Last Wednesday’s announcement by finance minister Enoch Godongwana on reduced infrastructure funding should have sent shockwaves through the country’s municipal leadership.
Instead, it passed with barely a murmur. Delivering the midterm budget speech, the minister revealed that Treasury would scale down a key transport infrastructure grant — one meant to support Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) systems — because several municipalities had failed to use the funds responsibly.
That silence from the very councils whose shortcomings triggered this drastic step speaks volumes.
Godongwana made it clear that the decision to scale down BRT infrastructure funding was not taken lightly. The department of transport cited chronic underperformance, including poor financial management, a shortage of qualified personnel such as engineers, and substandard work on ongoing projects.
These are not minor administrative slip-ups; they are systemic failures that undermine the foundations of public service delivery.
It is deeply disappointing that this has come to pass. The country’s BRT systems were envisioned not as luxurious conveniences but as vital arteries of mobility for ordinary citizens, especially members of the working class.
Their purpose is clear: to improve access to jobs, reduce travel times, and, critically, to lower the cost of commuting.
In a society where millions already spend a disproportionate share of their income just to get to work, reliable and affordable public transport is not a luxury. It is a lifeline.
When municipalities fumble an opportunity to strengthen such lifelines, they fail in their core democratic mandate.
Local government is supposed to be the sphere closest to the people, best positioned to understand and address residents’ needs.
Yet many of these municipalities have demonstrated, through negligence or incompetence, that they cannot steward the resources entrusted to them.
The planned withdrawal of these funds is not merely a financial adjustment; it is a stark indictment of municipal governance.
Meanwhile, ordinary workers bear the brunt. With unreliable or insufficient public transport options, they are pushed toward taxis, often the only functional mode of transport available, but at a steep and ever-increasing cost. For many households, commuting expenses have become a crushing burden that eats into already stretched incomes.
What makes this failure particularly galling is that the individuals responsible, public servants hired to improve the daily lives of citizens, have, through mismanagement, done the opposite.
South Africans deserve better than excuses and inaction. They deserve competent governance, transparent accountability, and transport systems that allow them to move through their cities with ease.
The silence from the affected municipalities must end. They owe their constituencies a commitment to reform; only then would public trust begin to be restored.
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.