By: Hertha Ekandjo
The works and transport ministry has said that seven-seater operators are operating illegally and deserve to be locked up if found by the police.
This follows after registered operators, on Tuesday, petitioned the Rehoboth mayor Enrico Junias to intervene and stop the operations of illegal seven-seater taxis in the town.
The ministry’s public relations officer Julius Ngwedaa told The Villager that the bus drivers were right to demonstrate against the operation of seven-seaters.
“Whoever is driving a seven-seater and does not have a permit at all, the traffic should just deal with them, and those who are demonstrating, they are just right,”
He added that bus drivers were the ones registered under the works and transport ministry and that they were the only drivers authorised by the ministry to transport people from town to town.
“You can only transport people if you have a public passengers’ permit, so if they do not have, then the traffic just needs to deal with them accordingly. If you are transporting passengers, for survival, to earn an income for a living, you need to have that permit,” said Ngweda.
According to the PRO, if a driver does not have a public passenger’s permit, they cannot transport people with just a driver’s license but should be in possession of a permit.
Moreover, he said that was an illegal act being practised by seven-seater drivers, adding these drivers need to be banned from driving.
Ngweda noted that only those with Quantum and Iveco busses with permits could transport people.
“Those who are transporting passengers without permits must just know that this country is ruled by laws, and we cannot operate in a vacuum. We operate under the laws. Those operating illegally should just face justice,” he mentioned.
Seven-Seater Drivers Have Families To Feed Too
A seven-seater driver, Jan van Wyk says that seven seaters should not be prohibited from operating between Windhoek and Rehoboth.
Van Wyk, however, argued that someone needs to speak up for seven-seaters.
“Everyone is trying to make a living in this country, so somebody needs to stand up and speak up for the seven-seaters also, and they must know that seven-seater drivers also have families to look after like the bus drivers!” he exclaimed.
“We can’t remove seven-seaters because they are also looking for money. Customers are just customers,” he said.
According to van Wyk, the government made life difficult for seven-seater drivers throughout the country by not allowing them a chance to get permits that would allow them to be in the transportation industry.
Van Wyk added that due to this, the drivers are forced to transport people illegally for them to put bread on their table.
Further, he said that these drivers were human beings just like those driving registered buses.
A seven-seater driver who opted to remain anonymous told The Villager that he was really disappointed and heartbroken seeing that the works and transport ministry thought so little about them.
He stated that they, as seven-seater drivers, have, on many occasions, reached out to the ministry to apply for permits, but they were given a deaf ear.
“We as seven-seater drivers tried so many times to apply for permits, but we can get no attention from them, and I feel bad about that. I believe that we will never stop driving, even if all of us get arrested for that,” he said.
Furthermore, he emphasised that that was their only way of survival and ensuring their kids had bread on the table.
According to him, the ministry was welcome to take their cars for an inspection to see for themselves that they were fit and safe when it came to transporting passengers.
In 2021, over 100 seven-seater drivers brought traffic in Windhoek to a standstill to protest the annulling of their licenses as transport operators.
At that time, the drivers demanded that their revoked licenses be restored as they were operating illegally and often received traffic fines, with one driver having outstanding tickets worth N$25 000.
During that time, the Seven Seaters Association members said they were being discriminated against due to the Road Transportation Act No.74 of 1977.
They said their mission was to assist the government in alleviating the shortage of public transport, job creation and support their families.
Despite receiving a letter from the works and transport ministry stating that any person “who operates a public passenger road transport service, as defined in the Act, inclusive of the seven-seaters, cannot and may not be legally discriminated against”, the drivers still felt discriminated against.
At that time, the deputy transport minister Veikko Nekundi had re-emphasised the government’s stance was that these operators may not be harassed.
He received the Seven-Seaters Association’s petition on behalf of minister John Mutorwa stating that seven-seater operators are not allowed to transport passengers over long distances unless granted a permit to do so over a distance of no more than 55 kilometres
