Publications
Partners
The Minister Roads and Transport – National Government
Cc. The MEC for Roads and Transport – Limpopo Province.
Dear Sir/Me,
Reference and various other administrative matters.
As taxi operators within the circumambient ambit of the abovementioned two provincial areas, we herewith wish to lodge with you a series of serious complaints that are affecting our business detrimentally and mostly due to the fact of a lack of administration, a lack of access to administration and then also some maladministration and mismanagement that is prevalent within the offices of the Provincial Offices within Lebowakgomo that deals with all of the administration relevant to our business and its operations.
Our concerns can be analysed as:
1. Issuing of permits to conduct business.
a. At the time of our area being a cross border area, and it being under the jurisdiction of the Mpumalanga Provincial Legislature, whenever applications were submitted for permits to be allowed to conduct business and transport passengers, such permits were issued expeditiously and being valid for a period of five year;
b. Since when at the time that the area has been demarcated and now falls within the Provincial Legislature of Limpopo, such permits are only issued at the Lebowakgomo office. Not only does this add to our expense of obtaining the necessary permits to operate and transport passengers on specified and specific routes but the cost involved in traveling to Lebowakgomo to obtain the necessary permit, is in excess of R 600 for a return journey;
c. What aggravates the situation even more is the fact that since the area has been incorporated into the jurisdiction of Limpopo, permits that allow business and the transport of passengers are only issued and being valid for a period of 3 months. This is essence amounts to the fact that on an annual basis, with permits only being valid for 3 months we have to on 4 occasions during the year incur the expense of travelling to Lebowakgomo which in total amounts to R 2400.00 per annum;
d. What is of another serious concern is the fact that we cannot find substantiating evidence that the permits that are issued are in fact authenticated and being official documents that make us to be able to conduct our business and transport passengers. Should the authentication not be substantiated as being valid permits to conduct our business, we will be faced with serious consequences if and when traffic officials might want to authenticate the validity of the permits, and heaven forbid, our public liability insurance that we have to have as a norm for carrying and transporting passengers would be repudiated in the case of us being involved in an accident, which might cause fatalities and a subsequent claim against us;
e. We have further reason to believe that the official that is responsible for the issuing of permits in the Lebowakgomo DRT, Mr Mokoena, are conducting a business of being biased against certain applicants in the issuing of their permits to the disadvantage of others in that it has been prearranged as to who will be issued with permits, and it has surfaced that he does this in terms of ex gratia payments that he is receiving as providing applicants with permits to operate on specific routes when the right colour of money and denomination is to his criteria and need, and then gives preferential treatment to those that made ex gratia payments in the issuing of permits to conduct work on a specific route.
It is therefore very evident that we as operators in the area, are faced with serious problems to the detriment of the conducting our businesses on an efficient, effective and safe manner in view of the circumstances that is mentioned in (a) to (e) above.
It would be relevant and appropriate for you and your department to investigate the matter at hand, provide us with evidence that the permits that are being issued can be authenticated, and that the biased action against certain individuals at the detriment of others, are investigated and the official in charge of, and being ‘accused’ of this unethical behaviour with immediate effect be removed and relieved of his responsibilities and duties in the matter at hand, and so done, until a full forensic audit has been conducted on the actions, nature and conduct of the official and the issuing of permits and the validity of such permits.
Sincerely,
…………………………………………………………………. …………………………………………………………….
Chaiperson Mr. Molefe Kgaladi
For and on behalf of the Groblersdal and Denilton Taxi Association.
