October Transport Month ‘a waste of taxpayers' money’ - AA
The Automobile Association says the government needs to focus on issues of transport throughout the year and not only during the month of October.
South Africa observes Transport Month every October.
However, the AA believes the attempts to address the myriad of transport and mobility problems facing South Africans once a year are “meaningless and a waste of taxpayers' money”.
In a statement, the AA said while Transport Month was launched with a bang, there appears to be little or no progress in improving road infrastructure or the daily mobility crisis faced by millions of South Africans.
It said not enough is being done to address the dire situation facing the South African transport industry and roads.
''The reality is that millions of South Africans continue to struggle with inadequate road transport, poor mobility solutions, and with deteriorating road infrastructure, and the already weak economy continues to suffer because of the low – or slow – pace of road transport development," the AA says.
At the launch of Transport Month, Minister Sindisiwe Chikunga said the number of crashes on the country’s roads remains alarming, despite the implementation of several road safety campaigns.
The AA said that while this is the case, recommendations such as doubling the number of traffic law enforcers on the country’s roads to deal more effectively with road traffic violations go unheeded.
"Statistics show the country’s road safety record has not improved significantly at all during the past decade despite many Ministers of Transport committing themselves and their department to doing just that. Another example is the vast amount of money directed to the Gautrain, which caters for an elite group of commuters," it said.
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