Unlicensed scholar drivers likely to incite taxi violence, warns Gauteng Traffic Dept

The Gauteng Traffic Department said allowing scholar drivers to operate without licences can potentially cause taxi violence.

The drivers have raised concerns that the issuing of permits has had delays.

The frustrations were ventilated on Thursday during a road safety and compliance workshop for drivers in Pretoria hosted that metro officers hosted.

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The Gauteng Traffic Department said it has noticed that a large number of scholar transport drivers still operate without permits.

This, the department noted, should not be allowed to continue because the permits dictate routes that drivers can operate in.

Department spokesperson Sello Maremane said when taxi operators work without permits, they use the wrong routes with the potential of causing clashes in the taxi industry.

“We know that we have lost many of our minibus drivers as a result of taxi violence, so we don’t want to get there, so law enforcement won’t stop because there are problems here.”

He added that they will look to solve problems that can be addressed in the short term.