Cape MEC claims new regulator sucks‚ but he can't produce evidence

Western Cape transport MEC Donald Grant has struggled to substantiate public claims about inefficiency at the national department of transport.

Grant told the National Council of Provinces two weeks ago that that tourism in the DA-run province had been adversely affected since last August‚ when the transport ministry took over provincial accreditation and licensing functions. The change had resulted in a number of operators closing shop.

In his speech Grant said: “Unfortunately‚ the quality of the service provided by the National Public Transport Regulator (NPTR) has been spectacularly bad. Return times are ignored [often by more than 100%]‚ documents are lost and have to be resubmitted‚ calls and emails go unanswered. In some cases operators have lost their businesses as a result.”

Grant then asked that the department’s statutory duties be delegated to the Western Cape government.

TimesLIVE asked Grant for details but he was unable to substantiate the claims and refused to provide names of operators alleged to have lost their businesses.

Cape Town Tourism CEO Enver Duminy said on Thursday he was unaware of problems in the local sector due to a change in the transport administrator.

“We have not been contacted regarding any tourism business operators that have been adversely affected to date‚ and we’re monitoring this situation for any further developments”‚ he said.

Grant’s spokesman Siphesihle Dube‚ said the quality of service offered to operators had diminished greatly with the repercussions articulated by Grant in his speech‚ but he would not provide evidence or examples.

“This has been a serious failing of the National Department of Transport that has had an adverse effect on the operators in this province that have relied on an efficient service for a number of years‚” he said.

“We are unfortunately not in a position to disclose the identity of operators whom we work with‚ that would not be appropriate.”