If the transport minister’s job was advertised, here’s what the ad would look like

South Africa’s land transport crisis is as severe as its electricity crisis, though less mentioned.

While the appointment of a minister of electricity has hogged Cabinet reshuffle discourse, the appointment of a competent minister of transport is no less critical to stopping the country plummeting off the edge.

Despite adopting rational and progressive transport policies and legislation over the past two decades, our land transport systems are in disarray, compounding – instead of contributing to fixing – social, spatial and economic injustices inherited from the past.

Back in 2009, the government adopted the National Land Transport Act to give effect to new transport policies.  Since then we’ve had six transport ministers (S’bu Ndebele, Ben Martins, Dipuo Peters, Joe Maswanganyi, Blade Nzimande and Fikile Mbalula). None has served a full term.

In 2016, the government published the Integrated Urban Development Framework (IUDF), another good policy framework aiming to “guide the development of inclusive, resilient and liveable urban settlements, while directly addressing the unique conditions and challenges facing South Africa’s cities and towns”.

But instead of the Ministry of Transport being a command centre for the implementation of the sound policies on the table, it is a musical chair.

The country’s most important freight and public transport networks are in a state of collapse, pushing goods and commuters from efficient rail to increasingly gridlocked roads and highways.

Efficient transport systems are fundamental to the country’s economic development, and to the development of viable and sustainable towns and cities.

With the revolving door at the ministry about to revolve again, with the incumbent minister on his way to Luthuli House, there is another new opportunity to turn policy into action.

The new minister doesn’t have to hatch new plans.

They must implement the National Land Transport Act, which includes “consolidating land transport functions and locating them in the appropriate sphere of government”. And the minister must implement the IUDF.

Read in Daily Maverick: “Transnet’s crumbling rail network and debt problems overshadow its profits”

It was encouraging to hear the President spend some time acknowledging the critically poor state of our freight and public transport networks and systems in his 2023 State of the Nation Address. With little time before the next election, he must walk the talk by stabilising the Transport Ministry.

If the jobs of ministers were advertised, then this is the type of person we need:

They would understand the necessity to prioritise the devolution of both land transportation and rail infrastructure functions to local governments that have established transport authorities and management capacity.

The country’s failure to resolve historic spatial development, land use and transport challenges perpetuates inequalities and deepens poverty. As the IUDF states, “poor people in particular have to commute long distances and pay high transport costs. Out of 40 countries surveyed, South Africans spend the longest time in daily commutes to and from work, while more than 50% of poor urban residents spend more than 20% of their declared household income on transport. This is significantly higher than international norms and reinforces poverty and the lack of access to opportunities.”

In 2015, the average cost of transport for low-income families in Cape Town was a staggering 45% of household income.

Affordable rail should be the backbone of public transport in cities. Commuter rail infrastructure must be restored, modernised and devolved to cities. Once the rail infrastructure is devolved, the minister should oversee the devolution of the rail operating subsidy to the cities (or city region) so that their transport authorities can contract with Metrorail and private operators to provide the services they require on their networks.

This is what should keep a Transport Minister awake at night (though you can’t put that in a job ad).

The successful applicant would place the integration of public transport services first – one network, one plan and one authority.

Section 40 of the National Land Transport Act (2009) states that provinces and planning authorities must “integrate services subject to contracts in their areas, as well as appropriate uncontracted services, into the larger public transport system in terms of relevant integrated transport plans”.