Oudtshoorn, 30 August 2016 – The newly elected deputy Mayor of the Greater Oudtshoorn, councillor Noluthando Mwati praised a Western Cape Integrated Transport Skills and Development programme that offers to empower 20 local taxi drivers an opportunity to learn and earn a National Certificate in Professional Driving.
Cllr. Mwati, flanked by the Speaker, Cllr. Julia le Roux Krowitz and some councillors visited a training programme on 25 August 2016 taking place at the Department of Transport and Public Works site situated in Voortrekker road to acquaint themselves with this professional driving course.
According to Mr. Ashley Paulse, a training facilitator from the South African Center of Excellence, this training which is set to assist and support the Oudtshoorn Municipality towards its future transport integrated plans and to prepare the industry to actively participate therein. He also said the Oudtshoorn is the first town in the Western Cape to receive this training outside the Cape Metro.
Paulse also explained that the programme is a partnership between the Western Cape Department of Transport and Public Works, Transport Education Training Authority (TETA), South African National Taxi Council (SANTACO) and the South African Transport Centre of Excellence (SATCOE).
“I am very happy and very much impressed with this programme as it brings development in our town,” said Cllr. Mwati. “It will furthermore not only help our taxi drivers to improve their driving and customer care skills, but also give the passengers more confidence in the drivers, as taxi drivers are often seen as reckless.”
This Ten-month National Certificate: Professional Driver consists of 140 credits and is equivalent to Grade 12 in the transport sector. Seventy percent (70%) of the course is practical while the remaining 30% is theory. The training commenced in August 2016 and will end in June 2017. Successful drivers at the end of this course will qualify to apply for wide range of careers from the following sub-sectors in the transport industry;
- Aerospace
- Forwarding and Clearing
- Freight handling
- Maritime
- Rail
- Road Freight
- Road Passenger and
- Taxi
Competition
In addition to the Training there are also other benefits up for grabs for the taxi drivers. Mr Joseph Danny from the South African National Taxi Council was the third person to introduce their involvement in the workshop or programme.
Mr. Danny then introduced a competition where the taxi drivers stand a chance to win a fully furnished house worth R 500 000, this prize goes to the Taxi Driver of The Year. The Taxi Operator of The Year will win a Brand new Toyota Ses’fikile Quantum worth R 395 000. To enter this competition drivers need to distribute pamphlets to the public and ask them to enter in the driver’s name and taxi registration number by SMS to 33109 the SMS costs R1.50. The voters also stand a chance to win a brand new vehicle.
The programme is financially sponsored by the Transport Education Training Authority (TETA) said Mr. Desmond Baartman. He also added that there are also bursaries available on the homepage of TETA that will be available till the 30th of September 2016.