The portfolio committee on transport has rejected proposals from the government to introduce a new type of licence in South Africa, referred to as a ‘provisional licence’, and to reduce the allowable alcohol limit for drivers to zero.<\/p>\n
In deliberations on the National Road Traffic Amendment Bill on Friday (16 September), the committee made it clear that amendments making room for the licence and alcohol changes were rejected and removed from the latest draft of the bill.<\/p>\n
The National Road Traffic Amendment Bill was introduced in October 2020 to address gaps and loopholes in the National Road Traffic Act No. 93 of 1996.<\/p>\n
Among other things, the bill deals with the registration of driving schools, the registration of persons who manufacture, supply or sell number plates, the regulation of weighbridges and driver intoxication.<\/p>\n
The Department of Transport submitted the bill following a series of bogus driving schools operating as money-making schemes with little interest in teaching the rules of the road. Amendments to alcohol laws came as a push to tackle drunk driving, which caused many road fatalities in South Africa.<\/p>\n
The finalised bills will now be published and debated by members of parliament.<\/p>\n
Provisional licence<\/strong><\/p>\n A provisional licence was first proposed in 2020, with very little detail given about what it would entail.<\/p>\n The proposed amendments, under the bill, would have added “provisional licence” to sections 13 and 14 of the National Road Traffic Act, giving the government room to introduce the licence and have it regulated by the same laws as driving and learner licences in the country.<\/p>\n However, the committee rejected the amendments because the actual licence doesn’t exist.<\/p>\n The government has previously mooted the introduction of a new graduated licence system for the country, and legal experts at the time said that the provisional licence was likely part of this plan.<\/p>\n