Minister of Transport, Sindisiwe Chikunga, has formally resolved for law enforcement to stop unduly penalising tour operators who have applied for licence renewals and are still awaiting their renewed licences from the Department of Transport.
Welcoming the move, Minister of Tourism, Patricia de Lille noted that the Department of Tourism had been actively engaging the Department of Transport on the matter since last year.
“I also met with Minister Chikunga to resolve this matter in May. We agreed that the Minister of Transport would send a letter to all MECs for Transport for law enforcement officers to stop unduly penalising tour operators awaiting their licence renewal application decisions.”
De Lille said the Department of Transport had adjudicated 1 432 applications for tour operating licences and that the backlog was cleared last year.
However, out of the 1 174 approved applications, only 636 operating licences were uplifted/collected by tour operators.
“To remedy the slow upliftment and to foster relations between the industry and the NPTR, the Department of Transport embarked on collaborative workshops with the Tourism Business Council of South Africa in the critical provinces of Gauteng, Western Cape and Kwa Zulu Natal. The solution-oriented roadshows created a platform for operators to directly engage with the NPTR to resolve their long-standing licensing issues,” said De Lille.
‘Desist from impounding vehicles’
In addition, to resolve challenges within the tour operator licence process, a decision was taken in a recent MINMEC (Ministry of Transport and Transport MECs meeting) to implore their respective law enforcement officers to correctly interpret Regulation 25(2) of the National Land Transport Regulations and desist from the inconvenience resulting from impounding vehicles whose operators have rightfully applied for renewals.
The Department of Transport has acknowledged the critical role of tourism in the country’s economy and has committed to continuing with the collaborative engagements between the NPTR, the industry and sector departments to improve regulatory and administrative practices in the operating licence processes.
Chikunga has subsequently signed and sent a letter to all MECs to give effect to the decision of the MINMEC.
Letter from Chikunga
The resolution states: “To give permission to tour operators, who have applied for licence renewals 30 days before the expiry of their licence and had not received a notice to uplift, to continue operating with a copy of their expired licence and proof of their application for a licence renewal until their new licence is issued.”
Furthermore, the letter from the Minister of Transport to Transport MECs also states that an operator who complies with this regulation, may not be unduly penalised.
The Minister’s letter and the matter of tour operators being unduly penalised stems from challenges with processing licence applications and collection of licence renewals and the inconsistency in the interpretation of NLTA Regulation 25(2) by law enforcement officers, which led to the impounding of mostly tourism vehicles whose owners/operators had properly applied for renewal of their operating licences.
The resolution sent to all MECs in writing will be a welcomed relief to tour operators who have applied in time for licence renewals and are waiting for their renewed licences to be issued by the Department of Transport.
“The penalising and impoundment of tour operator vehicles dealt a heavy blow to the industry and through the collective efforts of government and the private sector, namely the Tourism Business Council of South Africa, we have been able to resolve this matter,” said De Lille.
She said the Department of Tourism will continue working with the Department of Transport and all role-players to continue reducing red tape and creating an ease of doing business for the tourism sector to allow the sector to grow and contribute even more to the country’s economy.
'Small win'
Describing this move as a "small win" for the sector while commending the ministers for their swift action on this issue in the short time they have been in office, CEO of SATSA, David Frost, said: "We hope all law enforcement officers will implement this with immediate effect to minimise the reputational damage to our destination when tourists are left stranded on the side of the road."
“It is a small but positive step towards resolving the ongoing challenges that the industry has faced with the National Public Transport Regulator (NPTR) and Department of Transport. However, there are continued worrying elements that need urgent attention, such as receipts not being issued timely by the NPTR, backlogs developing due to the absence of NPTR board meetings, and challenges faced by first-time applicants or those applying for additional or replacement vehicles. Unfortunately, these are not considered in Regulation 25(2).”
