The City said it was briefing its lawyers to launch an intergovernmental dispute on passenger rail devolution, or transfer of power, as efforts to work with the national government proved futile.
“We have been unable to secure a working committee on devolution despite President Ramaphosa previously committing to respond to our requests,” said mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis.
“We have made this simple request to both previous and current transport ministers, and most recently to the president on 16 June, but to no avail.
“In Parliament, the president says ‘viva la co-operation’, but our experience has been the exact opposite.
“We are in fact taken aback by the president’s claims of broad consultations taking place towards a national devolution strategy.
“As a leading city preparing to take over passenger rail, we are completely in the dark about these alleged consultations with a broad range of stakeholders, including transport authorities, of which we are one.”
The City said its ongoing Rail Feasibility Study, which aimed to chart the way to devolution, has so far found that functional rail would sustain more than 51 000 jobs and add R11 billion to the local economy each year.
“While the transport director-general recently confirmed an intention to gazette the devolution strategy within 2023, the president yesterday stated this would instead be ‘by 2024’.
“The president further confirmed that devolution would entail ‘provision for assignment of responsibility for managing of all rail functions to metro, in planning, funding, procurements, operations and maintenance of these lines’,” said Hill-Lewis.
Cape Times