The 2010 Soccer World Cup marks the beginning of a major revolution in South Africa’s transport system, Transport Minister Jeff Radebe said on Tuesday.
”The 2010 World Cup is a major milestone in our history and marks the beginning of a major revolution in South Africa’s transport system,” Radebe told the African Business Tourism Conference in Sandton.
”For the first time in history, South Africa will have major investments across all transport systems — passenger rail, taxis, buses and road networks.”
Major transport investments allocations include: R9-billion for the public transport and non-motorised transport infrastructure for 2010; R5,2-billion for upgrading airports infrastructure; R63-billion for roads; R7,7-billion for taxi recapitalisation; and R5-billion for bus and passenger rail systems.
The benefits of upgrading and the building of infrastructure will last beyond the ”final whistle” of the tournament, Radebe said.
He said international tourism arrivals in South Africa are ”sky-rocketing” and foreign-business tourism arrivals had increased by 30% between 2002 and 2005.
While encouraging, the figures also shed a warning light to gear up transport infrastructure and services.
The Airports Company South Africa has started a five-year investment programme at all major airports, with capital expenditure having increased up to R19,3-billion, Radebe said.
More than 36-million trips were recorded for South Africans in 2005/06, but only 4,5-million of these were for holiday purposes, according to a recent South African Tourism report.
Domestic tourism figures revealed that KwaZulu-Natal, Gauteng and the Western Cape reaped 63% of R21,2-billion generated. Gauteng travellers were responsible for 39% of this. — Sapa