The Gauteng Department of Roads and Transport has set out a list of mandatory documents need by those driving children to and from school.
MEC Kedibone Diale-Tlabela addressed scholar transporters at an engagement and awareness meeting at the Johannesburg City Hall on Sunday.
Authorities have been on an enforcement drive to remove non-complaint scholar transporters from the roads in the wake of an accident that killed 14 pupils near Vereeniging on 19 January.
Over 1 000 applications pending
The department has been engaging with drivers in recent weeks in order to tighten compliance in Gauteng.
Diale-Tlabela handed out over 1000 scholar transport application forms in late January after adopting a zero-tolerance approach.
“The operators want to be compliant. As the department, our responsibility is to assist them and ensure they operate within the law, but we must meet each other halfway,” she said.
The department has since last year been encouraging drivers to ensure compliance, with more than 1 500 scholar transport operators having applied.
Despite stating earlier in the week that there was no backlog, the department stated that roughly 500 have been approved, with 1 009 still pending.
“If you cannot meet the minimum legal requirements to safely transport learners, you have no business operating in this space. Our learner’s lives are not negotiable,” the MEC had earlier stated.
Three important documents
To ensure that applications were approved, the MEC on Sunday highlighted three prerequisites that were often stalling applications.
Scholar transporters must have contractual agreements with parents, endorsement letters signed by relevant schools, and vehicles must be roadworthy.
“Operators must enter into formal agreements with parents, including signed indemnity forms granting responsibility to transport learners.
“Operators must obtain endorsement letters from School Governing Bodies or school principals confirming that they transport learners from those institutions,” explained Diale-Tlabela.
The MEC confirmed that the department had also arranged special rates at testing stations to reduce compliance costs.
“We have negotiated reduced prices at private vehicle testing station centres to support operators. There is no excuse for transporting children in unroadworthy vehicles,” MEC Diale-Tlabela said.
Tax compliance certificate necessary
Scholar transport drivers protested earlier this week after their vehicles were impounded and they were prevented from operating.
The National Land Traffic Act stipulates that a public transport operator must be in possession of a valid operating licence allowing them to provide transport for a fee.
“The department is willing to work with scholar transport operators who genuinely want to regularise their operations. However, compliance with the law is not optional,” stated the MEC.
As well as the above, scholar transport applications require the IDs of the pupils, a map of the route taken, business registration documents, a tax compliance certificate and several other documents.
NOW READ: No backlog in Gauteng scholar transport permits, says department
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