Despite its turbulent political situation, South Africa is steadfest with its international

commitments such as the Paris Agreement. Government finally approved its Integrated
Resource Plan (IRP2019) in October 2019, marking a major shift in energy place,
remarkable for a coal dominated country like South Africa. This is the country’s singular
most significant contribution to the carbon reduction.

The issues on sustainable transportation in Africa are as follows: (1) poor regulation of
the transport system, and for the minibus taxies (which account for 65% of public
transportation), the lack of regulation resulting in un-road worthy vehicles and poorly
trained drivers; (2) the highest incident of car-related accidents in the world; (3) rural
people still do not have access to reliable transport.

The most urgent requirement in the country is an effective regulation of the transport
sector. The country’s Finance Secretary Titus Mboweni reports that the Economic
Regulation of Transport Bill is likely to contribute to competitive pricing and improved
service quality in the freight rail and port system.

The country would also benefit from a project like the World Bank’s Argentina Road
Safety Project. South Africa's road death toll is already branded as a 'national disaster’
where almost 135,000 people have died in road crashes over the past decade.

At present, South Africa some 800,000 school children that walk more than 3km per day
and an estimated 573,000 and 472,000 urban and rural workers currently walking more
than 20 minutes to work each day. A low-cost and sustainable form of transportation
would be the use of bicycles. This can be one of the programs that may be funded by the
World Bank.

South Africa’s high transport costs have been attributed to a lack of competition due to
the existence of natural monopolies from state-owned companies. Mboweni believes in
bringing in competition and private sector participation, particularly in the core rail
network. South Africa has unveiled plans for the second Gautrain project. In evaluating
this project, South Africa should weigh both private sector funding, albeit better-
regulated and still not discount direct investment through public sector entitles through
bank loans like World Bank. The considerations in the choice are environmental
safeguards and the speed