Efficacy of recent transport policy making and implementation in South Africa

Malcolm Mitchell,Jackie Walters

doi:10.4102/jtscm.v5i1.76

Malcolm Mitchell, Jackie Walters

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.4102/jtscm.v5i1.76

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Abstract

Despite the importance of transport to the social and economic development of a country, very little, if any, work appears to have been done in South Africa to assess the impact of transport policy in achieving its aims and objectives. Two policy areas that have wide social and economic impacts are the public transport industry and the development of the national roads network. Public transport, or more specifically commuter bus transport policy, is aimed at improving the mobility and affordability of the travelling public while at the same time increasing the transparency of the subsidy system through a tender and negotiated contract regimen. The policy on national roads directly impacts the general economy as an estimated 88% of all freight tonnage (excluding the dedicated iron ore and coal lines of Transnet Freight Rail) is moved over the road network of South Africa with the national roads linking the main economic centres of the country. This research assesses the impact of these two areas of policy making by comparing policies for commuter bus transport and primary (national) roads for two policy periods, namely, 1986 to 1994 and 1994 to 2004. The research methodology used is that of the mixed-methods research procedure explained more fully in the article and the annexure to the paper. The research arrives at conclusions in respect of the impact of the policy on the problems and issues in the two separate sectors of transport during the policy periods analysed. It also draws conclusions on the policy-making process used as well as identifying deficiencies in the process. Finally it makes recommendations to address these inadequacies.

Highlights

Perhaps the most pressing issue facing transport authorities in South Africa for the past three decades has been how to provide affordable and effective public transport for the more than 70% of the population who are dependent on this form of transport to meet their mobility needs (Department of Transport, 1999:26)
Significant contextual forces in South African society, both during and preceding the policy periods selected for analysis in this research, have shaped or moulded transport policy making in the country, perhaps more so than in other countries
The most significant of the forces are the country’s peculiar spatial population distribution; the continual constitutional and institutional reform; and the dichotomy between the needs for both social and economic development as a result of South Africa’s sharing characteristics of both the developed and developing worlds

Summary

Introduction

Perhaps the most pressing issue facing transport authorities in South Africa for the past three decades has been how to provide affordable and effective public transport for the more than 70% of the population who are dependent on this form of transport to meet their mobility needs (Department of Transport, 1999:26). Government’s approach to the broad goal of moving people and goods in the most effective manner, taking into account the various problems, forces, exogenous factors, constraints and available resources involved in the process, is expressed in its transport policy (O’Sullivan, 1980:7-9), and in the White Paper on National Transport Policy of 1996. It is the experience of the authors, substantiated by literature (Meyer & Cloete, 2005a:249-250), that public policies, of which transport policy is a subset, do not always achieve their goals, or have the intended impact on problems at which they are directed. There has in the opinion of the authors, been a lack of research into the transport policy-making process, the impact of the various transport policy directives and statements on the provision and operation of the transport system in the country, and on the manner in which transport issues have been identified, and policy formulated, and the extent to which it has been effectively implemented

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