"[The] interests of non-motorised travellers tend to be systematically neglected in investment, network management and infrastructure," said director general Nosipho Ngcaba.

"What does this indicate? We are not responsive to the needs of our citizens."

Ngcaba was speaking at the Green Cities conference at Gallagher Estate in Midrand.

Ngcaba cited statistics that 90 percent of pupils in rural areas walked to school. More than half of people in rural areas also walked to work.

She said government would seek to invest in non-motorised transport that would provide quality, safe travel to both cyclists and walkers.

Citing the same statistics, Ngcaba said only about 8.7 percent of people in urban areas walked to work.

Walking and bicycling were more common in cities in countries other than South Africa.

She said city planning in South Africa had resulted in "spatial distortion" that left most of the nation's citizens living outside urban areas from both services and places of work.

As a result, people had to travel long distances and use "unreliable, unsafe and fragmented public transport".

"This has created a situation of an unsustainable reliance on motor vehicles and the tendencies for many of our citizens to purchase cars as soon as they are able to afford them," Ngcaba said.

She said this situation had led to unprecedented traffic congestion in SA cities.

Ngcaba said the DEA and Department of Transport would be making new efforts to build infrastructure for non-motorised transport, including the construction of sidewalks and bike paths.

This would be done with funding from the German KfW Development Bank.

DEA director of policy co-ordination Jenitha Budal said three cities --Durban, Johannesburg and Polokwane -- were already introducing plans to make urban areas more friendly for pedestrians and cyclists, with the help of R50 million from KfW as well as their own funding.

She said Durban was the most advanced and was building sidewalks and bike paths alongside roads.

The City was also launching a program to encourage municipal officials to cycle between offices in the municipality, instead of driving.

Johannesburg's efforts are focused on Soweto and building sidewalks and bike paths on feeder roads around the Bus Rapid Transit System.