Proposed Amendments to Transport Regulations: Rejected by Parliament

PROPOSED AMENDMENTS TO TRANSPORT REGULATIONS

REJECTED BY PARLIAMENT

by Luthando Nondaba

Dear employer

Earlier this year, the Department of Transport published proposed amendments to the Transport Regulations. These amendments effectively proposed to prohibit a foreign driver, who does not have a valid South African Professional Drivers Permit (PDP), from driving a vehicle registered in South Africa, but allowed him/her to only drive a vehicle registered in the country where the PDP was issued.

This meant that if these amendments came into effect, foreign drivers, currently legally employed in South Africa, with PDPs issued in their home country, would immediately become unemployable. This posed numerous industry wide ramifications which threatened the constitutional right to fair labour practices, which right also extends to foreigners, and ultimately, would have caused immeasurable harm to employers, the economy, collective bargaining and international relations.

In response, NEASA, on 21 May 2021, submitted its opposition to these proposed amendments. Subsequently, the select committee sent the draft back to the Transport Department for further consideration. In a statement, the chairperson of the committee, Mr Kenny Mmoiemang, said: “we are informed by the inputs which have been made…there is nothing barring foreign nationals from driving trucks in our country and we cannot discriminate against foreigners. We subscribe to the values enshrined in our Constitution”.

It is anticipated that the Department will rectify the provision endorsing this contentious amendment.

This serves to confirm the importance of NEASA’s continued support for industry, and the fact that employers and industry role players, when united, have the power to influence harmful and destructive policies and legislation, arbitrarily enforced by government and its departments.

NEASA will continue to lobby government and campaign for the interest of employers across all industries.

Luthando Nondaba is a Policy Advisor at the National Employers’ Association of South Africa (NEASA).

For more information:
NEASA Media Department
media@neasa.co.za