Transporting South Africa: fixing the system for a sustainable future It’s not often that infrastructure finds itself in the spotlight, but the issues underlying toll roads, both in Gauteng and the Western Cape, have put this topic centre-stage. There’s much more to a sustainable road network than just finding ways to pay the bills, as Malcolm Mitchell, Professional Advisor: South African Road Federation writes in a hard-hitting paper (Towards Sustainability of the South African Road Network). Mitchell will present his paper at the 32nd Annual Southern African Transport Conference (SATC 2013), from 8-11 July at the CSIR International Convention Centre in Pretoria, and it’s likely to cause quite a stir. Sustainable roads and road management start with the right governance. The question is, do we in South Africa have the right governance for our road network? It looks as though we could do better. Talking to 20 experienced roads engineers in the country, the author found that there exists: • poor overall network performance; the inability, with some exceptions, to deliver the road programme effectively; • poor intergovernmental relations, particularly between levels of government, • lack of professional capacity and expertise; • inappropriate interference by politicians in executive functions; • poor financial management of road funds (once again with some exceptions), • ineffectiveness in addressing the country’s overall goals; • a lack of a concentrated thrust in managing the total intercity road network; • an “uncomfortable” relationship between the provinces and local road authorities in metropolitan areas, and • the lack of a adequately dominant role in the roads sector by the Department of Transport. Interested in this topic? Be at the 32nd Annual Southern African Transport Conference, which will give a comprehensive overview of transport issues in our country, and the dilemmas we face in creating a top-notch infrastructure while ensuring sustainability. 8-11 July 2013 at the CSIR in Pretoria.
Posted on: Sun, 16 Jun 2013 14:21:34 +0000
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