Public Transport in South Africa
The Introduction of the South African Bus Rapid Transit System
Jun 13, 2009
As is the case with much of the third world, South Africa has been struggling to provide adequate public transport system and as a result an unregulated industry developed to fill in the vacuum. The mini-bus taxi industry has been in operations for over three decades and has become part of the urban landscape. It is against this background that transportation planners and the South Africa government decided to look for alternatives.
The Bus Rapid Transport System
One of the alternatives that the government decided to introduce is the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system. In essence, the BRT is an integrated transportation system with dedicated bus lanes and buses with low floor boarding. Internationally touted as an effective public transportation solution, the BRT appears to be the solution to South Africa’s transportation issues. South Africa is host to two major FIFA tournaments, the Confederations cup in 2009 and the World Cup in 2010. Consequently, the government has had to move faster to improve the public transport system. However, the BRT has been a contentious issue in the country particularly amongst mini-bus taxi drivers; many taxi operators feel threatened by the planned introduction of the Bus Rapid Transit System.
Since the announcement of the BRT introduction, there have been regular protests by taxi operators around the county. In Johannesburg, the commercial capital of South Africa, in the wake of crippling protests, sectors of the taxi industry formed the South African National Taxi Council (SANTACO) to liaise with the city government on the implementation of the BRT. According to Michael Bleby’s article in the 20 May 2009 Business Day ‘South Africa: Taxi Body Wants to Control BRT Value Chain', the taxi operators and the SANTACO are currently challenging each other over the BRT and its side-line businesses.
Ownership of the BRT lucrative value chain is highly sought-after. Bleby’s article points out that there are billions of rands to be made from the contract to operate and manages the buses as well as “from businesses such as station management, maintenance and cleaning, advertising and security, ticketing systems, cash management and managing electronic passenger-information systems. The potential value for these in the first phase alone is as much as R500m.” Understandably, everyone wants a piece of the pie.
The Importance of a Successful BRT
As a result of all the demonstrations and threats from the taxi industry, the BRT development was temporarily halted. Although work on the BRT has commenced it would not be ready for the confederations cup as planned. Clayton Barnes and Ella Smook in the Cape Argus 19 May 2009, ‘South Africa: Fifa's Plan B for 2010 Fans’, quoted FIFA as saying that “it will transport foreign spectators itself during next year's World Cup if the government does not resolve issues affecting the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) ahead of the tournament.”
The successful hosting of both the confederations cup and the world cup are important to South Africa’s image. These tournaments give the country an opportunity to showcase itself and perhaps attract new investment and tourists.
Public transportation is one of the ways to highlight the country and affect perceptions. A working public transportation system signals that the country is stable and prosperous. The success, or failure, of implementing transportation projects like the BRT, would speak volumes of where South Africa is heading with regards to its economic development.
