Mobility

(a)  It is important to note that the Provincial Regulatory Entity (‘PRE”) must meet often enough to dispose of (process and decide) on operating licence applications within 60 days of the receipt thereof.  In this regard, the PRE’s turn-around time is contingent on the timeous submission of directives provided by municipalities in terms of their Integrated Transport Plans (ITPs).  Transport planning is an exclusive local government matter and the PRE is bound by the directives provided by municipalities and the transport plans for the area. 

Once an application has been granted by the PRE, an applicant is given 60 days within which to submit certain documents needed to uplift the operating licence.  If the applicant is unable to submit these documents within the 60-day period, he or she may apply for a once-off 30-day extension of this period.

Our records show that there are currently 1503 applications for minibus-taxi operating licences with the PRE.  Of these, 658 applications (44%) have already been granted by the PRE and are currently in the upliftment/issue operating licence phase, where operators have to submit supporting documents including tax clearance certificates, vehicle registration and licensing papers, etc.   In addition, 361 applications (24%) are currently in the adjudication/issue decision letter step.

When an application is received, the PRE must publish same in the Government Gazette for a mandatory 21-day period.  The application must also be referred to the municipality for directions in terms of its Integrated Transport Plan.  In terms of legislation, the municipality must provide such directions within a 30-day period.  The application cannot be adjudicated until this process has been completed. A total of 415 applications (28%) is currently in this publication/referral phase. The remaining 69 applications (5%) have just been accepted by the PRE and vehicle details must be checked against the National Traffic Information System.

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(b)(i)      For the 2021 calendar year, the PRE granted and issued a total of 3121 minibus-taxi operating licences.  For the 2022 calendar year, at total of 3430 minibus-taxi operating licences were granted and issued (generated) by the PRE.

(ii)      During 2021, a total of 3120 (99.97%) operating licences were collected by the applicants.  For the 2022 calendar year, a total of 3414 (99.53%) operating licences were collected/uplifted.

3. When an operator transacts with the PRE, there is a requirement to update both his or her contact details and physical/postal address.  The operator is also required to select his/her preferred method of communication viz email, registered post, etc.  The decision letter of the PRE is sent to the applicant within seven days of the decision being made by the Adjudicators.  In addition, the Western Cape’s Public Transport Regulation System (PTRS) generates  an SMS indicating that the application has been granted or refused.  In the case of a granted application, the system will also send out a reminder SMS to the applicant to uplift the operating licence.