The Minister of Transport, Dr Blade Nzimande, has noted the Public Protector’s findings and welcomes the remedial
actions following the systemic investigation into the illegal conversion of goods carrying Toyota Quantum panel vans into passenger carrying mini bus taxis to transport members of the public.
The report was released yesterday, 28th March 2019 by the Public Protector.
“This report by the Public Protector vindicates us because as the Department, we always held the view that
the conversion of the panel vans for the purpose of carrying passengers was illegal,” said Minister Nzimande.
Minister Nzimande said that the only conversions or modifications that are lawful are those done by manufacturers, builders and importers who are duly authorized by the National Regulator for Compulsory Specifications (NRCS) of the South African Bureau of Standards.
“When the Department of Transport was made aware of the illegal conversion in the course of 2009, the Department
informed all agencies responsible for law enforcement to impound all the illegally converted vehicles,” confirmed the Minister.
The Department of Transport will immediately bring to the attention of all relevant stakeholders the outcome and
implications of these remedial actions, including the taxi industry, provinces, vehicle manufacturers, vehicle financiers as well as the Road Traffic Management Corporation, which is the custodian of the eNatis system.
"The Special Investigation Unit (SIU), at the request of the department and based on the December 2017 proclamation, is already investigating allegations of fraud and the manipulation of the ENATIS system. We will also bring to their attention the Public Protector’s finding and remedial action to investigate all cases of fraud and corruption against the staff at the licensing offices responsible for the administering the eNATIS system, who may have manipulated the system to illegally register panel vans as passenger carrying minibus taxi,” said Minister Nzimande.
The Department of Transport has already established systems and platforms to implement all the remedial actions as contained in the report and shall submit the implementation plan and report about progress to the Public Protector as directed.
The Minister indicated that in carrying out the remedial actions, the Department will continue to work closely
with the taxi industry to ensure that their businesses are not negatively affected by this process.
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