Dipuo Peters has been
appointed for another term
as transport minister, with
Lydia Sindisiwe Chikunga
continuing as her deputy.
Based on a poll run last
week in FTW’s sister online
publication FTW Online,
the industry is not impressed
with her first term and will be
hoping for a more productive
term second time round. The
overwhelming majority of
respondents believe that she
was ineffective in her role (see
page 16).
Her first priority, in
the view of Road Freight
Association spokesperson
Gavin Kelly, should be to
reduce the cost of doing
business by focusing on issues
that are making business
so difficult in this country
and pushing up logistics
costs. This includes the likes
of permit applications and
procedures and increased
levies on road users.
“She also needs to do
something about lawlessness
on the roads,” says Kelly,
“from simple things like
badly licensed drivers in
all categories to blatantly
faulty vehicles, bad driving
behaviour and overloading.
“If we could get those
things sorted out we’d get
very far.
“In terms of the e-toll
debate,” says Kelly, “we
need to ask ourselves how
we are going to maintain
roads, develop new roads
and continue fuelling the
movement of freight in this
country. Rail is not an option
and will never be until there’s
a fair amount of money to fix
the problem. You have to look
at smarter ways of moving
and storing goods.”
CAPTION
Transport Minister Dipuo Peters
