B Cele on SA Roadlink volutary fleet testing

12 February 2009

KwaZulu-Natal MEC for Transport, Community safety and Liaison Mr Bheki Cele
has robustly lashed out at the public show off by SA Roadlink on their
so-called voluntary vehicle testing for roadworthy certification to end
allegations against their safety standards. This follows a thorough physical
check against the eNatis, which has revealed that most of the buses taken for
voluntary testing were suspended and by law they were due for a complete
roadworthy certification whilst some buses were due for their annual licence
renewal.

“The so-called voluntary testing was nothing extra-ordinary except a mere
public betrayal aimed at boosting company sales at an expense of human lives.
Out of the fleet of 50 buses checked, six buses have been sent for Certificate
of Roadworthiness (CRW) testing of the company’s own accord, of which four of
these buses had to undergo their regular annual CRW for licensing purposes at
this time,” said Cele.

“All the rest of the buses which have undergone recent CRW testing, has been
as a result of these buses having been suspended by the authorities and in
order to get back on the road, they had to have new CRWs performed. At this
point in time SA Roadlink do not seem to have undertaken any voluntary
submission of buses for testing purposes, outside of their normal operational
requirements,”
Cele added.

“SA Roadlink should have performed these voluntary checks long before taking
innocent lives to the cemetery; the brutal accident on 24 December 2006 and a
series of others that subsequently led to another gruesome accident on 16
December 2008 speak for themselves. A constant commitment to uncompromised
safety of commuters and a conducive working environment for employees in
general but drivers in particular will contribute positively to the company’s
image and worth the public show off,” Cele concluded.

The provision of the Road Traffic Act dictates that all public transport
vehicles particularly the Road Transport Quality System (RTQS) vehicles require
a roadworthy certification annually on the anniversary of their licence fees to
ensure public safety and to adhere to the rules and regulation that governs the
country’s transportation system. However no buses of SA Roadlink are registered
in the province of KwaZulu-Natal, and as such none have been sent to any of the
test stations in the province.

Issued by: Department of Transport, KwaZulu-Natal Provincial
Government
12 February 2009
Source: KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Government (http://www.kwazulunatal.gov.za/)