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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
The amendment also removes all mention of the one hour ‘grace period’ which had previously been allowed to allow operators to complete their trips.<\/p>\n
Notably, the directive makes no amendment to the allowed travel times for private vehicle owners.<\/p>\n
As part of the country\u2019s new level 4 lockdown, an evening curfew prohibits all South Africans from leaving their homes between 20h00 \u2013 05h00 unless they are an essential service worker or have to deal with an emergency.<\/p>\n
Influx of changes\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Government has published more than a dozen new directives around South Africa\u2019s lockdown regulations since the official introduction of level 4 restrictions on Friday (1 May).<\/p>\n This may make it difficult for ordinary South Africans to keep track of the changes – especially in areas which directly impact them.<\/p>\n Mbalula published six separate directives on Monday (4 April), clarifying a number of key issues relating to public and private travel.<\/p>\n This includes directions around the extension of the validity of vehicle licences which expired during the lockdown, as well as rules around provincial travel.<\/p>\n Other directives<\/a> <\/strong>published this week include rules around courts, the media, and rules around tax collection.<\/p>\n Transport New 6 May 2020<\/a> by BusinessTech<\/a> on Scribd<\/p>\n