Infrastructure & Transport

 

Investment in infrastructure builds economic capacity and enhances competitiveness, while contributing to the quality of life of poor people.

In the late eighties,when expenditure on the war in defence of apartheid redirected resources into the security apparatus, overall infrastructure spending began to decline.

Starting with a long-term perspective of infrastructure investment in South Africa, it was shown that the public sector and, in particular, public authorities, had reduced their investment in infrastructure significantly if measured against other sectors.

It was also shown that investment in social infrastructure had fallen in the nineties despite government objectives to reprioritise the budget to address basic needs.

A UCDP-led government will:

  • Ensure that public-private partnerships and other alternative forms of service delivery are used to address the mounting backlogs in infrastructure;
  • Ensure affordable, safe and efficient transport with good roads. In the case of roads, engineering estimates show that maintenance is sixteen times cheaper than construction;
  • Ensure orderly and safe transport;
  • Bring an end to taxi violence and ensure that state transport agencies such as Transnet, Spoornet, South African Airways and Metrorail serve people well;
  • Prioritise reliable bus transport for indigent people in the rural areas; and
  • Address the needs of the taxi operators to guard against monopolies by some associations. Subsidies for deserving people such as the aged, the disabled and school-going children will be introduced.