The Democratic Alliance in the eThekwini Municipality is concerned about the failed Go!Durban project and where the R303 million rollover in the Public Transport Network Grant will be channelled to.
Thabani Mthethwa, DA eThekwini caucus leader, claimed that Mayor Cyril Xaba has made yet another empty promise to finally get the Integrated Transport Network Plan (Go!Durban) project off the ground.
The C3 corridor runs between Pinetown and KwaMashu. The Go! Durban project has stalled due to a variety of issues. One of the main concerns has been the ownership of the buses that will operate on the route, as taxi operators want a controlling interest in the buses, while the city also seeks the same.
At a council meeting on Thursday, the municipality welcomed the National Treasury’s decision, announced by Minister of Finance Enoch Godongwana, to grant additional funding to the city for the implementation of the Go! Durban and the Trading Services reforms.
Xaba said the grants will significantly enhance infrastructure and improve service delivery across the municipality.
He said the R303 million rollover in the Public Transport Network Grant will enable the municipality to continue the vital work of operationalising Corridor 3 of the Go! Durban project.
“The municipality acknowledges that the project has taken longer than anticipated, delaying the provision of reliable public transport for the people of eThekwini. The city is pleased to report that negotiations with the affected taxi operators along the route have resumed. Furthermore, the city is optimistic that the new proposals currently under discussion will be accepted, paving the way for this important service to become operational soon,” Xaba said.
Mthethwa, who has been vocal about Go!Durban, in the past, said the project has stalled for many years, despite billions of rand already spent, with no visible progress.
He said the latest cash injection for the project offers little hope, as history has shown, such allocations are often wasted without any tangible results.
“We find it increasingly difficult to trust anything that comes from the municipality’s current leadership. We will only take the mayor seriously when we see GO!Durban buses are operating on the road. The people of eThekwini have been sold dreams for far too long. It is time for action, accountability, and real service delivery, not more empty promises,” Mthethwa said.
According to the eThekwini Transport Authority (ETA), the revised strategy documents are a direct response to the delays caused by various factors
These include the 2021 impasse in negotiations between the minibus taxi and bus industries, the need for better alignment with the National Department of Transport priorities, and financial lessons learned from earlier phases of the system’s development.
Under the refined strategy, the municipality aims to ensure alignment with the Transport Act and grant funding requirements.
In his Medium-Term Budget Policy Statement, Godongwana stated that the Targeted and Responsible Savings (TARS) initiative systematically identifies duplication, eliminates waste, and reorganises programmes to deliver value for money.
He also stated that his department was scaling down the Public Transport Network Grant.
“The grant has failed to meet the objective, and some cities have failed to get the projects off the ground. An integrated public transport system is essential to support working-class communities. We will be reconsidering how to lower the cost of mobility and rework the institutional framework,” he said.
