Transport Minister Dipuo Peters has asked National Transport Master Plan (Natmap) Synopsis Update Colloquium participants, particularly those who do not stem from government, to not avoid being “very critical” of the plan.

The long-delayed Natmap was designed to guide South Africa’s transport infrastructure development to 2050.

“When you are critical, you are helping us improve this document, which makes it a plan for South Africa and not a plan for government [that] the private sector should be able to rely on.

“When a government opens its doors for all citizens to make policy contributions, it is a true mark of progressive policy formulation and good governance, which are major components of sustainable development,” Peters said at the colloquium in Boksburg on Friday.

The Minister further noted that since the document was referred for review and recommendations to the Presidential Infrastructure Coordinating Commission (PICC) last year, many cumulative processes had been undertaken.

The process of reviewing and updating Natmap started in January, with the scope of work including an update of the plan’s key data and information, its alignment with the National Development Plan, reviewing and updating transport issues of national importance and Natmap’s implementation plan and extensive stakeholder participation, including the PICC.

The Department of Transport (DoT) in 2010 presented Parliament with an early version of Natmap, which included linking Johannesburg to Durban and Polokwane by rapid train networks, expanding the Port of Cape Town, and forming partnerships with the private sector to help fund projects and lower the burden on taxpayers, all with an estimated budget requirement of R750-billion.

The DoT outlined that the presentation needed to include proper monitoring and review process. “When we started in 2005 with Natmap, there was no performance monitoring and evaluation as part of the institutions of government, but now, whatever plan you develop, needs to have review mechanisms in place. [This] will help us determine whether we are achieving the goals we have put in place,” Peters added.

Gauteng DoT transport infrastructure planning director Freeman Masuku noted at the colloquium that transport stakeholders involved in the process of implementing Natmap were “happy with the consultation process”, which had started in 2005.

As part of a panel discussion at the colloquium, he said it had been ten years since government started working on the plan, and that it was about time that Cabinet approved it. “From local government’s perspective, Natmap is a high-level tool that will assist municipalities with the implementation of transport projects, while integrating land use,” Masuku added.

Also speaking on the panel, North West transport lecturer Keletsamaile Motatsa explained that with every plan, challenges were bound to come up, but highlighted that the current Natmap was “trying to address all issues that the country was facing in its transport sphere”.

The plan needed to be flexible to ensure that if other issues arose in Natmap’s implementation, it could be changed to address these issues, he stated. “It should not be an office-bound document, with no implementation taking place.”