The issue regarding the Department of Transport’s (DoT) proposed prohibition of foreign drivers who do not have a valid South African Professional Driver’s Permit (PDP) from driving a vehicle registered in South Africa, appears to have been resolved.
According to the National Employers’ Association of SA (Neasa), earlier this year the DoT published proposed amendments that would do just that – only allowing drivers to drive a vehicle registered in the country where the PDP was issued.
“This meant that if these amendments came into effect, foreign drivers currently legally employed in South Africa, with PDPs issued in their home country, would immediately become unemployable,” according to Luthando Nondaba, a policy adviser at Neasa. “This posed numerous industry-wide ramifications which threatened the constitutional right to fair labour practices, which right also extends to foreigners, and ultimately, would have caused immeasurable harm to employers, the economy, collective bargaining and international relations,” said Nondaba.
On May 21, Neasa submitted its opposition to these proposed amendments. “Subsequently, the select committee sent the draft back to the transport department for further consideration,” he said.
The response was a positive one. “We are informed by the inputs which have been made…there is nothing barring foreign nationals from driving trucks in our country and we cannot discriminate against foreigners. We subscribe to the values enshrined in our Constitution,” said chairperson of the committee, Kenny Mmoiemang.
The department is expected to rectify the provision endorsing this amendment.
Nondaba believes that this underscores the fact that employers and industry role-players, when united, have the power to influence policies and legislation, arbitrarily enforced by government and its departments.