The KwaZulu-Natal Department of Transport is deploying advanced tracking devices in scholar transport vehicles to enhance learner safety and monitor impounded vehicles. This initiative aims to prevent unroadworthy vehicles from operating until certified. MEC Siboniso Duma emphasized the system's role in ensuring compliance.
The KwaZulu-Natal Department of Transport has introduced cutting-edge technology to address safety concerns in scholar transport. By installing tracking devices in vehicles contracted by the government for transporting learners, the department seeks to keep unroadworthy vehicles off the roads. This measure focuses on monitoring the movement of impounded vehicles that have safety issues, ensuring they cannot be used until officially cleared.
The tracking system alerts authorities if a vehicle is moved before certification, promoting stricter enforcement. MEC for Transport, Siboniso Duma, highlighted the necessity of this approach, stating, “We can’t have data that your vehicles have failed but are still seen on the road. That is why we have developed a new tracking system that ensures that the movement of that vehicle, if it has been impounded, if it has been taken for service, it can’t move until it has been certified by us. So, we are at the point where we are doing that.”
This initiative comes amid ongoing efforts to improve road safety for schoolchildren in the province, where overloading, speeding, and poor vehicle conditions have been persistent problems. The department's actions align with broader calls for better regulation of scholar transport services.