Chapter 11 - Sedibeng District Municipality

16 FUNDING
16.1 Historical Overview of Funding
DoT has not been able to source more funding for land transport from Treasury. In
the NLTSF, the DoT fails to make any assertions and concrete undertakings about
the future funding of land transport. The Urban Transport Fund, formed as part of the
Urban Transport Act of 1977, did not have enough funds to sustain land transport for
the entire country. How ever, it should be noted that the subsidised public transport
services operating throughout the country are funded by the DoT through the
provincial governments and its agencies.
As w ith many local authorities w ithin the GautengProvince, the SDMis faced w ith
serious challenges regarding funding of land transport services. Generally, over the
last few years funding for land transport has been very limited. This can be largely
attributed to a combination of limited funding and the commitment of the bulk of funds
to priority areas like health and education.Due to limited funding, public transport
services and the condition of roads have generally deteriorated. The rail rolling stoc k
is also rendered more and obsolete. The average age of public transport vehicles
has increased significantly, and those vehicles that do not form part of the subsidised
contracts are even older.
The evolvement of the non-subsidised mini-bustaxi mode has created its ow n
problems. The violence that besieged the industry for many years w as largely
influenced by non-profitability of the industry. That relates directly to the nonsubsidisation
of the industry. The vehicle fleet is becoming more obsolete as the
funding for re-capitalisation cannot be found. How ever, such problems are to be
addressed through the much publicized, and delayed, taxi re-capitalisation
programme.
SDM does not fund any public transport service as the Vaal Transport Bus Service
was discontinued and SDM w as relieved of its funding responsibilities.
16.2 Legislative Overview
The SDM currently receives the majority of its funding from national government
through the equitable share divided as per the Division of Revenue Act (DORA),
passed at the beginning of each financial year. The Division of Revenue Act (DORA)
provide for the equitable division of revenue anticipated to be raised nationally among
the national, provincial and local spheres of government for a specific financial year
and the reporting requirements for allocations pursuant to such division; to permit the
withholding and the delaying of payments in certain circumstances; to provide for
liability for costs incurred in litigation in violation of the principles of co-operative
governance and intergovernmental relations; and to provide for matters connected
therew ith.
The objects of this Act are:
• to provide for the equitable division of revenue anticipated to be raised
nationally among the three spheres of government;
SDM DITP, 2008 to 2013 212 31 Aug 2010