Parents must ensure learners’ transport is registered

The Springs Education Transport Association (SETA) urges all transport drivers to comply with the National Land Act by ensuring their vehicles are registered under a transport association.

The association raised concerns about missing permits, unroadworthy and overloaded cars, and overcrowding at school pick-up spots.

“There are operators who don’t have permits, who use unroadworthy cars to transport children,” the chairperson of SETA, Jabulani Radebe, said.

“Taxis are not supposed to fetch children at schools. Their pick-up spots are public roads and taxi ranks unless they have a permit to do so. This is why we have overcrowding at schools. There are too many vehicles fetching children from schools,” he added.

The National Land Act 5 of 2009 (NLTA) states that no person may operate a road-based transport service without an operating license or permit issued for the vehicle concerned.

An operating license may authorise the vehicle to which it relates to operate more than one service or type of service.

“They are not complying with the National Land Act. In Kwa-Thema, the children are transported in overloaded bakkies. Bakkies are for transporting goods, not school children. We tried to address these issues with the scholar transport operators but our requests fell on deaf ears,” the chairperson said.

The association’s health and welfare officer, Kgomotso Makwela, advises the operators to ensure they register their transport vehicles under an association.

“In SA, we face safety issues such as human trafficking. Therefore, parents should ensure registered cars transport their children,” he urged.

Scholar transport operators can register their vehicles at SETA by visiting their office at the Bophelong Centre, building 56, office 211 (opposite Fair Price).

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