Dear All,
A number of bills have been published over the past few weeks.
We set out below, as per their respective explanatory memorandums, what these draft bills cover and seek to regulate.
ROAD LAWS
[New major road rules proposed for SA. What do you need to know?]
NATIONAL ROAD TRAFFIC AMENDMENT BILL (‘‘THE BILL’’)
National Road Traffic Amendment Bill B7B-2020
7B – 2020
27 September 2022
- BACKGROUND
National Assembly (NA) has given the green light to the National Road Traffic Amendment Bill and sent it to the NCOP for concurrence.
The bill was tabled in parliament at the end of May 2020.
The bill aims to achieve proper implementation of the strategic interventions highlighted in the Road Safety Strategy and address practical challenges.
Cabinet approved the bill for tabling in March 2020.
According to the cabinet statement, the proposed legislation proposes, amongst others, regulations for the driving-school industry and proposes appropriate standards under which learner drivers must be taught.
It also deals with fraud and corruption within the road traffic environment, increases penalties for those who fail to comply with traffic rules, prohibits alcohol consumption by drivers and proposes the national number plate legislation.
The bill also proposes the streamlining of the powers of the transport minister and those of the provincial members of the executive committee responsible for transport.
It seeks to further prohibit and reduce the limit of alcohol in a specimen of blood taken from any part of the body by deleting reference to any alcohol content in the blood or breath specimen of motor vehicle drivers on the road in South Africa.
The committee adopted the bill with amendments.
Amendments include the rejection of the proposal to introduce a provisional driving licence; strengthening of provisions to address prevalent concerns regarding the recognition of foreign driving licences or permits as well as addressing concerns linked to the employment of drivers who do not hold valid and recognised driving licences or permits; and the rejection of proposed amendments to the levels of concentration of alcohol in blood or breath specimens taken.
The select committee on transport, public service and administration, public works and infrastructure will process both bills.
The National Road Traffic Amendment Bill (‘‘the Bill’’) was drafted to give effect, in the short-term, to some of the principal strategies contained in the National Road Safety Strategy, 2006 (Road Safety Strategy).
The Road Safety Strategy, among other things, contains the Millennium Development Goals set out by Ministers of Transport in Africa, for the purposes of
- reducing road crashes,
- improving traffic law enforcement,
- improving on existing mechanisms and creating more measures to ensure road traffic safety.
The Bill seeks to achieve proper implementation of the strategic interventions highlighted in the Road Safety Strategy and address practical challenges.
- AMENDMENTS TO THE NATIONAL ROAD TRAFFIC ACT, 1996 (ACT NO. 93 OF 1996) (‘‘THE ACT’’).
The Bill seeks to amend the ACT in the following respects:
- provide for the registration and licensing of
- motor vehicles,
- motor manufacturers,
- motor builders,
- motor body builders,
- motor importers, and
- manufacturers of number plates;
- empower a Member of the Executive Council (‘‘the MEC’’) to register the above applicants ;
- regulate the registration and grading of driving school instructors and direct how the application and registration of driving school instructors should be made;
- regulate the driving school industry and to prohibit the operation of unregistered and ungraded driving schools and utilisation of ungraded driving school instructors;
- ensure misconduct and criminal processes are more efficient, effective, properly enforced and implemented;
- empower an MEC to declare as void all documents purporting to be driving licences;
- empower the Minister to appoint a person or authority as an inspectorate of driving licence testing centres; and
- ensure the compulsory registration and grading of driving schools, and the suspension and cancellation of registration by the MEC.
- APPLICATION
The Bill will largely apply to the following categories of persons:
Persons or entities who are:
- operators of motor vehicles, including motor cycles,
- motor manufacturers,
- motor builders,
- motor body builders,
- motor importers, and
- manufacturers of number plates;
Persons who have to apply for the registration and licensing of:
- motor vehicles,
- motor manufacturers,
- motor builders,
- motor body builders,
- motor importers, and
- manufacturers of number plates;
- Members of the Executive Council (‘‘the MEC’’) to register the above applicants ;
- Driving school instructors who have to apply a prescribed grading system and apply for registration;
- The driving school industry who are not allowed to operate unregistered and ungraded driving schools;
- Persons who use Driving schools and instructors who are not allowed to use ungraded driving schools and instructors;
- THE CEO, an examiner of vehicles, a traffic officer, traffic warden or Natis officer;
- Persons who currently hold driving licenses which require replacement or renewal or those who hold fictitious driving licences;
- MAIN OBJECTIVES
The main objectives of the Bill, among other things, is to reduce road incidents, to improve traffic law enforcement, to improve existing mechanisms in order to regulate road traffic and to formulate more measures to enhance road traffic safety.
The following are the main provisions of the Bill:
(a) The Bill prohibits the registration by the CEO, of an examiner of vehicles, a traffic officer, traffic warden or Natis officer who, or through his or her spouse or partner, has or acquires a direct or indirect financial interest in a road transport services business.
(b) the Bill adds further requirements for the registration by the MEC, of an examiner of driving licences or an examiner of vehicles, namely that such person must not be convicted of an offence under schedule 1 or 2 to the Criminal Procedure Act or have a direct or indirect financial interest in a road transport business, in the manufacturing of motor vehicles, in a driving schools or training of learner drivers.
(c) the Bill provides for the registration and grading of training centres that will offer qualifications to traffic officers, examiners for driving licences, examiners of vehicles and traffic wardens.
(d) the Bill deals with the registration, by the MEC, of manufacturers (of microdots and number plates), builders, body builders, importers of motor vehicles and weighbridge facilities. A registration may also be suspended or cancelled. In addition, the Minister is empowered to appoint separate inspectorates for these entities.
(e) the MEC is required to register driving licence testing centres and the MEC is also authorised to register a driving licence testing centre to operate a mobile facility to test applicants for learner’s licences.
(f) An MEC may appoint provincial inspectorates who will conduct inspections and evaluate compliance with the Act and the Minister will determine their powers and functions.
(g) the Bill provides for the disqualification for a period, of a person who fraudulently obtained a learner’s licence or driving licence.
(h) the Bill provides for more requirements for the registration and grading of driving school instructors, for instance such a person must not be convicted of an offence listed in Schedule 1 or 2 to the Criminal Procedure Act.
(i) the Bill seeks to regulate the driving school industry by requiring all driving schools to be registered and graded by the relevant MEC, and the operation of unregistered and ungraded driving schools is prohibited.
(j) the Bill also gives powers to MECs in respect of suspension and cancellation of a registration of a driving school.
(k) the Bill also seeks to prohibit any amount of concentration of alcohol in a specimen of blood or specimen of breath taken from any driver, in order to enhance road traffic safety.
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