Statement by the City’s Mayoral Committee Member for Urban Mobility, Councillor Rob Quintas

On 22 November 2021, Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis appointed me as Cape Town’s Mayoral Committee Member for Urban Mobility. This is a position I held under the previous Mayor Dan Plato’s administration for 74 days up until the municipal elections last year.

Urban Mobility, previously known as the Transport Directorate, is one of the most important functions within a city government. Yet, it also subscribes to some challenging and rigid legislation and areas of responsibility.

I am now delighted to report back on my first 100 days in office.

Urban Mobility is Cape Town’s cardiovascular system. We need healthy arteries and veins where the lifeblood moves without blockages. The roads are our veins and arteries, and transport modes – be it vehicles, bicycles, feet or buses – are the heartbeats.

A healthy working transport system ensures its city prospers and that its residents are connected to opportunities.

Since the very first day of my appointment, I made it clear that Capetonians should be spoiled for choice in how they choose to commute.

Residents should be able to enjoy a wide range of transport services and options that are safe, affordable, accessible, reliable, and a pleasure to use. A functional, affordable and safe transport system is also how we grow the economy and connect people to jobs and educational and recreational opportunities, which improve the lives of all residents.

When the Mayor appointed me, he had one initial request and that was to get the MyCiTi N2 Express service back on the road as soon as possible.

I set the target for early in the New Year and indeed, we accomplished this through the dedication and hard work of officials in the Urban Mobility Directorate. Since 19 February 2022, the buses are back on the road, connecting residents from Khayelitsha and Mitchells Plain with the CBD. The reintroduction of the N2 Express service to the Cape Flats is much needed, even more so with a collapsed and ailing passenger rail system.

The arteries are as important as the heartbeats, and with that being said, the City’s Urban Mobility Directorate is responsible to preserve and improve road infrastructure, one of the city’s biggest assets.

Over the last three months, the City has rehabilitated, resurfaced, upgraded and reinstated numerous roads across the metro and in diverse communities, and I am pleased with the progress we have made.

This includes:

• Rehabilitation of portions of Jakes Gerwel Drive between Viking Way and the N2
• Resurfacing of both the northbound and southbound carriageways of Carl Cronje Drive
• Rehabilitation of NR Mandela and Oliver Tambo Roads, H Peterson and M Peterson Avenues, Molokoane and R Sobukwe Streets in Imizamo Yethu with repair works to damaged sidewalks and kerbs on NR Mandela and Oliver Tambo Road
• Resurfacing of Kloofnek Road and a small section of Signal Hill Drive
• Rehabilitation of Solomon, Michael, Manengele and Noxolo Streets in Asanda, Nomzamo, and Lwandle Village in Strand.
• Upgrade to the taxi embayment area opposite Luzuko Primary School situated in Ngambu Road, Gugulethu
• Upgrades to Darwin Road in Kraaifontein with the installation of non-motorised transport facilities for pedestrians and cyclists
• Resurfacing of Montague Drive in Montague Gardens

Numerous road resurfacing and rehabilitation projects are currently underway:

• Resurfacing of Brackenfell Boulevard, scheduled to be completed by end of March 2022
• Resurfacing of Klipfontein Road between the M5 off-ramp and Herbrand Street in Athlone, scheduled to be completed by end of March 2022
• Rehabilitation and resurfacing of section of Bonga Drive, Japhta K Masemola Road and Pama Road in Khayelitsha, scheduled to be completed by the end of March 2022
• Resurfacing of Durban Road in Bellville, scheduled to be completed by the end of March 2022

The Urban Mobility Directorate has worked non-stop over the past six months to eradicate the backlog in pothole repairs.

I can report that from 1 August 2021 to 31 January 2022:

• 11 213 potholes have been repaired
• This equates to 1 868 a month and nearly 60 per day

For the next three months, before the winter rains arrive, we will strive to repair as many potholes as possible, and focus on the cleaning of stormwater drains to avoid localised flooding.

Since November 2021, as part of Urban Mobility’s contribution to economic growth, parking marshals were reappointed in Sea Point, the Cape Town CBD, Claremont and Newlands, with Bellville to follow in coming months. Parking management assists businesses and this is important for our economic recovery to have parking available to clients throughout the day.

One of the privileges that come with being a Mayoral Committee Member is to officially open new facilities and services.

The building of a new minibus-taxi facility in Dunoon will greatly benefit residents that make use of minibus-taxi services.

I am also pleased to announce the commencement of construction of a new minibus-taxi facility in Makhaza, Khayelitsha, which was delayed due to Covid-19. This project is now scheduled for completion by the end of August 2022.

Another exciting and long-awaited project is the building of a new Somerset West Public Transport Interchange. Construction is under way and expected to take about 24 months.

Despite many encouraging milestones reached in the past 100 days, much still remains to be done to better integrate the public transport system.

Pedestrians, cyclists, commuters in minibus-taxis and buses, and those using passenger rail, should be able to seamlessly transfer from one mode to another.

The control over key parts of the public transport system, such as passenger rail, does not fall within the City’s mandate and this is a challenge in that we have little to no input or mandate over what should be the backbone of any public transport system.

In the new financial year starting on 1 July 2022, we will proceed with the feasibility study regarding the function of passenger rail as it relates to the City of Cape Town. This new study’s scope of work was amended so that the terms of reference meet any concerns from Treasury regarding the City ‘staying in its lane’.

I am encouraged that both Ministers Enoch Godongwana and Fikile Mbalula have indicated that passenger rail must look at third party, external operating partners to get this service running, and our feasibility study will inform us how the City could potentially step in to assist.

Great progress has also been made in implementing the expansion of the MyCiTi South East Corridor project, previously known as Phase 2A of the MyCiTi service.

A large portion of the Urban Mobility Directorate’s capital funding is being set aside for this project. This project will see MyCiTi buses operate between Khayelitsha and Mitchells Plain and Wynberg and Claremont.

Finally, the Urban Mobility Directorate will look into other large scale infrastructure projects to relieve congestion, improve access and play a vital part in infrastructure led economic investment and development.

Imagining a connected, moving, energised Cape Town, where people meet easily with opportunities to work, play, study and live. This is what Urban Mobility means for me, and what has guided me these past 100 days, and will guide me and the directorate going forward.

Source: City Of Cape Town