Questions and Replies

Reply:

The sixth administration of the ANC led government identified the turnaround of the RAF as one of its priorities. At the core of this turnaround is claimant centricity and expeditious finalisation of claims. There was a backlog of more than 300 000 claims (including supplier claims).

The target is to settle claims within 120 days as per the legislative mandate. This is against a background where claims took an average of 5 years to settle.

The RAF embarked on a project to settle old claims that were older than 3 years. An audit then indicated that 93% of all these claims were not compliant with the minimum requirements; i.e., the forms were not filled with “all particulars” as envisaged in Section 24 (4) of the RAF Act.

The claims were deemed to be valid in terms of Section 24(5) of the RAF Act which deems claims valid “in law in all respects” as the RAF did not object within 60 days of receiving the claim.

The former Minister of Transport, Minister Mbalula gazetted the Minimum requirements and the RAF has amended the RAF Form 1 to include all these changes.

A pre–assessment process has been implemented at various regional offices and most of these non–complaint claims are rejected immediately on lodgement in line with Section 24(4) of the RAF Act.

All RAF claims are now paid within 180 days after settlement in line with the court order granted by the North Gauteng High Court.

The challenge continues to be in represented claims, where attorneys receive monies and do not pay over to the claimants and Section 19(c) of the RAF Act which makes direct claims unlawful if RAF initiates the claim on behalf of the claimant.

Organisational structure review and process re-engineering

A new Operating Model was introduced with re-engineered claims processes focusing on simplifying the processing of valid claims to improve processing turnaround times.

In order to ensure that the correct claimants are paid timeously, the RAF moved from outsourcing of actuarial services to calculate the quatum of the claims, and accident investigators as it was costly and time consuming and appointed permanent employees for the investigation and assessment of claims to be managed in a shorter period and in a mre cost effective manner.

The claims administration units focus on matters capable of settlement by engaging with the claimants and/or their representatives to settle these matters before they are taken to court.

Furthermore, the RAF has also strengthened and improved controls linked to payments, with various validations, including the utilisation of the Home Affairs National Identification System (HANIS), are undertaken to verify and confirm the identity and mortality of claimants and dependants. Bank information is externally validated to ensure payments are made into the correct bank account. The RAF also checks tax compliance and any contingency fee agreement's validity before payment.

Reply:

Between November 2022 to February 2023 and in February and March 2023 Eastern Cape Province was again hit hard by torrential rains with OR Tambo District hit by both two events, resulting in severe damages to roads infrastructure. Damages includes roads surface wash-away, bridges including approaches, stormwater drainage blockages with debris and logs, and serious mudslides rendering roads unusable.

a). For the 6 District, about 6023 km of roads plus 77 bridges of damages were recorded. Due to limited resources to deal with most of the provincial roads affected, the Department resolved to restore trafficability by blading most roads and regravelling critical areas in severely damaged roads. In recent months persistent rains in the province affected the repair work and to date about 23 kilometers of roads and 7 bridges has been repaired, and work is still underway to repair most of the roads including 3 bridges due for completion soon.

b). For national roads floods damages were experienced on road works and bridges notably in the Port St Johns and King Dalinyebo Sabata (KSD) local municipalities during the March 2023 floods.

Temporary deviations/bypasses were constructed at 100% of locations to provide access to facilities and dwellings on the other side of the road slope failures and damaged bridge approaches. Emergency procurement processes are underway, and it is expected to have contractors on site for permanent repairs in June 2023.

Reply:

The following lines in Cape Town are projected to be operational during the 2023/24 financial year, as follows:

• Nyanga to Chris Hani – 30 November 2023
• Nyanga to Kapteinsklip – 30 November 2023
• Eerste River to Strand – 30 August 2023
• Eerste River to Muldersvlei – 31 August 2023

Reply:

The matter was referred to Free State Department of Community Safety, Roads and Transport, since this road falls under their area of jurisdiction and have indicated that roads in the Province are prioritized based on the outcome of optimal resource allocation. For that purpose, procurement processes have already commenced for parts of this request.

a) The province would like to address the concerns regarding the maintenance backlog on the Verkeerdevlei to Thaba Nchu (N8-N1) road. We understand the importance of maintaining our roads to ensure safe and efficient travel for all citizens.

The province acknowledges the potholes on this section of the road, as it forms part of the provincial departmental Potholes Repair Programme under Provincial Road Maintenance Grant (PRMG) funds. The Motheo region has a weekly target of pothole patching in line with the Departmental Annual Performance Plans (APPs). This is aimed at ensuring the road is safe for road users at all time, while the Department is planning to perform rehabilitation for the entire road later in the year because it has reached its life span.

b) The advert for the section between Excelsior and Tweespruit closed in 31 January 2023 and is currently undergoing evaluation with an allocated budget of R25 million for the 2023/24 financial year and a provisional R45 million for the 2024/25 financial year. The budget will be adjusted based on bids received and approved. The anticipation date appointment of a contractor is expected by end of June 2023.

The province assures that the Verkeerdevlei to Thaba Nchu road is not forgotten, and it will be prioritized in the next financial year. The province is aware of the urgency of the situation will work diligently to address the maintenance backlog on this road.

Reply:

The matter was referred to the Free State Department of Community Safety, Roads and Transport, since this road falls under their area of jurisdiction, who have indicated that:

a) Delays were experienced for immediate repairs due a lack of resources

b) The planned intervention is the inclusion of the road on the Departmental Business Plan over the 2023/24 MTEF. Specifications have already been drafted and will be presented to relevant structures by end of May 2023, in an effort to kick-start the process of advertising for a contractor to fix and repair the two separate roads: i.e. Senekal – Rosendal and Rosendal – Ficksburg.

Reply:

For the 2023/24 financial the following lines will be opened.

• Leralla to Germiston
• Centurion to Kaalfontein
• Durban to Kwamashu/Bridge City
• Durban to Winkelspruit
• Germiston to Johannesburg
• Durban to Crossmoor
• Belle Ombre to Hercules to Capital Park
• Germiston to Kwesine
• Durban to Pinetown
• Johannesburg to Randfontein
• Johannesburg to Residensia
• Nyanga to Chris Hani
• Nyanga to Kapteinsklip
• Eerste River to Strand
• Eerste River to Muldersvlei

For the 2024/25 financial the following lines will be opened in the first quarter.

• Germiston to Daveyton
• Dunswart to Springs

Reply:

(a)The salaries of the (i) Chief Executive Officer and the (ii) top Executives are included in the table below. The salaries include medical aid and provident fund benefits.

SOUTH AFRICAN CIVIL AVIATION AUTHORITY (SACAA)

Position	Annual Salary
Director of Civil Aviation	4,757,586.47
Executive: Aviation Safety Infrastructure	3,230,584.59
Executive: Aviation Safety Operations	3,016,418.95
Executive: Aviation Security	3,016,418.86
Chief Audit Executive	2,695,172.42
Chief Financial Officer	2,858,015.91
Executive: Legal and Aviation Compliance	2,219,700.00
Executive Accident & Incident Investigations	2,288,405.00
Executive: Corporate Services	2,243,691.37
Company Secretary	2,341,387.37
Executive: Human Resources	2,717,845.93

PORTS REGULATOR SOUTH AFRICA (PRSA)

Position	Annual Salary
Chief Executive Officer	3 811 900.50
Chief Financial Officer	2 206 345.56
Executive Manager Legal	2 032845.0
Executive Manager: Policy, Strategy & Research	2 206 345.56
Executive Manager Industry Development	1 978 101.97

SOUTH AFRICAN MARITIME SAFETY AUTHORITY (SAMSA)

Position	Annual Salary
Chief Executive Officer	3 641 880
Chief Operating Officer	2 819 000
Executive Legal Services	2 291 000
Company Secretary	2 400 000
Executive Maritime Projects	2 129 000
Chief Financial Officer	1 918 000
Chief Information Officer	1 766 000
Chief Human Capital	2 066 000
Deputy Chief Operating Officer	2 455 000
Executive Corporate Affairs	1 831 000

CROSS BOARDER ROAD TRANSPORT AGENCY (CBRTA)

Position	Annual Salary
Chief Executive Officer	R3,711,800
Chief Information Officer	R2,705,136
Executive: Corporate Service	R2,703,500
Executive: Regulatory Services	R2,703,500
Executive: Facilitation and Advisory	R2,703,500
Chief Financial Officer	R2,703,500

SOUTH AFRICAN NATIONAL ROADS AGENCY LIMITED (SANRAL)

Position	Annual Salary
Chief Executive Officer	R6 000 000.00
Chief Financial Officer	R3 603 711.00
Engineering Executive	R3 308 861.00
Chief Corporate Affairs Executive	R2 191 415.00
Business Operations Executive (VACANT)	R2 904 374.00

ROAD TRAFFIC INFRINGEMENT AGENCY (RTIA)

Position	Annual Salary
Registrar/Chief Executive Officer	R2,469,928.00
Deputy Registrar: Traffic Infringement Management	R1,864,698.00
Deputy Registrar: Strategy Development and Monitoring	R1,864,698.00
Chief Financial Officer	R1,864,698.00
Senior Executive Legal & Compliance	R1,864,698.00
Chief Audit Executive	R1,864,698.00

ROAD TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT CORPORATION (RTMC)

Position	Annual Salary
Chief Executive Officer	5 689 838
Executive Manager: Road Information and Technology	2 833 487
Executive Manager: Financial Services	3 182 407
Executive Manager: Road Safety Stakeholder Relations Management & Marketing	2 710 930
Executive Manager: Corporate Services	2 753 430
Executive Manager: Road Traffic Law Enforcement	2 684 999
Executive Manager Road Traffic Academy	2 743 586
Executive Manager Transactional Services	2 177 914

AIR TRAFFIC & NAVIGATION SERVICES (ATNS)

Position	Annual Salary
Chief Executive Officer	4 416 300,00
Chief of Finance	891 625,00
*Chief Operating Officer (vacant)	3 280 515,28
*Company Secretary (vacant)	1 690 000,00
Chief Information Officer	2 468 066,08
*Chief Operations Technology(vacant)	2 167 733,49
*Chief Air Traffic Services (vacant)	2 212 166,00
Executive: ATM / CNS Planning	2 494 872,47
*Executive: Strategy and Optimisation (vacant)	2 367 666,00
*Executive: Commercial Services (vacant)	2 652 818,78
Chief Audit Officer	2 086 355,67
Chief Risk Officer	2 027 791,18
Legal Counsel	2 066 751,69
Chief Aviation Training Academy	2 326 092,55
Chief Human Capital Officer (6.5 months fixed term contract with total value of R996 664,50)	1 839 996,00
Regional Director Africa Affairs (Canso)	2 789 438,95

*Annual salary of previous incumbent

ROAD ACCIDENT FUND (RAF)

Position	Annual Salary
Chief Executive Officer	R6 177 316,00
Chief Financial Officer	R3 255 000,00
Chief Strategy and Transformation Officer	R3 100 000,00
Chief Governance Officer	R2 811 076,00
Chief Internal Audit Officer	Vacant
Chief Claims Officer	Vacant
Chief Corporate Support Officer	Vacant
Chief Investment Officer	Vacant

RAILWAY SAFETY REGULATOR (RSR)

Position	Annual Salary
Chief Executive Officer	3 800 000
Chief Operations Officer	Vacant
Chief Financial Officer	Vacant
Executive Media and Communications	2 003 574
Executive Risk and Strategy	2 330 588
Executive Legal Services	1 700 489
Executive Human Resources	1 566 601
Chief Information Officer	1 678 813
Company Secretary	1 566 601
Chief Audit Executive	2 003 574

PASSENGER RAIL AGENCY OF SOUTH AFRICA (PRASA)

Position	Annual salary
Group Chief Executive Officer	6 800 000.00
Chief Finance Officer	2,967,363.00
Chief Executive Officer	2,800,000.00
Executive Manager: Office of GCEO	2,967,879.00
Chief Financial Officer (Prasa Cres)	2,514,809.00
Executive Manager:Real Estate	2,208,714.00
Executive Manager: Facilities Management	1,961,000.00
Group Executive: Legal,Risk & Compliance	3,271,444.00
Acting Chief Executive Officer (Autopax)	3,094,284.00
Chief Financial Officer: PRASA Rail	2,420,800.00
Chief Operations Officer	1,950,000.00
Chief Financial Officer: PRASA Corporate	3,590,464.00
Chief Information Officer	2,761,809.00
Chief Executive Officer (Autopax)	2,600,000.00

AIRPORTS COMPANY SOUTH AFRICA (ACSA)

Position	Annual Salary
Chief Executive Officer	4 763 676
Chief Financial Officer	3 551 556
Executive Strategy & Sustainability	3 183 899
Chief Information Officer	3 153 066
Executive Operations Management	2 850 000
Executive Enterprise and Airport Security	3 000 000
Chief Audit Executive	2 711 159
Executive Human Resource	2 700 000
Executive Corporate Services	2 500 000

(b) The CEO and Executive members of State-Owned Entities do not get paid to attend meetings.

Reply:

The department does have a plan to deal with pedestrian fatalities on the roads.

In terms of that plan - which is encapsulated in the 365 days road safety programme, the Road Traffic Management Corporation, as the national lead agency on road safety, and provincial departments of community safety and transport jointly identify high-risk areas for pedestrian safety.

The plan identifies behaviour that puts pedestrians at risk such as jaywalking, drunk walking, distracted walking, scholar safety as well as safe crossing of freeways and visibility.

The national and provincial teams then jointly deploy law enforcement and road safety operations in identified high-risk areas to discourage unsafe road usage by pedestrians.

The law enforcement and the road safety education and communication technical committees – comprised of the RTMC, traffic law enforcement authorities and road safety practitioners from all nine provinces – meet regularly to evaluate performance and decide on further required interventions.

The challenge with pedestrian crashes is that they take place within build-up areas where municipalities have jurisdiction. The mushrooming of informal settlements further exacerbates the situation as shops and transport orgonites generally lie on the opposite side of major freeways requiring pedestrians to cross freeways when it is not safe to do so. The road authorities put up pedestrian over-passes to separate pedestrian traffic from the vehicle traffic, thus creating a safer environment for co-existence.

In implementing the 365-plan road safety (on the ground) activations were implemented, in addition to the school programme activations. Other interventions planned for the year with the private sector include focusing on drunken walking, which is a serious issue during weekends and long weekends.

Reply:

a) In terms of institutional arrangements for land transport as prescribed in the National Land Transport Act 5 of 2009, it is the responsibility of municipalities to plan, provide and manage public transport infrastructure in their areas, not the national sphere. As planning authorities, municipalities are responsible for preparing transport plans in their areas and ensuring the implementation thereof as per section 11(1)(c)(iv) of the Act. These plans must comply with minimum requirements as published in November 2014 (Government Gazette No. 38256), which requires the inclusion of a transport infrastructure strategy to deal with the development and maintenance of transport infrastructure, including public transport facilities. In terms of section 11(1)(c)(v) of the Act, municipalities are responsible for the financial planning with regard to land transport within or affecting its area, with particular reference to transport planning, infrastructure, operations, services, maintenance, monitoring and administration, with due focus on rehabilitation and maintenance of infrastructure.

b) See (a) above regarding institutional arrangements and responsibilities.

Reply:

Roads Authority	Progress Reported
Eastern Cape	Within the province of the Eastern Cape work is allocated to in-house and outsourced services depending on the availability of resources such as personnel and funding. Demonstrated below is the work that has been done up-to-date. District Total Pothole Repaired m²(Cumulative) Type of Model used Total expenditure to date Joe Gqabi 9 822 Outsourced R2 131 020.90 Sarah Baartman 11 268.9 In-house & outsourced R2 341 406.616 OR Tambo 3140.8 In-house & outsourced R257 276.00 Chris Hani 2 208.37 In-house & outsourced R375 000.00 Amathole 1322.55 Inhouse In-house Alfred Nzo 1205 In-house & outsourced In-house As demonstrated above the province has repaired 28 967.62 m² potholes using a combination of In-house and outsourced services. In the process of repairing potholes the province has incurred R5 104 703.51 expenditure up-to-date.
Free State	The programme started on 8 August and the Free State Department of Police, Roads and Transport have identified roads to form part of the Vala Zonke Programme. Some roads have already been attended to and oversight visits taken place by the Minister, together with the Deputy Minister and MEC responsible for PR&T. The following roads formed part of the National Launch: The R57 – Sasolburg to Vaalbank road is The R59 – Sasolburg to Vredefort road is The R501 – Viljoenskoon to Potchefstroom road A total of 15 407 square meters of potholes have been attended to in the Free State.   No contractors or implementing agents are involved. Teams from the Department perform the activities. To date the Free State spent R6,9 million on the procurement of material for the fixing of potholes by Departmental Maintenance teams
Gauteng	The Gauteng Department of Roads and Transport has introduced two apps to improve the Department's response to the problem of potholes. The first app, PotholeFixGP allows the public to report potholes on any public road in Gauteng to the Department. Potholes reported by the public on provincial roads are then attended to by the Department's maintenance teams, while potholes reported on municipal and SANRAL roads are referred to the relevant road authority for attention. The app was launched on 28 May 2022 and to date, the public has reported 5 419 potholes using the PotholeFixGP app, with 990 potholes reported on provincial roads, 4 379 on municipal roads and 50 on SANRAL roads. The Department has repaired 566 of the potholes reported on provincial roads to date. The second app is an in-house maintenance app that the Department's maintenance teams use to record potholes found by them and to then report when these potholes have been repaired. This app was introduced at the end of May 2022 and to date the Department's maintenance teams have used the app to capture information for 13 291 potholes that have been repaired on the Gauteng provincial roads. At an average area of 3.4 m2 per pothole, the total area of the 13 291 potholes repaired by the Department is 44 875 m2. At an average rate of R 130/ m2 to repair a pothole, the total amount spent to repair the 13 291 potholes is R 5.8 million. (Note: The R 130/m2 is based on the rate supplied to the CSIR by the Department when we prepared the inputs for the 2021/2022 RAMP. SANRAL has reported rates of R 700/ m2 to R 1 500/ m2 to repair potholes. Using a rate of R 700/ m2, the cost to repair the 13 291 potholes would be R 31.4 million and at R1 500/ m2, it would be R 67.3 million.)
KwaZulu Natal	Since the launch of Vala-Zonke Program on the 8th August 2022, the Kwa Zulu-Natal Department of Transport repaired a total of 275 137 .83 m2 of blacktop compared to a provincial target of 311 963.53 m2 . The above was achieved by combination of internal teams and external service providers with a total spend of R 190 919 230.08 as at the end of the 6 month period.
Limpopo	Since the launch of pothole patching operation in August 2022, 92 513m2 have been repaired. The operation is carried out mainly through departmental workforce augmented by about 2 000 temporary beneficiaries. In this regard, the cost is estimated at R26 million based on material and workman-hours.
Mpumalanga	The Mpumalanga Department of Public works, Roads and Transport has been repairing potholes in line with Vala Zonke pothole repairing programme using both outsourcing and internal approaches. To date, Transport Infrastructure ten months performance report indicates good performance when compare annual planned targets of 142 186 m2 vs 173 585 m2 ten months actual outputs. The Department is investing more in building internal capacity, four mechanised potholes patching machines are in operational on tourist roads in the Province and more potholes square metre are achieved within short space of time. The Mpumalanga Department of Public works, Roads and Transport has an expenditure of 52% on surfaced road potholes patching allocation as shown below. ANNUAL BUDGET EXPENDITURE (09/01/ 2023) PERCENTAGE R340 962 000,00 R178 927 834,28 52%
Northern Cape	The Northern Cape Department of Roads and public works has been repairing potholes in line with the Vala Zonke Programme launched by National Department of Transport. The table below show the m2 of pothole patched and expenditure since the launch of the programme in August 2022 up to December 2022. District or Region August Pothole Repairs – m2 Repaired September Pothole Repairs – m2 Repaired October Pothole Repairs – m2 Repaired November Pothole Repairs – m2 Repaired December Pothole Repairs – m2 Repaired TOTAL FRANCES BAARD 5 139,10 1417.18 952.41 651.64 499.94 8660.27 JOHN TAOLO GAETSEWE 1388,60 1 514.56 907.11 329.87 623.6 4763.74 PIXLEY KA SEME 470 562 1284.41 2365.90 412.08 5094.39 NAMAKWA 255.5 604.3 516.6 1312.64 1224 3913.04 ZF MQGAWU 207,2 414.35 378.69 148.05 96.67 1244.96 TOTAL m2 7 460,40 4 512.39 4 039.22 4 808.1 2 856.29 23676.40 EXPENDITURE R3 249 351.01 R4 722 498.94 R3 606 965 R4 173 924.56 R2 550 638.40 R18 303 377.91
North West	DR KENNETH KAUNDA DISTRICT The annual target for the Dr Kenneth Kaunda District for the 2022/2023 fiscal period is 6970.00m² (as it appears on the District’s Operational Plan for 2022/23). For the period 01 April 2022 to 10 February 2023 the output is 29575.20m² and 9530 potholes patched (in-house and outsourced). 34270.80 bags (25kg each covering 0.5m²) were applied to achieve the output of 29575.20m² (8728 potholes patched) at an expense of R2 056 248 (R60/bag). Operation Vala Zonke / Kwala Kaofela was launch on 01 August 2022. For the period 1 August 2022 to 10 February 2023 the District patched 5696.19m² and 4156 potholes (in-house and outsourced). Included in the District’s output of 29575.20m² and 9530 potholes patched, service providers (outsourced output) contributed the following: i) 2300.00m² and 280 potholes (rollover from appointment in 2021/22) and ii) 1050.00m² and 148 potholes; and iii) 9089.80m² and 374 potholes = a total of outsourced output achieved of 12439.80m² and 802 potholes patched in the Dr Kenneth Kaunda District for 2022/2023 (01/04/22 – 10/02/2023) The expense in respect of the 12439.80m² (802 potholes patched by appointed service providers in terms of the Framework Agreement PWR 125/20B amounted to R4 614 873.52 for the 2022/23 fiscal year. The total cost implication in respect of 29575.20m² and 9530 potholes patched in the Dr Kenneth Kaunda District for the period 01 April 2022 to 10 February 2023 amounts to R6 671 121.52 BOJANALA DISTRICT The total work done from August to December 2022 which is Q1 and Q2 is 8407m2 and number of total Potholes is 11 915.9 for the 2022/23 financial year. For Q3 the total work done from January to February 2023 is 671m2 and number of total Potholes is 698.20 for the 2022/23 financial year. The cumulative total as of 03 February 2023 for work done is 12614m2 and for number of Pothole is 9078. The total expenditure for the District is as follows: 1. Asphalt readymix = R1 970 640.00 2. Cement = R166 800.00 3. 9,5mm Crushed road stone= R619 476.00 4. KRS Drums = R543 375.00 5. Small Equipement = R231 816.00 6. Diesel = R3 079 320.00 TOTAL = R 6 611 427 NGAKA MODIRI MOLEMA DISTRICT In-house maintenance 6147 m² - Material cost R511 462,5 NB: Coldmix only R83,2 per m² Outsourced Projects 392,3 m² – R32 361,45 : work done and number of Potholes patched is 1721 from 14 July to September 2022 for Q2 In-house maintenance 12 295 m² - R1 762 519 R143,35 per m² NB: Composition of Emulsion and Crusher stone; plus Coldmix Work done and number of Potholes patched 3443 from 1st October to December 2022 for Q3 In-house maintenance 3298m² - R532 308 R161,40 per m² NB: Composition of Emulsion and Crusher stone Work done and number of Potholes patched 1045 from 1st January to 30th January 2023. The Total number of Potholes patched to date is 22 132m2 and number of Potholes to date 6209 DR. RUTH SEGOMOTSI MOMPATI DISTRICT The total work done from August to December 2022 which is Q2 is 4 958.29 m² and number of total Potholes patched is 5 142 for the 2022/23 financial year. The total work done from 1st October to December 2022 which is Q3 is 845.13 m² and number of total Potholes patched is 896 for the 2022/23 financial year The total work done from 1st January to 17th February 2023 which is Q4 is 289.47 m² and the number of total Potholes patched is 321 for the 2022/23 financial year The Total number of Potholes patched to date 6 092.89 m² and number of Potholes to date 6 359
Western Cape	The Western Cape Government, Department of Transport have performed routine maintenance works on the provincial road network to repair and fix potholes. The amount of blacktop patching repaired from 1 April 2022 to 31 December 2023 was 17 444 square meters. The Department do not have the itemised financial reports for the repair and fixing of potholes and cannot provide this information.

Reply:

In response to all questions, the Department requested Parliament to engage the Party to provide the list of companies indicated as specified, as it was not provided with the Question.

On 16 May 2023, office of the Procedural Advisor: Questions, confirmed that the information has as yet not been received.

As such, the Department is not in a position to currently respond to the question, but will do so once the information is provided by the Party.

Reply:

a) Government has always been constructing bridges for vehicles and pedestrians across provinces, and addition to this is response to SONA, as Welisizwe bridges are planned for rollout. The Eastern Cape is one of the Provinces that will be receiving 19 Welisizwe bridges that will be concluded in October 2023.

b) During the 2023/24 financial year, additional 17 bridges are planned for construction. The DPWI and SANDF are integral Departments in this program.

Reply:

1. (a) Funding of learner transport is provided by the provincial treasuries through provincial equitable share. The total budget of scholar transport for 2022/2023 was R4,175,636,000.00 and is illustrated in the table below:

Province	Annual Budget 2023/2024
Eastern Cape	R 694,000,000.00
Free State	R 102,400,000.00
Gauteng	R 1,046,934,000.00
KwaZulu Natal	R 266,400,000.00
Limpopo	R 466,231,000.00
Mpumalanga	R 464,891,000.00
North West	R 450,000,000.00
Northern Cape	R 191,481,000.00
Western Cape	R 493,299,000.00
TOTAL	R 4,175,636,000.00

(b) The Department of Transport has developed a National Learner Transport Policy in order to ensure effective and efficient management of learner transport across the country. The policy provides that a standardised measure of remuneration for subsidised learner transport and that it shall be based on total kilometres travelled. Factors such as road conditions and travel distances shall determine the cost of a service. The Department has further developed a standard contract guideline that provinces could use in the contracting of transport operations. The policy further provides that the implementing departments must ensure that learner transport services are undertaken according to procurement legislation and Treasury regulations.

2. Funding of learner transport is provided by the provincial treasuries through provincial equitable share. There is no funding of scholar transport from National Department of Transport.

3. According to the progress reports for provinces in relation to the National Learner Transport Programme for the financial year of 2022.2023, the implementation of the programme is summarised as follows:

Reply:

The approval of the White Paper on National Rail Policy (NRP) by Cabinet on 22 March 2022, assured a new and vibrant future for the rail industry in South Africa. The NRP contains specific policy direction on rail infrastructure, access, economic regulation and the market structure geared to dramatically change rail transportation in South Africa and intends to re-establish rail as the backbone of freight transportation and urban commuter mobility.

Transnet and PRASA, both wholly owned by the Government, has been experiencing significant performance problems over several years (massive capital investment backlog, inadequate funding, obsolete and ageing infrastructure, deteriorating rolling stock, and outdated technologies and insufficient specialised technical skills) that has contributed to rail’s generally declining state.

The implementation of the NRP has wider strategic implications for rail infrastructure management, ownership and access control. The NRP opens up opportunities for new players to participate in the investment and delivery of rail services. These opportunities, if implemented successfully, will draw rail friendly freight back to rail.

Reply:

(1) (a) Daveyton-Dunswart-Germiston; Vereeninging-George Goch (via Midway); Kwesine Germiston; Cape Town-Khayelitsha; Cape Town-Kapteinsklip; Kelso (Umbongontwini) – Durban; Cape Town-Kraaifontein; Cape Town-Wellington; East London-Berlin; Port Elizabeth-Uitenhage; Cape Town-Strand; Crossmore-Durban; Springs-Johannesburg; Randfontein-Johannesburg; Durban-Stanger; Pinetown-Durban; Germiston-Vereeniging (MTN); Cape Town-Malmesbury; Cape Town-Worcester; Nigel-Springs; Eerste Rivier-Muldersvlei; Johannesburg-Oberholzer; Germiston-New Canada (Booysen); Wests-Durban; Mabopane-Pienaarspoort (via Capital Park).

(b) The main issues holding back refurbishment are: load shedding affecting some of operational areas supplied by the Municipality (Connect power supply from substations), encroachment and community unrests activities, which affects the acceleration of the key projects for the Recovery Programme.

(2) PRASA Protection Services has collaboration with SAPS, Crime Intelligence, as well as the State Security Agency. Regional meetings between Law Enforcement and PRASA Protection Services takes place every 2 weeks, with National meetings conducted on a monthly basis.

PRASA is represented on the Economic Sabotage of Critical Infrastructure (ESCI) Forum and collaborates with SOE’s, such as Telkom, Eskom, Transnet, etc… The ESCI Forum meets on a monthly basis.

3. At this stage it is not possible to quantify the volumes of material that PRASA is currently utilizing – however, we can report that:

(a) Materials such as rails, turnouts, wheels, and major cables on the General Overhaul and toilets on the Mainline Passenger Services Coaches are imported.

(b) Major spares, namely windows shrouds, interior panels, interiors seats floorboards, insulation material and paint are bought through South African producers and are sourced locally.

Reply:

No, the Department does not receive claims. As the honourable member may be aware the Department through South African National Road Agency Limited (SANRAL) maintain National roads while the provinces maintain the provincial roads through Provincial Road Maintenance Grant.

The honourable member should note that all road damage claims are submitted to SANRAL, provinces and municipalities.

Reply:

1. The high Cube Containers are regulated by Section 224(b) of the National Road Traffic Regulation 2000,issued under the National Traffic Act 1996 (Act No. 93 of 1996 ) wherein an exemption was granted in 2011 ( Government Gazette No. 34621) , extended in 2021, to exempt the operation in the Public roads of motor vehicles transporting international Standards Organisation (ISO) containers with a height exceeding the permitted high of 4300 metres. The road freight industry made a plea to the Minister to allow transportation of high cube containers to permissible height approximately 4600 meters as part of global standards practice when containers are transported on skeletal or low bed trailers. It was reported that the containers are transported across SADC region on the 4 600 meters and coming in to South Africa ,cargo owners are faced law enforcement officers and punitive measures , that the high cube as part with containers cause damage to the bridges-all these factors are going to be researched to establish scientific facts and operational efficiency that may lead to review and /or amendment of the Regulations 224(b). The research seeks to find a balance on the economic impact for operators and the unintended damage to the road infrastructure whilst maintaining the elements of road safety strategy.

(2) Yes, the moratorium has extended until further notice, with effect from 31 March 2023- Government Gazette No. 48348. The Department of Transport shall advise on the developments and way forward with regard to the lifting of the moratorium in due course

(3) Yes, Minister of Transport has issued a Government Gazette No. 48348 to that effect to inform the sector and law enforcement agencies, and this will be issued and broadly circulated to all affected and interested stakeholders in the transportation sector.

 

Reply:

The Department can confirm that the road R719 between Bultfontein-Wesselsbron-Bothaville, from Bloemfontein is indeed a regional road with the posted speed of 100km/hr.

The Free State Department of Police, Roads and Transport is currently experiencing budgetary constraints regarding routine maintenance resulting with the section between Wesselsbron to Bothaville in a worse condition.

To address the above challenges, the Free State Department of Police, Roads and Transport is providing pothole repair with assistance from the farming community through the Letsema programme, whereby the Department is providing equipment and material whereas the farming community is providing labourers, who will be supervised by Government officials to work on road surface to ensure safety on the road.

Reply:

(a) Land invasion is a common problem not only for private landowners but also government entities such as PRASA, Transnet, etc. There are a number of areas along PRASA network that identified as hotspots of land invasion.

The economic impact of COVID-19, shack farming and political manoeuvring had fuelled unlawful occupation further.

PRASA owns 4 595 Ha of land and most of PRASA’s land is used for operational purposes (stations, depots, railway and rail reserves) and of this it is estimated that 75,8 Ha (2%) are now identified as informally occupied.

Regional breakdown of illegal occupations

12 major hotspots were identified accounting for 86% of all informal occupations (65 Ha). Those are:

WCR

• Philippi 13Ha
• Nyanga 12 Ha
• Mandalay 14 Ha

KZN

• Zwelethu 9 Ha
• Lindokuhle 5.9 Ha
• Umlazi 3.2 Ha
• Duffs Road 2 Ha

Gauteng

• Halte 2 (Kopanong, Klipkruisfontein,Lebaleng) 6.7 Ha
• Rosslyn 3.5 Ha
• New Canada 2.2 Ha
• Alberton 1.7 Ha
• De Wildt 1.6 Ha

Encroachments - There are several cases where land is occupied by encroachment of formal or semi-formal residential areas into PRASA’s rail reserve. Such occupations are small in terms of areas but may have big impact on operations and extremely difficult to deal with due to the large number of households involved.

Vagrants - PRASA is experiencing an influx of vagrants in vacant buildings or in stations after hours, especially those not manned. They tend to sleep in the area and use the ablution facilities, as well as creating temporary accommodation in vacant buildings and start open fires to keep warm that can lead to burning of the premises. Problems is also experienced with Nayope users that steal and vandalise the buildings for items to sell.

(b) & (c)

The impact on PRASA, especially around Phillipi, has dire consequences as it impacted on the recovery of the Central Line. The recovery of the Central Line has been declared as a Presidential Programme and the Minister of Transport and the Minister of Human Settlements have been driving this project with the support of the Department of Public Works, Provincial Government and the City of Cape Town.

The relocation and prevention of illegal land invasions cannot be addressed in isolation and various spheres of government have to be involved.

PRASA has also set up an internal task team to set guidelines and processes to prevent illegal land invasions, encroachments and vagrants and have a standard approach on the relocation and removal of such.

In the main the task team will be focus on the following key areas:

Reply:

1. (a) (i) PUTCO provides public transport services to people living mainly in low income areas in Gauteng, Mpumalanga and Limpopo provinces through various interim and tendered contracts concluded with the provincial departments. The company is paid subsidy through the Public Transport Operations Grant as per the table hereunder:

(ii) The contracts have requirements and specifications that the company complies with in terms of the above-mentioned contracts. Contracts compliance is monitored either through the Supervision and Monitoring Firms appointed by provinces or inhouse through the designated officials.

(b) (i) The contracts provide for the outsourcing of the monitoring responsibilities to the Supervision and Monitoring Firms or the performance of the function inhouse through the designated internal officials who monitor the operations on a daily basis. These monitors enforce compliance with timetables and certify the correctness of the payment certificates/claims and deduct penalties for non-performance levied before recommending for the payment of the claims.

(ii) As per b (i) above

(iii) Buses carry certified number of seated and standing passengers and law enforcement deals with the overloading where it occurs.

2. (a) Buses used on these contracts have to comply with the relevant vehicle requirements and fitness in terms of the Road Traffic Act and get inspected regularly as monitors require reports in this regard.

(b) Contracts trips are required to carry the required number of passengers and are monitored before variation and/or cancellation is proposed and implemented.

 

Reply:

a) As the Honourable member may be aware, the Cabinet Retreat of 31 May to 1 June 2022, resolved that pothole fixing programme called Vala Zonke be addressed as a National project with South African Road Agency Limited (SANRAL) appointed as the preferred implementing agent.

The Minister of Transport launched the Vala Zonke programme on 08 August 2022 with the plan to rollout the programme (b) on the provincial paved network up to the end of 2022/23 Financial year (c) parallel to the support provinces are receiving from SANRAL.

Provinces are in a process of signing Memoranda of Agreements with both local and district municipalities for cooperation and jointly address potholes on all paved network.

Furthermore, SANRAL entered into MOUs with some Provinces to eradicate potholes. Some provinces are transferring their roads to SANRAL so that they can be better developed and managed.

Reply:

The road connecting N1 Verkeerdevlei with Thaba Nchu is not a SANRAL road but a Free State Provincial Road. It is also not part of the identified Strategic and Primary Network still to be transferred to SANRAL by the Free State Province.

As this is not a SANRAL road, SANRAL has neither the mandate nor plans to tar the road in question.

However the details of the plans by the Province will be sourced and submitted to Parliament.

The route between Thaba Nchu and Excelsior consists of various sections of roads as per the Free State Department of Police, Roads and Transport asset register. The Department has come a long way in upgrading certain section from gravel to block pave or Cape Seal over the past number of years. These upgrades are done in line with the Department's plans to provide a suitable bus route to service the Thaba Nchu area. It therefore provides a ring road and there is no plan for providing an upgraded road to Excelsior as road traffic counts do not seem to justify an upgrade at this time.

Traffic counts may be extrapolated to confirm the number of vehicles traveling between Thaba Nchu and Excelsior and this might provide justifiable ground for such an upgrade.

Reply:

The R703 linking the N8 with the N1 is not a SANRAL road but a Provincial Road. It is also not part of the identified Strategic and Primary Network still to be transferred to SANRAL in Free State Province. As R703 is not a SANRAL road, SANRAL has no mandate to repair it.

The Department will source the Detailed Plans by the Province regarding this road will then be submitted to Parliament.

Reply:

(1) (a) The Department of Transport exercises oversight and monitoring of CAPEX for Transnet National at the Ports Consultative Committee (PCC) as regulated by the National Ports Act. The relevant Shareholder Minister in this regard is the Minister of Public Enterprises.

(b) The question must be directed to Department of Public Enterprises (DPE).

(2) The Department does not budget for port development and infrastructure. DoT is a Policy Department.

Reply:

1. (a)The department does not owe to the (i) Walter Sisulu local Municipality and

(ii) Senqu local Municipality. (b) falls away

2. (a)(b) falls away

3. (a)(b)

Reply:

N2 Section 24, KM 0 – KM12

The temporary deviation to the median opened to traffic on 27th May 2022. The intervention design has been completed and construction contract was awarded on 24 January 2023 to a value of R352,680,879.10 to Stefanutti Stocks (Pty) Ltd for construction period of 11 months. The contract commencement date was on 6 February 2023, and currently the contractor is finalising local stakeholder engagements. The local stakeholder Project Liaison Committee was established on 6 March 2023 and physical works is due to commence during March 2023.

N2 Section 23, KM 49,8

The tender for consulting engineering services closed on 26 January 2023. The tender is in the evaluation process and has been conditionally awarded on 9 March 2023. It is intended for the investigation and detail design to commence in March 2023, and a contractor to be appointed by April 2024.

In the interim, the Southbound carriageway (SBC) slow lane has been closed which is where the major slip failure cracking has taken place. Construction of the crossover in the median as well as the northbound carriageway (NBC) widening has been completed, and traffic will be diverted onto the NBC within the next 2 weeks ending 24 March 2023. This will ensure full access will be available to the design team for the investigations as well as to the Contractor during the construction phase.

Reply:

(1) Disciplinary action has been taken against the employees involved in the awarding of the Tender:

• 3 Executives are currently undergoing disciplinary action.
• At least 14 employees were suspended.
• 19 cases have been concluded:

• • 2 Senior Managers resigned;
  • 1 Senior Manager and 1 Junior Official have been dismissed;
  • 6 written warnings have been issued;
  • 15 found not guilty, 1 with no disciplinary action recommended;
  • 6 cases in progress of which 2 have been concluded and awaiting Chairpersons’ rulings;
  • 3 dismissed employees referred PRASA to the CCMA, 1 case has been resolved with settlement and the other 2 cases are still in progress at the CCMA.

(2) The Auditor General of South Africa (AGSA) in the report for the period ended 31 March 2022, identified that the award to Premifield for the leasing of diesel locomotives was irregular. The auditors recommended an immediate forensic investigation in this regard. The auditors also cautioned PRASA leadership to ensure that there is sufficient and continuous monitoring of supply chain activities, not only on large contracts but also on day-to-day awards, given the significant inherent risk of fraud in this area.

To address the irregularities identified by the audit and put control measures in place, a new tender process is being put in place for the procurement of locomotives in line with the Supply Chain Management prescripts and policies for the current financial year.

Reply:

1. See Annexure A for Limpopo

See Annexure B for North West and

See Annexure C for Free State

2. See Annexure A for Limpopo

See Annexure B for North West and

See Annexure C for Free State

Reply:

1. (a) The Daveyton train station has not been operational since 18 January 2020.

(b) Following the declaration of the state of disaster, the country was placed on lockdown level 5 that included prohibition of rail services. During that period, due to absence of security the station infrastructure was vandalised.

(c) PRASA has since deployed physical security to protect the commuter rail infrastructure, including stations. In the Gauteng East Region, where the station is located, a total of 926 physical security guards, which includes armed and unarmed have since been deployed.

2. An estimated budget of R15m has been set aside under the National Station upgrade programme. The funds will be used to upgrade the station including retail or shops to serve secondary mandate. The actual construction works will be sequenced and aligned to train service timelines, which have not been operationalised, as PRASA is bringing back corridors in phased approach to ensure that all aspects of operating the corridor are attended to.

3. (a) Commuters could travel to the following stations from Daveyton Station: Alliance, Van Ryn, Northmead, Avenue, Dunswart, Boksburg East, Boksburg, East Rand, Angelo and Delmore;

(b) Based on the prices in the table below, it was relatively cost-effective to travel by train between Daveyton – Johannesburg which means that commuters with destinations before Johannesburg were paying an even lesser amount.

Type of ticket	Price
Single	R 11.50
Return	R 22.50
Weekly	R 75.00
Monthly	R235.00

(c) The travel cost for commuters without train services is currently unknown to PRASA.

(4) The PRASA legal mandate to provide commuter rail services is not premised on a profit objective, but rather on rendering the service to communities as directed by government. It is therefore on this basis that the routes in question are not profitable. The rail operations work on a cost coverage model, recovering all input costs through fare revenue generation supplemented by the allocated government subsidy as total income. The overall cost coverage in the region is at 4%. PRASA is currently undertaking a corridor costing model that will assist in determining or apportioning the cost per line. As things currently stand, the costs of running the train services are centralised.

(5) Taking into account that the rail operations work on a cost coverage model, measures that were put in place were not meant to achieve profitability, but rather ensure sustainability and financial viability of the service. These included increasing the capacity of the train service to meet commuter demands through the repairs to damaged infrastructure, developing a timetable that is aligned to travel patterns; restoring the home and destination station to increase access to the system as well as improving security and guarding services.

Reply:

1. Rail remains the most cost-effective form of transportation as the fares are significantly much lower than other land-based modes of transport, making it more affordable. Below was the comparative pricing between Daveyton and Johannesburg for various modes:-

Type of ticket	Price
Single	R 11.50
Return	R 22.50
Weekly	R 75.00
Monthly	R235.00

2. Yes, there are plans to re-activate the Daveyton Station.

a) The improvement and upgrade of the Daveyton Station will be undertaken as part of the National Station upgrade program. The cost to upgrade the station, including retail or shops to serve secondary mandate, is estimated at R15m. The actual construction works will be sequenced and aligned to train service timelines. The project is anticipated to last for 12 months.

b) The upgrade of the Daveyton Station is planned for the 2023/2024 financial year under and the project will be completed over 12 months. The station is planned to be operational by 2023.

Reply:

The R415 from Matatiele to Qachasnek was only gazetted as a National Road under SANRAL’s jurisdiction on 5 August 2022. SANRAL immediately commenced with routine road maintenance on the route and also obtained SANRAL Board Approval in December 2022 for Project R.415-010-2024/1 for the Improvement (Surfacing) of R415, Section 1, from Matatiele (km 0) to Qachasnek (km 23.6). The tenders for consultant appointment for detail design, environmental approval and the construction tender documentation for the improvement project above will be issued during the 2023/24 financial year.

Reply:

Records at our disposal do not have an operator by the name of Transnet Coachline. Nonetheless, subsidised bus operators contracted to provinces are always advised to prioritise their contractual obligations anytime when the demand for special hires is high. All subsidised bus operators were urged to prioritise and honour their normal schedules in terms of the approved timetables as per contract conditions. Operators would then use their discretion as it relates to offering special hire transportation as long as it did not interfere with contractual obligations.

Reply:

a) The Department is guided by the provisions of the National Land Transport Act No. 5 of 2009 which empowers provinces to take decisions and/or steps to deal with and address any conflict situation. Section 79(2) and 91 of the NLTA empowers MECs to consider a number of interventions and remedial steps, which includes the withdrawal of operating licenses or closure of routes in extra ordinary circumstances of conflict or violence. These powers are legally bestowed to provinces and the Minister may only intervene and exercise any of these powers in consultation with the MEC and relevant planning authorities.

b) Same as in (a) above

c) Same as in (a) above

Reply:

 

a) There are two management systems being used to monitor projects, namely:

(i) Infrastructure reporting model (IRM) - a monitoring and reporting tool used by provincial departments to report on their infrastructure projects as required by in terms of section 13(1)(e) of the Division of Revenue Act (DoRA).

(ii) The other system being used is the Expanded Public Works Programme Reporting System (EPWP R-S), which is a web based digital is used to report and monitor job creation Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), including job creation data for women, youth and people with disabilities.

b) The Infrastructure Reporting Model (IRM) system are being administered by the National Treasury and the EPWP Reporting System (EPWP R-S) is a system administered by Department of Public Works and Infrastructure.

All the Provincial Departments are charged with the responsibility to report progress on those infrastructure projects via their respective Provincial Treasuries, who monitors progress and verify data quality against the funding allocated. The Sector Departments and National Treasury are responsible for overall monitoring, oversight and quality assurance, this case the Department of Transport for road projects.

Reply:

a(i). The department has assigned some of its resources to areas that were inaccessible, the work is being done using available resources. This means that some of the plans had to be put on hold to attend to some of these emergencies brought by flood damages.

ii) There are some bridges that have been included in the bridge programme where ECDOT is working with National Department of Public Works and Infrastructure. Confirmation for implementation will only be determined once Department of Défense has conducted assessment for suitability or feasibility.

b. ECDOT is mandated with maintenance and construction of provincially proclaimed roads. ECDOT always strives to improves delivery it is mandated with, using the available resources. Partnership with NDPWI and Department of Defence is one of other possible ways in which ECDOT is trying to avoid loss of lives.

Reply:

 

a) The Tender for the Appointment of the Engineering, Procurement and Contract Management (EPMC) contractor is currently at the Bid Adjudication Stage. The item will be subjected to PRASA Board of Control for approval.

b) The complexity of the technical requirements of the bid resulted in bidders requesting an extension to the closing date of the tender.

Reply:

 

The road in question: D201, is a Provincial road that belongs to the North West Department of Public Works and Roads. This is an unpaved (gravel) road in the Greater Taung Local Municipality, which stretches from Pampierstad to Mokasa, approximately 24km long.

To improve the condition of this road (D201), the Province issued a tender on PWR 91/13 for “Upgrading from Gravel to Surface Standard”. The tender closed on 5 August 2021. The duration of the project is between January 2022 to July 2023 (18 months) but due to some delays, it is now expected to be completed by end of September 2023 which is less than two years. 

Reply:

1. The bridge in question may be one of the bridges on the unproclaimed roads, meaning that it is neither registered on the provincial road asset nor municipal road asset.

Since the recent floods, the Mpumalanga provincial government embarked on a programme to conduct an assessment to determine the extent of damage to infrastructure in the area of Bushbuckridge.

As a response to the damages caused by floods, the province and municipality agreed on a joint programme through a municipal support programme whereby a monthly activity such as grading, backfill and re-gravel are being undertaken on the affected roads.

With regard to the affected bridge, the province will be finalising the road and bridge condition assessment which will guide the type of intervention, budget and estimated timelines required.

2. The Department does not have a budget specifically allocated for this bridge, however the province has put aside a budget of R16 million for the maintenance of all bridges across the province.

Reply:

a) To address the ageing infrastructure, SANRAL has an ongoing programme to strengthen the road network which assists to cope with the high volumes of traffic

b) The department is collaborating with provincial road authorities by providing ring-fenced allocations within the Provincial Road Maintenance Grant for upgrades and refurbishments of the road network. In terms of enhancing safety, the Department has made a special allocation from PRMG to improve safety on provincial strategic road networks such as the addition of passing and climbing lanes, guardrails, signage road markings and etc.

In addition to the above and by way of example, referring to the uPhongolo incident. I have approved the establishment of an Interdepartmental Task Team made up of State Departments at national, provincial, and local, including entities within my Department under the Roads Branch Interventions ranging from short, medium to long terms for example the provision of learner transport, aggressive road safety campaigns, establishment of satellite traffic station by the KZN, Road Traffic inspectorate, deployment of additional national traffic police to the KZN province, SAPS to request additional highway patrol vehicles to improve visibility; joint operational plans between KZN and Mpumalanga on the border of the two provinces; SAPS to engage with the local magistrate in prioritizing cases of traffic violations and to follow-up on all cases of vehicle accidents that happened on the N2 where there is no progress; SANRAL to erect and improve road signage of the N2 and urgently install rumble strips and speed humps.

Reply:

Metrorail monitors and evaluate the train service performance daily, weekly, monthly and a quarterly report is submitted to the Board of Control (BoC) and the Minister. The daily, weekly and monthly monitoring and evaluation reports are analysed by a special dedicated team that always provide feedback to the operational teams to improve where applicable. Reasons for service delays are identified daily, and corrective measures are monitored to mitigate reoccurrence. Based on the table below, there were fewer cancellations experienced and all efforts were put in place to minimize disruption of service.

Below is the link for table that indicates the number of passenger trips, Actual vs scheduled for both the years 2018 and 2019 respectively: -

https://pmg.org.za/files/RNW26-TABLE.pdf

Reply:

1. 

3.1 In the past five years there have been 13 fatal crashes on the R600 resulting in 22 fatalities. Currently, only fatal crashes are collected; the details are in the table below.

Reply:

1. The following measures were taken over the festive season to reduce road crashes and fatalities.

• As an encompassing Strategy on Road Safety, the NRSS finds expression in the 365 plan, especially on critical roads and the heightened visibility of law enforcement.
• Critical routes with a high number of crashes and fatalities were identified and intensified law enforcement and road safety interventions were implemented.
• The interventions focussed on pedestrian management, overloading of cross-border vehicles, unlicensed/fraudulently registered vehicles, drunk driving, and speeding.
• Blitzes were conducted also conducted at points of departure and ports of entry to enforce the law on cross-border vehicles and drivers. This will continue over the festive season as heightened activations.
• Focussed attention was also given to truck operations, especially on the N3 Townhill and N2 Pongola including alternate provincial roads like R34, R33 especially in Mpumalanga and KZN Provinces.

2. Continuation of the festive season measures throughout the year

The said measures are part of the 365 plan with heightened operations during the Easter and festive season period and are being implemented throughout the year.

 

Reply:

The department does have the plan to deal with pedestrian fatalities on the roads.

In terms of that plan - which is encapsulated in the 365 days road safety programme, the Road Traffic Management Corporation, as the national lead agency on road safety, and provincial departments of community safety and transport jointly identify high-risk areas for pedestrian safety.

The plan identifies behaviour that puts pedestrians at risk such as jaywalking, drunk walking, distracted walking, scholar safety as well as the safe crossing of freeways and visibility.

The national and provincial teams then jointly deploy law enforcement and road safety operations in identified high-risk areas to discourage unsafe road usage by pedestrians.

The law enforcement and the road safety education and communication technical committees – comprised of the RTMC, traffic law enforcement authorities and road safety practitioners from all nine provinces – meet regularly to evaluate performance and decide on further required interventions.

The challenge with pedestrian crashes is that they take place within build-up areas where municipalities have jurisdiction. The mushrooming of informal settlements further exacerbates the situation as shops and transport amenities generally lie on the opposite side of major freeways requiring pedestrians to cross freeways when it is not safe to do so.

Reply:

(a) The transportation of dangerous goods is regulated under Chapter VIII of the National Road Traffic Act, 1996 (“the Act”) and Chapter VIII of the National Road Traffic Regulations, 2000 in order to protect everyone directly involved (such as consignors or carriers), or those who might become involved (such as members of the emergency services and public). Suffice it to state that the Dangerous Goods Regulations, incorporate the SA National Standards (SANS) compiled by the SA Bureau of Standards, oblige transport operators involved in the carriage of dangerous goods, to ensure that they know what they have to do to minimise the risk of incidents as well as guarantee an effective response.

(b) In addition to the Chapters referred to above, section 49 outlines the duties of the operator” whereas section 50 provides for “power of MEC in respect of motor vehicles, drivers and activities of operators. It is the latter section which directly speaks to and will assist in my reply. The Act and its Regulations (incorporating SABS Standards) create several offences under the Dangerous Goods Chapter.

1. In terms of section 49 (a) read together with section (89)2) the operator of a dangerous goods motor vehicle must (and commits an offence if he fails to) notify the particular registering authority within seven days of any change in the circumstances in relation to his registration as the operator of such vehicle.

2. In terms of section 49 (a) read together with section 89(2) the operator must also return the operator card in respect of that motor vehicle to that registering authority, and contravenes the Act if he fails to do so.3. 4. 

3. In terms of section 49 (b) read together with section 89(2) the operator must also:

• keep safe and protect from theft an operator card issued to him;
• notify the nearest police station within 24 hours, and the registering authority where he is ordinarily resident within seven days, after becoming aware.

4. In terms of section 32 read together with sections 49-(c) and 89(2) if the operator does not exercise proper control over the driver of such dangerous goods motor vehicle, particularly to ensure compliance with all the relevant provisions of the Act, including regarding:

• the professional driving permit; and
• the loading of such vehicle, he commits an offence.

5. In terms of section 49 (d) read together with section 89 (2) offences are created if the operator fails to ensure that such dangerous goods motor vehicle does not comply with fitness requirements – the roadworthy certification, basically.

6. In terms of section 49 (f) read together with section 89(2) the operator commits an offence if he fails to ensure that all the requirements for the conveyance of dangerous goods and substances are not complied with.

7. In terms of sections 49 (f) and (g) read together with section 89(2), it is a criminal offence if the operator does not conduct his operations with due care as to the safety of the public, and fails to take all reasonable measures to ensure that such motor vehicle is operated on a public road in compliance with the provisions for the loading and transportation of goods as prescribed by or under the Act.

In addition to the above offences section 50 of the Act prescribe certain powers to be exercised by MEC of respective Provinces in matters pertaining to the transportation and conveyance of dangerous goods. For ease of reference, the aforesaid section provides as follows:

“Power of MEC in respect of motor vehicles, drivers and activities of operators

50. Power of chief executive officer in respect of motor vehicles, drivers and activities of operators

 

a) The chief executive officer may, on account of any evidence regarding the state of fitness of a motor vehicle in respect of which an operator is registered, produced to him or her in accordance with subsection (4), by written notice-

​(i) notify such operator that such motor vehicle is suspected of being unroadworthy and that the operator should forthwith take adequate steps to ensure its continued roadworthiness in accordance with Chapter V;

​(ii) require from such operator to indicate in writing what precautions he or she has taken to ensure the continued roadworthiness of such motor vehicle in accordance with Chapter V;

​(iii) direct such operator to produce such motor vehicle for inspection, examination or testing at a time and place specified in such notice; and

​(iv) suspend the operator card issued in respect of such motor vehicle, if such motor vehicle has been examined or tested under paragraph (c) and found to be unroadworthy in terms of Chapter V, for such period as such motor vehicle is so unroadworthy.

 

(b) The chief executive officer may, on account of the record of a driver of a motor vehicle in respect of which an operator is registered, by written notice-

​(i) inform such operator that it is suspected that he or she does not exercise proper control over the driver under his or her authority as required by section 49;

​(ii) require such operator to indicate in writing what precautions he or she has taken in order to ensure proper control over drivers under his or her authority;

​(iii) require such operator to produce for examination the records regarding drivers which an operator is required to keep in terms of this Act; and

​(iv) direct that the driver concerned be retested in terms of section 25.

 

​c) The chief executive officer may, if the record of an operator indicates that such operator does not comply with the provisions of this Act, by written notice-

​(i) direct such operator to carry out his or her duties in terms of section 49 properly;

​(ii) appoint a person whom he or she deems fit, to investigate the activities or specific activities of such operator and direct the person so appointed to make a written recommendation to him or her regarding what measures should be taken in respect of such operator;

​(iii) direct such operator to appear before him or her or before any other person appointed by him or her, in order to furnish reasons for his or her failure to carry out his or her duties in terms of section 49; and

​(iv) notify such operator-

 

​1. that an operator card shall only be issued to him or her on such conditions as the chief executive officer may deem fit;

​2. that no further operator card shall be issued to him or her for such period as the chief executive officer may specify in the notice; or

​3. that the operator card or cards relating to such motor vehicle or vehicles as the chief executive officer may determine in respect of which he or she is registered as the operator is or are suspended until the chief executive officer is satisfied that the grounds for the suspension have lapsed:

Provided that-

(aa) the period of any suspension under subparagraph (iii) shall not exceed 12 months;

(bb) any decision by the chief executive officer under this paragraph shall only be taken on the basis of a recommendation by a person appointed under paragraph (b); and

(cc) the chief executive officer shall, within 21 days after the date of the notice, in writing furnish such operator with the reasons for his or her decision.

 

​d) The chief executive officer may, in the exercise of his or her powers under this section-

​(i) equire any operator, subject to any lawful objection, to make discovery of documents by way of affidavit or by answering interrogatories on oath and to produce such documents for inspection;

​(ii) require any operator to allow inspection of any records and documents required to be kept by the operator in terms of this Act;

​(iii) appoint a commission to take the evidence of any person in the Republic or in a prescribed territory or in a foreign state and to forward such evidence to him or her in the same manner as if the commission were a commissioner appointed by a court; and

​(iv) at any time require that an inquiry be instituted into the operational activities of an operator by a person appointed by him or her for that purpose and, if such operator is a company, also into those of any other company in a group of companies to which the operator belongs or of which the operator is the controlling company”.

In view of the above, non-compliance with the Act will lead to criminal prosecution of the operator as the case may be and, if found guilty, a fine or jail sentence. Some of the penalties for non-compliance with the Act include–

• court orders for suspension or cancellation of a license or permit;

• disqualification of a person from obtaining a license or permit;

• cancellation of a license or/and permit; and

• fines for non-compliance, depending on the offence

Reply:

1. The Department is developing a public transport subsidy policy that will locate the subsidisation of minibus taxi users within the wider, multi-modal subsidy framework as part of the public transport funding reforms. There are a number of different subsidy models being considered and explored that includes the minibus taxi industry based on applicable integrated transport plans.

2. The policy is at a stage where it is being submitted to Cabinet for consideration and only when it is approved will it be implemented

Reply:

The recent incessant heavy rains in many areas of the country have resulted in saturation of the soil and loosening of soil and causing landslides and rockfall on some slopes along some of the roads. The mudslides and rockfall that fell onto the N4 in Schoemanskloof were cleared the same day by the road authority. A similar occurrence on the R36 from Bambi towards Mashishing (Lydenburg) was also cleared the same day of occurrence. The respective road authorities for the two roads, SANRAL (TRAC) and Mpumalanga Public Works, Roads and Transport are constantly monitoring the road sections to ensure any recurrence can be attended to with minimum disruption of traffic movement and also to ensure all road users are safe at all times. It must be noted that the slopes are stable and hold firm under normal rainfall conditions.

Reply:

The Department of Transport procured the following vehicle(s) since 1 June 2019:

Make	Model	Year Manufacture	Cost	Purchase Date	Official
(a)	(b)	(c)	(d)	(e)
BMW	5 Series Sedan	2022	R 748 624.04	27/01/2022	Current Minister

No other vehicles were procured during this period for the previous Minister, the current Deputy Minister or the previous Deputy Minister

Reply:

1. The change in the operational model was presented to National Department of Transport (NDoT) during a meeting held between NDoT and Rustenburg Local Municipality (RLM) on 31 May 2022. During 2022 the availability of low-entry buses in South Africa became a challenge and an interim alternative was put in place to ensure operations could commence on routes in Phase 1A. Further information on this meeting can be provided if required.

2. Maintenance of all mini-bus taxis serving YARONA is managed by the Integrated Public Transport Operations Company (the IPTOC) appointed by the RLM for the Yarona Integrated Public Transport Network (IPTN) services on a ring-fenced basis in accordance with the provisions of the National Land Transport Act and the Public Transport Network Grant Conditions. These vehicles are subject to scheduled maintenance as required under the agreement with the IPTOC. The RLM monitors and manages the IPTOC as provided for under the agreement.

3. (a) The RTT project is co-funded by the RLM and the Public Transport Network Grant (PTNG). The RLM partially funds the project through accrued fare revenue. The PTNG consists of 2 components:

(i) Network Operations Component: The grant-component concerned with ensuring passengers/patrons are sufficiently served and the accessibility of the service.

(ii) Network Infrastructure Component: The grant-component concerned with the implementation of the physical infrastructure required to operate, such as dedicated bus lanes, shelters, accessible information displays, route designs etc.

(b) The ongoing RRT project will similarly be funded jointly by the RLM and PTNG.

Reply:

REPLY

1. Response to 1. (a) and (b), (i)(ii)(iii) (aa)see annexure A

 

3.2 Response to 1. (a) and (b), (i)(ii)(iii) (bb) see annexure B

3.3 Response to 2. (a) see Annexure C

3.4 Response to 2. (B) see Annexure D

Reply:

 

a) Total capital expenditure (inception – 31 January 2023)

(i) R 3 740 828 637.09, the Rustenburg Local Municipality (RLM) has built 24km of concrete Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) lanes on 2 corridors and the CBD including upgrading of mixed traffic lanes and services, 105km of Non- Motorised Transport (NMT) routes, traffic signals, depot, 10 buses, Automated Fare Collection (AFC) system, Automated Public Transport Management Systems (APTMS), institutional and consultation costs for infrastructure design and project management since construction started in 2012.

b) Operational expenditure (1 August 2022 – 31 January 2023)

(ii) R 33 544 618.45, which are direct and indirect operating costs for the services since inception for the Bus Operating Company (BOC).

c) some of the legal costs relating to rezoning amount to just under R 2 million. The negotiations with the taxi industry were paid as part of the industry transition process. The industry transition did not have any mediation process but there was a team of consultants appointed to advise and represent the taxi industry in the negotiations.

d) Total income from ticket sales (1 August 2022 – 31 January 2023)

(i) R 723 433.70

e) Total number of passengers (1 August 2022 – 31 January 2023)

(i) 43 643 passengers transported with a daily average of 2600