TUESDAY 5.30PM:
THE government will save R91-million a year when four divisions of the Department of Transport are commercialised this year, Transport Minister Mac Maharaj said on Tuesday.
In a commercialisation drive that is due to start this week, three chief directorates will be repositioned as independent agencies under newly formed bodies: the South African National Road Agency (NRA), the Cross-Border Transport Agency, and the South African Maritime Safety Authority. “Each of the new bodies will have its own income stream,” Maharaj said.
The fourth, the Civil Aviation Safety Agency, will be set up in October.
Maharaj said the road agency will save the state R21-million. The new body will manage the country’s primary road network, including road safety and enforcing traffic laws, and its funding will be raised through petrol levies, toll fees, fines, and interest on investments.
The CBTA, responsible for regulating cross-border road transport, will cut the Department’s costs by R40-million a year, and will be self-sufficient from its inception, Maharaj said.
Samsa, which will safeguard maritime safety as well as preventing sea pollution by ships, is expected to save R22-million a year. Funded by levies on ships calling at South African ports, fines, user charges, and government service fees, the agency is expected to be self-sufficient within three years.
The Civil Aviation Safety Agency will save a further R34-million a year when it is formed in October.
Describing the commercialisation as enormous change and a milestone in transformation, Maharaj said: “This is a bold, correct direction. If it doesn’t work, blame me.”