Cape Town - The City of Cape Town’s bid to take over passenger rail is one step closer after the director-general of transport, James Mlawu, said the department would be gazetting a devolution strategy enabling “capable Metros” to run passenger rail systems on their own.
In a keynote address at the African Rail Conference in Johannesburg on Tuesday, Mlawu said the devolution of passenger rail would be a key issue in the national strategy on land transport to be gazetted later this year.
Mlawu was speaking more than a year after former Transport Minister Fikile Mbalula published a white paper on the national rail policy.
The policy spoke of the “development and approval of a Devolution Strategy for Commuter Rail to guide the assignment of the commuter rail function to the municipal sphere of government,” which would “take effect in 2023”.
Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis has welcomed Mlawu’s remarks, calling them a “commitment”.
Hill-Lewis said: “We have been deeply concerned by recent anti-devolution comments from within the ANC and the Cabinet, so we are relieved to hear confirmation from the transport director-general of progress towards gazetting a Devolution Strategy within 2023.
“It is now critical that there is political will to follow through on devolution of rail to capable metros. The City of Cape Town is keenly awaiting President Ramaphosa’s response to our invitation for a joint working committee to get devolution done in the shortest time.”
Hill-Lewis said Cape Town fit the definition of a capable metro preparing to take over passenger rail, and was keen to provide input to the forthcoming rail devolution strategy and to complete its own feasibility studies in consultation with national colleagues.
“Our Rail Feasibility Study, which charts the way to devolution, has found that lower income households will save up to R932 million per year with an efficient passenger rail service in Cape Town.
“Our research also shows that functional rail will sustain over 51 000 jobs and add R11 billion to the local economy each year.”
He said the City now wanted a devolution commitment directly from the president. This was in light of the dire need for a functional rail system in Cape Town.
Mobility MEC Ricardo Mackenzie, who spoke yesterday, said he was cautiously optimistic about the DG’s commitment. This was given the previously stated views of the current and former transport ministers.
“For too long now our rail services have not been working. And this is a fantastic step in getting our rail services functioning. So we appreciate the comments by the DG.
“We will hold him to account as it's a promise that he made on an international platform.”
In May this year, Transport Minister Sindisiwe Chikunga told the media that there were currently no plans to devolve rail.
In January, the then outgoing Transport Minister Mbalula declined to form a rail devolution working committee and said in a letter to Hill-Lewis that his department “has not been given a directive by the government and me to start with any form of devolution”.
In January, ANC policy head for Economic Transformation, Mmamoloko Kubayi, said devolving rail was off the table for the ANC, and she would “not advise any department to devolve power or function to the metros”.
Meanwhile the ongoing delays in relocating people who are occupying railway tracks along the Central Line had led to questions being asked about whether Prasa was able to successfully restore the line.
In response to a question in the legislature, MEC Mackenzie voiced scepticism about the anticipated reopening of the Central Line by the promised December deadline as announced by Minister Chikunga.
To follow up on this, mobility standing committee chairperson Derrick America (DA) has invited Prasa to brief the committee on the reopening of the Central Line and to discuss the challenges they are facing.
America said it was completely unacceptable that the deadline kept getting extended, leaving people without affordable transportation options.