s (ACSA) airports development programme. An aggressive upgrading programme was undertaken at the OR Tambo International, the Cape Town International, the Bloemfontein, Port Elizabeth and East London airports. A brand new King Shaka International Airport, north of Durban was also completed on time for the World Cup Soccer spectacular.
The Passenger Rail Association of South Africa (PRASA) committed more than R18 billion to upgrade and refurbish its rolling stock programme, upgrading and refurbishing more than 2 000 of its 4 200 old coaches.
The Director-General indicated that a skills audit of transport related studies needed to be conducted. This with the purpose of identifying and closing skills gaps in transport related study disciplines such as maritime, aviation, transport engineering studies and so forth.
“The department should also be involved in the development of content and curriculum that is used in various faculties, in particular those with a transport focus”, the Director-General said.
Gaps have also been identified in the process of vehicle registration, which enabled the department to further develop the Electronic National Traffic Information System (eNatis) Traffic management through the eNatis is a shared responsibility between the National Department of Transport, the Road Traffic Management Corporation (RTMC) and provinces. The sharing of powers, responsibilities and the extent of monitoring and evaluation of the operational systems between these key players needs to be properly clarified and rectified.
So far as the management of the eNatis system by Tasima goes, the department is not extending the contract in terms of standard regulations but implementing a transfer management clause that was included in the original contract. The contract runs and provides for measurable skills transfer and capacity building.
Through Schedule 15 of the contract, the department invokes rectification of the contract in line with the Public Finance Management Act (PFMA) in order to ensure that proper internal capacity is built within the department and within the RTMC to take over certain functions performed by the service provider.
Very valuable lessons were learnt during the piloting of the Administrative Adjudication of Road Traffic Offences (AARTO) in the Johannesburg and Tshwane metropolitan cities. The department will be undertaking a massive education and awareness campaign to ensure that motorists, road users and citizens have a clear understanding of how the process and system works. There is also a need to build the capacity of the Operating Licensing Boards (OLBs) and of streamlining regulation for public transport and enterprise development. The Road Accident Fund (RAF) has been a point of much focus and discussion in both the legal fraternity and the media. The introduction of the No-Fault Policy is a positive step not only for the Department but the country as a whole.
The department acknowledges respects and is happy with the judgment of the Constitutional Court handed down in the matter of the Road Accident Fund and the Minister of Transport versus Vusumzi Mdeyide.The matter relates to the constitutionality of section 23(1) of the Road Accident Fund Amendment Act which provides that in instances where the identity of the driver or owner of a motor vehicle has been established, the right to claim compensation against the Road Accident Fund shall become prescribed within three years from the date upon which the cause of action arose.
Through a refocusing of some of the functions, the fund is able to assist road collision victims by facilitating the claiming process directly from hospitals and offering further assistance financially in the event of death resulting from such collision.
The department is working with the Department of Public Works regarding the disbursement of R80 billion and on the Rural Roads Programme to the amount of R11 billion. The Director-General observed that among some of the causes of under performance was the question of transport related functions being located at different levels from national to provincial and to municipality level in an uncoordinated and un-integrated manner.
This indicated a need for delivering on the department’s mandate in an integrated fashion where synergies existed in the delivery of services between the different levels of government. Thus the department needed to reposition itself as the centre of transport delivery, focusing on coordination capacity and developing the necessary synergies. The department has also embarked on skills development and support programmes for women, for persons with disabilities and the youth.
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