The Automobile Association has rejected the government’s proposal to extend the Gautrain, describing the project as an elitist “failing system” that serves only a minority of citizens yet costs taxpayers around R2 billion a year to prop up.
Gauteng MEC for Roads and Transport, Jacob Mamabolo, recently published the route determination for Phase 1 of the proposed Gauteng Rapid Rail Integrated Network (GRRIN) project – Gautrain, which will add another 150 kilometres of track and 19 stations to the network. The determination of the route starts the process of defining a rail reserve for a future railway in Gauteng and is the first step towards expansion of the existing Gautrain network.
The AA said the proposal had disregarded factual evidence opposing the move, underscoring “the poor financial decision to allocate funds to a failing system”.
“In August last year we made a detailed submission outlining our concerns about the expansion of Gautrain. We noted then, as we do again now, that any expansion of Gautrain perpetuates a system which caters for a minority of citizens, all the while costing Gauteng taxpayers billions of rands to prop up through the so-called ‘patronage guarantee’ which compensates the system for low ridership levels,” the AA said.
In 2021 the Gautrain Management Agency (GMA), through funding from the Gauteng Provincial Government, paid the Bombela Concession Company (a privately owned entity) a patronage guarantee of R2 014bn. In 2020, the Patronage Guarantee paid to Bombela was R1.9bn. Since 2013, Gauteng taxpayers have funded the shortfall of riders on the Gautrain close on R13bn.
The Association said it was “outrageous and deeply disturbing” that taxpayers’ money was being used to compensate the private entity for non-performance.
“Because of the built-in insurance for poor performance through the Patronage Guarantee, less money is available in Gauteng for transport projects which can cater for the majority of citizens who do not have access to the Gautrain. The Gautrain serves people who already have transport options – the large parking infrastructure at Gautrain stations attests to this,” the AA said.
The organisation added that it would write to the ministers of finance and transport and to Parliament’s Standing Committee on Finance and the Portfolio Committee on Transport to seek clarity on the planned funding for the extensions.
“There is no justifiable reason why the Gautrain service should be extended, and we noted such in our submission. We have had no formal feedback to our concerns,” the AA said.
