MAHIKENG MAIL - MAHIKENG: The newly elected Provincial Regulatory Entity (PRE) received clear instruction from Community Safety and Transport Management MEC Wessels Morweng, that he “expected all PRE Members to sign the pledge to adhere to corruption-free administration” during their official appointment last week Thursday at the Tirelo Building in Mmabatho.
Provincial Regulatory Entity (PRE), is established in accordance with the National Land Transport Act No 5 of 2009. The primary function of the Provincial Regulatory Entity is to monitor and oversee public transport in the province and to receive and adjudicate on applications relating to operating licenses for public transport. Furthermore, PRE Members are expected to deal with operator renewals, transfers as well as amendments.
PRE has previously faced numerous challenges. MEC Wessels commented that “PRE must reconfigure in its entirety and create a fit for purpose machinery responsive to the needs of the provincial growth trajectory, pursue the vision of the department in transforming public transport by focusing on the oversaturated taxi services market and challenges of the Operating Licenses architecture. This must be done by ensuring IT systems’ reliability, route realignment, operator license service conditions and ensuring there is no abuse of temporary permits.”
He also urged the PRE “to deal decisively with illegal operations that include minibus operations, door to door and mushrooming operations on non-designated taxi ranks, deal decisively with backlog and clearing all outstanding applications undertaken last year, ensure there is a quicker turnaround in order to guarantee efficiency in the Operator License Administration System. The rural nature of our province impedes or places a higher premium on citizens residing in far flung areas to access Operator License services. This therefore calls for incoming PRE members to give impetus to the initiatives to create satellite offices to expedite service delivery,” said Morweng.
Morweng added that the department was laying a new, firm foundation for the transformation of public transport and improved service delivery for the travelling public.
“I would like to call on various taxi associations across the province and other stakeholders in the public transport sector to work closely with these members to ensure seamless service delivery. Once more, we congratulate the new PRE members as they begin this journey.”
