LIMPOPO – October Transport Month kicked off on a high note last Thursday when the MEC of Transport, Mapula Mokaba-Phukwana, the Mayor of the Waterberg District Municipality, Tlotlanang Mogotlane and Mogalakwena Municipality Mayor, Malesela Parks Sebatjane boasted with 60 brand-new traffic vehicles for Limpopo.
A total of 60 brand-new, highly powered provincial traffic vehicles were shown to the community during the event, these vehicles will increase the visibility on the main roads and improve the safety of the drivers.
Mokaba-Phukwana said: “It is during Transport Month that the Department of Transport, state owned entities as well as the private sector and other stakeholders seek to highlight the advances they have made up to now and to also focus on the transport challenges that are ahead of them.”
“In many of our rural areas, children travel long distances to school and as a result their schooling is negatively effected by it. Where there is school transport available, the cost of one scholar’s transport may be between 6% and 9% of the average annual rural income, which is clearly a burden,” Phukwana said.
Phukwana added: “Transport services in rural areas are characterised by unreliability, high costs, inadequate frequencies, insufficient (and in many cases non-existent) infrastructure such as roads and shelters, poor co-ordination and low safety and personal security levels. In some cases, there is even a total absence of transport. In addition, travel distances are often excessive, resulting in high operator costs, which are passed on to the end-user.The lack of effective transportation systems is one of the major problems that hinder the full development of rural areas as it restricts mobility of communities, which decreases their opportunity to participate in activities necessary for socio-economic development.
The four main modes of travel used by households in Limpopo in 2013 were: taxis (45,8%%), buses (22,6%) walking (16,2%). Households using public transport are much higher than the national average of 10,2%.
“The department has further embarked on the deployment of a team of operating licensing officials who will assist public transport operators in the five districts to fast-track their operating licence applications and to clear the backlog on applications. These operations have already been conducted in Mokopane, Lephalale and Thabazimbi and it will be rolled out to other districts during the next three months,” Mokaba-Phukwaba strongly concluded.
