Concerns over Go!Durban project after R9bn investment

AFTER 16 years and a staggering R9 billion spent, the Go! Durban project is mired in uncertainty, as the Portfolio Committee on Transport highlights the absence of operational buses on its dedicated lanes.

- TASCHICA PILLAY

This week, a new challenge emerged when the National Treasury announced that the Public Transport Network Grant (PTNG) will be reduced by about R8.4 billion over the next three years, with funds diverted towards more pressing needs, particularly in the passenger rail sector.

As a result, metropolitan municipalities, such as eThekwini, who have been struggling to roll out the Integrated Public Transport Network System (IPTNS) programme, are set to lose billions.

In January, the Portfolio Committee for Transport visited the IPTNS project in Pietermaritzburg and the Go!Durban project.

Donald Selamolela, chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Transport, said the reduction by Treasury is going to impact negatively on the project.

He said the project in eThekwini never took off, and it has been 16 years.

“We had to do the oversight visit because we were worried that with the time and money spent we should be talking about people moving from point A to point B.

“That is why Treasury is saying the money spent on the whole project is not justifiable. Money had continually been thrown into the project, and this year alone, the Metro was given a R730 million allocation, with an additional R300 million that was owed from withheld funds in 2025. This is over a billion.

“The curious thing about eThekwini is that it has all the expensive infrastructure laid out, but there are no buses on the lanes. In fact, the Metro does not have buses,” he said.