DURBAN - KWAZULU-NATAL driving school operators yesterday submitted a list of grievances to the premier’s office in Pietermaritzburg after travelling in a slow convoy along the N3 to the province’s capital.
Traffic on the N3 was brought to a standstill in some parts as more than 100 operators started driving in convoy from the Mariannhill toll plaza. Some also stopped and walked with posters along the way.
The convoy protest was organised by the Ubumbano Driving School Operators’ Association which represents operators in eThekwini, Zululand, the Midlands and northern KZN.
The driving school operators said they had several grievances but one of the main ones was that they needed proper facilities to train their students.
In a memorandum that was submitted to the premier’s office and was signed and accepted by chief of staff Samuel Khuzwayo, the driving school operators demanded that the province’s roads should have reserved lanes for driving school vehicles. They also want Covid-19 relief funds for driving schools affected by the pandemic and proper training grounds for learner drivers with parking bays and running water, toilets and electricity.
Another grievance raised was that they claimed the KZN provincial government charges more in bookings and issuing fees than other provinces.
They added that they were not happy with the Road Traffic Management Corporation (RTMC) introducing an online booking system for people to book for learner’s and driving licence tests and driving licence renewals and asked why it was taking over their business.
Terence Jali, owner of Terence Driving School, said they had been asking the Department of Transport for a long time about training grounds.
He said that a lack of facilities was one of the major challenges that they were faced with.
“In Durban, we do not even have one training ground,” he said.
Another driving school owner, Phezulu Maluleka of NP Driving School, said they needed relief funding as their businesses were affected by the pandemic.
Maluleka added that driving schools had been taken aback by the announcement by Department of Education Minister Angie Motshekga that the department was working with the RTMC on a project to allow pupils to obtain their learner’s licences through schools.
He said this would not be fair on their businesses.
“We have a lot of grievances, we need the training grounds. Angie Motshekga cannot make a decision like this without informing us, they need to inform us and give us this project,” said Maluleka.
He said their concern about the project was that someone would get the tender to provide teaching for the learner’s licences, yet there were driving schools that could be involved.
Khuzwayo said they were aware that some of their grievances could be resolved by the province, while other matters would need to be dealt with nationally.
The driving school operators drove in a convoy of more than 100 vehicles from the Marianhill Toll Plaza to PMB to hand over their memorandum.
They said they have given Premier Sihle Zikalala 14 days to respond to their grievances.