{"id":874234,"date":"2026-09-07T16:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-09-07T14:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=874234"},"modified":"2026-09-07T15:55:35","modified_gmt":"2026-09-07T13:55:35","slug":"r9-billion-project-finally-launching-in-south-africa-next-month-after-15-years-of-delays","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/government\/874234\/r9-billion-project-finally-launching-in-south-africa-next-month-after-15-years-of-delays\/","title":{"rendered":"R9 billion project finally launching in South Africa next month after 15 years of delays"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The City of eThekwini plans to launch the first stage of the delayed R9 billion Go! Durban public transport network in December 2026, with a soft launch planned for October.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Go! Durban program is an Integrated Rapid Public Transport Network (IRPTN) initiative launched by the eThekwini Municipality. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Its goal is to transform urban mobility throughout Durban by implementing a phased rollout of Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) and rail corridors. The project aims to bring buses, minibuses, and trains to Durban.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The City of Durban said it aims to build accessible stations and promote targeted socio-economic development. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

“We are pleased that the overarching negotiation principles have now been addressed. This creates a clear pathway towards formalising industry participation and implementing the first Go! Durban services,” said eThekwini Mayor Cyril Xaba.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Xaba said that while the implementation of the programme has suffered delays, it has delivered tangible results in the form of infrastructure, systems and economic empowerment outcomes. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe priority now is to translate the investment already made into a functioning public transport service, beginning with the C3 corridor,\u201d said Xaba.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Xaba said the city has agreed to procure 22 buses, while public transport operators will purchase feeder vehicles through the Vehicle Operating Company (VOC).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He said that the City of Durban will pay the VOC to operate the transport service, and 75% of the employees will be sourced from people displaced by the project.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Opposition parties are sceptical of the familiar promises and are raising concerns about the R9 billion cost.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Not a single bus has operated on this corridor, and there are numerous issues being highlighted. Ultimately, it comes down to accountability,” said Zwakhele Mncwango, leader of ActionSA KwaZulu-Natal. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

“The mayor has not provided anything new. After more than 15 years of hearing the same story about negotiations and plans, the people of eThekwini need buses, not reports.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

DA eThekwini councillor Melanie Brauteseth said that although the buses are ready, they\u2019re not on the road. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWith the funding available, we must make this work and get the buses operating. eThekwini has not received a single cent from the R9 billion, yet we constantly incur costs for buses,\u201d said Brauteseth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The new transportation initiative<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The Go! Durban Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) program is managed by the eThekwini Transport Authority (ETA).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Planning for the public transportation network began in February 2010 when the municipality appointed consultants. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The project was officially named “Go! Durban” in 2012, with detailed design work commencing that same year. Physical construction contracts were awarded starting in September 2013. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Originally, Phase 1 was targeted for completion and operational rollout around 2018. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, due to significant delays related to utility relocations, land expropriations, and prolonged negotiations over fleet ownership with local bus and taxi operators, these targets were repeatedly pushed back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

An intermediate target for early 2025 was set but later delayed. A major agreement was reached between the eThekwini Municipality and local transport operators.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a result, testing and soft launching are now scheduled for October 2026, with the public operations on the initial C3 Corridor (from Pinetown to Bridge City) expected to begin in December 2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This project is partially funded through the national Public Transport Infrastructure System Grant (PTISG) and incorporates road, rail, and non-motorised transport options.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The long-term Integrated Rapid Public Transport Network (IRPTN) plan includes 250 kilometres of corridors, of which 60 kilometres are rail. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The goal is to ensure that 85% of the municipality’s population is within an 800-meter walk of high-quality transit services. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The overall network comprises 8 BRT trunk routes and 1 Rail Rapid Transit (RRT) corridor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Phase<\/strong><\/th>Corridors Included<\/strong><\/th>Key Route Details<\/strong><\/th><\/tr><\/thead>
Phase 1<\/strong><\/td>C1, C3, C9 (C2 Postponed<\/em>)<\/td>\u2022 C1<\/strong>: BRT from Bridge City to Durban CBD
\u2022 C2<\/strong>: RRT from Bridge City to CBD (postponed to later phases)<\/em>
\u2022 C3<\/strong>: BRT from Bridge City to Pinetown\/New Germany via MR577
\u2022 C9<\/strong>: BRT from Bridge City to Umhlanga New Town Centre<\/td><\/tr>
Phase 2<\/strong><\/td>C2, C5, C7<\/td>Future expansion connecting peripheral network nodes.<\/td><\/tr>
Phase 3<\/strong><\/td>C4, C8<\/td>Corridor connections, including airport links.<\/td><\/tr>
Phase 4<\/strong><\/td>C6<\/td>Final network integration.<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/div><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Durban plans to finally soft launch the first stage of the much-delayed Go! Durban public transport system in October.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":127,"featured_media":874253,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_sma_x_autopost_status":"posted","_sma_x_autopost_error":"","_sma_x_post_id":"2096961949372137770","_sma_facebook_post_id":"191437357620492_2198603060960093","_sma_instagram_post_id":"17904622791487785","_sma_x_attempts":1,"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[7540,26433,26432],"class_list":["post-874234","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-government","tag-durban","tag-ethekwini-mayor-cyril-xaba","tag-go-durban"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/874234","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/127"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=874234"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/874234\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":874258,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/874234\/revisions\/874258"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/874253"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=874234"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=874234"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=874234"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}