Gauteng traffic dept calls for rigorous vetting of transport providers

The Gauteng Traffic Department is calling for transport service providers to improve the vetting of their drivers.

The call comes as the department’s statistics show that most of the crashes on the road were caused by human error.

On Thursday, the officers hosted scholar drivers and their associations for a workshop on road safety and compliance.

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The session was hosted in Pretoria, where emergency services personnel, the Road Accident Fund, and the Tshwane Metro Police joined in.

The workshop is part of the department’s effort to ensure road users comply with traffic laws.

Just over a month ago, a scholar transport driver in the Vaal crashed into a tipper truck, killing 14 pupils.

One of the major corrective measures the Department of Transport has been calling for since then is that operators get permits before heading out onto the road.

Gauteng traffic spokesperson Sello Maremane says while this requirement is necessary to ensure that drivers are licensed, driver behaviour must also be monitored by the owners of the vehicles.

"Things such as overtaking where they should not be overtaking, overloading of children, so we want to share information with them to say we are all in it so let us make sure our children are transported safely.

Maremane says the department has intensified roadblocks and other traffic operations in the province.