What’s happened to truck ban plan?

The peak hour truck ban
proposed by minister of
transport, Dipuo Peters, has
certainly missed the yearend
deadline the department
of transport set for its
imposition.
But does this mean a
temporary delay or a possible
complete withdrawal of the
amendment of the National
Road Traffic Act gazetted on
May 11?
“Let’s hope that the DoT
has decided to pull the plug
on this legislation, which
would hammer the freight
industry and the economy
at large,” said Carl Webb,
MD of Project Logistics
Management and Port of
Durban representative
of both the Road Freight
Association (RFA) and the
SA Association of Freight
Forwarders (Saaff) on
transport matters. “It was
utterly ill-conceived.”
Sharmini Naidoo, CEO of
the RFA, agreed.
“I think the department
hadn’t done the necessary
research, nor had Transnet
submitted its response to the
DoT,” she said.
“It just can’t fly, and the
minister was inundated
with complaints from a
lot of sectors of the freight
industry – who pointed out
just how bad it would be for
business.”
However, on the side, the
DoT would certainly appear
to be having second thoughts.
According to Naidoo, the
RFA had received no official
update on the ban from the
department. “But,” she told
FTW, “when our operations
manager, Gavin Kelly, was
presenting our lengthy
response to the government’s
proposed amendments, he
was told on the quiet that
the feeling was that the
ban hadn’t been thought
through.
“I feel that it’s just not
practically possible, and we
would certainly welcome
its withdrawal.”
INSERT & CAPTION
It just can’t fly,
and the minister
was inundated with
complaints from a
lot of sectors of the
freight industry.
– Sharmini Naidoo