DA welcomes proposal for ring-fenced funds for road maintenance
On the back of the Zuma administration's announcements of a slew of policies straight out of Democratic Alliance (DA) policy documents and manifestos - including wage subsidies, independently moderated literacy and numeracy tests, detailed ministerial delivery agreements and the introduction of Independent Power Producers - the DA is delighted to note yesterday's announcement by the Minster of Transport, Sibusiso Ndebele, that the Department will look at ring-fencing funds to tackle the road infrastructure backlog.
This is a measure that the DA has repeatedly called for in the past - in the form of a dedicated road maintenance fund - with funding sourced from the fiscus and bolstered by money-market loans, the fuel levy, concessions and public-private partnerships.
Minister Ndebele was quoted in this morning's Business Report as saying that allocations from the fiscus could be "ring fenced" for the dedicated purpose of road maintenance. This development is a very good step in the right direction. The deterioration of South Africa's road network was precipitated by the replacement by the ANC government of a dedicated fuel levy with an annual grant from central government.
As it stands, funds are allocated from national government to provinces on equitable share to each province, to be divided up and spent as that province sees fit. The same scenario applies to cities and large metropolitans (which collected their money from rates). No dedicated allocation means money is spent elsewhere instead of on roads. This system diverts funds away from road maintenance and created the current neglect and deterioration. The introduction of a dedicated road maintenance fund can therefore help to ensure that provincial and local governments tackle our country's serious road infrastructure problems.
We believe that, in addition to the establishment of a dedicated road maintenance fund, it is essential that a national audit of South Africa's road network is conducted to determine the specific distance of roads that are in a poor or very poor condition. Once the audit is completed, funds from the dedicated road maintenance fund should be allocated on a proportional and conditional basis.
We welcome the fact that the ANC government appears to at last be taking the correct action to address this serious infrastructure backlog. It is also notable that, just as it is in job creation, in education and in energy, it is DA policies that are increasingly being turned to in order to salvage the South African state from misguided ANC policies.
Statement issued by Stuart Farrow, MP, Democratic Alliance shadow minister of transport, March 2 2010
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