Rural transport and dreight governance crossroads in South Africa

Abstract

Paper presented at the 31st Annual Southern African Transport Conference 9-12 July 2012 "Getting Southern Africa to Work", CSIR International Convention Centre, Pretoria, South Africa.

The paper discusses rural transport and freight governance crossroad issues in South Africa’s district municipalities. Making use of case studies, focus groups and reflective learning techniques, critical gaps in the rural transport and freight set-up are discussed. The findings confirm the existence of rural transport and freight challenges in district municipalities. The findings suggest the need to align and coordinate more strongly freight transport and integrated transport plans (ITPs); spatial development frameworks (SDFs); integrated development plans (IDPs); provincial growth and development strategy (PGDS) and provincial land transport framework (PLTF). Recommendations revolve around developing and updating freight databanks, strengthening skills in this sector, building a portfolio of demonstration projects from which lessons can be drawn for up-scaling and ensuring sustainable funding streams.