Don't let your left hand know what your right hand is doing

Last week we talked about a proposed solution to the traffic congestion problem between Soweto and Johannesburg. A group of Malaysian investors announced a R12 billion investment in a monorail project, touted to transport as many as 1.5 million commuters

The Malaysian investment group, Newcycv, announced the proposed venture on 16 May 2007 with Gauteng provincial minister of finance, Paul Mashatile and provincial minister of public transport, road and works, Ignatius Jacobs in tow. Unfortunately the positive atmosphere at the media conference gave little indication of what was to come.

Government has walked into a full-blown local versus national battle. The government's preference for centralised control is common knowledge, and the ruckus developing between Minister of Transport, Jeff Radebe and the Gauteng provincial government is a case in point. Radebe's feathers have been ruffled and it seems inevitable that the plug will be pulled on the proposed monorail project regardless of the benefits it might have brought.

Radebe has already indicated that legislation requires any rail project to be viewed as a national competency and that the Gauteng provincial government had not consulted with, nor sought the approval of his department. Responding to numerous questions for more information on the proposal, Radebe said that he "did not know anything about [the] proposal until it was announced in the media. Furthermore, my director-general was also not aware of [the] project."

Don't let your left hand know

Years ago we listened to a Jazz song which included the line: "Don't let your left hand know what your right hand is doing." The phrase was probably inspired by a Bible verse, Matthew 6:3, which reads, "When thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth." In this regard the comment appears to deal with handling inner conflict to the benefit of mankind.

While the line has subsequently been included in any number of lyrics our interest is not in the specific use of the phrase, but rather how it can be applied to the current government bungling where the recently lauded monorail project is concerned.

It would appear that government's one hand, being the Department of Transport, knows very little about what the other, the Gauteng provincial government is doing. In similar fashion, the DOT made similar 'left-in-the-dark' claims about a damning audit report on eNatis, the recently implemented national vehicle licensing system.

Suffer the people

When government departments work against each other, the people suffer. It appears Soweto's citizens might not get a monorail after all. And, it appears that the Malaysian investors will not get the opportunity to plough R12 billion into the South African economy. Perhaps government would prefer to fund the project from taxpayers coffers some time in the future...

There are lessons to be learned from these unfolding events. Principle amongst these is that communication between government departments is essential. We do not believe there is anything wrong with the Gauteng provincial government exercising its independence in implementing solutions to their transport problems. However, when one considers the sheer financial scale of the project it is inconceivable that the national minister was not informed of developments.

At the same time it seems strange that Radebe would not have received some information or intelligence during the run up to the announcement. The Gauteng government could not have obtained a memorandum of understanding, completed a feasibility study and agreed a project start date without having caused some ripples in the transport industry as a whole. Besides, the minister of transport should have his ear to the ground at all times. How did something this massive slip past an entire government department?

Editor's thoughts:
The Department of Transport has received plenty of negative media attention in recent months. The eNatis vehicle licensing system fiasco has absorbed miles of newspaper column.  And now the department claims it had no knowledge of an audit report which predicted the system had an 80% chance of failure. Today the department is embroiled in a wrangle with the Gauteng government over a monorail system. Are South African politicians placing their personal power and egos above the good of the citizens of the country? Send your thoughts to [email protected]