Pretoria - A 31-year-old taxi driver has been arrested for overloading 45 learners in a 14 seater Toyota Quantum taxi.
The driver was arrested on the R565 Chaneng-Boshoek road outside Phokeng in the North West Province on Monday afternoon.
The driver was allegedly transporting the learners from Boshoek Primary School to Phokeng when he was stopped by traffic officers from the North West Provincial Road Traffic Management Unit.
He was escorted to Phokeng Police Station after his arrest. The officers had to solicit the assistance of Bafokeng Taxi Association to ensure that the learners whose ages range from 4-7 years reached their homes after the taxi was impounded.
The same driver was earlier issued with a ticket for driving a taxi without an operating licence.
North West Acting MEC for Human Settlements, Public Safety and Liaison Dr. Magome Masike has commended the traffic officers for the arrest and vowed that operations to curb overloading of scholars and illegal operations will be tightened.
MEC Masike said overloading of scholars and illegal operations has resulted in untold misery of loss of lives in road accidents and conflicts among taxi operators.
