Ramaphosa puts new laws into effect
President Cyril Ramaphosa has proclaimed the commencement of the Transport Appeal Tribunal Amendment Act, which will come into effect immediately.
Through the government gazette on Monday (17 August), the president announced the immediate commencement of the laws, which he signed in April 2025.
The laws had been processed by parliament for over five years to address issues that had arisen in tribunal disputes since the tribunal’s establishment in 1998.
This includes operational bottlenecks, legal gaps, and enforcement powers that the original 1998 law failed to address as public transport regulations evolved.
The laws were passed by parliament in December 2024 and signed into law by the president in April 2025, but are only now in effect.
The Transport Appeals Tribunal is responsible for dealing with appeals related to applications for public operating licences and other permits.
Before the tribunal’s establishment, these functions were performed by the National Transport Commission.
However, the original tribunal lacked clear legal power to act or intervene when regulatory entities or parties failed to implement its decisions.
It also could not act if these parties disregarded the timing set by its decisions.
“Decisions of the Transport Appeals Tribunal were often simply ignored, resulting in a situation in which regulatory entities were effectively a law unto themselves,” the Transport Department said at the time.
“In this situation, public transport operators were forced to approach the courts to enforce their rights.”
The TATA Act gives the Tribunal the necessary authority and tools to enforce its rulings,
With the changes to the laws, the Tribunal can now take appropriate steps in cases where its decisions or rulings are not implemented or effected timeously.
It is also now empowered to investigate delays in the completion of its proceedings. In effect, it gives the Tribunal the necessary authority and tools to ensure its rulings have weight and consequence.
The new laws also update, insert and delete certain definitions to bring the Act in line with the latest developments in the transport sector and account for changes since 1998.
There are also administrative changes, such as allowing the Minister of Transport to extend the term of office of Tribunal members.
This has the effect of streamlining the process of appointing officials and ensuring that the Tribunal includes officials with public transport experience.
The full Act can be read below:
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