Dangerus goods legislation withdrawn

The SA government, in the form of the department of cooperative governance and traditional affairs, has listened to the concerns expressed by the Road Freight Association (RFA) and withdrawn its contentious new dangerous goods regulations. The freight industry had until the end of last month to comment on the new regulations which required an inspector to evaluate a truck’s suitability for carrying dangerous goods before a fire permit was issued. But the truckers’ concern was that this new scheme would be open to fraud and corruption. Also, the new regulations fell under the Fire Services Act and were, according to the RFA, a step backwards from 2001. This was when the Hazardous Substances Act and its provisos were replaced by the provisions contained under Chapter VIII of the National Road Traffic Act (NRTA). And these were, RFA technical and operations manager Gavin Kelly told FTW, “designed to address dangerous goods transportation”. The ministry of cooperative governance and traditional affairs is now working closely with the road transport industry in an effort to sort out the fire permit problem. INSERT & CAPTION The truckers’ concern was that this new scheme would be open to fraud and corruption. – Gavin Kelly