Anna Cox
THE ROLE of transport is vital to the development of countries in the SADC region, said chairman
of the regulatory committee of the Cross-Border
Road Transport Agency
(C-BRTA), George Negota.
However, since the inception of the agency it has become even more evident that there is a need for regional legislation to regulate market integration-related issues to ensure total uniformity.
He said the SADC region has about 200 million inhabitants. The conveyance of goods was mostly by road transport and in 1997 it was reported that 652 000 freight and 880 000 passenger vehicles crossed South African borders into other SADC states.
Over 3 000 permits are issued by the C-BRTA a month.
But there was a need for uniformity amongst member states.
The question of overloading is an issue that deserves regional legislation and the lack of it can only make South Africa a loser. It is therefore important to note that the question of market integration cannot be pursued selectively without prejudicing some of the member states. Though it is now legislation that no new left-hand driven vehicles could be registered in South Africa, the truth on the ground is that such vehicles come from Europe and other overseas countries and because they cannot be registered in South Africa, they can be registered in other SADC member states but still travel and inflict damage on South African roads, he said.
Another negative factor was the fact that the act that regulates the parameters of the agency did not support the required facilitation of the desired change, he said.
It is our conviction that if all activities within border posts, be that of tax, agriculture, passport control and of police nature were to be channelled and controlled by one manager who would ensure that all units were efficient, our borders would be more facilitative of traffic flow than obstructive. In stating the above, I am mindful of safety and security needs and other relevant issues which are required at border posts, said Negota.
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