The Minister of Transport Mr Sibusiso Ndebele today held bilateral discussions with the Minister of Transport of the new Republic of South Sudan Ms Agnes Sponi Lukudu in Cape Town.
The two Ministers discussed cooperation on issues related to Aviation and Road Safety.
Minister Lukudu requested Minister Ndebele to assist her government with the rebuilding of aviation infrastructure. She said the people of South Sudan depend on air transport to travel from one city to another.
Minister Lukudu told the bilateral meeting that the country has four airports and all of them require major upgrades including runways, car parking areas and access roads to the airports.
In response, Minister Ndebele said the two countries could cooperate in all the areas of concern to the Republic of South Sudan.
“We must also share experiences on road safety because here in South Africa we have major challenges with regard to accidents where we lose thousands of lives on our roads every year. This has seen us come up with several targeted strategies to try and reduce the road carnage,” said Minister Ndebele.
Minister Ndebele added that now that South Sudan has achieved its independence, the people expect development to commence so that their lives can change for the better and the South African Ministry of Transport would assist where possible.
The Ministry of Transport (RSA) will establish a project team led by the Director-General that would include Transport agencies such as the Airports Company South Africa (ACSA), Air Traffic Navigation Systems (ATNS), Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) and the Road Traffic Management Corporation (RTMC). The team will meet with the South Sudan delegation this coming Friday in Pretoria.
The meeting also noted the commendable work done by ATNS during South Sudan’s independence celebration in July this year.
Enquiries:
Tiyani Rikhotso
Cell: 083 800 9936
