Wheels operators in South Africa continue to face severe harassment and steep penalties at the hands of traffic officials due to ongoing failures by the National Public Transport Regulator (NPTR) to efficiently process tourist transport operator licences.
The tourism sector’s frustrations at the NPTR, which processes applications and renewals for tourist transport services, go back almost a decade. Despite intensive lobbying from industry associations such as the TBCSA and SATSA, and numerous commitments from the Department of Transport, operators continue to be penalised while waiting months for their licences to be processed.
“Unfortunately, at the moment, tour operators are still being harassed and penalised even when they’ve done everything possible to comply. It is unacceptable that operators are fined or penalised by law enforcement for the failures of the state,” said SATSA Transport Committee Chair Onne Vegter.
Regulation 25(2) of the National Land Transport Act (NLTA) explicitly allows continued operations during processing of licences.
Wayland Hood is the Co-Owner of WE Safari Africa Shuttle & Tours, which offers shuttle services from OR Tambo International Airport to Mpumalanga and operates tours of the Panorama Route. He has received five fines from traffic officials since applying for his licence in February.
“They stop our vehicle in the same areas every time and only when tourists are on board. The fines are normally around R3 500 (US$203) and there are additional threats to impound our vehicles. We are absolutely sick of it,” Hood told Tourism Update.
Government directives go unheeded
In March 2024, former Minister of Transport Sindisiwe Chikunga told provincial and local law enforcement to stop penalising operators who are awaiting responses to their applications. The verbal directive was, however, never formally gazetted.
“It was not disseminated to law enforcement structures either so traffic officials are unaware of this instruction and continue to fine and impound vehicles without an operating licence even if they have proof that they applied,” Vegter said.
Speaking at a National Tourism Stakeholder Forum (NTSF) in Johannesburg on August 27, Senzo Nkala, the Chief Director of Policy Planning and Strategy for the Department of Transport, insisted that dysfunction at the NPTR is being dealt with.
Official minutes from the NTSF cite Nkala as saying that the Presidency, through Operation Vulindlela, is driving reforms to resolve operating licence delays. The Presidency reportedly met with the Department of Transport and the Department of Tourism in August to present an approach that will draw lessons from the visa processing successes of the Trusted Tour Operator Scheme.
Responding to enquiries from Tourism Update, Department of Transport Spokesperson Collen Msibi confirmed that a service provider – Genesis Analytics – has been appointed by the Presidency to review application processes.
“Challenges identified include the need to streamline the two-stage process for accreditation and operating licences, the list of conditions attached to licences and applications for additional vehicles. Some of these issues are still under discussion.”
Msibi said the NPTR has been meeting on a “weekly basis” to work on the licence backlog.
He added that, in September, Minister of Transport Barbara Creecy wrote to the Mpumalanga MEC for Public Works, Roads and Transport to clarify the NLTA regulations following a complaint from a tour operator whose vehicle was impounded.
Commenting in his capacity as Special Attaché for Tourism Development and Transformation at the Kruger Lowveld Chamber of Business and Tourism, Oupa Pilane said he has additionally requested urgent meetings with Mpumalanga government departments.
“We need clear directives to traffic officials, faster NPTR processing and protection for operators. This is not enforcement; it’s persecution,” said Pilane.
