South Africa's Integrated Rapid Transport (IRT) implementation 'very far behind'
What's the solution? Bongani Mthombeni, Director of Smart Mobility at Royal HaskoningDHV, explains.
Picture: Pexels
Clarence Ford speaks to Bongani Mthombeni, Director of Smart Mobility at Royal HaskoningDHV.
Royal HaskoningDHV is a global consulting engineering company that offers infrastructure solutions in South Africa and across the continent.
Mthombeni says South Africa is 'very far behind' when it comes to the implementation of efficient Integrated Rapid Transport (IRT) Systems for everyone.
"We are very far behind where we ought to be given the populations, socio-economic distribution and how we need be moving people, goods and services that is safe from one location to the other efficiently and optimally. We have a long way to go. We have seen the development of transportation evolve over the years but we are still lacking an integrated approach to ensure that the lady who sells atchar in the township gets to where she needs to get to safely, as an example."
- Bongani Mthombeni, Director of Smart Mobility - Royal HaskoningDHV
Mthombeni accredits pre-democratic structures like the Group Areas Act during apartheid that now presents challenges to implement effective Integrated Rapid Transport (IRT) Systems between areas.
"Because of the Group Areas Act during Apartheid, there's still a lot of spatial exclusion and people in dire need of housing and being part of the economy so there is a lot of population and economic growth in South Africa but we lack the infrastructure to make it operate efficiently... and we lack the means to get the people who are on the outskirts of the City to be able to get to the City effectively and efficiently."
- Bongani Mthombeni, Director of Smart Mobility - Royal HaskoningDHV
What's the solution? Mthombeni suggests a holistic approach.
"Government and metro's look at their transport planning and infrastructure planning in silos and isolation and their plans don't speak to each other so we find ourselves in a literal grid lock."
- Bongani Mthombeni, Director of Smart Mobility - Royal HaskoningDHV
Mthombeni argues that other systemic issues like maintenance, vandalism, crime and budget issues are 'also not high up on the radar' and 'doesn't receive the attention it requires' to help people commute easily.
'Good sound government practices are needed' to bring about integrated road systems currently, its implementation leads to 'looting and corruption,' adds Mthombeni.
"What has happened in the last three decades is that this has presented an opportunity for looting and corruption and it literally takes supply chain management between six to 18 months for tenders to be awarded and for work to be implemented and it allows for massive corruption where budgets do not go for what they were suggested for."
- Bongani Mthombeni, Director of Smart Mobility - Royal HaskoningDHV
Mthombeni believes that a collaboration between government and the private sector is needed to ensure efficient Integrated Rapid Transport (IRT) Systems.
Scroll up to the audio player to listen to the full conversation.