KwaZulu-Natal MEC for Transport and Human Settlements Siboniso Duma presented his budget speech at the KZN Legislature on Friday.
Image: Supplied
In an effort to clamp down on traffic violations, the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Transport (DoT) is expected to recruit 200 trainee traffic officers annually over the next five years, fill in vacant posts, and improve road conditions.
The province must be a zero-tolerance zone, which includes rooting out drunk drivers, speedsters, and unlicensed drivers and vehicles from the roads with special attention to seatbelts, roadworthiness, and pedestrian safety compliance, said KZN MEC for Transport and Human Settlements Siboniso Duma when he presented his budget speech at the KZN Legislature on Friday.
The DoT budget allocation for the 2025/26 financial year is R13 billion, of which R960 million is allocated for administration. A total of R9.2 billion will be spent on transport infrastructure, while R2 billion will be allocated for transport operations. A budget of R52 million has been set aside for empowerment programmes.
On law enforcement, Duma said old recruits have since been deployed to stations within the various regions of the province. He added that they have increased the visibility of law enforcement officers on the provincial road network and improved staff numbers at the satellite stations. The department recently opened in Van Reenen and Underberg, including the satellite station in Pongola.
In addition, 84 posts ranging from Chief Provincial Inspectors to Principal Provincial Inspectors have been advertised and are in the process of being filled. Duma said staff must use their intellectual capacity, technical qualifications, and specialised skills to ensure an efficient and effective state.
“We agreed that these attributes are meaningless if employed to abuse the system to the disadvantage of ordinary members of society. Invoices must be paid on time, and services must be rendered without asking for anything in return,” Duma said.
On vacancies, he said 317 posts have been filled, and have over 976 posts advertised and are in various stages of the selection process. The estimated budget for the implementation of training and reskilling staff, the Graduate Internship Programme, Work Integrated Learning, Bursaries (internal and external), and the Plant Operator Training Programme, is R91 million.
The department has also set aside an estimated R10 million budget for the implementation of the training programmes, which aim to train at least 60% of employees to be trained in various programmes.
In this financial year, 2025/2026, the department has awarded internal bursaries to 53 employees. The total cost for the 53 new bursary holders and the 66 progressing bursary holders is estimated at R3 million. It is in the process of appointing a total of 364 graduate interns for the 2025/26 financial year.
Duma said his department must improve its audit outcomes, financial management, and supply chain management systems. To deal with corruption, 37 cases were reported and subjected to forensic investigation, of which 27 have been finalised; 12 cases were closed after the department implemented necessary recommendations, of which seven were resolved within the labour relations processes.
Additionally, the department has successfully recovered over R1,7 million in funds, which were lost due to fraudulent activities.
Umkhonto weSizwe Party MPL, Slindile Seme, claimed that road safety was a big failure, with traffic officers overworked and law enforcement weak.
“Fines and penalties do not even help because people know they can negotiate their way out of it. The department must fix road signage and use technology to catch reckless drivers,” Seme said.
Blessed Gwala, IFP chief whip, called for the immediate suspension of the licences of repeat offenders to be enforced without fear or favour.
Gwala said there were concerns about the issuing of fraudulent licenses and roadworthy certificates, which allow unqualified drivers and unroadworthy vehicles on the roads.
“The recruitment of traffic officers is commendable, however, the overtime budget poses a significant hindrance at the moment. There must be a solution that does not compromise safety. We welcome the filling in of vacant posts and we call for the recruitment process to be expedited," Gwala said.
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