National Land Transport Amendment Bill: deliberations

Meeting report

The Chairperson said that the focus of the meeting was for the Members to comment on the presentations provided the day before.

The Chairperson asked if Mr C Hunsinger (DA) wanted to comment.

Mr Hunsinger said that he did not wish to add anything.

Mr M Sibande (ANC) said they had been provided with an opportunity for responses the previous day, along with submissions from the Department of Transport (DOT), and the Parliamentary and state legal advisers. Challenges in the taxi industry and the constitutionality of the Bill had already been discussed.

Ms S Xego (ANC) said the focus of the meeting should have been put on voting on the amendments.

Ms Xego asked the Committee Secretary for a copy of the Bill be emailed to all Members, and asked where the Bill could be found.

Ms Valerie Carelse, Committee Secretary, explained that it was already in their in-boxes.

Mr Sibande acknowledged that members had received the Bill and the proposed amendments, but he would prefer hard copies for convenience.

The Chairperson asked staff to provide hard copies of the document, and adjourned the meeting.

When the meeting was reconvened, Mr Sibande said that Members were not happy because of the unprepared reports. Members did not want to be undermined and needed documents during meetings.

Proposed Amendments by Department of Transport

Mr Hament Patel, Assistant Director General: Department of Transport (DOT), read the amendments suggested by the DOT to the Committee, without any alterations.

The presentation covered all proposed amendments to the drafted Amendment Bill, which had taken the submissions into consideration.

Clause 3(e)

Clause 3(e) of the Bill, section 8(1) (e) of the Act, was to be replaced with sub-paragraph (y). This had changed the wording of the principal Act to “guidelines and desired outcomes”.

Clause 7(m)

Clause 7(m) was noted as a grammatical error, and the proposed amendment addressed the problem.

Clauses 14(d), 19(a) and 30

It was proposed that these paragraphs of the Bill be deleted.

Clause 40

A new paragraph was to be added to Clause 40 of the principal Act. This addition focused on adding e-hailing services to metered taxi services. In paragraph (d) of Clause 40, the sub-section amendments proposed were that e-hailing service providers should have a valid operating licence. 

Discussion

Ms Noluthando Mpikashe, Parliamentary Legal Adviser: Parliament asked the Committee to provide input for the legal services team to provide a draft bill.

The Chairperson asked the Committee to look at “guidelines” in clause 3(e), as it was a flexible term.

Ms Xego said that she agreed with the proposal.

Ms N Nontando (EFF) agreed on amendments 3(e) and 3(y). She said that the travel chain needed to be completely accessible for disabled people.

Mr Sibande agreed.

The Chairperson asked if clause 7(h) was agreed upon by the Committee.

Ms Nontando agreed.

Ms Xego agreed.

The Chairperson said clause 7(m) needed agreement.

Ms Nontando agreed.

Ms Xego asked if clause 7(m) concerned the Minister’s powers on setting initiatives and criteria for municipalities.

The Chairperson confirmed that it did.

Ms Xego approved the amendment.

The Chairperson said amendment 14(d) was a grammatical problem, and would be accepted by the Committee.

The Chairperson asked for a vote on clause 40, which had to do with e-hailing.

Ms Xego said that she agreed as there was more than one e-hailing system.

Ms Nontando left the meeting.

The Chairperson said at least three members were needed for a quorum, and adjourned the meeting until a quorum had been reached.

Mr M de Freitas (DA), Mr Sibande and Mr G Radebe (ANC) joined the meeting.

The Chairperson reconvened the meeting and continued to page three of the document, at Clause 40.

Mr De Freitas and Ms Xego agreed with the amendments.

The Chairperson asked if all Members agreed with the amendments on page one.

Ms Xego responded that the Committee agreed with page one, and was seconded by Mr Radebe.

The Chairperson asked if Members agreed with the amendments on page two.

Mr Sibande said they agreed.

The Chairperson asked if Members agreed with the proposed amendments on page three.

Mr Sibande said that the Committee agreed, and that the proposed amendments would solve the taxi industry’s problems of unlicensed drivers.

Ms Xego agreed.

The Chairperson said these amendments would be included in the draft Bill.

Ms Bongiwe Lufuno, Principal State Law Adviser, said the Parliamentary and state legal services were happy, and the document would be edited and sent to Members.

Mr De Freitas asked if the draft report due on the Passenger Rail Agency South Africa (PRASA) was to be handled that day.

The Chairperson recommended that the reports be delayed to the coming Tuesday because of the limited attendance of Members.

Mr Radebe agreed with the Chairperson.

Ms Carelse said the next engagement on the Bill would be on 20 February, when the legal advisors would present the proposed draft Bill.

PRASA and Road Accident Fund meetings

Ms Carelse said the following week would be focused on PRASA and the Road Accident Fund.

Mr Radebe asked that adequate logistical arrangements be made regarding catering and the attendance of stakeholders.

Ms Carelse said the DOT and PRASA had been made aware of the coming meetings. She had not yet received responses on attendance, but the meeting had been highlighted as important.

Mr Gomolemo Seoposengwe, Assistant Parliamentary Liaison Officer: DOT, said the Department had received the notification and that they had relayed the message to the relevant stakeholders.

Mr Sibande said no excuses were to be accepted in the coming week, and that coordination should be started that day. He also addressed Members on their punctuality.

Mr De Freitas asked if they were going to discuss the PRASA reports and derailments.

The Chairperson said the programme was to be taken day by day, and that Tuesday had been agreed to be the day of PRASA. He asked the DOT if the reports for the coming week would be submitted the following day.

Mr Seoposengwe said that the DOT had communicated the issues to the entities concerned. He asked the secretary to send a formal request, explaining structure of the presentation.

The Chairperson said they would receive it that day.

The meeting was adjourned.