Cape Town - The National Department of Transport has assured operators in the tourism industry that they are hard at work trying to clear the operating licence backlog.
Delays were caused by the Covid-19 pandemic which led to capacity challenges within the National Public Transport Regulator (NPTR) resulting in a backlog in processing operating licences.
According to the department's spokesperson Collen Msibi an interim NPTR Committee has been appointed to deal with the backlog of applications.
To date, 227 renewals have been processed.
“Following the appointment of the Committee, the department is happy to announce that with effect from the beginning of July 2022, the regulator has been printing licences and contacting operators to submit correctly completed and outstanding documentation to enable the smooth flow of application processing. The newly appointed Committee has also committed to engage stakeholders to deal with the challenges and grievances of the industry,” said Msibi.
As part of addressing the backlog in renewal applications, the department has also increased capacity of the NPTR support staff with 17 additional personnel to deal with public transport issues relating to the issuing of operating licences for the transportation of tourists and interprovincial services.
Msibi said further recruitment was underway with some processes at an advanced stage.
The department is also redesigning and implementing the National Land Transport Information System (NLTIS) to enable online applications and electronically communicate the real-time status and progress of applications with applicants.
“The designs and proposals that are in the NPTR module on the redesigned NLTIS are aligned to some of the proposed solutions presented by the National Red Tape Reduction Task Team and the tourism industry. This is meant to improve efficiency and the turn-around times to finalize applications.
“The pro-longed absence of an NPTR Committee and the ambiguities of interpretation as well as the implementation of the National Land Transport Act, Act 05 of 2009 will now be a thing of the past for many operators,” said Msibi.
Spokesperson for Finance and Economic Opportunities MEC Mireille Wenger, Georgina Maree said the department welcomes any progress made in cutting red tape to enable the tourism and hospitality sector to operate and thrive.
“Removing barriers to growth is a top priority for the Western Cape Provincial government, as it should be for the national government,” she said.
Cape Times