Previously the Public Drivers Permit (PDP) was a permit that was issued pre-1998 to drivers of vehicles that operated on public roads to generate an income, but a PrDP was then introduced to replace it.
The African Reporter got an opportunity to engage with the Ekurhuleni Metro Police Department (EMPD) to gather more information on what this permit is all about.
According to EMPD spokesman Wilfred Kgasago, to drive on a public road in South Africa transporting goods, dangerous goods or passengers for an income, one must have a PrDP.
This is a permit that is issued in addition to an ordinary driver’s licence.
Kgasago explains that a PrDP applies to a goods motor vehicle with a gross vehicle mass exceeding 3 500kg, a breakdown vehicle or a bus and a minibus weighing more than 3 500kg or designed to carry 12 or more people (the driver included).
It is also for light motor vehicles, indicated in the economic sector for carrying passengers for reward (such as a taxi cab), a motor vehicle designed to carry 12 or more people, any vehicle for which an operating license is issued and for vehicles carrying dangerous goods (for example, a fuel tanker).
“There are age restrictions for various motor vehicle categories, where you should be 18 years or older to hold a PrDP for a goods vehicle. You are required to be 21 years or older to have a PrDP for a passenger vehicle and you need to be 25 years or older to hold a PrDP for a dangerous goods vehicle,” he says.
Kgasago states that you can only obtain a PrDP if you have a valid driver’s licence for the type of vehicle in question, you have been certified as medically fit by a doctor and you have been certified by an approved training body. The last is only required for category D (dangerous goods) vehicles.
In addition you can only obtain this permit if you have a clean criminal record for past five years and have not been found driving a motor vehicle while under the influence of intoxicating liquor or narcotics.Further, you can also only obtain a PrDP in the case of an application for a category P (passengers) and D (dangerous goods) permit, an offence of which violence was an element, have never had your driver’s licence suspended and have never been convicted of a criminal offence or paid an admission of guilt fine.
“It is imperative for drivers to know that as the operator or owner of the motor vehicle for which a PrDP is required, you may not let another person drive the vehicle on a public road unless they have a valid PrDP for the appropriate category.
“An officer has a right to issue a fine if you are found driving on a public road any of the vehicles categorised above as requiring a PrDP, or if a driver does not have it at all, or has it but it is not with him or her in a vehicle,” says Kgasago.
