It's all systems go for newly appointed transport minister Fikile Mbalula and his team, who will attempt to tackle challenges facing the railway system while finding affordable means of commuting and overseeing the regulation of the taxi industry.
Mbalula spoke to eNCA on Sunday about his plans to ensure a better public transportation system for the working class. Here's what he said, in four telling quotes:
Appointing qualified people
"What I'm not going to put up with is laziness, mediocrity. We need to look at [putting] proper people and proficiency into proper positions. I need an engineer with proper qualifications who is going to mend the transport system."
Integrating transport systems
"We need an integrated transport system that will work efficiently, taking into consideration all the aspects of the poorest of the poor and how we make it accessible and efficient for them. Rail must speak to taxis at the same time, at an affordable rate."
Collaboration between ministries
"The [collaboration between government ministries] will be the approach in terms of tackling some of the issues so that we work through an integrated cooperative working relations, so we don't work in silos."
Regulating the taxi industry
"We have not had a consistent and well-defined plan that the department of transport has been implementing. We came with the recapitalisation with [former transport minister Mac] Maharaj. Then came Jeff Radebe, who sustained that and after it collapsed. My approach will be to work with them and to understand their needs."
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