National Road Traffic Amendment Bill: Department response to public submissions

Meeting report

The Chairperson opened the meeting and welcomed Members. He read the apologies from Ms Dikeledi Magadzi, Deputy Minister of Transport, Members of the Committee -- Mr K Sithole (IFP), Ms F Khumalo (ANC) and Ms N Nolutshungu (EFF).

National Road Traffic Amendment Bill (NRTA) Bill

Adv Johannes Makgatho, Chief Director: Road Transport Regulation, DoT, conducted the Department’s presentation on the Bill. He gave a background of the Bill and the principal Act. The headings touched on were:

• The main objects of the Bill.
• Clause by clause.
• Publication of the Bill by the Department.
• Departments/stakeholders consulted.
• Timeline.
• Publication for comments by Parliament.
• Publication for comments by Parliament and themes.

(See attached document for details).

Discussion

Mr L Mangcu (ANC) asked if the Department was able to provide the Committee with a record of the government entities that had been consulted. In the sub-committee, the National Regulator for Compulsory Specifications (NRCS) and the South African Bureau of Standards (SABS) had said that they did not have a clue about the draft Amendment Bill. However, Adv Makgatho was saying the NRCS and the SABS were among the people the Department had consulted.

Mr C Hunsinger (DA) said he had many questions on the particular clauses as the Department went through them, and he hoped the Committee would go into deep detail once they dealt with them. There were some issues the Committee needed to deal with relating to the powers of managing the regulations by the Minister. He asked the Members to focus their attention on that so that the Committee could have a dedicated discussion on it. The clause seemed to be a little bit removed from the content of the Bill, because it was something in principle, rather than being something camouflaged as part of the Bill.

Mr L McDonald (ANC) said he would also be interested in the consultations with the NRCS and the SABS, as those were some of the things that had been highlighted in the sub-committee. There was a medical condition called "gut fermentation syndrome," which caused someone to be drunk without consuming alcohol, only from ingesting starch and sugars. When the Committee got to the process, they should look at it, as the legislation did not cover that.  

Adv Makgatho said there was no issue around making the records of consultations available. The records would be submitted to the Committee before the end of business that day. He said revisiting and discussing the clauses would not be an issue, but the regulations were not before the Committee.

The Chairperson said as the Committee deliberated, they would consider the matter of regulations and have a discussion on it. They would deliberate if there was still time.

Mr P Mey (FF+) referred to the closure of a driving licence test centre for two months in Joubertina.

After he had given details of the situation, the Chairperson said Mr Mey should remind him at the end of the meeting so that they could process the matter properly, because it seemed serious.

Adv Makgatho said that if it was possible, the Department would also like to be furnished with the information so that they could follow up on it.

The Chairperson said the Committee would gladly do that. They just wanted to formalise it as the Committee, and submit it to the Department.

Adv Makgatho said that as part of the publication by Parliament of public comments, there had been matters that had arisen from the comments. The Department had shared with the Portfolio Committee annexure A, which captured the public comments and the Department’s responses. He was hoping to go through them if the Committee had received the document.

The Chairperson said he had seen the document in the emails.

The Committee Secretary confirmed that it was the document Adv Makgatho was referring to.

NRTA Bill: Department's response to public submissions

The Committee agreed to proceed to the deliberations, and would also consider the clauses the Department could not present. If they needed clarity, they would revert to the Department and would expect a quick response.

Adv Makgatho presented the responses by the Department of Transport on the National Road Traffic Amendment Bill to the written submissions from different organisations and individuals.

(See attached document for details).

Discussion

The Chairperson said he would check with Members as he believed they had read the document on their own and there was an agreement that he would allow them to ask any questions they wanted to ask the Department. The Committee would deliberate on issues as they moved on in their own deliberations.

Mr McDonald asked about the Department’s proposals for a 24-hour traffic enforcement service. They currently did not have sufficient budget for many things, so would they have the funds to employ the many new traffic officers needed for 24-hour law enforcement? This was going to have a huge impact on the fiscus if they had to double the number of law enforcement officers. He asked the Department to submit the fatality rate on accidents in South Africa related to not wearing a seatbelt. Every person he saw driving was not wearing a seatbelt, and that contributed to accidents. The law enforcement officers could not enforce those small laws. He had asked previously if the Department knew what "gut fermentation syndrome" was. What measures were in place to ensure that a traffic officer would not wait in front of a church to arrest church members because they had some Communion wine?

Mr Mangcu said he would reserve his main comments for the deliberations. He asked the Department to provide the percentage of those in support of the new alcohol limits, and those against.

Mr Hunsinger said much of the public reaction included a reference to the planned 24-hour law enforcement dispensation. He would like to get the Department’s reactions-- what were their intentions? How far were they from implementing this? Was it feasible for the Committee to engage in the further processing of important legislation that was intended to change behaviour?

Mr T Mabhena (DA) asked for clarity on responses regarding lowering of the blood alcohol level, as there was not a significantly high number of people who had essentially said the blood alcohol percentage needed to be reduced

DoT's response

Adv Makgatho referred to the budget requirements for employing traffic officers on a 24/7 basis, and pointed out that annually applications were made that provision be set aside for paying overtime to the officers that would be monitoring the roads during the festive season -- and it was a huge amount. The idea was not to go along that route, but to have the 24/7 system in effect. The current status was that policy consultations were on-going with the provinces; some of the departments were being assisted to prepare business cases. The Minister had already written letter to the nine Premiers and MECs informing them that this was a policy they needed to embark on.

A letter had been written to the Director-General at the Department of Public Service and Administration (DPSA). The DoT wanted to engage with DPSA because they knew that so far as appointments were concerned, the Public Service Act was involved, and they could not do anything without the support of the DPSA. At the moment, it was only the Western Cape that was implementing a 24/7 policy.

Regarding statistics on the wearing of seatbelts in accidents, he did not think there was a record kept as to whether victims were wearing a seatbelt or not.

Mr McDonald said Adv Makgatho had understood the question incorrectly. He wanted to know how many fatalities in South Africa had resulted from not wearing a seatbelt.

Adv Makgatho said he would look into those statistics. There was legislation in place with regard to use of cell phones. Western Cape was involved in this, and they could confiscate a phone if the person was found driving and using one.

He admitted this was the first time he had heard of blood fermentation syndrome.

Regarding a traffic officer sitting around a corner of a church to arrest church-goers for having taken the Holy Communion wine, as far as he knew -- because he was Catholic -- the wine that was served in church was non-alcoholic. If a person was arrested in such a situation, it would be the first time, and the Department would look in it.

The Department would look into the report requested of the percentages of people for and against the lower alcohol level.

The 24/7 shift was a project that was being led by the Road Traffic Management Corporation (RTMC) and the Department. They had embarked on consultations, and had assisted provinces with business cases which were meant to be served before their provincial legislatures. They had written letters to the Premiers and MECs of the provinces to support that initiative. It was a work in progress. He asked how much time would the Chairperson give the Department to submit the information.

The Chairperson asked if they could submit the information by tomorrow.

Adv Makgatho said they would look into it, and submit the statistics.

The Chairperson said he did not want a situation where they deliberated and there was still outstanding information that Members felt would have been beneficial if it had been available. The Committee would revert to the Department on issues that may come up from the slides that had not been presented. They would also await a quick response to the enquiries.

Mr Alec Moemi, Director-General (DG), DoT, said the Department had worked hard on the Bill, and was grateful for the further inputs and comments given by the Committee. It would await the outcome of the deliberations of the Committee and take the process further.

Adoption of minutes

The Committee considered the minutes of its meeting on 26 May 2021. The Chairperson suggested a correction of paragraph seven. There was a request that the Economic Regulation of Transport Bill should be put in the agenda for the meeting on 3 June, and the Members did not support the proposal as the Committee felt it was too early to do so.

The minutes were adopted.

Joubertina driving licence testing centre closure

The Chairperson asked Mr Mey to present his concern.

Mr Mey said to save time, he would put all the facts and send them to the Committee secretary.

The Chairperson said he could present the issue so that the Committee could understand the situation.

Mr Mey said he had received a complaint from the public of Joubertina in connection of the closing of the Driving Licence Testing Centre (DLTC). He had met with the manager, who said he had received an instruction from the inspectorate to close the centre, as they were going to renovate it. A senior member of the traffic department had confirmed that the DLTC was closed.

The following day, he had met with the inspectorate in Gqeberha, and the second in charge had told him they had never given instructions for the closure of the DLTC. In his presence, the second in charge called the manager, and he read the email that he had sent to both of them, which had given them instructions to close the DLTC the day before the renovations started. A week later he went to see the municipal manager in Kariega, who said he did not know anything about the closure of the DLTC. A week later, the municipal manager sent an email to confirm that the DLTC was closed.

Mr Mey had called a week ago to ask when the DLTC was going to be opened, and had been told that the manager had received an instruction from the director to close the centre. He had asked him to send him the emails, but was still waiting for them. He said the only alternative testing centres were in Kariega and George, both of which were about 140km from Joubertina.

The Chairperson said he thought the Committee should entertain the matter. He requested Mr Mey to email him. The Committee would be writing to the DLTC concerned.

The meeting was adjourned.