Rudolf Gaiseb
Transport minister Veikko Nekundi has issued a stern warning to traffic officers who harass seven-seater operators.
This follows reports of traffic officers harassing these operators at several roadblocks, where their permits were revoked and they were issued with traffic fines. In a media engagement on Tuesday, he warned that such acts may result in the revocation of their registration.
“As a minister of works and transport, we have the powers to revoke and to suspend the registration of a traffic officer if he or she goes contrary to the policy or the regulations,” he said.
Equally, Nekundi urged the drivers to operate with legal permits to foster mutual respect.
“There must be collaboration and mutual respect between all stakeholders, including the Ministry of Works and Transport, the traffic officers and the operators.
We do not expect the traffic officers to harass the operators, nor do we expect the operators, that is, the seven-seaters, to harass the traffic officers. There must be mutual respect among and across all three stakeholders. The officers must do their duties without any hindrance, and the operators must also do their legal work without any hindrance or harassment. That then means that we expect the seven-seaters to operate on the legal permits,” he said. He clarified they are cognizant of the seven-seater operators who have been, in the past, harassed, and their permits were removed.
“Those permits are restated, and they must operate,” he stated. “Those who were operating seven-seaters but had issues with the so-called reduced number of passengers, those with seven-seat cars, but were told you can only operate with five.
They are also reinstated to seven seats. They are equally allowed to operate with seven people in their cars,” Nekundi explained.
He urged seven-seater drivers to operate with permits.
The minister issued a directive earlier this month, allowing seven-seaters to operate.