Johannesburg - The government is debating a new tax on businesses, which would be earmarked for public transport development in the areas in which they operate.
Deputy Minister of Transport Jeremy Cronin disclosed this on Tuesday at a discussion on sustainable transport hosted by the World Wide Fund for Nature.
Cronin said that the government had already extended the mandate of infrastructure development to municipalities, but the costs are heavy and would soon be unmanageable.
Rail and bus networks were subsidised by government at a combined cost of R5.1bn this financial year.
"Taxing local businesses would make them more democratically accountable for infrastructure development," said Cronin.
Another advantage, according to Cronin, would be a rise in property values in areas which would benefit from infrastructure refurbishment.
"Think about the impact of the R25.5bn Gautrain public spend on private property values around the stations," he said.
The introduction of this tax is currently under serious discussion in government.
South Africa has a substantial discrepancy between the quality of passenger transport in urban and rural areas. Cronin's address focused on this duality, and in particular lack of adequate infrastructure in rural areas and the congestion of heavily developed urban centres.
"There is inadequate densification in urban areas - they are spawling," said Cronin.
Poor planning around housing, especially government-provided housing on the periphery of cities, is one of the causes of the problem. Another is the lack of reliable and affordable public transport.
Research by the SA Chamber of Commerce and Industry showed that peak hour congestion on Johannesburg's Ben Schoeman highway cost businesses in Gauteng R15m per hour.
Cronin said that an ideal public transport system for South Africa would be publically controlled and integrated into city facilities such as hospitals, schools and shopping centres.
- Fin24.com
Deputy Minister of Transport Jeremy Cronin disclosed this on Tuesday at a discussion on sustainable transport hosted by the World Wide Fund for Nature.
Cronin said that the government had already extended the mandate of infrastructure development to municipalities, but the costs are heavy and would soon be unmanageable.
Rail and bus networks were subsidised by government at a combined cost of R5.1bn this financial year.
"Taxing local businesses would make them more democratically accountable for infrastructure development," said Cronin.
Another advantage, according to Cronin, would be a rise in property values in areas which would benefit from infrastructure refurbishment.
"Think about the impact of the R25.5bn Gautrain public spend on private property values around the stations," he said.
The introduction of this tax is currently under serious discussion in government.
South Africa has a substantial discrepancy between the quality of passenger transport in urban and rural areas. Cronin's address focused on this duality, and in particular lack of adequate infrastructure in rural areas and the congestion of heavily developed urban centres.
"There is inadequate densification in urban areas - they are spawling," said Cronin.
Poor planning around housing, especially government-provided housing on the periphery of cities, is one of the causes of the problem. Another is the lack of reliable and affordable public transport.
Research by the SA Chamber of Commerce and Industry showed that peak hour congestion on Johannesburg's Ben Schoeman highway cost businesses in Gauteng R15m per hour.
Cronin said that an ideal public transport system for South Africa would be publically controlled and integrated into city facilities such as hospitals, schools and shopping centres.
- Fin24.com