Gauteng’s public transport operators are finally seeing the back of a long-standing paperwork logjam. Since November 2025, the provincial Department of Roads and Transport has handed over more than 2,000 valid operating licences to compliant minibus taxi and scholar transport operators, the result of a deliberate push to rebuild internal capacity and streamline the way applications are processed.
The turnaround is being felt where it matters most: operators who once waited in limbo can now run their routes fully licensed and legal, while parents entrusting their children to scholar transport can take comfort that more of the vehicles on the road are properly authorised.
A backlog steadily beaten back
Gauteng MEC for Roads and Transport, Kedibone Diale-Tlabela, said the department has prioritised the issuing of operating licences to qualifying public transport operators as part of its commitment to reducing the backlog and ensuring compliant operators are able to operate legally.
According to the department, the progress follows significant improvements in internal operational capacity and the streamlining of administrative processes to improve turnaround times, a shift that has transformed the pace at which licences move from application to approval.
Now the licences need owners
Success has brought a happy problem: more than 400 valid operating licences are ready and waiting, but their owners have not yet come to fetch them.
“The department has, however, noted that over 400 valid operating licences remain uncollected despite the considerable progress being made. Operators who have received SMSs or communication through their associations have until Friday, 14 August 2026 to collect their operating licences,” the department said at the weekend.
Operators who miss the window may need to restart the application process, so the MEC is urging minibus and scholar transport operators who have been notified to make the trip and collect their documents well before the deadline.
Building a better commute
The licensing drive forms part of a broader effort to build a public transport system that works for the millions of Gauteng residents who rely on taxis every day. Diale-Tlabela reiterated that the department remains committed to regulatory compliance and to facilitating a more efficient, transparent and responsive public transport system.
For an industry that moves the majority of the province’s commuters, every licence handed over is a small win for safer, better regulated transport. With 2,000 already in operators’ hands and hundreds more ready for collection, the province’s licensing office has shown what a focused service delivery push can achieve.
The full announcement is available from SAnews.
Photo: commons.wikimedia.org
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