I am Back!

Its been a while but I am glad that I am back and I am sorry for not warning you about the dissappearance. While away, I read this story below and I thought it will be interesting for you. Happy readings

WHILE Transport Minister Sbu Ndebele continues to tout high-speed rail as the preferred mode of transport of the future, the reality is that SA’s long-distance passenger train service may soon be something of the past if action is not taken soon.





Most South Africans may support futuristic plans to link Durban and Johannesburg via a high- speed rail link but many doubt the government’s ability to implement these projects with any success when the management of the existing passenger train service has at best been dismal. The wheels at the Passenger Rail Agency of SA’s (Prasa’s) Shosholoza Meyl unit appear to have well and truly fallen off and if the government and the agency’s management don’t do something fast, long-distance train travel in SA will cease to be a reality.


Behind the slow collapse of the service is a protracted dispute with Transnet over a R1,3bn debt owed to the logistics group by Prasa for the transfer of Shosholoza Meyl to it last year.





The feud burst into the public domain in August, when Transnet refused to carry out any further maintenance until the debt had been settled, effectively halting all Shosholoza Meyl services.


Prasa was able to resume operations only after finding an alternative means of servicing its locomotives, and even now only about 50% of the routes have been restored.





But that row is just one small part of the problem.


Prasa appears not to have enough cash to continue operating for much longer and management is putting together a plan to prop up the business by disposing of its property assets.




But even if management finds the cash to continue operating, it will have a tough time coaxing passengers back to the service. With less than a third of the trains running on time, passengers have lost all faith in the service, with 23% fewer using Shosholoza Meyl in the 2009-10 financial year than they did in the previous year.



But who is to blame for this sorry mess?




Transnet must shoulder some of the blame. Former Transnet CEO Maria Ramos may have thought it a good idea to get shot of the underperforming passenger rail service and make it someone else’s problem. However, Prasa CEO Lucky Montana is certainly not likely to let Transnet off that easily. Mr Montana alleges in the latest Prasa annual report that Transnet handed over a neglected and poorly managed business plagued by weak internal and financial controls. Prasa will not pay up the R1,3bn it owes without putting up a fight.





The government must also be blamed. It should have never allowed Prasa to take over Shosholoza Meyl without providing the funds it needed to sustain and upgrade the service. Now while the government mulls further funding, Prasa continues to slide toward collapse.




Then the finger must also be pointed at Prasa. The auditor- general’s report on Prasa claims that “management of the Shosholoza Meyl division of Prasa did not exercise oversight responsibility over reporting, maintenance of adequate accounting records, and implementation and compliance with internal controls. Management also did not implement appropriate actions to mitigate risks identified.” It is clear that Prasa was slow in tackling the problem and has made a bad situation worse.





However, the blame game will not solve the problems at Prasa. The government cannot afford to spend any more time dreaming of the future. It must act now. And, until Prasa is back on a sound footing and able to provide a world-class service, do not burden it with future high-speed rail projects as proposed. Give that to private entities that have already proved they know how to operate trains on time and profitably.

Where are the Transport Economics students?

Why does it seems like this profession (Transport Economics) is not a profession that most people want to pursue? If so, why is it the case? While at the University of Johannesburg (UJ) in 2006 and 2007, the University had more Logistics (more than 100) student than Transport Economics (less than 20) in our Honours class and most (90%) of the Transport Economics student came from the North West University (NWU) while most (95%) of the Logistics student came from UJ. This either means that transport economics student in undergraduate class where non-existent or preferred not to continue with their studies at honours level or switched to Logistics.

I suspect that there was not enough student at undergrad level and I also suspect that this trend is still continuing today. This is not only at UJ but also at other universities. Just take a look at the Stellenbosch University (SUN)'s Logistics Department which has at the moment no student registered for Masters in Transport Economics while Logistics and Operational Research Masters class has more students. So where are all the Transport Economics students?

Going back to the UJ dilemma, the worse thing was the fact that student with a degree in Marketing preferred to switch to Logistics at honours level than to transport economics nor there were students with a degree in Economics switched to Transport Economics. The question is this the case? Is it because there is lack of awareness about transport economics as a career? This is disturbing, considering that South Africa has one of the most ineffective public transport in the world. Do I hear you saying civil engineers/traffic engineers will take care of the problem? Besides SA not producing enough engineers, civil engineers alone are not capable enough to solve the challenges facing the country, as much as transport economics are not cable enough to solve them.

It does not help that few Universities offer the course at undergraduate level; At the moment, only UJ, NWU and SUN and UNISA are the only Universities that offers the course while UCT only offers a M.Phil in Transport Studies for postgraduate students. It also don't help that Transport Economics student don't get appropriate training or job opportunities after graduation. It is difficult to be hired to work as a Transport Economist in a private industry/government hence most students end up working in the logistics industry. I know this because most of the students who were in class with me at honours level are now employed by freight moving companies. If they were lucky like me, they ended up working for government or for consulting companies, but we are very few that ended up in this route.

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Besides all these challenges, one must complement the Department of Transport for encouraging students to take up Transport studies in universities around the country through its Center of Development. This initiative also led NWU starting its own Transport and Logistics courses in 2003, of which I was part of. Through the initiative, millions of Rands were spent on bursaries for students to study either Transport Economics or Logistics at undergraduate level while any transport related courses were encouraged in post graduate level. But it seems like students who benefited from this initiative are not being employed by the Department of Transport, which is worrying.

A blame game while Customers get stranded - PRASA and Transnet.

If you have a family member who relies on Shosholoza Meyl long distance trains, you will be saddened to hear that the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (PRASA) has cancelled Shosholoza's services for at least two weeks in order to evaluate its passenger rail corridors to determine which of its routes are viable. The company says that revenues have fallen far short of operating costs, and passenger trains are bedevilled by unreliable locomotives (The Times Live, 14 August 2010).

But the reasons given below where not be the real reason behind the suspension of the services which thousands of people rely on. The real reasons, according to Unions United Transport and Allied Trade Unions (Utatu) was because of a disagreement about train maintenance with Transnet (The Times Live, 14 August 2010). Transnet owns the tracks in which PRASA operates its trains and also maintains PRASA's trains. Ironically, PRASA bought Shosholoza Meyl for R100 from Transnet. PRASA, on its media statement confirmed this dispute which you can read here, though Transnet denies that the withdrawals of train services is related to the maintenance contract.

Even though PRASA assured passengers that they will provide buses to ferry passengers who have paid for their tickets or refund them, I find it hard to believe that they will do this efficiently and not all passengers will receive this information on time which will leave them stranded. This is disturbing, considering that billions of Rands have been wasted on Gautrain while other passenger rail services (e.g. Metrorail) are falling into disarray, despite the latter carrying far more people than the former.

Whether the discussions that are taking place today between PRASA and Transnet are going to bare any fruits remains to be seen, but with both companies belonging to the government departments, it is clear that a political solution is going to be reached. Therefore a long term solution is needed and fast tracking the development of a Rail Policy/Act which will ultimately lead to the setting up of a Rail Economic Regulator. One of the toughest questions that the rail policy needs to answer are as follows;

• Whether it is in the economy's best interest for Transnet to own rail tracks while at the same time operating the business of moving freight;
• To whom will the Gautrain belong to once the PPP agreement with Bombela comes to an end;
• Are PPP rail projects in the future the way to go and if so which passenger agency will be responsible for them (PRASA or Provinces?);and
• The future of rail gauge.

Once this is answered, perhaps we can see a lasting solution that is to the beneficial to the economy. South Africa can not afford the situation that is happening between Transnet and PRASA.

Lets stand against the proposed media tribunal and the Protection of Information Act

Many of you may be aware of the proposed Media Tribunal and the Protection of Information Act. Under the Act, the state/departments have the power to classify information (for the sake of National Security) they see fit which means Journalists/reporters will not be able to get hold such information. If they do while they are still classified, they can be sent to jail for a maximum period of 25 years including their accomplices.

This clampdown on the media is something that one saw happening in Apartheid South Africa and we know what happened. With regard to the Media Tribunal, it will be empowered to oversee complaints laid by the public against the press and make judgement on them. Stories about politicians getting tenders to build shoddy roads may not be published so are stories about mismanagement of state entities. If this bill pass, newspapers/TV/Radio entities will be clapped to report about stories to inform you about the state of our national roads (if the Department of Transport sees it fit of course).

Experts and newspaper editors are not happy about this and they are calling for the bill to be re-drafted as they see the bill and tribunal going to undermine media freedom. But the ANC says they will not budge and the Editors of the major newspapers are not happy about it and have made a declaration to oppose the bill (see below). As a believer of media freedom, I too support the editors and the experts. Who knows which media is going to be a target next? Social media? Bloggers? I say No to this proposal that is supported by ANC politicians (frankly most of them are corrupt) and I call on you my fellow readers to say NO! Lets stand against the proposed media tribunal and the bill by adding our names to those of the editors.

The Auckland Park Declaration

We, the title editors of South Africa's major publications and members of the South African National Editors' Forum, are deeply concerned about attempts to curtail freedom of expression and the free flow of information in our country.

Free speech and access to information are the lifeblood of our democracy and were at the very heart of the struggle for freedom. Human dignity is indivisible from freedom of speech.

We vigorously oppose the restrictive clauses in the Protection of Information Bill and the proposed media appeals tribunal.

We appeal to the South African government and the ruling ANC to abide by the founding principles of our democracy, and to abandon these proposed measures.

We commit ourselves to join hands with all South Africans who value their freedom to defend these basic rights which are enshrined in, and are indeed the cornerstone of, our constitution.

1 Ainsley Moos, Volksblad
2 Alan Dunn, Daily News
3 Alide Dasnois, Cape Times
4 Andrew Koopman, Son & Sondag Son
5 Andrew Trench, Daily Dispatch
6 Angela Quintal, The Mercury
7 Barney Mthombothi, Financial Mail
8 Bongani Keswa, Sowetan
9 Bun Booyens, Die Burger
10 Charles Mogale, Sunday World
11 Chiara Carter, Weekend Argus
12 Chris Whitfield, Editor-in-Chief,
Independent Newspapers Cape
13 Clyde Bawden, The Independent on Saturday
14 Dirk Lotriet, Sondag
15 Ferial Haffajee, City Press
16 Fikile Ntsikelelo Moya, The Witness
17 Jeremy McCabe, Weekend Post
18 Gasant Abarder, Cape Argus
19 Heather Robertson, The Herald
20 Jovial Rantao, The Star
21 Liza Albrecht, Rapport
22 Makhudu Sefara, The Sunday Independent
23 Martin Williams, The Citizen
24 Moegsien Williams, The Star
25 Mondli Makhanya, Editor-in-Chief, Avusa
26 Nic Dawes, Mail & Guardian
27 Peet Kruger, Editor-in-Chief, Media24
28 Peter Bruce, Business Day
29 Philani Mgwaba, Sunday Tribune
3. Phylicia Oppelt, The Times
31 Ray Hartley, Sunday Times
32 Thabo Leshilo, Avusa Public Editor
33 Themba Khumalo, Daily Sun
34 Tim du Plessis, Beeld
35 Thulani Mbatha, Isolezwe
36 Zingisa Mkhuma, Pretoria News
37 Brijlall Ramguthee, The Post

38 Erick "googlingsa" Mulaudzi, publictransportsouthafrica.blogspot.com

PLEASE FORWARD TO YOUR FRIENDS AFTER ADDING YOUR NAME

Why shocked by high rate of road deaths Minister?

Lets say you are a father of a 16 year old boy who is always wearing bling bling despite the fact that you are not employed. You don't ask your child where he gets the money. One day you get home to find your wife crying and you ask her she tells you that the kid has been arrested for stealing bling bling at a nearby shop. Will you be shocked by the news or will you not? If you don't get shocked, you knew the consequences of your kid being in love with bling bling and if you are shocked then you were ignorant of the consequences.

Two politicians in SA fall under the former category: Ignorance. In a country like SA where politicians and celebrities are reported to driver under the influence of alcohol, driver's licenses are for sale by driver's instructors which forces people to drive without licenses, roads are deterioration as fast as a lightning (See table below) and traffic officers are known to be recipient of bribes, the deaths over the weekend should not be a surprise to the Minister.

Condition	1995	1997	2000	2005
Very good	13%	7%	4%	3%
Good	45%	34%	15%	11%
Fair	29%	38%	35%	29%
Poor	11%	16%	30%	34%
Very poor	2%	5%	16%	23%
Total	100%	100%	100%	100%

Source: NATMAP, DOT

So, Minister please spare us your shock. Instead tackle the courses that have caused these unnecessary accidents that could have been avoided. Investigate the reports that there have been incomplete work which have been done by companies that are linked to politicians. Encourage your political party to get rid of BEE/AA on essential services such as Engineering in Municipalities because we know how lack of skills here has contributed to the poor road conditions we have now...simply hiring retired Engineers will not help or maybe make your department to be run by competent people....which start with you hiring competent people.

And ehh lastly Mr. Minister, could you please ensure that you not only enforce good driving behavior during holidays? Dont say there is no money...money is there we know.....if you can have the monies to go see the WC matches, surely you do have the monies to ensure that lives are saved.

How bribery put our lives at risk in our roads.

This Sunday I had a great time with my wife and my sister's family at the annual Discovery Radio 702 Walk the Talk at Emmarentia. What I love about this event is that one is able to spend a quality time with family while having fun and exercising. In addition to that, through one's participation one is able to offer disadvantaged children an opportunity to be someone through some monies that goes to the charity. Because the event is open for everyone, some companies enter as a team and this gives them a chance to market themselves.

For the first time this year, besides Shout SA (which advocates for Crime Free SA) I also saw an organisation that is advocating for safer roads in South Africa and the mobilise were asking for everyone to put a signature for their support. Though I did not really see who they are but I recall seeing the AAs, so my guess is that it was AARTO, which is the The Administrative Adjudication of Road Traffic Offences. But anyway, whoever they were does not have to do anything with this topic, what I want to talk about is the rife bribery that is happening in our Licensing department and the traffic officers.

Perhaps I may start by defining what a bribery is. A bribe a form of corruption, is an act implying money or gift given that alters the behavior of the recipient. In our licensing department, it is well known that it takes months for one to book to write a leaner's license and then months again to test for a driver's license. And what is worse, if you do not have the monies to bribe a tester your chances of failing are almost 100%, irrespective of how a good driver you are. It is no wonder Magistrate Daniel Thulare said that learners who had been struggling to make an appointment for a driver's licence test should not be held criminally liable for driving without a licence once their learner's had expired. Our Minister of Transport, whose department is falling into pieces because of their inability to manage our roads/subsidies and our licensing institutions said Thulare's comments were "disconcerting, misleading and totally unethical".

In a country where roads death accounted for about 14 200 of the 1.3 million road deaths annually worldwide in 2008, this is unacceptable. It is a fact that some causes of these accidents are as a result of people not being fully trained for driving because it does not matter whether you know how to drive or not, what matters is if you have the R2500.00 to bribe the testers. Another contributing factor is the fact that traffic officers, increasingly ignore the road worthiness of the cars after getting a bribe. What is even more worse is that it is already a culture that a traffic officer get bribed

or else he will give you a ticket. It is no wonder that our world ranking on the Transparency International Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) is going down every year. For instance, in 1999 we were ranked number 34 alongside Tunisia. We beat countries like the Czech Republic, Italy and Argentina. In 2007,we came number number 43, just behind the Czech Republic and Italy at 41 while Tunisia jumped to number 61.

Did I just hear you saying how bribing a traffic officer actually put my life at a risk? Consider the following scenario. You are coming from a club early one morning and you are stopped by traffic officers who ask you for your driving license. After taking a long look at you and having been satisfied that you are the real owner of the license and that it is not a fake, they ask you to take a breathalyser test which you fail. He tells you that he is "hungry" and knowing what he means you then give him a R50.00 and he lets you off the hook.

You then get into your car and off you go but as you turn right into your home street you knock off a kid who was trying to cross the street. So for R50.00, you paid the life of a kid who has not tested what life is. Some people will say it was her time to go, but I don't think that's the case. You would have killed her and even if they call it culpable homicide the fact of the matter is you not suppose to drink and drive.

So when you bribe next time, do it at your own peril.

Night Transport - From the Old Blog

Just yesterday while going home a thought came to me about public transport at night. I wondered if there is any study done to determine the economic contribution of jobs performed at night. Jobs that came into my mind are those done by electricians, waiters and waitresses, security personnel, etc. I then also wondered how the unavailability of unscheduled or scheduled public transport have any negative contribution to the development of the economy in those sectors that requires employees to perform their jobs at night.

Just to give you an idea, if you are stuck in Johanessburg CBD from 21H00 and want to take a taxi to Cresta you will count yourself lucky to find an affordable taxi at a normal price of R7.50 or else you will have to pay R100 for a cab. Not even a municipality bus (Metro) is available and forget about Rea Vaya or Putco. The former even operate its last trip at 20H00 from the CBD to Soweto. A good reason for this situation could be as a result that there are very few activities that take place at night in this South African biggest CBD as compared to during the day and the biggest reason being that very few people stay in the CBD…but does this necessarily mean that those work at night don’t deserve the same transport as those who work during the day? No I don’t think so.

I know some big companies do offer night transport for their employees but not all companies can afford that (despite the labour law requiring that) just as much as some companies can not afford to transport their employees during the day. Government need to start thinking of providing transport for these employees and anyone who wants to get a drink at night in his/her favorite bar. Such provision will not only unlock social inclusion but also encourage shop owners to extend their operating times which will ultimately create new job opportunities. With such a big unemployment rate of 25,2% (Stats SA, 1^stQuarter 2010), government need to come up with creative solutions to unlock our competitiveness with China and India (and of course other countries)

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Update:

Considering that very few people work at night and residential areas are scattered in South Africa, I would like to think that Taxis (as shown in the photo) would be the best mode for night transport. Through SANTACO, taxi associations should start proposing such ideas to the national department of transport.