Transport and Public Works
With regard to public transport sector subsidies for buses, trains and minibus taxis:
What are the details of the subsidies that the government has paid for commuters using (a) buses, (b) trains and (c) minibus taxis in (i) 2014, (ii) 2015, (iii) 2016, (iv) 2017, (v) 2018, (vi) 2019, (vii) 2020 and (viii) 2021 in each municipality in the province?
- Buses
There are various subsides for bus public transport in the Western Cape. They are used to fund public transport operations and/or for capital and infrastructure investment.
The Public Transport Operating Grant (PTOG) is a national conditional grant which is allocated to the provinces, including the Western Cape Government, by National Government. The grant is used to subsidise bus services in the Cape Town area. These services are currently provided by Golden Arrow Bus Services under contract to the Department of Transport and Public Works (DTPW). The PTOG amounts are shown in the table below for the years requested. These services are largely provided within a single Municipality, namely the City of Cape Town.
The Public Transport Network Grant (PTNG) is a national conditional grant which is allocated to selected municipalities. In the Western Cape this includes the City of Cape Town, to support its Integrated Public Transport Network (IPTN) and the MyCiTi service, and the George Municipality, to support the George Integrated Public Transport Network (GIPTN) and the GoGeorge bus service. The PTNG is used to fund public transport operations, establishment, and infrastructure. The PTNG amounts allocated to these municipalities in the years requested are shown in the table below.
To supplement the PTNG, the DTPW provides funding for bus operations in George through a transfer to the George Municipality. These allocations are listed in the table below.
The City of Cape Town has also secured additional funding from National Government in the form of the BFI (Budget Facility for Infrastructure) for the upcoming financial year to support the construction of additional MyCiTi phases. The BFI aims to support the execution of national priority projects in relation to public infrastructure, and the City of Cape Town applied successfully for this funding.
In addition to the above, the Western Cape Education Department (WCED) subsidises learner transport services in the Province. My Department does not have access to the detailed information regarding these services and I would refer you to the WCED.
Table 1: Government Subsidy for Bus Public Transport from 2014-2021.
| Bus Transport | |||||||
| 2014/15 | 2015/16 | 2016/17 | 2017/18 | 2018/19 | 2019/20 | 2020/21 | 2021/22 |
| (R'000) | |||||||
Total | 2 310 646 | 2 061 636 | 2 057 951 | 2 228 351 | 2 267 107 | 2 713 574 | 2 240 815 | 3 708 641 |
City of Cape Town | 2 156 053 | 1 890 081 | 1 820 963 | 1 922 445 | 1 998 346 | 2 317 827 | 1 868 575 | 3 421 284 |
PTNG allocation | 1 376 688 | 1 093 501 | 950 063 | 999 524 | 1 045 522 | 1 311 645 | 794 979 | 855 640 |
BFI allocation | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1 433 000 |
PTOG allocation (to DTPW) | 779 365 | 796 580 | 870 900 | 922 921 | 952 824 | 1 006 182 | 1 073 596 | 1 132 644 |
George Municipality | 154 593 | 171 555 | 236 988 | 305 906 | 268 761 | 395 747 | 372 240 | 287 357 |
PTNG allocation | 122 254 | 116 325 | 156 444 | 210 362 | 167 675 | 223 000 | 185 000 | 126 770 |
Provincial funding for GIPTN | 32 339 | 55 230 | 80 544 | 95 544 | 101 086 | 172 747 | 187 240 | 160 587 |
The above are the only subsidies which are allocated for bus transport in the Western Cape.
- Trains
Passenger rail services in the Western Cape are provided by Metrorail, which is part of the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (PRASA), a company owned by National Government and overseen by the National Department of Transport.
PRASA receives funding from National Government for both operations and capital. Note: My Department does not have access to the details of these amounts but has provided an estimate of the operational and capital subsidies allocated to the Western Cape region in the table below.
Table 2: Government Subsidy for Rail Public Transport from 2014-2021.
Rail | ||||||||
2014/15 | 2015/16 | 2016/17 | 2017/18 | 2018/19 | 2019/20 | 2020/21 | 2021/22 | |
(R'000) | ||||||||
Total | 3 010 000 | 3 670 000 | 1 000 000 | 3 070 000 | 1 300 000 | 1 700 000 | - | - |
City of Cape Town Metrorail (Operational) | 800 000 | 1 000 000 | 1 000 000 | 1 200 000 | 1 300 000 | 1 700 000 | Unknown | Unknown |
City of Cape Town Metrorail (Capital) | 2 210 000 | 2 670 000 | 2 760 000 | 1 870 000 | 1 680 000 | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown |
(c) minibus taxis
Subsidy support for minibus taxi services has historically been limited to the National Taxi Recapitalisation Programme (TRP). The budget for taxi recapitalisation has been approximately R200m per annum for the entire country. Figures for the Province and its constituent municipalities are not available currently. The table below has been extracted from the National Department of Transport’s Budget Vote for the 2021/22 financial year and provides an indication of funding allocations towards taxi recapitalisation in previous years (ranging from R70m to R240m) and over the current MTEF period (ranging from R465m to R479m).
Table 3: National Department of Transport allocation to taxi recapitalisation
