Roads must fall: Parliamentary committee concerned about road damage
July 19, 2019
Publication source: The Citizen
‘The damage caused by trucks on the roads is extensive,’ the committee said in a statement.
The strain on South Africa’s road infrastructure is concerning as its maintenance is expensive and not sustainable, parliament’s committee on public enterprises and communications has said.
In a statement issued early on Thursday after being briefed by the department of public enterprises on its annual performance plans and budget vote for 2019/20, the committee also commended minister Pravin Gordhan for what it called his bold steps in exposing corruption within state enterprises.
“The members of the committee voiced communities’ complaints about road damage caused by the trucks,” it said. “This is an area the department needs to address, as the damage caused by trucks on the roads is extensive.”
Discussions with the department also touched on state-owned entities (SOEs), which should contribute to economic growth, but many of whom are in financial dire straits and have pleaded for bailouts.
“The committee … expressed its concern about (power utility) Eskom’s R400 billion debt and revenue generation, which is insufficient to meet its financial obligations,” it said.
Former senior executives at Eskom and other state firms such as logistics company Transnet have been implicated in corruption and the parliament committee said Gordhan assured it that his department was closely monitoring SOEs’ financial and operational performance through weekly and monthly monitoring.
The recovery of stolen money was in process, Gordhan said, as law-enforcement agencies were pursuing cases against those implicated.