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10 September 2020

REVERSAL OF APPOINTMENT OF THE NW PUBLIC TRANSPORT INTERVENTION TEAM The MEC for the Department of Community Safety and Transport Management, Sello Lehari has requested the Head of the Department to reverse the appointment of the North Public Transport Intervention Team (NWPTIT) that was established last week. Instability in the transport sector especially in the taxi industry has been widely reported. A call for intervention has been from both in and outside Government. The Department of Community Safety and Transport Management has noted with concerns the escalation of a culture of violence which led to loss of lives in some instances. In Madibeng Municipality at Brits there had been a reported standoff between bus operators and taxi drivers. We have unresolved cases in Boschoek, Seraleng and Boitekong areas in Rustenburg. We intervened with minimal success in Mamusa in Schweitzer Reneke and Ganyesa in Kagisano Molopo municipality with recurrences of volatility. Though Mafikeng has been largely stable, illegal operation has been an Achilles heel. There had been skirmishes in Promosa and Ikageng in Potchefstroom. Long standing conflicts in Taung and areas such as Lebotlwane in Moretele remain unresolved. In the latter two, challenges are exacerbated by cross border operations from Northern Cape and Limpopo respectively. In Ottosdal and Zeerust there had also been reported impasses as operators from Gauteng allegedly are operating freely in those towns and prevents operations in what they say are their routes in opposite direction. Given the volatility in the public transport sector, MEC Lehari and the Department went about setting up an intervention team in an advisory role. The team’s mandate was to examine and identify challenges faced by the broader transport sector and solution thereof. This was to ensure stability in the industry and enhance relations between different role players in the sector and Government. In establishing the intervention team the MEC consulted various stakeholders. Among them, the organised taxi bodies, the South African National Small Bus Operators Council (SANSBOC), Governance Cluster Committee, Executive Council (EXCO) and the Interministerial Task Team (IMTT). All agreed that an intervention is necessary and steps taken by MEC Lehari are profound. Earlier in the year, in answering a question about violence in the industry at the Portfolio Committee, the MEC also informed Members on the imminent establishment of the intervention team. It was after this interactive process that the team of 12 members comprising six men and six women was identified. Last week the team was introduced to the public. However there had been numerous concerns from a number of stakeholders on the processes followed to establish the team. The MEC then requested that the appointment of the team be reversed in order to allow the department to address concerns raised and embark on a proper recruitment process. As the team was still to assume full responsibility when they were withdrawn, there had not been any costs incurred by the Department. END Next Articles+

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