Thank you, Chair. Minister, hon members, I greet you all. Yes, I agree with the hon member Watson, who said that we didn't deal with the politics of the Bill. We dealt with the Bill because we think that it is long overdue. We are supposed to deal with the issues at hand.
The comments from the Western Cape include the comments received from the provincial Department of Transport and Public Works, and SATSA and SABAWU. It is understood that the proposed Bill deals only with what the national Department of Transport considered as urgent, in order to enable the effective implementation of the Act, and to incorporate the changes required by the taxi recapitalisation programme.
The Western Cape wishes to make comments as follows: Firstly, the comments on proposed amendments suggesting a redraft of the amending Bill are provided. Secondly, the comments on issues to be incorporated in the substantial redraft of the National Land Transport Transition Act are also provided. The full document of comments has been forwarded to the Department of Transport and is available for distribution.
With regard to the comments on the amending Bill, I wish to highlight some of the more significant comments, namely, clause 1 (b), (c) and (d). A new definition is suggested for the seating capacity for a minibus, midibus and bus. These definitions are in conflict with the definitions in the Road Traffic Act, Act 93 of 1996, and we should withdraw the traffic regulations in this Act.
It is recommended that the capacity definition of the bus, minibus and midibus in the Road Traffic Act and its regulations be removed from the Act, and instead, the definitions of these vehicles be lodged in the NLTTA with the necessary cross-references. It is also recommended that the definition of a metered taxi should be amended in the Bill, to be consistent with the definition of the other vehicle types, by increasing the maximum number of seated persons from fewer than 9 to 10 persons.
Secondly, clause 5(a), (c), (e) and (f) suggests the deletion of the current plan, which is the current public transport record and the operating licence strategy, the rationalisation plan and the public transport plan, and their incorporation into a single intergrated transport plan (ITP). However, with the deletion of the current statutory plan, the guidelines for the ITPs are presumably also removed from the statute, and will need to be replaced. It is recommended therefore that the new comprehensive regulations on transport planning are published, in order to coincide with the promulgation of the Bill.
Clauses 5(d), 6(b) and 10(a) suggest that only those authorities that are requested by the MEC to do so are requested to prepare ITPs and to make recommendations to the licensing board. It is recommended therefore that all planning authorities must prepare ITPs and must make recommendations to the board.
Clause 13 suggests the type of vehicles that may be used in the public transport service. There is no provision for vehicle types with a passenger capacity of less than 11 seated persons, including the driver, thus eliminating the metered taxis and certain other categories, such as small tourism vehicles, from being able to obtain operating licences. It is therefore recommended that a category be introduced to allow for vehicles carrying up to 10 persons, including the driver.
Clause 18 imposes technical standards for brakes on vehicles used for long distance public transport operations. It is considered and recommended that such safety specifications should rather be lodged in the Road Traffic Act and its regulations. Clause 19 imposes certain restrictions on replacement vehicles.
It is agreed that any vehicle primarily used for regular planned public transport, should be replaced by a vehicle of the same passenger capacity, as specified in the operating licence. However, this does not apply to tourism vehicles, which are produced in different seating capacities, depending on the manufacturer's specifications.
When a tour bus is replaced, it may be replaced by a slightly smaller or larger vehicle, which should allow for the discretion of the vehicle operator. Thus it is considered that a latitude of 20% smaller or larger, in relation to the vehicle being replaced, should be provided for.
Clause 20 allows the MEC to set the fares of metered taxis without consultation with the municipalities. It is considered that consultation should be extended to the municipality concerned, as they, being planning authorities, may have policies in their transport plans with regard to the fares and prices of the public transport services.
Clause 21 attempts to regulate tourism services. It is considered that no benefit will be gained by requiring a tourist board or a similar body to give recommendations to the board on operating licence applications. Tourism bodies are concerned with the tourism market and have little knowledge of supply and demand for tourism transport vehicles. It is therefore recommended that the entire section 21 be omitted from the Bill.
There are two issues that are not covered in the amending Bill which, in the opinion of the Western Cape, are also urgent and should be included. It is considered that the administration of the minibus taxi recapitalisation processes require better-defined legislation and linkage with the transport plan. Little appears in the NLTTA besides the provisions of section 31, which only provides the definition of the vehicle size. It is considered that the programmes, which are likely to cost in the order of R7 billion or more and which will occur over a period of some years, should have detailed legislation on how it should be administered.
There are complex administration processes in this process to roll out the recapitalisation that will also involve the provinces, requiring a consistency of approach and properly managed financial procedures. It is therefore recommended that a new section should be added to the Act, which requires that each vehicle for which an operating licence has been issued, must be subjected to a roadworthy inspection every six months. This should be conducted by the registered testing centre within seven days of the anniversary of the renewal of the vehicle licence, and repeated every six months after this date.
The original certificate of roadworthiness must be held in the vehicle so that it can be furnished to an authorised officer, failing which it is considered an offence and the operating licence is invalid. The more significant comments on the substantial overhaul of the NLTTA include that fundamental changes take place in the legislation to provide for tourism transport.
The following are other significant comments. The definition of courtesy service should be amended so as to require contracted services to be in possession of an operating licence. A new section should be developed to administer and set rules for the operation of lift clubs. As long as the responsibility for different public transport services, by different authorities, persists, an alternative to the constitution of the Transport Authority Act should be developed.
A new provision for temporary operating licences should be developed to better define conditions under which these permits are granted. The operating licences are not considered as property or a right and all such licences lapse after a defined period. The need for operating licences should be initiated by the planning authorities in terms of their transport plans, and not by the service providers or taxi associations.
The right of the board to make decisions without the recommendation of the planning authorities should be removed. The requirement that minibus taxi operators must be members of associations should be relaxed a little bit. The emphasis placed on the role of the association as being a key institutional component of the public transport system should be diminished. The Registrar should be responsible for accrediting the applicants.
I thank you, Chairperson. The Western Cape fully supports the Bill, but with the amendments that we have provided. [Applause.]