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The new head of transport in the City will steer the sector towards some of its greatest milestones, including the Gautrain and Rea Vaya, while balancing out its challenges.
Work on the City's massive Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system
TAKING over the oversight and strategic leadership of Johannesburg's more than 9 000 kilometres of tarred roads and the massive Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system are just two of the many important responsibilities for the new executive director of transport, Lisa Seftel.
But this single mother of a teenage daughter and 21-year-old son is used to driving in the fast lane.
"Children just expect you to cope," she says, reflecting on her daily mother-manager juggling act. She is slender in build, yet there is nothing timid or soft-spoken about her when Seftel talks of her new duties.
Over the next five years, she will guide the City's thinking on transport planning and operational planning for 2010; direct the regulation of taxis and taxi ranking; look at sustainable funding for the City, going forward; oversee the integration of the Gautrain with Joburg's transport infrastructure; oversee Metrobus and the Johannesburg Road Agency (JRA) functions; and develop the City Deep freight network - not exactly a smooth, downhill drive.
Public servant
Seftel is no stranger to either the transport environment or the public sector, having once been the deputy director of transport in the Gauteng provincial government. She has been a public servant since 1994, also making a turn at the Department of Labour where her honours degree in industrial sociology stood her in good stead.
Before taking over at the City transport department from the acting executive director, Zwelakhe Mayaba, in February, Seftel was the city manager of the district municipality of Sedibeng - Vereeniging - a position she filled for two-and-a-half years.
She is also a political activist of long standing who has known Executive Mayor Amos Masondo since his days at the General and Allied Workers' Union back in the 1980s. Today she is still giving back to society, but instead of standing in the firing line again, she opted for the more low-key activity of being a lay-counselor at Lifeline instead.
"Being all the time involved in big processes, it is sometimes nice to be involved in the small processes of an individual's life," she says, but admits that lately she has not been able to give it much of her time because of her new responsibilities.
Rea Vaya
Asked if her life is hectic right now, her frank "Yo, yo!" says it all.
Moving people around the city
The Rea Vaya BRT project is obviously one of the most exciting transport prospects for the City, she says, and will help greatly in addressing the problems of congestion.
But with it comes a whole new set of challenges, such as bringing the current public transport stakeholders - the minibus taxis and bus companies, including the City's Metrobus - into the fold.
The taxi industry will have to be transformed and with the forthcoming BRT this is the best opportunity ever to do so, she says. There is no maybe for her on this issue. "It has to be possible," she says firmly, adding that the BRT will create a new standard for taxis.
And unlike the Nelson Mandela and Cape Town metropoles, where the introduction of a BRT is meeting with stiff opposition and unrest, Joburg "has good relations with taxis because of the non-stop talking the City has done with them over the last two years".
Metrobus will likewise have to deal with the challenges of the BRT in the very near future as its role will also be influenced by the new public transport system. "Generally though, going forward it looks positive. The Metrobus is part of the transport family."
Ageing infrastructure
One of the biggest challenges yet to come fully into play is the City's ageing infrastructure. Most of Johannesburg's roads are ending their life spans, she believes.
At the same time the City is growing, a lot of attention and money is diverted to the previously disadvantaged areas, and changing weather patterns are causing havoc with existing roads. All these factors make for a challenging portfolio for the JRA, which is responsible for the maintenance of the City's roads, traffic lights and hard surfaces.
Seftel has an oversight role over the agency and says these issues, together with "too little money" lie at the heart of the perceived poor service delivery of the JRA.
"A balance between all these factors is needed. In time I shall look to see if the balance is right. We need to be reactive and practical at the same time."
Over time, the City must also make sure that enough green spaces are created to balance out the excessive use of hard surfacing. Fortunately, transport and land-use planning now have a very strong relationship within the city.
But overall, Seftel is upbeat and ready for the task at hand, describing her job as "a bit awesome". "Things will start to shift [for the better] with the big transport interventions, instilling confidence in public transport and encouraging people to use public transport."
Despite her busy daily schedule, she is a gym fanatic and needs a regular exercise fix. And for relaxation she prefers socialising with friends over any other form of entertainment.
"I have a wide and wonderful circle of friends." And it is in this circle that you'll find her most weekends.
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