Much has been achieved
SA has an enviable and, in some places, a world-class transportation infrastructure
DEAR MR PRESIDENT,
I write to you at a time when our country has just observed Public Transport Month, highlighting the achievements we have made in the sector.
At times, Mr President, one wonders why we knock ourselves down so much.
Despite what some may think, South Africa has an enviable and, in some places, a world-class transportation infrastructure, including the Gautrain and the bus rapid transport system in our major cities.
This has led me to think that sometimes we, as South Africans, are too quick to criticise ourselves.
These thoughts come to mind when observing the impressive pedestrian walkway bridge between the Sandton central business district and the Alexandra township of Johannesburg.
The bridge reflects a deep commitment to change the landscape and the lives of South Africans, linking the people of Alexandra township and its surrounds with the country’s financial heartland, the Sandton business district.
But perhaps, most importantly, it is a visible attempt to undo the spatial legacies of apartheid where blacks were confined to inaccessible townships and locations far removed from centres of employment, while whites lived in comfort with access to public transport and amenities in areas reserved for them alone. This project mirrors the ANC’s commitment to better the lives of all South Africans.
Mr President, there is an overwhelming consensus in the society that you lead that the deficiencies of the public transport network reflect the pernicious nature of apartheid spatial planning.
Our transport network was not designed to enable integration, but was meant to keep black people away from centres of economic activity and access these only as labourers. Our national transport system connects the entire country and it has to interconnect with itself.
Unlike in other countries where transportation infrastructure is geared towards bringing people closer, apartheid used it to separate people deliberately. Instead of a concentration of networks close to each other, travel has been made difficult, time-consuming and wasteful. Furthermore, the apartheid state deliberately moved resources away from public transport in favour of private cars.
They removed the tram systems from many of the cities, they underfunded the rail system, allowing goods to be transported by road.
There are many cities in South Africa, such as Cape Town and Port Elizabeth, where a highway was started and then had to stop because the apartheid government ran out of money or used it for something else.
As you may be aware, since the dawn of democracy, the ANC has been hard at work unravelling the dysfunctional transport system it inherited to give way to a seamlessly integrated system.
The overhaul of the transport system was aptly captured in the 1996 White Paper on Transport Policy, which was further unpacked by the Moving South Africa Action Agenda approved in 1999.
The National Rail Plan makes the case for restoration of rail to full capacity and advances an ambitious vision of how to sustain and effectively position the role of passenger rail as a backbone of a transport system that is safe, affordable, efficient and reliable.
All of these have been further bolstered by the National Transport Master Plan 2050 which clearly crafts the path towards integration through catalytic projects.
These are projects that will capture the imagination of both our people and the world.
Mr President, the legacy of centuries of colonialism and decades of apartheid left behind a brutalised nation.
We have become a nation of bitter and negative people driven by a mindset of entitlement. We have forgotten that in building a nation we can all be proud of, we must each make our contribution. Whether this relates to paying for municipal services or taxes, we remain bound by our civic duty to build the nation espoused by our Constitution.
Notwithstanding, this does not excuse the conduct of those who are determined to rob us blind through corruption.
Last week, the private sector pledged R290 billion at the Investment Summit. Prior to the summit, you announced the R400bn pledge towards infrastructure development and projects at the Jobs Summit. And the ANC, in its submission to the Competition Commission hearings on high data costs, called for the cost of data to fall.
You may not have an iconic project like the World Cup, but you seem to be asking South Africans to join you to rescue our own country.
Comradely Yours
It is a visible attempt to undo the spatial legacies of apartheid where blacks were confined to inaccessible townships…