Rehana Rossouw
A THREAT by central government to withdraw its financial support for transport provision for the 2004 Olympic Games bid has sent Cape Town’s planners scrambling to get the wheels of an interim transport masterplan for the city rolling by the end of this month.
At stake is R470-million promised by the government for transport provision in Cape Town which meets the needs of the Olympic bid — and also an inclusive planning process that takes into account the needs of poorer communities.
Cape Town last prepared a comprehensive transport plan in 1980. The city was instructed by the provincial Minister of Transport and Public Works Leonard Ramatlakane to update its plans and bring them in line with Reconstruction and Development Programme principles and objectives.
In September last year, the Cabinet resolved to finance transport projects which would assist in winning the Olympic bid and R70-million was earmarked for planning and R400-million for infrastructure. An Olympic bid transport plan titled “Moving Ahead” has been drafted and proposes that R3,1-billion is required to upgrade the city’s transport for the games.
Then, two weeks ago, provincial roads engineer Roy Petersen received a letter from Director General of Transport Khetso Gordhan warning that if there was no progress in the implementation of the transport plan, he would advise the Cabinet to review its support of the bid.
“For the bid to proceed, an interim transport masterplan now has to be available in October 1995 for approval and a substantial number of transport projects will have to be awarded for construction starting in January 1996,” Petersen told a hearing of a commission appointed by Ramatlakane to ensure the transport plan dovetails with the
“I suggest that this commission inform the minister of the need for urgent approval for consultants to be appointed to kick start the ‘Moving Ahead’ plans without delay.”
“By 1997, when the bid is tabled, we need to have transport projects in place. My department would not like to be the cause of the failure of the bid. The question before us is whether we are going for the Olympics or not. We have to be, Cabinet has already given its approval.”
Petersen’s call for urgency met resistance from the Metropolitan Spatial Development Framework (MSDF), a initiative representing town planners, development organisations, and environmentalists which believes the Olympic Games transport plan does not serve the needs of Cape Town’s poorer communities.
MSDF project coordinator Ken Sturgeon told the hearing that with only 20 percent of people living in the city owning motor cars, the Olympic Games transport plan which proposed expanding freeways and arterial roads placed a serious constraint on the poorer community.
The MSDF proposes to restructure the metropolitan area by increasing employment opportunities in disadvantaged areas so that trip lengths were shortened and the ability to gain access to economic opportunities were increased.
“We believe the Olympic Bid Transport Plan will lead to an increase in motor vehicle use whereas the MSDF seeks to decrease motor vehicle use by increasing the volume of public transport,” Sturgeon said.
He proposed the formation of a “kick start team” which would reconcile the RDP, MSDF and Olympic Bid Transport Plan proposals, reformulate the transport kick start budget and make a report of its findings public.
The commission will report its findings on the hearings to Ramatlakane by the end of the month.