Palmer Development Group on National Transport Transition Act

1.The National Land Transport Transitional Act of 2000

After several years of refinement, Parliament passed the National Land Transport Transitional Act (NLTTA) in 2000, and the National Department of Transport (NDoT) began to operationalise the Act from December 2000. The Act seeks to establish a coherent, developmentally-oriented approach to road public transport, drawing in all three spheres of government. A central feature of the Act is that it requires municipal and provincial-level transport planning to be the basis on which any future public transport operating licences are awarded.

The legacy of confusion and relative anarchy in public transport in South African towns and cities is partly attributable to the fact that, historically, permits to operate public transport frequently had little connection whatsoever to any coherent planning. This resulted in many anomalies.

Incomplete information available to the Portfolio Committee strongly suggested that many difficulties were being encountered in the implementation of the NLTTA. The Portfolio Committee accordingly commissioned a research report and, in August and September 2002, held a series of public hearings based on the findings of this research report.

2. Research Report and Public Hearings

The commissioned Research Report, "Key issues emerging from background research on the progressive implementation of transport planning in terms of the National Land Transport Transitional Act (2000)", was tabled and discussed by the Committee in August 2002. The Report was based on research conducted in three case-study areas, Cape Town, eThekwini and the Amatole District.

The Report was distributed to key stake-holders and a series of parliamentary public hearings was conducted. Those making presentations to the hearings included the South African Bus Owners Association, the South African Commuters Organisation, the South African National Taxi Council, the South African Local Government Association, the Director of Traffic and Transportation in the eThekwini Municipality, and the National Department of Transport.

3. Proposals and Recommendations of the Committee

The Committee believes that improvements need to be made in regard to a number of areas.

• Incompatible information systems;
• Uncertainty regarding procedures and timing of the issuing of permits and operating licences, the role of Registrars, and succession rights in respect of operating licences;
• Lack of national uniformity in regard to route descriptions; and
• Provisions made for metered taxis and tourism services are inadequate within the NLTTA.

• To review progress in early 2003 in the development of a single National Transport Register with all relevant institutions having compatible systems;
• That the NDoT should provide for forums for operating licence boards, Registrars, and relevant stake-holders to agree on common policies and procedures;
• To review progress in 2003 in the preparation, by the NDoT, of guidelines regarding route descriptions;
• Legislative amendments should be made to the NLTTA to provide for metered taxis and tourism services.

3.2 Transport Planning

• A lack of an appropriate financial framework in general, and, specifically, insufficient funding to meet statutory planning requirements;
• The envisaged planning frequency is too high;
• There are cases in which there is a lack of clarity as to whether B or C municipalities should be the designated planning authority;
• Enforcement is not adequately addressed in the NLTTA.

• In the first half of 2003 the NDoT should report to Parliament on progress made in the development of a comprehensive funding strategy for transport planning, and specifically on the use of funds already transferred to provincial authorities for this purpose;
• A legislative amendment should be made to the NLTTA to extend the planning cycle to a more reasonable length;
• The NDoT should facilitate workshops and other capacity building processes to ensure that there is clarity as to whether a B or C municipality should be the designated planning authority, with the understanding that this may vary from specific case to case.
• Legislative amendments to the Administrative Adjudication of Road Traffic Offences Act (1998) providing for more effective transport law enforcement.

• That the funding of TAs be addressed in the funding strategy proposed in 3.2 above;
• That a legislative amendment to the NLTTA should be made to provide for a statutory definition of "municipal public transport" as it appears in Schedule 4B of the Constitution of the RSA.

• Benefits to the commuter are prioritised;
• Subsidies address all modes of public transport;
• There are adequate levels of subsidy to meet the requirements of all modes.

• Will closely monitor progress made in the taxi recapitalisation process;
• Recommends, as in 3.2 above, legislative amendments to the Administrative Adjudication of Road Traffic Offences Act (1998) to provide more effectively for transport law enforcement;
• Will monitor the work of TETA.
• The effective spread to all transport modes of transport subsidies, as recommended in 3.4 above.

4. General findings and conclusions

The Portfolio Committee believes that the NLTTA represents a major advance in terms of ensuring a more effective and coherent approach to land transport. However, the implementation of this land-mark legislation presents many challenges. Prime among these challenges is the need for a coherent and effective funding strategy, better integration of different transport modes, and a major focus on capacity-building in order, amongst other things, to ensure more compatible practices and better communication across different spheres of government and among other key stake-holders. We believe that the NDoT has a prime responsibility in regard to all of these challenges.