By Johnathan Paoli
Gauteng Transport MEC Kedibone Diale-Tlabela has said that the provincial government stands ready to work with scholar transport operators “who genuinely want to regularise their operations”, but that compliance with safety and licensing laws is now non-negotiable.
Addressing hundreds of operators at a provincial stakeholder engagement meeting at Johannesburg City Hall on Sunday, she said the department’s priority remained the protection of children using the services.
ALSO READ: ActionSA’s Khumalo under fire after suspect shooting in Ekurhuleni Drug raid
“The operators want to be compliant. As the department, our responsibility is to assist them and ensure they operate within the law, but we must meet each other halfway,” she said.
The meeting comes amid intensified scrutiny of scholar transport safety following the Vanderbijlpark crash on 19 January that killed 14 pupils.
Authorities have since launched province-wide enforcement operations to remove non-compliant vehicles from the roads, a campaign that has triggered protests from some operators whose cars were impounded.
Diale-Tlabela said that the department had negotiated with private vehicle testing stations in Gauteng to reduce the cost of roadworthy certification.
“We have negotiated reduced prices at private vehicle testing station centres to support operators. There is no excuse for transporting children in unroadworthy vehicles,” she said.
According to the MEC, more than 1,500 scholar transport operators have applied for operating licences since last year, with over 500 licences issued and more than 1,000 applications now in the finalisation phase.
ALSO READ: KZN prepares emergency response as SAWS issues storm, flooding alert
Despite earlier claims that no backlog existed, the department confirmed that 1,009 applications remain pending.
Diale-Tlabela said operators themselves had shown willingness to comply.
However, she warned that operators who cannot meet basic standards should not be transporting children.
“If you cannot meet the minimum legal requirements to safely transport learners, you have no business operating in this space,” she said.
Diale-Tlabela emphasised three “non-negotiable” prerequisites that frequently stall applications: valid contractual agreements with parents, endorsement letters from schools, and the use of roadworthy vehicles.
“Operators must enter into formal agreements with parents, including signed indemnity forms granting responsibility to transport learners. Operators must obtain endorsement letters from School Governing Bodies or school principals confirming that they transport learners from those institutions,” she said
These requirements, she said, were essential because they ensure transparency, traceability, and accountability between operators, parents, and schools.
ALSO READ: Cape Town advises residents to store water as planned maintenance could disrupt supply
Beyond these core documents, scholar transport applicants must also submit copies of the pupils’ IDs, business registration paperwork, maps of their transport routes, tax compliance certificates, and several other statutory documents in line with the National Land Traffic Act.
The Act requires that any individual transporting passengers for a fee must hold a valid operating licence.
The MEC acknowledged frustrations among operators regarding recent enforcement operations, but stressed that authorities were acting to prevent further tragedies.
Over the past three weeks, Gauteng inspectors have been staging roadblocks and depot inspections to identify unlicensed operators, vehicles lacking roadworthy certification, and unsafe modifications.
Diale-Tlabela said the department would continue to assist operators whose applications were delayed or incomplete.
The meeting forms part of an ongoing provincial engagement initiative that began in late January, when Diale-Tlabela personally distributed more than 1,000 scholar transport application forms as part of a zero-tolerance compliance drive.
INSIDE EDUCATION
