Parliament, Friday, 30 January 2026 – The Portfolio Committee on Transport has called on the government to ensure that the infrastructure, as laid out for the integrated public transport network (IPTN) in EThekwini, is not lost.
The Chairperson of the committee, Mr Donald Selamolela, said the committee does not understand why EThekwini City is unable to put to use this quality and costly infrastructure. “This infrastructure must not lie fallow and turn into waste. We need to find a way that it is made into good use and that our people benefit. The committee was impressed with what we found, despite the pending talks of discontinuing the programme from the National Department of Transport.”
The committee spent the week in KwaZulu-Natal where it conducted walkabouts at a number of infrastructural projects. In EThekwini, the IPTNS has not been operational for the past 16 years. Various challenges with the system include inconsistencies with budget allocations, negotiations with the taxi industry and the pending winding down of the programme in three years’ time.
The city mayor, Mr Cyril Xaba, assured the committee that he agreed with Minister of Transport Barbara Creecy on the implementation of the project, but “the elephant in the room is funding uncertainty”.
Mr Selamolela said the challenges are not insurmountable and that the implementation of EThekwini’s intermodal public transport system should be delayed no further.
“Longer term planning is a challenge, but in the immediate, the city must establish the Vehicle Operating Company (VOC) and ensure it gets buy-in from stakeholders. A clear plan of how the project will be sustained beyond Department of Transport withdrawal should also be devised. Overall, the committee is satisfied with what it found on the ground.”
ISSUED BY THE PARLIAMENTARY COMMUNICATION SERVICES ON BEHALF OF THE CHAIRPERSON OF THE PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORT, MR DONALD SELAMOLELA.
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