The People
Shall Move
An interview with Councillor Rehana
Moosajee, MMC for Transport, who sees
transportation as a central hub where
diverse people connect, relate and make
history, demonstrating that core business
objectives can link directly to social
responsibility.
I have a confession to make, whilst everyone around me
enjoys heated discussions about the state of our roads, you
know those endless discussions about potholes, road
congestion, taxis, etcetera, etcetera, ad naseum, I head for
the nearest exit, nothing bores me more than talk about
roads and transportation! Well that was my frame of
reference before I met Councillor Rehana Moosajee, MMC
for Transport.
INNER CITY
By Tasha Tollman
Rehana's passion and enthusiasm for transportation is
infectious! This amazing woman sees transportation as a
central hub where diverse people connect, relate to each
other and make history. She describes transportation as the
story of a people and in the foreword to the book The People
Shall Move, a people's history of public transport she tells
the story of “Rosa Parks (who) refused to give up her seat on
a bus – her action gave birth to the Civil Rights movement in
America. Mahatma Gandhi was thrown off a first class
coach on a train in Kwa Zulu Natal – the experience shaped
his perception and subsequent growth in opposing injustice
in South Africa, India and the world. These transport related
experiences are well-known, but the stories of the pain,
suffering and humiliation of millions of South African men,
women and children remain untold.”
As Rehana explains, “Apartheid was not just a set of laws on
books. It was designed to deliberately force separation of
people in every facet of life including the way in which they
moved from one place to another.
Transportation holds the key to integrating a divided
city, a key to social cohesion.”
She sees transportation as a means to knit together
communities that have historically been kept apart –
physically, emotionally and psychologically, a way of getting
people to connect with and relate to each other. She
predicts that part of the solution to community integration
lies in an integrated transport system made up of Metrorial,
Gautrain, Mini-bus taxis and in the city's Bus Rapid Transit
System, Rea Vay, which means “we are going.”
Her strategy aims to offer fast, safe and efficient public
transport. Transportation that will support a world-class city,
CORPORATE SOCIAL REVIEW
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