Managing Director
Mr Rudolph Lungile Mabece, holds B. Proc and LL. B degrees from the University of the Western Cape (UWC). He is the managing director of the company and an experienced attorney of the High Court of South Africa with more than 25 years practicing law. His expertise includes litigation, drafting of complex contracts, drafting of legislation, legal advice on broad areas of South African law. He is an expert in transport law, ICT law, education and skills development law, public procurement, legislation drafting and corporate governance. He thrives on regulated environments.
Mr Rudolph Lungile Mabece is a seasoned attorney, legislative drafter, and transport law specialist with over three decades of experience at the intersection of law, policy, and public sector governance. A graduate of the University of the Western Cape (B.Proc and LLB), he began his career in criminal defence and municipal advisory roles, later founding his own legal practice. Over the years, he has evolved into a trusted advisor to government departments, state-owned entities, and major industry stakeholders—particularly in transport, telecommunications, infrastructure, and corporate governance.
Renowned for his deep involvement in shaping South Africa’s transport legislation, Mr Mabece has contributed to key national frameworks such as the National Land Transport Act and numerous provincial regulations. His expertise spans legal drafting, regulatory compliance, stakeholder consultation, and the development of public policies affecting buses, taxis, rail, and broader mobility sectors. Beyond law, he is a respected thought leader, conference speaker, author, and board member, committed to advancing safe, equitable, and sustainable transport systems in South Africa. Mr Mabece’s career reflects not only legal excellence, but a lifelong dedication to nation-building and institutional transformation.
Mr Rudolph Lungile Mabece began his legal career shortly after completing his B.Proc and LLB degrees at the University of the Western Cape. He first served as a Candidate Attorney at the UWC Criminal Defender and Juvenile Justice Clinic (1994–1995), where he represented vulnerable youth and indigent clients, gaining early exposure to social justice, criminal defence, and community advocacy. In 1996, he moved into the public sector as a Trainee Legal Advisor at the Boksburg Transitional Local Council, working closely with municipal structures and communities, including informal settlement consultations, which strengthened his understanding of governance, public administration, and community-based legal issues.
By 1997, Mr Mabece had transitioned into private legal practice as a Professional Assistant at Mageza & Partners Inc., before advancing to establish Mabece Attorneys, where he served as Managing Director from 1997 to 2003. During this formative period, he expanded his legal expertise beyond litigation into advisory work involving public transport regulation, community development, and corporate governance. This early combination of legal advocacy, public sector engagement, and entrepreneurial leadership laid the foundation for his later prominence in transport law, legislative drafting, and national policy advisory roles.
Mr Mabece has distinguished himself through his instrumental role in drafting key national transport legislation, including the National Land Transport Act. He has advised multiple government departments and state-owned entities on policy, governance, and regulatory compliance. His appointment as a Commissioner in the Taxi Violence Inquiry further cemented his influence in shaping safer, more structured transport systems in South Africa.
Mr Mabece played a key role in drafting and shaping the National Land Transport Act and its amendments, contributing to South Africa’s modern public transport legal framework and regulatory reforms.
He has advised major government departments and State-Owned Entities, including the Gauteng Department of Transport and Broadband Infraco, guiding strategic decisions, compliance, and governance at national level.
Appointed as a Commissioner (2019–2021), Mr Mabece contributed to investigating causes of taxi violence, delivering crucial recommendations to improve safety, stability, and policy enforcement in the sector.
We provide legal advice to transport operators as well as to government, the three spheres that have a responsibility for transport in terms of the Constitution and national legislation. For government, we advise on the applicable legislation, how to comply with it as well as the drafting of legislation in the three spheres of government, in the case of local sphere, the by-laws. In the case of government we include how best to contract with third parties and what informs such contracting arrangement, as in the case of subsidised public transport services or non-subsidised contracted services.
To transport operators, we advise on various aspects governed by the legislation or standards (SABS or ISO). We also advise on how certain transport laws impact their contractual arrangements with their staff or external parties. Transport operators may even be subject to non-transport laws by virtue of how they conduct their business. The typical example is courier services that require compliance with Postal Services Act, 1998.
We also provide legal advice to non-transport businesses that have staff who have a duty to be active drivers during the course of their employment. These are critical elements in ensuring compliance with the National Road Traffic Act and Administrative Adjudication of Road Traffic Offences Act (AARTO).
The other businesses that need our services are those that provide transport for their staff. Providing transport for staff includes employees being transported in the course of their work or being fetched to and from work. Employers need to establish compliance with laws based on the delivery mechanism adopted to provide transport for the staff.
Lastly, we also provide legal support to lawyers who need transport specialists on matters involving transport on behalf of their clients.
We provide the services of drafting legislation (Acts and Regulations) for the three spheres of government. This process may be new legislation or amendment of existing legislation. This process, at provincial and national sphere may even necessitate the development of national standards, of which we then get to be involved in the SABS Working Groups for such developments.
In addition to drafting legislation, where we are not party to the development of proposed legislation, we assist clients who are either government, government agencies or interested third parties to provide comments on proposed legislation. In the latter case, our clients may be organisations or fora representing their members or just an individual company that needs proper representation when legislation is being developed.
In addition to drafting legislation or developing responses to proposed legislation we also draft contracts or assist to comment on proposed contracts on behalf of clients. Some contracts are based on regulated environments and others are general commercial contracts that are applicable in the transport environment. On the latter, we not only take into consideration transport laws but include many other matters that must be covered including employment laws, privacy and electronic communications laws etc.
Operating public passenger road transport for reward requires an operating licence in terms of South African laws. The National Land Transport Act, 2009 provides what activities constitute provision of public transport and what is exempted from the requirement of an operating licence. Our services include providing advice to anyone intending or involved in the business of conveying passengers for reward, we also advise under which circumstances you may provide transport without being required to hold an operating licence. In the case of operating licences, we assist with the process of applying for operating licences and how to be compliant with the licensing requirements once you are licenced. Our services include dealing with objections when you are in the process of applying for the operating licence.
Employers who are exempted from holding operating licences under certain conditions, we advise how an employer may or may not be involved in the conveyance of its employees without being required to have operating licences.
Our services extend to permits for cross-border transportation permits. The vehicles and operations requiring cross border permits or under what circumstances one is exempted from obtaining the permit.
Our services mentioned herein include representing the applicants before the regulatory bodies responsible to consider, grant and issue the operating licences or permits.
The general public often misunderstand the difference between a logistics business and courier services provider. A courier services provision is governed by the Postal Services Act, and what constitute courier service is fully detailed in the Act. It is our services to provide guidance on what part of a business constitute courier service and what one needs to do to ensure compliance with the Postal Services Act. The Act provides for reserved services, which are actually reserved for the South African Post Office. It is therefore important for courier services to obtain services like ours to advice on the business strategy before spending money to create systems that may make the business contravene the applicable laws. Our services include assisting and guiding the process to obtain the necessary authorization to undertake courier services with legal impediments.
Our services include the development of company policies and procedures. This service is not limited to transport and courier service businesses but extends to other businesses that either have employee transport or have employees who are employed to drive motor vehicles as part of their employ. This effectively means that most companies and organisations including state entities need our services for this aspect. Our developed policies and procedures impact the content of the employment contracts to mitigate transport law related risks for the employer. Understanding and mitigating risks presented by National Land Transport Act, 2009, (NLTA) the National Road Traffic Act, 1996 (NRTA) or Administrative Adjudication of Road Traffic Offences Act, 1998 (AARTO) is very important for employers.
Our services are critical enablers for sustainable businesses or entities. The organs of state like government departments in all spheres have constitutional and national legislation obligations. These obligations may only be properly understood and appropriately funded if specialists like us provide the assistance to enable the organs of state to know what enables them to be appropriately capacitated. The performance of powers and functions by organs of state not only serve the citizenry but also help them to attract the necessary funding for sustainable funding. The answers to challenges experienced by organs of state are built into the Constitution and national legislation but can only be deciphered by specialist in our context. Our services are not a cost but valuable investments.
For businesses, our services are a necessity that is overlooked until the regulatory authorities exercise their authority to the extent that the business may be forced to stop operations for months until it has complied. Overlooking transport legislation impact in businesses may lead to situations where the employer may not be able to convey its passenger due to impounded vehicles for illegal operations. Worse is having employees that may not be able to provide the service they are contracted for but cannot be dismissed because the employment contracts and policies overlooked the critical transport legislation. Lastly, courier services and e-hailing services are seen as low threshold transport related businesses but overlooking compliance requirements may be very costly, hence our services are critical to ensure the mitigation of real regulatory risks in the business.
The clients need our services all the time. For government, the drafting of legislation including regulations, by-laws and Practice Notes is an ongoing process. The guidance including legal advice and actual structuring of documents is also necessary for the implementation of the legislation. Our services are also necessary to provide capacitation of the three spheres or on their behalf for other relevant stakeholders.
With regards to private clients in business, they may be better off when retaining us for our services as we may always be available to them both for transport related areas of their business as well as to make inputs on other matters that do not appear to be transport related like employment contracts that must consider transport related risks and mitigations.
Where clients do not want to retain us, we may assist as and when required including for capacitation of the leadership.
As can be seen above, our services are very critical to any transport operator or someone who has a business that provides transport to employees or have employees whose employment contracts include a duty to drive or have a vehicle available for service. Our services add value in ensuring that there are no transport related risks that are overlooked and that these businesses are always fully informed about transport related compliance matters. This also applies to courier services that must comply with both transport laws and Postal Services Act, amongst others.
With regards to government, all the three spheres of government are currently seriously underperforming when it comes to understanding the laws and what is required to perform. Our services not only help government to understand their powers and functions, but also to help them know what is needed to implement. Out of the National Land Transport Act, the national government has a lot that is expected of it in terms of regulations that need to be developed, Practice Notes and Standard Operating Procedures for the regulatory entities in the three spheres of government.
The provinces need to understand the National Land Transport Act and identify what they need to develop as provincial legislation out of the national legislation. The province through the department as well as through the MEC have a number of powers and functions that are provided for in the Act but have not been actioned since the coming into effect of the Act in 2009. Our services will definitely add value to ensure performance of the province as well as the capacitation of the municipalities to perform their transport functions. The Act provides for instances where the province and municipality or municipalities may enter into agreements for joint performance or agency performance, and these matters have not been sufficiently tapped by both the provinces and municipalities because they do not know of these possibilities and they do not even know how to go about doing it. Our value add will increase capacity as well as enable funding for the provinces and municipalities arising from the proper application of the laws.
Creating certainty on matters of transport laws. We are ensuring comfort on matters of transport compliance on their part. We are not only helping them to perform but ensuring that they generate revenue where they would not have, they not using our services. This is very critical to government as their failure to comply with the transport laws makes them unable to claim funding allocations they are entitled to in terms of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa and the National Land Transport Act. Our assistance is resolving many of their problems and enabling them to be better positioned to perform.
For the private sector, our services ensure their compliance with transport laws. This compliance ensures business continuity as non-compliance may lead to impounding of vehicles besides heavy fines. The non-compliance may also lead to the arrest of the drivers and disqualification of the business from obtaining the necessary operating licenses or permits. With regards to compliance with National Road Traffic Act and AARTO, the compliance with these laws is not enough, their implications need to be built into the contracting arrangements with contractors and employees. Our services are helping them to anticipate what may be disruptive to their services unless they are managed appropriately.
I started training as an attorney in a criminal law focused environment where I interacted a lot with the poorest of the poor including street kids who needed to trust the lawyers who claimed to represent their interests. I am happy to say, not only did I get their trust I found myself with people I never even met going courts claiming that they have me as their lawyer without having met me. I was the go-to criminal lawyer in Cape Town when I was still there, even the prosecutors would refer people to me when they thought the persons concerned are unlikely to be appropriately represented if represented by other lawyers.
My second milestone was being appointed as a trainee legal advisor at the Boksburg Transitional Local Council where I started in a racially hostile environment but within six months I had trust of everyone one including the Town Clerk ( in today’s terms a Municipal Manager).At the Boksburg TLC I started with the first week with no one talking to me nor giving me any work and I ended with being required to be part of any negotiations or contracting for the municipality. I introduced many changes in the contracting templates and more. I enjoyed my stay, but it was not my intention to stay there but just to help create a democratic environment which I believe I succeeded in bringing in.
My third milestone was being a professional assistant at Mageza & Partners Attorneys in Johannesburg. I went there to work but ended up practically being responsible for the running of the firm, including the training of candidate attorneys as Mr Mageza was more focused on empowerment deals and other transactions outside the office. It was interesting that many clients ended up mistaking me for Mr Mageza himself. The exposure at Mageza & Partners was very helpful as I got exposed to not only to private sector but also to public sector. I got to be a generalist as we dealt with practical broad practice of law. I got involved with cases of prominent South Africans including people who would go on to become Premier, Minister and Speaker of Parliament, amongst others.
My fourth milestone was establishing my law firm, Mabece Incorporated Attorneys in 1997. The firm was established in Pretoria because I wanted to be far away from Johannesburg so as not to be seen to be taking Mageza & Partners clients. Interestingly, many clients traced and found me in Pretoria. I followed lessons learnt at Mageza & Partners and started as a general practice focusing on both private and public sector. We grew faster with the public sector as well as organisations like taxi associations, private bus operators, cross-border transport operator association and organs of state. One of our most trusted clients was National Sport Council (NSC) that trusted us to retain us from 1997 until it was closed through an Act of Parliament. The NSC was the national governing body for all sport in South Africa. The different sport codes and specific national sport bodies reported to it, whether SAFA, Cricket SA, Swimming SA, Motor Racing and others. One of the interesting cases we dealt with at the NSC was what culminated as the famous court case that involved the Late President Mandela appearing in court over the Springboks logo and the Late Dr Louis Luyt. The firm was placed in many supplier databases of organs of state including national, provincial and local sphere in various provinces. The firm evolved over years to being Mabece-Phakeng Incorporated, and later Mabece-Mqingwana Incorporated depending on active partners at the time. As a director of the firm, I was active in the professional structures where I served as a member of Companies Law Committee as well as the Competition Law Committee of the Law Society of Northern Provinces. I was the founding member of the Gauteng BLA and NADEL Empowerment Committee, which was a voluntary body we set up to look for work that could be given to Black attorneys and advocates.
My fifth milestone was leaving the firm and establishing Bulumko Corporate Law Advisers and Consultants. Bulumko was founded out of wanting to focus on corporate law and provide services to government and private sector businesses. The transition from the law firm was smooth as all the clients I took to Bulumko appreciated the dedication of Bulumko to their business, allowing for more accessibility. Through Bulumko, I have been exposed to many transport milestones and servicing many organs of state from national government, through a number of departments, the provincial government departments, national and provincial state-owned entities as well as municipalities, in the form of metropolitan municipalities. In transport, I have been involved in the drafting of regulations in under the National land Transport Transition Act, 2000, the development of many regulations in the Gauteng Province, the development of the National Transport Plan (2005-2050), and participate as a member of the National Land Transport Task Team that prepared the country for the FIFA World Cup 2010 and many more that are found in my professional CV.
The latest milestone was being appointed as a Commissioner in the Gauteng Judicial Commission of Inquiry on Causes of Taxi Violence between 2019 -2021. In 2019 I was appointed as one of three Commissioners to be responsible for the Gauteng Judicial Commission of Inquiry on Causes of Taxi Violence by the Gauteng Premier David Makhura. The Commission was led by the retired Judge Jeremiah Shongwe, and the Commission made interim recommendations on various matters and published its final report in a manner that protects the witnesses that appeared before it whilst enabling the report to be made public and acted upon. Whilst not all the recommendations have been implemented to date, many its recommendations have already been acted upon. These include the establishment of Gauteng Serious and Violent Crimes Investigations’ Taxi Violence Unit. This arose out of the Commission’s process that identified the then task team as unreliable and not useful as it had structural and reporting challenges as opposed to a unit. The other tangible is the capacitation of the Gauteng Traffic Police who were provided with small sedans for operations where they could not even arrest wrongdoers without having to ask other law enforcement colleagues to arrest. Today, the vehicles they use include LDVs etc. Lastly, without being exhaustive, the process was followed by arbitration process that sought to resolve the routes conflicts that were prevalent in the Gauteng Province.
South Africa has developed a lot of necessary laws in various aspects of transport. Transport has five subsectors as clearly indicated in the National Transport Master Plan (2005-2050). The subsectors are road, rail, aviation, maritime and pipeline. The different subsectors have laws but may still have gaps that require fixing but the biggest challenge is lack of enforcement.
The road transport has three primary laws that are critical for the citizenry to be aware of. The National Road Traffic Act, 1996(NRTA) is the law regulating traffic and movement of everyone on the road. This Act is very comprehensive and supplemented by the regulations, the road manual and standards. Whilst the Act may not be up to date in as far as recent technology and innovation is concerned it is suitable for purpose if it was being applied. The biggest problem with the Act is that it is not being appropriately applied in many respects. In fact, as things stand, it appears as if there is selective implementation which is causing a lot of damage to the country. The road markings on the roads are sometimes not there or done incorrectly as if they are done without considering the Act and the road manual. People are allowed to move everywhere, wherever they want despite the law providing otherwise and such omissions leading to accidents and deaths. The majority of vehicles on the road are not compliant with the Act, and the matter is being overlooked. In terms of the NRTA a vehicle that is 5 years old and above should be going for testing every year before issued with road worthy certificate and this is generally not done. This presents a big gap that leads to many unroadworthy vehicles on our roads. There are many other issues that may take a thesis to write.
The other road transport legislation is the National Land Transport Act, 2009(NLTA). This legislation deals with public transport regulations; transport planning and freight strategy addresses the determination of routes to convey dangerous goods. The NLTA is very comprehensive including various regulations that are critical for its implementation. The NLTA also requires many more regulations to be prescribed but same has not been developed but are very necessary. Some new regulations including those pertaining to e-hailing transport services will be published soon as public consultation process has already taken place. The Act is clear and is supported by many regulations but there are serious problems with the implementations. Starting with government as departments in the three spheres of government , the regulatory entities that are meant to issue operating licences and enforce compliance, the planning authorities that are meant to know how to plan and actually develop the required integrated transport plans and lastly, law enforcement , starting with the police, traffic cops and inspectors contemplated in the Act are all mainly missing in action. The National Public Transport Regulator (NPTR) is unable to carry out even half of what the powers and functions it has provide. The Provincial Regulatory Entities have serious challenges starting with capacity to understand their powers and functions as well as how to perform. They have serious backlogs so much that more public transport operators in South Africa do not have operating licences. Where operating licences are issued, some of those licences are issued incorrectly contrary to the law. Some holders of operating licences do not even qualify to be such holders, but they have been issued, according to the available information. The municipalities that are supposed to develop integrated transport plans and others qualify to set up Municipal Regulatory Entities but have not done so and in fact are not even anywhere close to being ready. Law enforcement is also a very big challenge. In some cases, the municipal traffic police do not even know that they have law enforcement obligations in terms of the Act. They only stop vehicles for traffic law enforcement not NLTA related compliance. The provincial police have their own challenges including understanding the law enforcement provisions of the Act and what is required of them. The MECs for transport in provinces are required to appoint inspectors out of the employees of the department to oversee and monitor public transport in the province but these are hardly there or appointed. The South African Police Service members are also authorised officers in terms of the Act, but it is unlikely that the SAPS knows how to enforce the Act when those specifically aligned to transport have no idea. There is a very serious challenge of capacitation across government when it comes to the NLTA.
The third critical one is Adjudication of Administrative Road Traffic Offences Act, 1998 (AARTO). This legislation was passed far back in 1998 but has been very slow to be implemented. It was recently amended in 2019 which major changes that led to the Act being taken on review up to the Constitutional Court. Besides the issues that led to the Constitutional Court challenge, AARTO presents serious challenges to both drivers and owners of motor vehicles. The challenge will also surprise the employers if they are not making amends to the employment contracts with their employees as the suspension and cancellation of driver’s licenses may be very costly leading to payment of two or more people for the same job whilst only one is eligible to provide the service. The implementation may lead to the disruption of businesses across industries. The Act has struggled to gain traction even from government itself which is why a 1998 Act is still being considered for implementation more than 25 years later. The principles behind the Act are noble and its implementation should seriously help the country to change the driver behaviour in such a way that many lives would be saved. The Act has its own weaknesses, but its active implementation should assist the country in such a way that many of our wayward driver behaviour be corrected. The challenge with implementation starts with the readiness of the ARTIA, the agency that has been established to ensure implementation of the Act. This is followed by the readiness of all the organs of state that are required to implement the Act in the form of provinces and municipalities. The challenges are many but capacitation in understanding the Act and what it needs for each organ of state is critical for implementation and impact.
Besides road transport, there is rail that also has its own pros and cons. The staggered regulation has been one of the challenges, where Railway Safety Regulator has been the most visible regulator. The other aspects of regulation are only recently being considered. The passing of Economic Regulation of Transport Act, 2024 (ERTA)appears like the step forward for economic regulation of transport in South Africa. The critical challenge with the implementation of that Act is the fact that transport is so diverse and has a history of being regulated in a devolved way in some industries. The ERTA envisages one regulatory entity and some transport sectors not only have a devolved function, but others have international and domestic regulators that are separate. The ERTA may have to exempt a number of industries for a long time due to the complexity of the regulation of various transport sub-sectors, especially those that are adequately provided for as we speak, like road and aviation. Rail is undergoing major shifts including the opening of access to other rail operators on the Transnet network. The possibilities are looking well also for passenger rail that is currently operated by PRASA. Rail presents a lot of opportunities to new players and those intending to venture into rail because of the trajectory South Africa is taking. The plans and the laws are complex for both following the opportunities as well as operating withing the environment.
The third sub-sector is maritime. Maritime laws of South Africa include the likes of Merchant Shipping Act, 1951 that governs ship registration and seafarer certification, the Maritime Zones Act, 1994 that defines the country’s territorial waters and maritime zones, the Marine Traffic Act, 1981 , the Marine Pollution (Control and Civil Liability) Act, 1981, Marine Pollution (Prevention of Pollution from Ships) Act, 1986, Marine Pollution (Intervention ) Act, 1987 and Wreck and Salvage Act, 1996. The list is not exhaustive. he nature of the operations determines how the operations are to be undertaken and by who. For the purposes of transport as a business, in South Africa the oceans are the primary part linked to ports and harbours. There are harbours inland where there is water bodies like dams used for recreation but the most relevant for our purposes is the laws that apply to commercial ships and port requirements. South Africa does not have a flagged commercial fleet of its own but is an important destination for both passenger and cargo vessels who must comply with our laws and international obligations. The port authorities are also responsible for enabling efficient and functioning ports. Incidentally, in South Africa, Transnet also has that role of being responsible for ports infrastructure for both passenger vessels and cargo. Cargo vessels have many more laws they must comply with including regulations regarding ballast water. The South African Maritime Safety Authority is the body responsible to oversee maritime environment and its laws. Our laws are mainly influenced by international treaties and global practice. They are generally suitable for the purposes they are developed to serve but law enforcement, as is the case in other subsectors needs capacity and focus.
The fourth transport subsector is aviation. Aviation is primarily regulated through the Civil Aviation Act, 2009. The Act has a number of regulations that apply to various types of aircraft, the latest of which is Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems or RPAS colloquially called ‘drones. The Act only applies to aircraft for civilian use and therefore does not apply to those used by the military and the police unless under certain circumstances as detailed in the Act. The Act is fairly comprehensive, and the definitions are meant to cover as much of what may constitute an aircraft. There are challenges with some regulations, especially as they relate to drones as they create difficulties for everyday application. The regulations are such that even the Civil Aviation Authority appears to be struggling to enforce. There is a need to review the regulations so as to align them with the international best practice for drones meant to be used for different purposes in the country as well as to facilitate the development of the drones themselves as an industry. Currently, most people are not even aware of the regulations governing drone ownership and operation in South Africa. The legislation is currently very cumbersome and even discourage ownership and operation of the drones. The Civil Aviation Authority not only needs to review the regulations, but public awareness needs to be activated for the general public. The big difference between other aircraft and drones is the fact that they are affordable and have already been accessed by the masses that the Civil Aviation Authority does not seem to appreciate. It is no longer enough to communicate through Government Gazettes and other official documents as if one is only communicating with business people and professionals.
The pipeline regulation in South Africa is handled by the National Energy regulator of South Africa (NERSA) that is responsible for both petroleum and gas pipelines. For petroleum pipelines, the Petroleum Pipelines Act, 2003 empowers NERSA to issue licences for the construction and operation, set tariffs, ensure third-party access and promote orderly development. The gas pipelines on the other hand are regulated in terms of the Gas Act, 2001 that provides for NERSA to regulate the industry. The Act seeks to promote the orderly development of the piped gas industry, establishment of a national regulatory framework, the establishment of a National Gas Regulator as the custodian and enforcer of the national regulatory framework and matters connected therewith.
I have been helping to develop transport in South Africa since 1997. When one considers the fact that I was the first person to enable the Johannesburg Park Station to be open beyond the major bus operators that were allowed at the park Station. When our client was allowed to operate at the park Station the rest of the small bus operators that wanted to operate there could use our client’s entry as the reason why they should also be allowed.
The other way I helped to develop transport was my legal representation of the then cross-border association that used to use Toyota Ventures with small trailers to convey passengers and goods across the border to the neighbouring countries. I stopped their harassment by law enforcement , both the traffic cops as well as cross-border inspectors as I invoked the definition of ‘vehicle’ in the Cross-Border Road Transportation Act, 1998 which excluded a motor vehicle whose weight as part of an articulated vehicle was below the maximum gross mass of 3500 kg. After winning a few cases of that nature for members of the association, law enforcement realised the futility of harassing and arresting the Toyota Ventures with the single axle trailers.
Over and above that, I spend most of my career as an attorney drafting laws and policies for government. Since year 2000 I have been involved in the development of many laws starting with most regulations under the National Land Transport Transition Act, 2000. I then moved on to assist the Gauteng Province with many regulations and policies from 2001 until 2009. In that process I initiated the approach to South African Bureau of Standards (SABS) for the country to develop standards for metered taxi meters after discovering that municipalities have been developing by-laws making reference to SABS standards that did not exist. When we approached SABS, they indicated that they do not take instructions from a province, the national Department of Transport has to be involved in order for the process to be initiated. As part of the legal advisors to the Gauteng province we initiated the approach to the national Department of Transport and the rest is history. Today the country has SANS 467:2005(Ed.1.00) as SABS Standard for taxi meters.
The process did not end there as another attempt was made for revised SABS standard for taxi meters as the country was preparing for the FIFA World Cup 2010. I was part of another SABS Working Group together with the then industry players for new standards that were never concluded after being advertised internationally as we headed towards the FIFA World Cup 2010 in South Africa.
In addition to the above, I also participated in another SABS Working Group that was tasked with the responsibility of working on safe canopies for bakkies to transport passengers safely.
Over many years I have also been involved in the development of regulations under the then Gauteng Public Passenger Road Transport Act, 2001. I was not only involved in developing regulations including the Gauteng Metered Taxi Regulations, 2008 but developed Minimum Standard Constitution for various modes of public transport that sought to provide guidance on how the association are to be governed including the introduction of democratic leadership replacement and financial accountability. Some of what we introduced for Gauteng province ended up being adopted by other provinces as benchmarks.
I have also been involved in training the Provincial Operating Licencing Boards and their administration staff across the country leading to the World Cup 2010 in order to ensure a common approach and understanding amongst the provinces when it came to the World Cup 2010 period.
My other notable contribution to the development of transport in South Africa was my involvement in the development of the National Transport Master Plan (2005-2050) NATMAP2050 for the country. I was involved as part of the legal team for one of the few consortia that were appointed to deal with specific provinces. The NATMAP was a very comprehensive process that considered what was the state of transport in all its subsectors but also considered the future of transport in South Africa.
Some of my latest contributions to the development of transport in South Africa include the National Land Transport Amendment Act, 2023 signed by the President in June 2024. A number of regulations including Minimum Requirements for the Development of Integrated Transport Plans, 2016, Colour Coding and Branding for Minibuses and Midi buses Used for Minibus Taxi-Type Services, 2017, and Second Amendment of the National Land Transport Regulations, 2024, amongst others.
I have recently been involved in advising two provinces on the implementation of new contracting regime for public transport services in terms of the National land Transport act, 2009. These new contracting arrangements are historical in nature as they constitute a major revamp of subsidised service contracting since the 1990’s in South Africa. The contracting required innovative amendments to the Model Tender and Contracting Documents, 2013. These amendments were necessary for both tendered and negotiated contracting approaches, the former, off which also required express approvals by the Minister of Transport in line with the provisions of the National land Transport Act, 2009.
One of the latest Regulations is with regards to the e-hailing public transport services. These regulations will, for the first time along with the new section 66A of the National Land Transport Amendment Act, 2023 determine how e-hailing services in South Africa are regulated.
My services in transport sector are so specialised and rare to such an extent that out of over more than 66 million South Africans, 33 929 attorneys and 5 396 advocates I am one of the three people alive who have been working in the development of the national land transport legislation since year 2000. I have spent at least 70% of my time over the period focused on transport. I have multiplied the 10 000 hours that makes one an expert more than 10 times. When it comes to land transport, I am the best bet to give appropriate and informed legal advice even when one includes the Senior Counsel. I have guided a number of Senior Counsel in matters of transport where I provided legal support even to law firms.
My experience starts with representing operators and transport associations to drafting legislation at national and provincial spheres of government. I have not only drafted legislation but have assisted with the implementation of such legislation at the three spheres of government. I have trained and provided guidance to licensing authorities and their support staff.
Based on the above, I can say, anything that has to do with land transport, I am your best bet. The transport laws are required to be applied with other laws, depending on the circumstances. I have considered various sections of the legislation together with other applicable laws , including the various provisions of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa( the Constitution), Public Finance Management Act, 1999(PFMA), the Municipal Finance Management Act, 2003(MFMA), Division of Revenue Act (DORA) and many more.
I have not only considered transport laws for their own sake but also in the commercial transactions, labour implications, governance and other contexts.
I have dealt with different modes of transport in various contexts including for subsidised public transport, negotiated contracts, staff transport (owned transport and outsourced transport) , scholar transport (owned and outsourced), metered taxis, e-hailing services, tourist transport, tuk-tuk services, and minibus taxi-type services using various vehicles legally allowed for the provision of the service. In addition to the aforementioned, I have advised on non-motorised transport and on transportation of people with special needs, like people living with disabilities.
When people consider the services of a transport law specialist, they must also do so to provide guidance or vet employment contracts and company policies. There are many transport laws that need to be considered when developing employment contracts, even where you are not running a transportation business. When you procure staff transport or you decide to provide staff transport, it makes sense to know when you may be required to obtain operating licences and when they are not required. The operating licences come with additional legal requirements including how the vehicle is required to be registered in terms of the National Road Traffic Act, 1996 read with the National Land Transport Act. The requirement of public driving permit and who qualifies for it is also a matter that must be considered under certain circumstances. If you are the employer who employ drivers for various purposes, you need to obtain appropriate legal advice on these matters. The progressive implementation the Administrative Adjudication of Road Traffic Offences Act, 1998 (AARTO) has many pitfalls for employers, motor vehicles owners as well as road transport operators. Unless the pitfalls are appropriately anticipated through the revision of contracts, policies and procedures and training, employers may find themselves extremely exposed including having employees who are no longer able to provide the services but are employed on permanent or full-time basis.
Yes, I was appointed to assist with a process to procure new subsidised public transport services by a provincial government. The initial intention was to get a state-owned company to be negotiated with in terms of section 41(1)(c) of the National Land Transport Act, 2009. On engagement with the entity, it became clear that the leadership of the entity does not understand the governance framework that will enable the application of the section. I advised on the processes that need to be followed and who needs to take which decisions for the section to be invoked. When the entity failed or was unable to meet the statutory requirements for the provision to be invoked, I advised that the public procurement process must be followed. In following the public procurement process, the National Land Transport Act stipulates that the process must use Model Tender and Contracting Documents, 2013. The said documents may not be varied without the approval of the Minister of Transport. I had to review all the documents, update them to be aligned with the current laws and standards, where applicable. Certain changes had to be made and then the Minister of Transport was approached for approval of the changes. The Minister approved the changes as required by section 42(6) of the of the National Land Transport Act. Then the process of publication of the tender was followed and when the adjudication was in the process of being finalised, it was interdicted through the court. When the province decided not to appeal the court decision, another option had to be considered to ensure that the new contracts are concluded. The process invoked section 41(1)(b) of the National Land Transport Act. This section includes negotiations with the public transport operators in the areas where the contracts are intended to be applied. The process included getting the province to conclude intergovernmental authorisation agreements with municipalities because the province does not have a legal right on its own to conclude new contracts. Agreements where the municipalities authorise the province to act on their stead in terms of section 12(1) of the National Land Transport Act read with Intergovernmental Relations Framework Act, 2005 had to be concluded. These agreements had to be concluded with the authority of the municipal councils because of the nature of the powers and functions concerned. These agreements had to allow the province to use the procurement laws applicable to it for the purposes because it was the procuring entity. The agreement provided for the consent to be obtained from the municipality as well as possible transfer of the staff used for such contracts should the municipality require to take over the contracts before they expire or get terminated. The implications of staff transfer had to consider a number of labour laws as well as public service laws like the Public Service Act, 1994 read with Public Administration Management Act, 2014. A number of other laws had to be considered in the development of the negotiated contract including the Division of Revenue Act with its Grant Framework (DORA), Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment Act, 2003(BBBEE) and National Small Enterprise Act, 1996 amongst others.
Over and above the laws, a number of standards (SABS) had to be considered, in some instances refer to the latest version of the standards to make sure that everything is up to date. In this instance, it was not necessary to obtain ministerial approval with changes to the Model Tender and Contracting Documents for use in negotiated contracts because only tendered contracts are required to be prescribed by the Minister. The documents relating to negotiated contracts were only published for recommendation and guidance. The situation is now changing as the National Land Transport Amendment Act, 2023 requires the Model Tender and Contract Documents to be prescribed for negotiated contracts as well. The section invoked for the negotiated contracts necessitated the consideration of sub-contracting of a certain percentage of the contract. This became an added complexity, especially because small bus operators and individual taxi operators had to be considered in the form of special purpose vehicles or consortium companies that must still comply with the requirements of being an operator in the area.
In addition to all the above, especially with regards to sub-contracting, care had to be taken of protecting jobs of the current employees. This necessitates the understanding of the labour laws and court cases on transfer of business or portion thereof and how same needs to be treated to ensure compliance with all the applicable laws.
The project that stands out as the most impactful for me was the involvement in the National Transport Task Team that was working to prepare transport for the FIFA World Cup 2010. This was the most impactful because I was part of a multidisciplinary local and international teams working together to deliver the best South Africa has to offer at a global stage. My involvement with the team was at the request of Gauteng province delegation after they noted some discomforting issues they were unable to articulate. They requested that I be appointed to be part of the Gauteng province delegation. The project leaders were consultants from Germany. Germany as a developed country is totally different from South Africa and at times they overlooked critical aspects of the South African practicalities and relied on South Africans to provide inputs. On my first meeting, the first agenda item was a recap summary of last discussions. Out of the recap I could immediately see serious oversights. I raised my hand and indicated the oversights that effectively changed the trajectory of the work of the task team. Before my involvement, the focus was mainly on infrastructure and expenditure without being informed by operations and statistics. With my input, I started being drawn to various subcommittees that made me to appreciate the bigger picture someone attending the bid task team meeting would never be exposed to. We started looking at infrastructure against the figures meant to be accommodated. We started to also consider the need to be innovative in how the infrastructure is used to be efficient. Infrastructure included the roads, airports, stadia, points of entry and we went on to even consider various aspects of operations that not only affect the infrastructure but safety, visas applied for and countries that are visa exempt. We also had to consider not just hotel accommodation but the fact that people from within South Africa and in the neighbouring countries may come without booking accommodation but sleep in cars and buses. This meant we must create spaces where such motor vehicles must be able to stop overnight. We even had to consider the ships that were bringing people into the country and those that could be used as extra accommodation during the world cup. This necessitated that small towns like Knysna in the Southern Cape be considered for such situations on condition that the ships first properly enter South Africa through recognised points of entry. A lot more was involved including specialised personnel in departments most South Africans do not even know they exist. We even had to discuss the possible change of traffic flow of traffic during certain times to ensure that traffic moves swiftly. In Gauteng for instance, going to the FNB Stadium, the N1 flow could and was in fact directed to single direction, the stadium and after the game, the traffic would be directed to where most traffic was going. The impact of our planning was visible everywhere although most people did not know the brains behind the smooth running of the world cup. The legacy of the FIFA World Cup 2010 lives on in many assets that South Africans have gotten used to today.
My other impactful project that stands out for me was my involvement in the development of the National Transport Master Plan 2005-2050 (NATMAP2050). This was the first longest transport plan of its kind at the time in the African continent. It triggered a lot of excitement in the transport space as it covered all sub-sectors of transport. It covered road, rail, maritime, aviation and pipeline. It was so comprehensive, it not only considered the current state of every aspect, but it also looked at the history that led to what was in 2005. It then considered the future as was already being experienced or planned in other countries globally. I considered myself fortunate because the consortium I was part of had KZN Province and Western Cape as part of what we had to deal with. This gave us the opportunity to deal with all the transport subsectors. Whilst few consortiums were appointed to focus on a cluster of provinces, the work at some stage converged to a smaller group that ultimately put together the consolidated document that became the NATMAP 2050.
Ideally, the NATMAP2050 was meant to be the point of departure for transport planning in South Africa going forward. It was meant to be considered parallel to the National Development Plan 2030 (NDP2030). The planning that is transport related was meant to start by looking at the NATMAP2050 and align with the futuristic plans but same does not appear to be the case in practice. The NATMAP2050 is an ideal document that showcases the advanced transport planning South Africa has but it needs a champion that will make the document alive for it to derive value for the country.
NATMAP2050 represent a very critical milestone for transport in South Africa. It was very ambitious, and it envisaged a common convergence point for transport practitioners to move South Africa forward.
The clients vary but the main focus for the company is public sector in the form of national, provincial and local government and their entities. We also serve the private sector with special focus to business, whether they are big corporates or small to medium enterprises. Notwithstanding our intentions, we also service from time to time the non-profit organisations as well as the company profile indicates. We generally avoid individuals, except under special circumstances where we already have other relationships with the persons concerned.
Ideally, a retainer is the best for them. A fixed amount of money gets paid every month to enable the availability of legal services for all their legal services needs except for litigation. Litigation is generally excluded in the retainer agreements because the time to be expended and costs for same cannot be anticipated.
A typical medium sized enterprise has its legal needs divided into the following:
Besides the retainer agreements, the company may pay per transaction for hours spend or per project where a project is identified and costed.
I have dealt with public sector in the three spheres of government for very long in different government departments. I have more than 20 years of experience in each of the three spheres of government. I have dealt with them under various circumstances and as such have a broad exposure to their environment. At the national and provincial spheres, I have dealt with more than one department. At the national department I have dealt with six departments, whilst at the provincial sphere I have dealt with a number of transport departments, economic development as well as agriculture, environmental and land. I have also dealt with many national state entities as clients. I have extensive experience on governance of national and provincial sphere across departments. At the local sphere I have also advised, especially at the metropolitan municipality level and district level.
My experience in drafting legislation is one of the critical points as drafting requires one to know the law broadly, including the Constitution, the various laws that apply to the respective spheres of government. Drafting also impact the development of technical standards including the SABS standards.
The advantage clients have by appointing me would even reduce their legal costs as they do not need to have various lawyers for every aspect of their department.
In addition to the exposure mentioned above, I have been serving as a director of state-owned entities for over 10 years. This presents an additional advantage to public sector clients as I am able to put myself in their shoes when they are struggling to understand matters of internal operations or relating to executive authority and national treasury etc.
