Parliament, Wednesday, 9 March 2022 – The Select Committee on Transport, Public Service and Administration, Public Works and Infrastructure received a briefing today from the Cross-Border Road Transport Agency (C-BRTA) on its annual report for the 2020/21 financial year.
The committee welcomed the report and congratulated the C-BRTA on receiving a clean audit for the sixth consecutive year. The committee also noted that the C-BRTA achieved a 67% performance for the 2020/21 financial year, which was a significant drop from the previous year of 93% performance.
The committee was informed that the target for the development and implementation of the cross-border road transport and trade facilitation information platform under the Research and Advisory Programme was not reached due to delays in procurement processes and the strict Covid-19 lockdown restrictions in the first quarter. However, the C-BRTA reported that the bid evaluation process has now been finalised and the platform is being developed.
The committee also heard that of the 53 land border posts between South Africa and neighbouring countries, 20 of these are designated as commercial border posts. The Operator Compliance Accreditation System registration platform has been reviewed and this has enabled the C-BRTA to pursue the quality regulation of cross-border operations.
In response to a question from the committee about the reasons for overspending on programme two (law enforcement), the C-BRTA responded that a Smart law enforcement vehicle was purchased with the funds and was piloted at two border posts to enhance law enforcement operations and promote compliance with road regulations, thus reducing the high accident rate on the roads. The Smart vehicle is also equipped with a number plate recognition system, which can identify stolen, cloned or unroadworthy vehicles.
The C-BRTA reported that a major challenge is the decrease in the issuing of freight, bus, taxi and tourism permits, with tourism affected by a 98% decrease when compared to the previous year. Overall, there was a 33.6% decline. This was largely due to the Covid-19 pandemic and subsequent regulations, which impacted on socio-economic development across the continent.
The Chairperson of the committee, Mr Kenny Mmoiemang, commended the C-BRTA for the way in which it has executed its mandate. He called on the C-BRTA to lobby neighbouring countries on issues affecting South Africa, especially infrastructure issues.
ISSUED BY THE PARLIAMENTARY COMMUNICATION SERVICES ON BEHALF OF THE CHAIRPERSON OF THE SELECT COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORT, PUBLIC SERVICE AND ADMINISTRATION AND PUBLIC WORKS AND INFRASTRUCTURE, MR KENNETH MMOIEMANG.
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E-mail: sugovender@parliament.gov.za
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