By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
Transport Minister Sindisiwe Chikunga says PRASA has made significant progress in rehabilitating vandalised stations, with a total of 230 stations refurbished to basic functionality.
Chikunga, together with the MECs of Transport, Roads, Infrastructure, Public Works and Community Safety and Liaison and department entities and stakeholders in the sector officially, launched the 18th instalment of the annual October Transport Month campaign in Midrand, under the theme “Siyakha – we are building a better transport infrastructure to grow South Africa together”.
There are a number of infrastructures that need urgent attention, such as the rail service which was hard hit around the Covid-19 period. With rail services out, it meant more goods had to be transported by road, which has resulted in an increase in accidents.
Chikunga said this was due to the rise in rail freight and rail passenger transport. Land transport, air transport, and transport support services also reported positive growth in economic activities.
Currently, the economy faces several domestic constraints that have remained particularly binding over the medium term. “These constraints have included among others: inadequate and unreliable electricity supply, skills constraints, regulatory uncertainty in certain parts of our economy, the concentration of particular markets and the existence of highly untransformed markets that discourage new entrants,” she said.
Chikunga added that these challenges have also deepened as a result of a deep and structural economic crisis that has progressively worsened over the past few years, greatly exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic and in part by historically slow infrastructure build.
We proudly announce that to date, 18 corridors have been recovered out of the 40 corridors operated by Prasa in Gauteng, Western Cape and KwaZulu-Natal, with a total of 230 stations refurbished to basic functionality. Trains are running in major cities such as Cape Town, Johannesburg, Durban, Pretoria, and Ekurhuleni.
“By the end of this financial year, Prasa will have recovered 80% of the passenger rail corridors and lines, while bringing to our people a modernised passenger train experience,” she said.
She revealed that to date, Prasa has invested R3.667 billion in rail recovery, including the refurbishment of the stations.
Chikunga also said her department has been in discussions with the private sector to assist the government in maintaining some of the country’s roads.
She says the call comes as the country’s roads are being damaged by trucks.
“We have also said to the private sector to assist us because some of our roads are being damaged by your trucks.