The Municipality has a constitutional obligation of ensuring that safe, efficient, adequate, and public transport is provided to the community. In Lephalale, public transport service is rendered mainly by private taxis and bus operators The role that the Municipality plays is that of ensuring that the service is well coordinated and that of providing for ranking facilities and ensuring that the road infrastructure is provided and well maintained.
The Municipality as Public Transport Regulatory Entity within its area of jurisdiction is guided by prescripts of the National Land Transport Act no 5 of 2009. The Municipality has got a valid Comprehensive Integrated Transport Plan which was compiled in 2020 with the assistance of National Department of Transport, The Municipality also has a functional Local transport forum where stakeholders such as Taxi Associations, Bus operators, Department of Public Works, Department of Transport & Community Safety, Road Agency Limpopo (RAL) and others, meet quarterly to reflect on challenges on public transport, road infrastructure and traffic safety.
Previous studies conducted have shown that majority of our people use public transport to various destinations for various reasons. Fewer people use their own vehicles and lifts as means of transport. Survey conducted during the compilation of the Comprehensive Integrated Transport Plan showed that percentage income spent on public transport is too high. In some cases, commuters spend up to 20% of their monthly income on transport to and from work.
There are four Taxi Associations in Lephalale, namely, -Lephalale Long Distance Taxi Association, Kudu Taxi Association, Ellisras local taxi association and Leseding Taxi Association. As at the inception of the Comprehensive Integrated Transport Plan, the four taxi associations had a combined fleet of 550 taxis.
Lowveld Bus Service is the only subsidized bus operator in Lephalale with a fleet of Eighty (80) buses. The bus company operates at all villages in Lephalale, Marapong, Onverwacht and town.
The following public facilities are available in Lephalale to support public transport services: -
• Shoprite Taxi rank
• Old Kentucky Taxi rank
• Onverwacht/Lephalale Mall
• Shongoane Taxi rank
• Seleka Taxi rank
• Marapong Informal 1
• Marapong informal 2
The Municipality acknowledges the inadequacy of ranking facilities in Lephalale especially at Marapong, Leseding and villages where there are no taxi ranks or layby.
Lephalale has two conduit roads i.e., Nelson Mandela Avenue and O.R Tambo Avenue (R510). Nelson Mandela is the main conduit to the mines and two power stations (Matimba and Medupi). During the peak of construction of Medupi Power station, the road was upgraded into dual way lane and that assisted a lot in reduction of traffic congestion on this road, allowing for free flow of traffic during and off-peak hours. O.R Tambo Avenue (R510) is the conduit to Groblersbrug Border post. Over the years there has been a substantial growth in volume of coal transported by road from Exxaro Grootgeluk mine to various destinations in Gauteng and Mpumalanga. It is estimated that plus minus two hundred trucks pass through Lephalale daily. Even though Lephalale has two Truckstop, these trucks end up stopping anywhere and anytime, causing nuisance around town. Most of these trucks are observably overloaded, causing severe damage to our roads. Currently, the Municipality needs more than R50m to undo the damage caused by these trucks on O.R Tambo Avenue. The Municipality will, with the assistance of Department of Transport & Community Safety, develop a bylaw to regulate movement of freight transport in Lephalale. An amount of R1,5m has been set aside for upgrading of weighbridge at our testing ground. Meanwhile, our Traffic Officers will continue to enforce the law and issue traffic fines to truck operators who transgress the National Road Traffic Act.
Licensing is the mandate of the Department of Transport. The municipality performs this function on agency basis as per Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed with the Department of Transport & Community Safety. Licensing is manned by a team of sixteen officials comprising of Manager, two Management Representatives, three Examiners, one Senior Licensing Officer, one Pit assistant and eight clerks (cashiers).
The following facilities are available to support the function: -
• Grade A Driving License Testing Centre (DLTC) situated at the Testing ground along O.R Tambo Avenue,
• Grade A Vehicle Testing facility also located at the Testing ground along O.R Tambo Avenue.
• Registering Authority at the Civic Center comprising of seven cashiers’ cubicles with NaTIS terminals.
• Satellite Registering Authority at Mokuruanyane Thusong Centre.
• Ten- seats Computerized Learners license Test room and
• Two eye-testing facilities equipped with LEU machines at the Civic Center.
From the facilities mentioned above, the Municipality is able to render the following services: -
• Registration and licensing of motor vehicles
• Application, testing and issuing of learners and driving licenses.
• Renewal of Driving License cards.
• Testing of motor vehicles for roadworthiness.
The turnaround time between application and testing of applicants for both learners and driving licenses is less than one week. On average six hundred (600) vehicles are registered and licensed per week. Ninety (90) applicants for learners’ license are tested per week (Monday, Wednesday and Friday) Seventy (70) applicants for driving licenses are tested per week (Monday to Friday) The number of vehicles tested at our Vehicle Testing Station is extremely low. This can be attributed to the fact that in addition to our station, there are other two Private Vehicle Testing Stations operating in Lephalale.
The Department of Transport & Community Safety has introduced on-line licensing of motor vehicles and has recently opened a new Registering Authority at Lephalale Provincial Traffic Station along O.R Tambo Avenue.
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