By Mfanafuthi Sithebe
Our public transport system is highly regulated, and the State is one of the custodians of the providers of public transport services.
South Africa has a road network of 750 000 km, the tenth longest network in the world.
The South African National Roads Agency is currently managing about 21,403 km, of which 84 per cent are non-tolled and only 16 per cent are tolled. Provinces manage about 47,348 km whereas 51,682 km is managed by municipalities.
Prasa, the managing agency for community rail owns 2 280 Kilometers of South Africa’s rail network and uses some of the 22 000 Kilometers of rail track under the control of Transnet.
For now, the provision of this service solely vests with the railway agency, PRASA – although there is a call by certain municipalities to liberalize/devolve the rail network.
Currently, the road is unavoidably the default freight transport mode, absorbing whatever traffic cannot be accommodated in other modes.
Because of its intensive use of infrastructures, the transport sector is an important component of the economy and a common tool used for development.
Tertiary institutions campuses are considered major trip attractors. This intense level of activity generates significant congestion levels within the campuses and in their vicinity, particularly in urban campus settings.
In South Africa, we have more than one hundred tertiary institutions (including both public and private training institutions), giving us more than one million students enrolled in these institutions.
A sizeable percentage of these students’ shuttle between home (including private residence) and their respective institutions of learning.
The traffic looks set to continue growing – much of it on roads that are already operating at close to capacity during busy periods. Furthermore, the spatial design of South Africa’s cities and major towns also contributes to congestion due to most central segments being reserved for business activities only, with residential zones mapped out in consecutively circular layout planning around these business center’s resulting in predominantly one-way traffic.
The Department of Higher Education and Training is striving to create a South Africa that can provide decent opportunities for youth and adults through education and skills development initiatives. The quality of provision in the Post School Education and Training system is premised on quality, experienced, and committed staff; informed, carrying, focused and reliable student support system.
Chapter 9 of the National Development Plan focuses on improving education, training, and innovation. Our Post School, Education and Training system is expected to meet a wide range of education and training needs of our nation, particularly youth.
Tertiary students and societal challenges
There’s no doubt that higher education is a powerful road to success. But what happens when the road is filled with potholes, impossible distances, broken-down vehicles, a lack of public transportation and other roadblocks. Many students have no problem getting into school, but they do have problems with getting there – literally. That’s why it’s so important to make sure each student has some reliable way of getting to where they need to be.
Most students that have enrolled with public tertiary institutions in South Africa are subsidized by the government through the National Student Financial Aid Scheme.
These indigent beneficiaries/and academically deserving students receive a variety of support through the scheme, which also includes transport allowance. Students who opt to make their own accommodation arrangements, including staying at home, staying with immediate family members, or staying at accredited accommodation, qualify for a transport allowance.
For those that have opted for private tertiary institutions their parents/guardians have taken student loans/or mortgages on their house to pay for tuition, rent, transport, food, and textbooks. There is an enormous amount of money required for tertiary institutions and most students (guardians/parents) are in debt. They cannot afford to buy a car or pay extra for public transportation (which is not reliable).
The unfortunate transformation challenges and the snail pace (coupled with unnecessary reactionary court judgements) of the democratization of the South African economy still impacts negatively to the society at large, particularly the previously disadvantaged communities.
Most of our tertiary institutions are in the previously white-dominated suburbs and the direct transport to these institutions is not available in the previously disadvantaged communities.
Students, particularly those attending previously disadvantaged institutions, are living in poor and unsafe conditions located in dismal parts of downtown metropolitan areas, informal settlements or areas that are significantly distant from their campuses.
Huge requirement for transportation
After tuition fees, accommodation is one of the thorniest issues in the higher education sector. Every year, students struggle to get accommodation as institutions don’t have enough beds.
Also, there is a lack of specific legislation that enables effective administration and management of post-school education mobility and access exacerbates the problem.
The societal challenges have compromised a sizeable number of students (particularly the vulnerable LGBTQ community and students with special needs).
The upward pressure on the demand for higher education is confronted with a lack of policy infrastructure to manage the concomitant travel demand. Tertiary institutions have influential impacts on local development and prestige, but they generate negative externalities in access, mobility and the environment when not managed properly. When these institutions develop and local areas complement this, the relationship induces increases in travel demand across various modes and land uses.
The skewed distribution of resources and non-availability of dedicated supporting infrastructure to public tertiary institutions created space for immoral/unscrupulous individuals to satisfy their sexual desires and other inhumane activities.
When students go for a job interview, need to buy groceries, or just need to go to class and attend late catch-up classes, they need transportation. Cars are expensive, as are parking permits for those who stay in the dorm. It is also challenging to find parking spots close to students’ classes.
Students would pay for it after graduation
The general expectation by society and business is that after varsity/college students will get a job (or become entrepreneurs) and pay taxes.
A minuscule amount of these taxes would go to support public transport for the next generation of varsity/college students who would enjoy the benefits provided by their predecessors.
This way, people who have money would be paying for public transport as opposed to people that don’t. It is a great system of “passing it forward”.
Universities and colleges owe them
Changes in integrated transport planning practices are necessary, particularly for cities and towns with tertiary institutions in their jurisdiction. This requires appropriate output specifications for transport operators, authorities, and institutions to be coordinated and aligned.
Managing travel demand for university precincts can be performed in numerous ways, but the role of the mobility management plan and mobility manager in coordinating the function appears to be a prerequisite for policy effectiveness.
Students pay these institutions an obscene amount of money for attending. These institutions owe it to them to make their life as easy as possible financially. In many countries, the local academic institution makes a deal with the local public transport agency so that students can just swipe their university ID and ride for free.
This is a great service and must be implemented nationwide. But also, a dedicated public transport system also serves as a benefit to the entire tertiary institution community and the surrounding communities. In other words, a university that operates with a rule of law is useful for our democratic project. Municipalities then must be seen as strategic partners of higher education to generate the necessary urban renewal frameworks needed that will drive local economic growth and sustainable communities.
Linkages with the local communities
Tertiary institutions students are key to the relationship with communities and places; therefore, it is vital to build and embed a culture of engagement with the communities – communities can include many groups such as businesses, industries, professional associations, schools, government, alumni, indigenous and ethnic communities as well as groups of local citizens.
The location of tertiary institutions must also benefit the surrounding communities and be able to boost local economies – the bus schedules/routes, road mapping and railway networks must acknowledge the existence of such tertiary institutions (private and public residence) located within the boundaries of the municipalities; but more important is the inclusion of the needs of these “Transit-citizens” in the town planning and of the inclusion of the indigenous knowledge of the surrounding communities.
The strategic location of these tertiary institutions has created “transit citizens” who contribute to the revenue of the city – but do not benefit to the transport system of these municipalities.
Almost all municipalities in South Africa do provide a public bus transport system (Are Yeng, Re Yavaya, Harambee) with linkages to the railway stations.
The operating hours of these buses and public libraries do not take into consideration the existence of the “Transit-citizens.”
Amongst the many contributing factors that influence the youth unemployment rate in
South Africa is access to adequate local transportation infrastructure. In this case, adequate public transportation infrastructure refers to roads, bus stations, railway stations, and terminals which are working efficiently.
The reality is that transport and poverty in South Africa are linked as many rely heavily on public transportation to get to work and to seek employment. However, the challenges make it harder for citizens to get jobs, which expands the unemployment gap.
Higher education in South Africa faces several challenges, one of which is the increased student drop-out rate. Financial difficulties are among the most common reasons given by poor black students for not pursuing their tertiary education.
In the end, the positive effects of transportation contribute to social inclusion, the well-being of citizens and job creation as well as the country’s economic development and growth. Its public knowledge that higher education in South Africa is quite
expensive and if households are not financially able/empowered, their children might end up amongst the annual percentage of unnecessary dropouts.
Yes, a restructured higher education system should be socially just and equitable in its distribution of resources and opportunities. But most important is the strategic collaborations between higher tertiary institutions and the local municipalities.
This collaboration must also incorporate state-owned entities; particularly those that provide services that might be of interest to the institutions of higher learning.
An important aspect of redressing the legacy of apartheid in South Africa involves addressing its spatial legacy. This includes service provision, as well as developing local opportunities for job creation and poverty reduction, to ensure inclusive economic growth.
As we are about to celebrate the unbroken COSATU 40 years of the workers struggle in South Africa, we must always remember that the South African education system was designed to maintain the working-class bondages.
For the new Post School Education to thrive it needs to serve the interest of most of the people. Therefore, the complete overhaul of the transport system will also unlock the unfortunate selective spatial development.
Written by: Mfanafuthi Sithebe (social justice activist: #Feleba).
(Disclaimer: the author is the Director of the Department of Higher Education and Training, however, the views expressed cannot be associated with his employer).
INSIDE EDUCATION