Scholar transport operators in Limpopo have been given 60 days to finalise their operating licence applications after mounting tensions over vehicle impoundments in the province.
Limpopo transport and community safety MEC Mavhungu Lerule-Ramakhanya Mathye said the department is offering operators a grace period to comply with legal requirements.
The 60-day period takes effect from Monday.
During this time, vehicle impoundments will only occur if operators are found to be non-compliant for specific violations, including operating unroadworthy vehicles, failing to produce parent contracts, indemnity forms or school endorsement letters, using light delivery vehicles or bakkies to ferry pupils or committing any other traffic law infringement.
A group of scholar transport drivers marched to the department’s offices in Thohoyandou, raising concern about their vehicles being impounded by traffic officers.
The drivers have been transporting pupils in bakkies, minibus taxis, and other vehicles.
The department has been conducting a province-wide campaign to impound vehicles operating without valid permits since schools reopened last month.
The crackdown follows a scholar transport crash in Vanderbijlpark on January 19, claiming the lives of 14 pupils. Just three weeks ago, one person was killed and 109 schoolchildren were injured in a head-on collision on the R510 between Thabazimbi and Northam.
The crash involved a Toyota Hilux bakkie and a bus transporting pupils.
The department has outlined the steps operators must follow to apply for a scholar transport licence as well as the required documents applicants must submit.
The grace period aims to balance law enforcement with giving operators a fair opportunity to regularise their operations and ensure the safety of pupils in Limpopo.
TimesLIVE
Modiegi Mashamaite
www.timeslive.co.za
