IT WAS a rough start to the new school term following an incident where 36 schoolchildren were rescued after they were found crammed into an overloaded minibus taxi with heavily tinted windows in Park Rynie, KwaZulu-Natal.
KwaZulu-Natal MEC for Transport and Human Settlements Siboniso Duma said the children were rescued by members of the Road Traffic Inspectorate (RTI) during law enforcement operations on Tuesday.
According to Duma, the minibus taxi was impounded, and the driver was fined more than R2,000 after officers discovered he was not carrying a valid driver’s licence and was operating a vehicle with illegally tinted windows.
“The taxi has been impounded, and the driver, who was not even carrying his driver’s licence, has been fined more than R2,000,” Duma said in a statement.
He said the incident underscored the need for stricter enforcement as schools reopened across the province.
“On the first day of the reopening of schools, we are intensifying the #NenzaniLaEzweni operation as part of protecting innocent lives from reckless motorists,” Duma said.
The MEC warned that RTI officers, working alongside Operation Shanela teams, would continue targeting motorists who overload scholar transport vehicles or attempt to evade law enforcement by using heavily black-tinted windows.
“As guided by the National Road Traffic Act, our teams will remove from our road networks minibus taxis and other vehicles with heavily black-tinted windows,” he said.
Duma said vehicle window tints must allow officers to maintain eye contact with drivers during roadside inspections.
“In this regard, we expect at least 35% of visible light to pass through on side windows and 70% on the front windscreen,” he said.
The department also reminded motorists that under the Administrative Adjudication of Road Traffic Offences (AARTO) demerit points system, motorists who fail to carry a driver’s licence and operate vehicles with non-compliant window tint each incur demerit points.
The department warned that drivers who continue committing traffic offences risk accumulating enough demerit points to have their licences suspended and, ultimately, cancelled after reaching the prescribed threshold.
The department did not disclose the ages of the pupils or the destination of the scholar transport vehicle.
No injuries were reported among the children.
