Question NW649 to the Minister of Transport
28 March 2017 - NW649
De Freitas, Mr MS to ask the Minister of Transport
(1)What is her department doing to stop the transportation of persons, and children in particular, at the back of (a) light duty vehicles, (b) panel vans, (c) trailers, (d) heavy duty trucks and/or (e) any other vehicle that does not have safety belts at the back of it; (2) (a) how many persons have been fined for engaging in this practice in each province in the past three financial years, (b) what was the total value in rand of the fines in each financial year and (c) what are the statistics in this regard in each province in the past three financial years?
Reply:
(1) (a) (b) (c) covered by the term “goods vehicles” . In relation to the transport of persons at the rear of goods vehicles the Department has promulgated legislation that completely prohibits such transportation if it is conducted for reward. It must be noted that a complete ban on such transportation will result in some of the sectors operationally shutting down due to financial viability.
The Department is trying to deal with transportation of person at the rear of goods vehicles published for comments regulations on the 11th May 2015 intending to restrict the number of persons transported at the rear of such vehicles to five (5).This proposal was however not supported by most of the transport sectors using goods vehicles to transport their workers to the relevant sites. Sectors such as the agricultural, building, construction, gardening services, etc
However, on the 11th November 2016 the Department incorporated in to the National Road Traffic Act, 1996 ( Act No.93 of 1996) regulations prohibiting the transportation of school children at the rear of goods vehicles.
(2) (a) Currently, they are not fined as it is not yet prohibited to transport persons at the rear of goods vehicles.
(b) (c) Falls away since there are no fines.