Pretoria - The people of Nelson Mandela Metropolitan in the Eastern Cape are set to enjoy the services of a Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system, says Transport Minister Dipuo Peters.
Delivering her Budget Vote speech at the National Assembly, on Tuesday evening, Minister Peters said her department was finalising the BRT, Ibhongo Lethu (Our pride).
The Ibhongo Lethu system is already operating 25 buses and 15 more kilometres of road is being completed from the city centre to Cleary Park.
The Minister also reiterated that the BRT systems will soon be introduced in Ethekwini, Rustenburg, Polokwane, Nelspruit and George.
She said in KwaZulu-Natal, they have built a brand new King Shaka International Airport and the Bridge City Multi-modal Public Transport facility to create a nucleus for multi sectoral approach.
Taxi industry
Minister Peters said the taxi industry continues to be a key pillar of support within the public transport sphere. The industry contributes R40 billon to the national economy each year and accounts for 300 000 direct and indirect jobs.
Provincial Roads Maintenance Grant
The Minister also announced that through the Provincial Roads Maintenance Grant, also known as S’hamba Sonke, the department will undertake road maintenance programmes where provinces will repair damaged roads periodically.
the S’hamba Sonke programme will seek to achieve 60% of employment and empowerment in road infrastructure; 40% to be allocated to theTselantle programme and 50% of the Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP) Infrastructure Job Creation Targets.
Sanral
Minister Peters said Independent Research indicates that the South African National Roads Agency (Sanral) continues to build the best roads in the world.
“Sanral has recently inherited several thousand kilometres of roads from provinces. It is important to note that of the almost 19 700 kilometres of roads under Sanral, only 3 200 kilometres is tolled and 201 kilometres is part of the Gauteng Freeway Improvement Plan,” she said. - SAnews.gov.za
