Government makes changes to permitted travel times during lockdown

 ·7 May 2020

Less than a week into the country’s level 4 lockdown, minister of Transport Fikile Mbalula has published a new directive which revises the times when South Africans are permitted to travel on the country’s roads.

The directive, which was published on Wednesday (6 May), states that public transport vehicles are now only permitted to operate between 05h00-19h00, and the driver of the vehicle must ensure that the drop off is completed by 19h00.

The amendment also removes all mention of the one hour ‘grace period’ which had previously been allowed to allow operators to complete their trips.

Notably, the directive makes no amendment to the allowed travel times for private vehicle owners.

As part of the country’s new level 4 lockdown, an evening curfew prohibits all South Africans from leaving their homes between 20h00 – 05h00 unless they are an essential service worker or have to deal with an emergency.

Influx of changes 

Government has published more than a dozen new directives around South Africa’s lockdown regulations since the official introduction of level 4 restrictions on Friday (1 May).

This may make it difficult for ordinary South Africans to keep track of the changes – especially in areas which directly impact them.

Mbalula published six separate directives on Monday (4 April), clarifying a number of key issues relating to public and private travel.

This includes directions around the extension of the validity of vehicle licences which expired during the lockdown, as well as rules around provincial travel.

Other directives published this week include rules around courts, the media, and rules around tax collection.

Transport New 6 May 2020 by BusinessTech on Scribd


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