Blunt DoT warning: “Government is broke”
Blunt DoT warning: “Government is broke”
A senior government official’s startlingly candid address at the SABOA Convention laid bare the profound challenges facing South Africa’s mobility. The grim reality is that the state is bankrupt and the economy is floundering. The nation’s public transport system is also in perilous decline, kept afloat by operators navigating a perfect storm of financial pressure, infrastructural decay, and rampant informality. COLIN WINDELL reports…
The bleak assessment was delivered by Mathabatha Mokonyama, acting director-general of the Department of Transport (DoT), to an audience of industry stakeholders. His speech, punctuated by sobering truths and dark humour, served as a clarion call for collaboration and innovation in the face of an evaporating fiscal envelope.
“The bad news is that today I say… I still don’t have money. Government is broke. The economy is not performing,” said Mokonyama, setting a sombre tone for the gathering. He revealed he had actively avoided such conferences to escape the constant expectation of subsidies, only returning to deliver the hard truth: “The day I come, you must know that I have money. Today, I don’t.”
His comments underscored a national crisis where the urgent need for affordable, safe, and reliable public transport is being dashed against the rocks of fiscal consolidation and a struggling economy.
Rail network on life support
Mokonyama saved his most dire warnings for the passenger rail system – once a cornerstone of South African commuting. Despite recovering 32 of 40 key corridors vandalised and abandoned during the Covid-19 pandemic, he admitted: “We can sit here and talk about rail being the backbone, but it is not a sustainable system.”
The core of the crisis is a catastrophic financial model: passenger numbers are returning to pre-Covid levels, but passengers are still paying unrealistically low rates – a reference to heavily subsidised, low-cost fares that do not cover operational costs that are “switching through the roof”.
His fear is stark: “Prasa might not make it to the end of the financial year.” This bleak prediction points to a potential total collapse of a service on which millions of South Africans depend, raising the spectre of even greater congestion on roads and increased transport costs for the poor.
Tensions, disruptors, and a stalled vision
The crisis is not confined to rail. Mokonyama described a resurgent informality in the minibus-taxi industry, which is reverting to “old ways of trying to occupy the space using whatever means”. This hints at a return to the violent turf wars that have historically plagued the sector.
Simultaneously, the formalised bus industry and new technological disruptors such as e-hailing services are “having it tough”, creating a multi-front battle within the public transport domain.
A central pillar of government’s solution – the Integrated Public Transport Network (IPTN) – has been a monumental disappointment. Mokonyama revealed that a staggering R60 billion has been invested in infrastructure such as dedicated lanes and stations in various municipalities, yet he challenged the room: “Very few of you will tell me that they see R60 billion rand when they go around these cities…”
Mokonyama placed the blame squarely on a lack of municipal capacity and a preference for the “glamour” of construction over the hard graft of operations, using a vivid metaphor to describe wasted funds: “The municipalities are not assisting… the budget has got holes to pour water. The water goes out.”
Cross-border boom marred by lawlessness
Adding a regional dimension, Lwazi Mboyi, CEO of the Cross-Border Road Transport Agency (C-BRTA), outlined both the opportunities and severe challenges in international road passenger transport.
While the cross-border bus market has grown by 51%, it is plagued by “ongoing problems” with neighbouring countries, particularly Zimbabwe. Mboyi described a “shouting match” with Zimbabwean officials over their failure to respect bilateral agreements, allowing buses to operate illegally in South Africa without permits or regard for designated routes.
“Our neighbours sometimes are not scared to break the law…” Mboyi stated, revealing that special law-enforcement operations have had to impound foreign buses operating illegally in cities like Johannesburg, Gqeberha, and Cape Town.
Call to action: safety and skills for survival
Amid the financial and operational chaos, the human cost was emphasised by Refilwe Mongale, interim CEO of the Road Traffic Management Corporation (RTMC). She revealed shocking data: 580 people died in 62 major fatal bus crashes between 2018 and 2024, with bus-related fatalities accounting for 21% of all serious road casualties.
Her message was simple and urgent: “Ask the passengers to buckle up.” She cited studies showing that seatbelt use is the single most decisive factor in preventing mass casualties in bus crashes – a plea made all the more poignant by the memory of 32 lives lost in three separate bus crashes in March this year alone.
Trevor Abrahams, executive officer of the Transport Education and Training Authority’s (TETA’s) Road Freight Chamber, highlighted the critical skills shortages crippling the industry’s ability to improve. The top “hard-to-fill” vacancies are for diesel mechanics, bus drivers (especially female drivers), and auto electricians. This skills gap directly impacts the maintenance and safety of the national fleet.
Collaboration in the absence of cash
The concluding message from government and industry representatives was that survival and progress hinge on collaboration, not cash. With the national fiscus closed, stakeholders must find new ways to formalise operations, pool resources, and adopt efficient, technology-driven business models.
In his role as acting director-general, Mokonyama invoked his status as an “elder” who now speaks plainly, concluding that the only way forward is through honesty: “It is better to tell people the truth than to hide the truth. Truth is like water… you’ll find ways to get through the walls.”
For millions of South Africans who rely on buses, trains, and taxis to travel between work, school, and home, the hope is that this truth – however harsh – will finally break through the walls of incapacity and underinvestment before the entire system collapses. Much like the daily commute for so many, the journey ahead promises to be long, difficult, and fraught with peril.
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