As part of government's ongoing efforts to ensure citizens receive efficient and effective service delivery, Gauteng MEC for Roads and Transport, Kedibone Diale-Tlabela, on Wednesday, made her first official visit to the Tshwane Transport Operating License Administrative Bodies (TOLAB), since its relocation to the city centre.
"We were doing monitoring to ensure that services are provided to all public transport operators efficiently and effectively, and also to give support to the staff of the department in doing work on a daily basis," the MEC said.
In a social media post in November, the provincial department announced the move of the Tshwane TOLAB to the ABSA Towers in Lilian Ngoyi Street.
Tshwane TOLAB is one of the Gauteng’s “one-stop service centres” for public transport licensing services. The offices function to receive, process and award road transport operating licenses.
Wednesday’s visit marked the last day for application of special permits by public transport operators.
Special permits are issued as large numbers of people are expected to travel to various provinces during the 2024/2025 holiday season.
The Department of Roads and Transport has encouraged public transport operators to be compliant with the rules of the road when undertaking interprovincial trips and use roadworthy vehicles.
The MEC’s visit forms part of her assessment of licensing services by the department and efforts to improve service delivery. It also served to evaluate the day-to-day operations of centres.
During her visit she interacted with various stakeholders including taxi and bus operators who were at the centre to either collect or check on the status of their applications.
She also promoted and called for safer roads during the festive period.
MEC Diale-Tlabela pleaded with public transport operators to be safe and compliant with the rules of the road.
“Let us note that road safety is a shared responsibility, therefore let us all work together to prevent road accidents, injuries and fatalities during this period,” the MEC said. -SAnews.gov.za
