South African commuters experience some of the longest journeys around the world. This is according to research done by the South African government.
Due to the rapid growing number of people living and working in and around economic hubs, the influx of commuters on roads and boarding trains continues to peak during early mornings and late afternoons. This puts pressure on transport infrastructure which will receive a considerably slimmer slice of the country’s budget pie.
Based on Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan’s budget speech last week, it’s clear that investment in South Africa’s transport infrastructure sector is lower down on the pecking order, despite an increasing demand for new infrastructure across the country’s transport sector.
Transport systems such as the bus rapid transit (BRT) which have been implemented in cities such as Johannesburg, Cape Town, and Tshwane, already take a number of years to complete. A reduction of funds will not only slow down the expansion of new infrastructure but also delay maintenance of existing infrastructure.
Infrastructure pie
According to Gordhan’s budget speech, R195.8 billion has been allocated for the development of infrastructure. Majority of these funds, R72.9 billion to be exact, will go towards municipal equitable infrastructure grants, while water infrastructure and human settlements will receive R78.8 billion.
Public transport has only been allocated R44.1 billion.
The allocated amount is expected to increase from R5.6 billion in 2016-2017 to R7 billion in 2019-2020.
This figure is also expected to support construction in 13 cities and fund the operating costs of services in the cities of Johannesburg, Tshwane, Cape Town and George.
It was also estimated that the commuters in these four cities would increase passenger trips from 163,280 in 2016-2017 to 308,681 in 2019-2020.
It was also announced that the South African National Roads Agency (Sanral) has received a R687.4 million budget cut. This will also add to the delay of road upgrades across the country.
