The province of the Eastern Cape has already processed 24 132 special operating licences for the 2010 FIFA World Cup special events scheduled for 11 June to 11 July 2010. This means, the province has exceeded the required number of 593 special operating licences. The national deadline for this application process is 28 February 2010.
“We believe that the success of our transportation plans for the world cup cannot be realised without the involvement of the taxi industry. Public transport operators (mini bus taxi owners in the main) like other entrepreneurs in South Africa are looking forward to explore available opportunities that might arise during this period,” says MEC for Transport, Safety and Liaison, Ghishma Barry.
The national Department of Transport has published special regulations for the 2010 FIFA World Cup (from the National Land Transport Act 5 of 2009) and crafted some guidelines on the handling of public transport matters before and during the event. The bottom line however remains that public transport operations will still have to be conducted within the parameters of the law to avoid chaos and disorder. Public transport operators are advised to visit district Offices of the Department of Transport without delay for further clarities on the issuing of the special operating licences for this event.
* Operators who already hold operating licences or permits for the relevant routes or areas do not require temporary operating licences; they may operate for 2010 within the authority of their normal operating licence or permit.
* Operators who hold operating licences or permits for other routes or areas will require temporary operating licences in terms of section 60 of the act and must apply following the special process provided for in the regulations. This process does not require advertising in the Government Gazette.
It only requires a vehicle inspection, not a full roadworthy test. A full test will only be required if the vehicle is suspect. The reasoning is that because the operator already holds an operating licence or permit, the vehicle will have been fully tested at least in the previous 12 months as part of the vehicle licensing process as required by the national road traffic regulations.
* Operators who do not hold an operating licence or permit for the vehicle in question and who want to operate the vehicle for 2010 must apply for a full operating licence in the usual way. In terms of the act an operating licence can be issued for any period, but not longer than seven years. These operating licences could thus be issued for the 2010 period, which is about two months.
MEC Barry has warned that the Eastern Cape Department of Transport would strictly monitor the operations of the public transport operators.
“We have appointed 23 public transport inspectors, who will be operating with our 139 member joint provincial special traffic operations task team,” she added.
The department has increased the number of traffic officers through the recruitment of additional 87 provincial traffic officers and they are now ready for traffic law enforcement, escort FIFA family, teams and sponsors to and from the airports, hotels, stadium and fan festivals. A total of 460 provincial traffic officers have gone through a traffic upliftment course to improve their skills, which will be completed in April 2010.
Traffic deployment plans have been completed, especially for the public viewing areas with the assistance of 308 volunteers, who will help in giving directions to motorists and show them the right places for parking. New road signs have been erected on R62, R63, R102, R67, R72 and R75.
In addition, temporary signs were manufactured, erected and then removed for Grahamstown and Matatiele public viewing areas during the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup. These will be erected again at the end of May 2010. Additional special 2010 signage will be manufactured and erected for the other public viewing areas for June 2010. This will be supplemented by billboards with road safety and crime awareness messages sponsored by INTEGCOMM.
Media contact:
Ncedo Kumbaca
Cell: 082 44 22 388
Issued by: Department of Transport, Eastern Cape Provincial Government
26 February 2010
