Industry lobbying to address the massive backlogs in issuing transport operating licences by the Department of Transport’s (DoT) embattled National Public Transport Regulator (NPTR) has made some progress.

But, said SATSA COO, Hannelie du Toit, in a recent newsletter, “Although we seem to have moved the slow wheel of the NPTR slightly with some operators receiving their operating licences, we still have a mountain to climb.”

At the last National Tourism Stakeholders Forum in September, a Department of Transport spokesperson acknowledged the frustration felt by the tourism industry, highlighting that the Department was working with the private sector to address this issue after the Minister of Transport, Fikile Mbalula, met with the private sector to find solutions to the challenges.

Amongst others, the solutions included the establishment of an NPTR committee and the appointment of a technical task team to develop an implementation plan to present to Minister Mbalula.

The task team is headed by Director-General of Public Transport, Mathabatha Mokonyama and SATSA’s Transport Committee Chair, Onne Vegter.

According to SATSA CEO, David Frost, the NPTR Committee has been meeting three times a week to process existing applications and clear the backlog. This is in addition to a once-weekly meeting by the technical task team.

Tourism Update understands that progress has been made but that there are still backlogs.

Toolkit

To assist operators, guides and drivers with the full application process, SATSA has developed a comprehensive toolkit, highlighting, amongst others, what to keep in the vehicle, and what to do when stopped by a traffic official.

Please click here to download SATSA’s Wheel Operators Legalities Toolkit. 

Survey

Furthermore, to lobby accurately with NPTR on pending applications, SATSA has developed a short info-gathering survey for operators to complete. Click here.