GOOD Statement by Sandra Dickson, GOOD City of Cape Town Councillor:
The City of Cape Town BRT (Bus Rapid Transit – MyCiTi) public transport system is regarded as one of the best-performing Bus systems in South Africa. Over the past decade, billions of rand have been invested into MyCiTi through dedicated bus lanes, stations, depots, feeder services, fleet expansion, and transport control infrastructure.
Much of this funding came from the National Treasury through the Public Transport Network Grant (PTNG), which formed part of South Africa’s broader Integrated Public Transport Network (IPTN) strategy launched in the mid-2000s.
Nationally, more than R80 billion has been spent on IPTN and BRT systems over roughly two decades. However, during the November 2025 Medium-Term Budget Policy Statement (MTBPS), National Treasury effectively acknowledged in Parliament that the national IPTN/BRT programme had failed to deliver public transport improvements proportional to the scale of funding invested.
These concerns were repeated in the 2026 Estimates of National Expenditure (Vote 40: Transport) and during oversight discussions before Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Transport in 2026.
Treasury highlighted implementation delays, incomplete transport corridors, lower-than-expected passenger volumes in some cities, operational sustainability concerns, and increasing financial pressure on municipalities.
As a result, Treasury has now started restructuring and scaling back portions of the Public Transport Network Grant programme.
The concern is not that MyCiTi is about to collapse.
The concern is that one of the major national funding pipelines used to support and expand BRT systems is now being reduced because Treasury no longer believes the programme delivered sufficient value relative to the billions spent nationally.
This creates a long-term financial risk for municipalities, including Cape Town. Large-scale transport systems like MyCiTi require not only capital funding to build infrastructure. They also require continuous operational funding for maintenance, security, staffing, fleet replacement, and future expansion.
At the same time, municipalities are under growing pressure to fund ageing sewer infrastructure, electricity network upgrades, water systems, roads, and other core services.
The national debate has therefore shifted from simply building BRT systems to whether cities can sustainably afford to maintain and expand them over the long term without continued large-scale Treasury support.
National Transport must identify Cities that commit to linking spatial planning, transit-oriented development, and development priorities to BRT routes and stations in order to continue to fund BRT projects there. BRT systems are only truly viable if they operate in a transformed urban space. If Cape Town doesn’t address its spatial apartheid logic, then the MyCiTi is at risk of not attracting sufficient passenger numbers.
GOOD Sports and Recreation: GOOD supports sports and recreational activities for youth engagement.
Wings
Forgive me for being a bit of an idiot but where do I find your newsletter subscription service?
nueva nova
Interview with a pirate:
There was a pirate who had agreed to do an interview with a local tv station. The reporter was very courteous and professional, giving a bit of background as to the pirate\’s business. She then began interviewing him.
\”So Mr. Longbeard, are there any risks to your business? I see you have a peg leg- how did that come about?\”
\”Well, y\’see I were sailing along the coast of South Africa, looking to plunder some locals when as I boarded the small boat from the ship, a great white shark came up and got my leg clean off. \’twas scary yes, but thus is the life of a pirate.\”
\”Wow, that is pretty scary- well, how about your hook? What happened to your hand with that?\”
\”Oh now that\’s quite the tale, y\’see I were fighting a rival pirate, and we had locked swords. We had been fighting for a few hours, and were both terribly fatigued. I had a bit of exhaustion and confusion, and when I went to block one of his sword blows, I met him with me hand instead of me sword. Took it right off, but it shocked him so much I managed to get him back pretty good and have him submit. So the hook hand was given as a replacement.\”
\”Wow. Simply fascinating. Now, what about your eye patch? How did that happen?\”
\”Well, one day, a seagull was flying overhead, and I looked up. It pooped right in me eye.\”
\”… Well wow. I must admit, I wouldn\’t think just seagull poop could damage the eye that badly.\”
\”Oh, I forgot to mention… it were me first day with the hook.\”