Cape Town - Transport Minister Fikile Mbalula held a strategic planning session with all the department’s senior managers, chairpersons and the chief executives of its 12 public entities at the weekend.
Mbalula’s spokesperson, Ayanda-Allie Paine, said the three-day meeting started on Friday and ended on Sunday, and was aimed at realising President Cyril Ramaphosa’s call for accelerated service delivery and infusing khawuleza as an ethos that underpinned the work of the department.
Outlining his priorities, Mbalula highlighted to the management and transport entities that the sector needed to “re-imagine their contribution to South Africa’s development and economic growth, guided by the principle of accelerated implementation, taking advantage of the opportunities presented by the Fourth Industrial Revolution and infusing innovation and responsiveness to our style of work”.
He said their performance must be measured by the extent to which they were able to transform the lives of the people in a meaningful and sustainable way.
Mbalula added that the outcomes of the three-day strategic planning session would inform the priorities to be announced in his Budget vote speech on July 9. “Integration is at the centre of our mandate in delivering an efficient transport system.
“This starts with planning by the different spheres of government, which must deliver wall-to-wall transport solutions,” Mbalula said.
He added that the civil aviation entities remained the best performing, and that that should inspire departmental staff to work harder and to draw lessons for other entities to emulate.
Mbalula added that the drive to arrest the carnage on our roads must be elevated through innovative solutions.
“Decisive interventions in the rail sector with particular reference to paying particular attention to issues that affect the daily lives of our people are needed. Our approach to resolving Passenger Rail Agency of SA challenges must have the necessary urgency.”
Mbulula said that there was much work to be done, and the department was focused, capable and ready to deliver.
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